#and then the writing style just didn't really itch my brain right

[juno-stuffs]

i really want to get into pjo, hoo, etc. but every single time i'm about to i get scared off by something that dissuades me. like. gods damn it.

[iridescentmirrorsgenshin]

hi! love love love all of your haikaveh analyses! they're so wonderfully done and itch my brain so right. i was wondering if you had any thoughts on the recent quest featuring them ('an odd textual mystery')? hope you have a wonderful day!

hiya! firstly, thank you so much for your ask! i'm so glad you enjoy my haikaveh analyses!?? they truly live in our heads <333 secondly i am so sorry this reply is coming late!! i wasn't able to play during the first half of the event, and then i've had technical difficulties, so i've only recently finished the quest! that being said, here is part one of two of my thoughts!

firstly, i love how this event feels like a reference to kaveh’s hangout, in which alhaitham says that kaveh’s annotations, according to the ex grand conservator, are too long and hard to read, and that as a student, kaveh had the habit of scribbling in all sorts of books, which won him the nickname “the urchin of Kshahrewar” ???

we're starting off strong with kaveh canonically hiding behind a ladder out of sheer embarrassment after trying to find the book on which he inadvertently founded a conspiracy. things will just never go his way huh :(

i thought it was interesting (and very deliberate) that when we go to where we would find kaveh, it's The House, and when the traveller and paimon believe they've heard kaveh-

it's this guy... homosexual jumpscare next time.... and then he says this phrase (before leaving in his typical manner, which parallels his 'see ya' in his character quest, plsss he's so !?!?!?)

after waiting again, the traveller and paimon believe theyve heard kaveh, and this time it IS kaveh... you mean they couldnt be told apart...?? really leaning into alhaitham and kaveh being innately bound by the mirror motif i think.!!

paimon then impersonates alhaitham, to which kaveh recognises, saying that paimon doesn't sound herself - which could parallel how the kaveh comments that the traveller sounds like alhaitham in one dialogue option within his hangout, a cute detail <3

also, kaveh clinging onto the narrative that no one knows he lives with alhaitham, and then listing a scroll of names, being all of his and alhaitham's close friends... ironically very intimate

also it being confirmed that kaveh has low stamina, i didn't know i needed this until i was given it

kaveh drunkenly circling a spelling error in permanent ink, thinking nothing about it but that the book is terrible, returning it, and then creating a city-wide mystery, believing it to have happened AFTER he returned the book, and frantically trying to piece together what happened is so kaveh coded, ofc it WOULD happen to him

tighnari checking the book out when kaveh complained about it him because he thought it sounded FUNNY!! i love hibm..,m,,,

also kaveh using red ink and alhaitham using green ink... oh so the contrasting outfits aren't enough, you're also canonically using complementary colours... oh so.. huh...

tighnari immediately clocking that alhaitham joined in by adding a circle, calling it a 'game', so he knows that alhaitham is having fun doing this...? dare i say... f-flirting,,,

tighnari saying flirting.!! HE DESERVEDLY CALLEDHAIKAVEH OUT!!! they are too much in their intricate (homoerotic) rituals.

tighnari using a leaf in the forest metaphor... very interesting

cutting to cyno and sethos, cyno being bitter that sethos makes excuses to not play TCG, referencing their voice lines about the other, this is such a nice detail

absolutely no thoughts here just pure homoerotic brainrot of knowing what style of ink and the penmanship of your life partner, along with an unnecessary specific memory of the two taking breaks from their schedules to spend time together in their secret spot in the tree in cyno's second story quest... ive not had one coherent thought since this, the writing for cynonari is so so great and lovely and everything, they deserve the best

"back to the book" BRO GOT DISTRACTED!!! FR THERE WAS NO NEED TO TELL THAT STORY ABOUT HIM WATCHING TIGHNARI DO HIS HOMEWORK IN THEIR SECRET PLACE HELPPPPPP

also, cyno wanting to solve the mystery of the book for tighnari's sake and protection. oh. (if this weren't haikaveh's fault/event then cynonari would own it... tighnari, i, too, am so tired of them.)

and cyno canonically calling sethos bro!! another reason as to why its a crime this mini quest wasn't VOICED????

this is part one! part two is here and focusses on the final scene with alhaitham and kaveh, my bane...

[seineko]

it's fluff and angst but, minors still do not interact!

i still can't get over that official genshin art i posted a few hours ago so here's my brain rot lmao. it isn't really anything particular or meaningful, i guess, but i wanted to write something for the art. my brain was practically itching so i'm probably going to make it up as i go :) also my writing style is probably going to be weird in this.

warning(s): character death mentioned briefly, very light angst.

it's not that diluc likes to make you worried. but he had his reasons as to why his heart fluttered when you dashed towards his cupboard to bring out the first aid kit after manhandling him into sitting down on his bed, scolding him a bit as you pulled out the antiseptic and cotton.

he doesn't remember his mother well. actually, he doesn't remember his mother at all. the closest person to a mother for him was adelinde.

who also happens to be the first person he remembers being worried for him. he was chasing after a few crystalflies in the winery yard and, just when he was about to catch one, he tripped over his own feet and fell into the ground.

adelinde rushed to him mere seconds after that, worry written in the most clear handwriting across her face as she picked him up and rushed inside the winery to treat the scrape across his knee and a few smaller wounds on his hands.

he doesn't remember much after that other than being bribed by a glass of grape juice to stop crying and waiting for his father to finish his work to get back home.

his father and kaeya were the other two who he remembered being worried for him. at least when they were kids for the latter.

one instance that stood out particularly for him was when kaeya had lost the coin crepus had given to him. their father told kaeya to keep it safe and that it was a gift from someone special. diluc does not know to what extent it was true but thinking about it as an adult made him realize that crepus was probably trying to ease kaeya's insecurities and fear.

they visited jean that day and kaeya refused to play anything with them and did not part with the coin even for a second until they finally lured him in to collecting flowers to make flower crowns for adelinde.

kaeya had only realized that he lost the coin after they reached home. diluc saw his little brother visually become smaller and more frigid the moment he realized that. he left dinner midway and dragged himself to their room pulling up the curtains around his bed.

diluc remembered trying all the tricks he knew to get him out but none of them worked. he even offered to let kaeya braid his hair! the only thing remaining was going and finding the coin.

so he sneaked out after making sure that adelinde had slept and did exactly that.

their father had never looked older than at the moment when he returned home with kaeya's coin in his right pocket. his brother's face was completely swollen and blotched, tears still leaking out of his eyes.

he practically felt the worry radiating off of his father's body as soon as he was pulled into a bone crushing hug. kaeya sneaked his hand into one of his own sometime during it and did not leave it until the next morning.

adelinde had banned him from leaving his room days after that. his adopted brother stayed with him the entire time. (well, at least kaeya still seems to have that coin, it wasn't all for naught).

after the death of his father, it felt as though there was no one really left to worry about him anymore. adelinde was still there for him, he knew that, but that still didn't help dissipate the feeling.

it was especially rough during his visit - for the lack of a better term - to snezhnaya. the fresh grief made everything feel more painful than it actually was. an amalgamation of varying emotions; everything from anger, frustration, sadness, emptiness, guilt, the need for revenge, a sense of loss and many more that he couldn't even name muddled his head and stuck with him until years to come.

so yes. diluc doesn't really like making you worry, but he also can't help falling in love just a bit more everytime you treat his would with such worry and pain reflecting in your eyes as though it was you that had gotten hurt. it almost numbs his own pain and all he can thinking about is caging you in his arms and never letting you go.

the tenderness with which you kiss all his scars everytime he gets a new one has his heart pounding into his chest with such speed that he was sure it wasn't actually good for his health, especially when you put extra time and care into caressing that big gash across his back.

he can't help melting into spot when you cuddle his head into your neck and caress his scalp with your fingers, after taking care of all of his wounds, old and new.

he can't be more grateful than at the moment when you hum a soft tune into his ear to help him sleep better, hand still entangled with his hair and body wrapped around him, hiding him away from the entire world.

you are his home.

©2023 by seineko @ tumblr

[cbk1000]

Hey, what are you into right now (movies, books, series)? Or even not right now, but in the past, outside of Merlin? I feel you have wicked taste, and I’m desperate for a new hyperfixation. Please, some recs if you have them!

Hey, anon! Sorry; I spaced on answering this.

I don't generally watch a lot of movies or TV shows, because I prefer reading. TV is generally for when I want to shut my brain off and just be entertained, so I wouldn't call a lot of what I do watch good. But if you haven't seen them yet, Our Flag Means Death and Sense8 are both really good shows. Both were pretty popular on tumblr at one point or another, so you may have already seen them, but if not, I really recommend giving them a go. Also, this is dated now, but it still holds up as a sitcom: I've spent most of my recovery rewatching Frasier, which I saw as a kid when it was first airing in the 90s. Ditto Third Rock from the Sun, which still makes me laugh, no matter how many times I've seen it.

This is a video game, but I've been playing an RPG set in medieval Bohemia that's really scratching my nerd itch; it's called Kingdom Come. It's very immersive and has been keeping me company the last couple of weeks while I get to the point in my recovery where I feel well enough to do more than lay in bed staring at my tablet, but am not quite yet a fully functioning human.

As for books, I'm finishing up a historical mystery series, 'Brother Cadfael' by Ellis Peters, set in medieval England during The Anarchy. I've thoroughly enjoyed it and am sad to have only one book left.

I just started rereading 'The Wolf Hall' trilogy by Hilary Mantel, which follows the rise and fall of Thomas Cromwell during Henry VIII's reign. I found the trilogy very gripping and difficult to put down my first time through, and though I've only just started the first book again, it's having the same effect, even though I just read it a couple of years ago. Definitely check out a preview of this first, though; I love Mantel's unique style, but I know a lot of readers find it difficult.

I read 'Shadowplay' by Joseph O'Connor a couple of years ago and really enjoyed it. This follows Bram Stoker during his time as a manager at a London theatre, his struggles with his writing (he didn't really find commercial success until after his death), and the experiences that led to 'Dracula.'

For the last couple of years I've been making my way through most of Guy Gavriel Kay's work, which I recommend if you like poetic, historically-inspired fantasy. I started with 'A Brightness Long Ago', but I recommend picking whatever time period that interests you personally (the Sarantine duology, for instance, is set in an analogue of the Byzantine Empire; 'A Brightness Long Ago' evokes Renaissance Italy, and then 'Under Heaven' and its companion 'River of Stars' imperial China).

Ditto with Terry Pratchett and his Discworld, a hilarious satirical fantasy series. I started with 'Guards Guards' and read the City Watch books and then moved on to the books featuring the witches. Special shout-out to his 'Nation', which is not a Discworld book, but is one of the best novels I've read in years.

I've also been immersed in Arthurian literature and heaps of non-fiction about the Plantagenet reign for the last few years. My favourite work of Arthuriana is probably 'Idylls of the King' by Tennyson. It's gorgeous and haunting. 'The Plantagenets' by Dan Jones is a good, accessible introduction to that period of history if you're at all inclined to non-fiction. He's a historian, but it's not a stodgy, academic text.

I hope there's something here for you!

[bowokshop]

Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

"Guy Montag is a fireman. His job is to destroy the most illegal of commodities, the source of all discord and unhappiness: the printed book.

Montag never questions the destruction or his own bland life, until he is shown a past where people didn't live in fear and a present where one sees the world through ideas.

Montag starts hiding books in his home. Soon they'll make him run for his life."

I've had this book on my shelf for ages and never got round to reading it. And then I read it entirely in about 3 hours. It was SO good.

Ray Bradbury's writing style really itches my brain. It has this perfect mix of beautiful, complex imagery, dialogue, and narration. The story moved at a reasonable pace and I knew what was happening most of the time.

I wish there was a bit more of an introduction into the world - there were some parts I kept getting quite confused by. Like the parlour? I couldn't really visualise what that was in my head, and it was brought up so frequently, but I never really knew what it was about. Was it like a giant television screen they stepped into? Why was there a family in it? Why were they always yelling? Why did it only have three walls? I felt a lot more comfortable after Beatty came over and explained that whole history, but some parts still didn't sit right in my mind.

There was some points that were so so relevant to today's society. I can't believe this was published in 1953 - were things really that bad then as they are today? That whole monologue about how content kept being cut down further and further from books to magazines to headlines to cartoons, until society just ended up rejecting the book and watching pictures - did Bradbury somehow predict the future??? And then more people meant more minorities who would get offended from the books, so instead of books we just had to stuff them with facts that let them see nothing more than the surface level of the world. I mean, you can see this stuff everyday now, everywhere. His talent for realism in his dystopian science fiction worlds is crazy, and this book should be a poignant warning and wake-up call for society.

But why, WHY, did Clarisse have to die so early??? She was such an awesome character, and had such an impact on the protagonist - I wish she was developed further. Especially since she is introduced at the very beginning, when the reader is not fully aware of how impactful her words really are, because they are still half in the real-world while reading them. Bradbury himself, in the 50th anniversary introduction, said he wished he kept her until the end. But oh well.

Overall, EVERYONE should read this book and remind themselves of the power of knowledge and searching for the deeper meaning in things.

[elenajohansenreads]

Books I Read in 2023

#107 - Fourth Wing, by Rebecca Yarros

Rating: 3.25/5 stars

My rating is a compromise between its overall quality, and how much I enjoyed it.

This isn't at all the first romance/fantasy I've read that feels like YA right up until you get to the explicit sex; I knew ahead of time from the hype how "spicy" it apparently was. (Which, from my adult romance reader/author perspective, is not particularly spicy, but I'm sure it is for a lot of other readers.) I will say, without naming names, the writing is better here than quite a few similar authors. That doesn't make it great, though, because the general prose quality of your typical YA/NA fantasy-romance is pretty low. Even if this was better, it still had a great deal of repetition, info-dumping, lack of differentiation between minor characters...I could go on, but hopefully I've made my point. 

The plot is full of twists, some that felt earned from foreshadowing, some that didn't. There was one that actually surprised me, when the author seemed to be setting up an obvious plot point, pulled the twist, then doubled down by including what I thought was going to happen as well; I'm not a big fan of The Big Twist, but I felt this one was handled really well, probably the best bit of the whole book.

Despite what I've already said about the mediocre-at-best writing, I still enjoyed this a lot, but mostly for personal indulgence reasons. I am a complete sucker for telepathy in fantasy in almost any context, but here it's with dragons! I love dragons! And then it's also sometimes with other humans because of complicated dragon relationships! This scratched an itch inside my brain by being so perfectly what I want from a fantasy with telepathy that I was ready to forgive it for just about anything. And the romance was solid, too--I didn't always like Violet (I almost always find the heroines of this style of novel too whiny for my tastes, and she was better than some) but I pretty much adored Xaden, because I am also a sucker for "talks shit but acts sweet," which is exactly who he was.

I waited in the digital library queue for over a month to read this, and as soon as I was done queued up for Iron Flame, which I will get in an estimated six weeks, which is utterly too long, I want more dragons and tempestuous romance.

[pine-niidles]

Looking Back on 2023

Heyyy folks! Long time no news from me huh. 

I'm struggling to think of what to even say about my silence. I've not been doing so bad I'd call myself depressed, but I'm doing a tad worse than just a slump. It's been a rough 6 months, not because of one big thing. Instead, a bunch of medium-sized reasons all piled up on top of each other to leave me extremely drained. I've mostly been working on the two commissions I still had in my queue (thank you to my commissioners for being so patient with me, I'm so sorry to make you wait so long <3). I've done a little personal art other than that but didn't have the leftover focus to keep up with sharing it on social media or writing up any updates about my situation. I've pretty much only been active sharing things in my art discord. I'd like to say I've been doing better in the last month or so, but I hesitate to make any promises at this point! We'll just have to see how things go :)

Artfight

So you were promised a more in depth artfight review but I think I missed the right timeframe for that... instead have this look at 3 years of unfinished artfight thumbnails from my new year's wip clean-out!

Year of Art Summary

All things considered I made a lot of art this year, and I'm really happy with how most of it turned out ☺ I did a bunch of experimenting with more playful techniques and color schemes and I think they suit my style a lot. I want to try and much those limits even more next year to see what kind of fun art I can create! Something with colors specifically really clicked in my brain after that witch drawing I did in April, before then I would spend a long time figuring out the perfect color scheme and doing a bunch of adjustments but ever since that drawing things have really been coming together super quick? I'm not sure what changed but no complaints from me. 

Life Drawing Summary 

I rarely post my life drawing but I've been keeping at it! Actually, I put together a few pdfs showcasing all my life drawing going back to 2022, you can download them for free in my itch or ko-fi shops! :>

I also put together a yearly art improvement comparison going back to 2015 that I was planning to put here. However, seeing how long this is already getting... I'll make a separate post for it.

Commissions

I've been gearing up to open commissions again after that unintended hiatus. I don't want to open slots until I'm sure I'm back to being able to finish them in a reasonable timeframe, so I've been using that leftover energy I do have to think about revamping some things and new styles to offer. Back in November I ran a survey on what people want to see from me (it's still open if you'd like to fill it out and help me get more stats!) 

here's a preview of what's to come based on that & my whims:

- stamp commissions were super well received so they'll be added to my main repertoire

- A combo of me reading too much dun meshi and wanting to offer some kind of comicky commissions led to this idea of comic pages of characters eating together, I have a couple examples in progress, when they're done I'll add this style to my main offerings!

- I'm still not 100% set on sketchpages but I like the idea of them so if this test goes well I'll add them as an option

Onward to 2024! 

I already completed my new year's resolution on day 1 of 2024, it was to pet a cat. I've made a second one which is to get a library card whenever my visa is approved and I move back home. It's been something I've been wanting to do for a while but never got around to, hoping this will be the excuse I need to do it.

Art-wise it's not a new goal, but I've been trying to focus on improving my rendering! Though I've also been playing around a lot with screentone... the two don't have to be at odds 🤔 

I'm dedicating this year's personal art time to making new references for as many ocs as possible with nude bases so I can easily design new outfits for them whenever I want to without fully making a new ref from scratch.

Otherwise I'm just trying to take it slow, work on things one at a time and see what happens from there.

[kichimiangra]

...Well now I gave to ask about Shalconimon. Tell me more?

Shalconimon was my childhood fan digimon. I had been a digimon fan since about when the toy town episode first aired in the usa and that was only because despite seeing the ad for "the show that is like Pokemon but they're DIGITAL MONSTER" I couldn't remember what channel it was suppossed to be airing on so I missed a good chunk of the initial airings of the first arc. I had immediately fell in love with the franchise and wondered "If I had a digimon, what one would it be?"

I didn't have internet at the time, but my grandparents did and I would try to find pictures of what other digimon existed that maybe weren't in the show when I would visit them, or if a classmate had the old cardgame I would ask if I could look at their cards so I could just know what digimon existed to be options for!

I was (and am) an indecisive child tho so I never could just point at one and say "Obviously THAT would be my digimon!' Unlike say, my older sister who took one look at he Pink Gabumon running around Gear Savanah in Digimon World and said "ah yes. Psychemon. There is my partner." (Though in modern times she's a big fan of Labramon)

It wasn't until the day that the finale to Adventure 02 aired, and right after it ended the trailer for Tamers aired; "I used to watch show show... I used to play the cardgame... I even made up my very own digimon! But now.... everything is real." (don't remember if that's how the trailer went) Just with the line " I made up my very own digimon, my dumb ass was like "Wait.... I can make up original fancharacters for things?????" And with that I went to work desigining my very own digimon!

I have always been a huge fan of dinosaurs and I always thought the dinosaur digimon where some of the coolest! The Triceratops were always my favorite (Though I like a LOT of dinos) and although Monochromon and Triceramon already existed I wanted my own Triceratops in my favorite color! (HOW DARE GAMMAMON bE like FIVE CERATOPSIANS IN A TRENCH COAT!!!!) I remember as a kid I could only draw him from the side as ya do, but no art from that era remains.

I remember me and my sister writing our own digital world adventures with our made up digimon and I can't remember really what they were about, but I think Shalconimon was intended to be... kinda an asshole? Like imagine instead of the usual Digimon/Tamer partnership where they almost immediately get along you had more like something from early Medabots where Ikki and Medabee were at each other's throats, or what if Hiro from Ghost Game had gotten Espimon as his partner from the start instead of Gammamon and Espimon just didn't like to listen? At the time with only Adventure and 02 out, and Tamers only having barely started airing the idea of that kind of partnership seemed novel and unique, and maybe inside my baby author brain, just maybe the idea of "Starting off on the wrong foot and having room to grow" sounded narratively satisfying?

About half a decade ago when I revisted him I redesigned him a bit. He was a little over designed from the beginning and decided to upgrade Shalconimon to a Champion Level digimon. Shalconimon was originally the rookie form. I don't remember giving him a Baby I, Champion, or Ultimate but he did have a stupidly conceived Mega that I now call PajamaAngemon because that is exactly what he looked like. Angemon in Pajamas... god why did I give him an angemon form that was so stupid? Anyway after his level promotion he ended up getting a new rookie who... doesn't have a 'mon' name? I just call it the Protocerakeet, because it looks like a fusion of a protoceratops and a Parakeet.

Somewhere in the mid 2010's, I think it was around 2014 or 2015, I had been feeling bummed at the lack of digimon world vpet rpg style games to scratch a digimon world itch, considering World for the ps1 was getting on 15-20 years old and the newest game in that style was Re:Digitize that STILL to this day doesn't have an official English release. I didn't know Next 0rder was in the works, so it just felt like Vpet Rpgs were just... not being made and if they were not being ported over. There had been a rise in games in the indie scene creating spiritual successors to games that the dev had loved growing up but the mainstream and AAA scenes just don't develope anymore and so I had started thinking up two potential game ideas that where intended to have that vpet rpg feel. One was about Cryptids, but it evolved into something less vpet rpg-ish and into a more LoZMajora's Mask/ Stardew Valley calendar based resource time management game. The other was about some kids finding themselves isekai'd to NOT!File Island to help NOT!Jijimon return NOT!Digimon back to NOT!File City while stopping one of the only other humans on the island, NOT!Analogman. So the second one was more of a scratch the serial numbers off Digimon world Clone, replacing Digital Monsters with Monster's based on Extinct Species. The Protocerakeet lives there as that idea's mascot/NOT!Agumon.

[fruitlilliie]

bewitched listening party (i<3laufey)

I found Laufey while on tiktok a long time ago before she released music, I knew her because she was a singer/cellist and so was I so I ate up her content. She now has literally the most incredible discography of any newer artist, she has such a unique and beautiful sound like the jazz and orchestral sounds she uses tickles my brain and feeds the part of me that has always loved all jazz/orchestral/choral pieces and performances. As I'm writing this little blurb I'm listening to her new album "Bewitched" and holy shit like seriously I feel like I am ascending while listening to this. I just finished with "While you were sleeping" and it's just indescribable how angelic it sounds. The opening song "Dreamer" started and I just fell over. I was sitting on my floor so it was totally fine but just don't have any perception of what the song will be and then prepare to listen to the entire album (approx. 49 minutes) and you're just going to transform. If you don't like jazz or more classical style singing then gtfo but also come back because Laufey is so amazing that she'll change your opinion. She's always mentioning sunset and that kills me. Love some California representation though but the song "California and Me" just came on and its time for my heart to just fall out of my chest I guess. I know this song very well already as it was released in an EP before the album release. Maybe I am overly emotional about this song because my ex posted it after I talked about how much I love Laufey... but I digress, this song is absolutely stunning. If you have ever felt immense heartbreak hold onto that feeling. If you have ever been on the ride "Soarin" at Disneyworld, imagine the feeling of being on that ride but its like your life X California and Me playing in the background. Now bring back that heartbreak feeling and add it into the mix and that's just like how this song makes me feel just sitting in bed. So I am halfway through the album and I think the most heartbreaking thing she could have possibly done is put the Nocturne (Interlude) right in between "California and Me" and "Promise" (Promise absolutely wrecks me and makes me cry every time its longing for someone you can't have anymore and knowing you shouldn't reach out, you promised, but time moves so much slower without them. How can you distance yourself from someone you love so much, someone you want to spend your life with. "how we didn't say goodbye, just see you very soon" "it hurts to be something its worse to be nothing with you". Like please. Give me a chance to breathe before giving me another gut-wrenching line. She says she'll always lose the temptation of you. "Well never last". She's done the math. WHO HURT HER. Like hello relatable but LORDY. Then we go light bossa nova careless fun song like the variation and just damn TALENT from this girl is insane. Laufey stan for life when can I see her in concert I am itching for a wintertime concert from her. Until then, I'll be daydreaming to her music and living in my delulu world or crying my broken heart out to her sadder songs. Either way, this album is a really beautiful piece of art to the world. Like we are all so lucky to be alive at the same time as music like this (currently listening to serendipity) is being created. "Letter to my 13 year self" is the trifecta perfect addition to this years aim at healing and understanding self and girlhood and life like this song X Barbie X Eras Tour really has made me feel like a human being again. This song would absolutely kill me if I were listening at 13, that age is so horrible and vulnerable and formative like this song would have been such a comfort knowing that it's all going to be ok and not even knowing what "it" is. There so much to learn and to lose and at 13 there's no way to even fathom what on earth will change . Ending this album with Bewitched is beautiful and sick and twisted. Such a heartbreaking album and ending it with a love song pains me but being the title track, shows there's always love at the end.

[thisworldisablackhole]

This month in listening... 03/21/24

Been a minute since I've done one of these roundups, which is maybe for the best. More time for things to happen. This one is gonna be exclusively new releases because the last few weeks have been HOT. The year is really starting to cook up and I'm stoked.

New Waxahatchee album just dropped like 30 minutes ago (at the time of writing this), and I think it might be her best work to date. I've been a fan of the Crutchfield sisters since P.S. Eliot. Alison's band Swearin' is still one of my favourite pop punk bands ever, and Katie has been killing it with her solo work ever since American Weekend came out in 2012. I still have fond memories of running away from home in 2014 and singing Bathtub next to a camp fire, high on mushrooms in some dusty norcal weed town. The americana influence that she has been incorporating into her music recently suits her voice and style of songwriting so well, and I'm so happy to see it really flourish here. The collaboration with MJ Lenderman is just the cherry on top.

SeeYouSpaceCowboy dropped a new 2 part single recently. The first part functions as a short but beautiful piano intro featuring vocals from singer iRis.EXE. I do not know anything about this singer other than the fact that her voice is completely mesmerizing, even just the way she enunciates certain words scratches a weird itch in my brain. The intro cleverly transitions into the next act with the sound of a crowd clapping that slowly synchronizes into a single beat which lays the foundation for the rest of the instruments to come in. Silhouettes In Motion might actually be my new favourite SYSC song, and forebodes extremely well for how much I'm going to love the full album. The way the chorus swings in is so disarming and wonderful, I could just repeat that part over and over.

Last friday, Night Verses finally dropped the long awaited part 2 of their album Every Sound Has A Color In The Valley Of Night. There has been lots of clamor and confusion over why they released the album in parts like this, and I think the only real answer is that they wanted to end up on my year end list two years in a row. Seriously, the second part of this album rules and it starts off so strongly with this song Plague Dancer. This is one of the heaviest songs on part 2 and if full of intoxicating grooves, but the part that really sells me on it is that god damn breakdown where Nick DePirro throws in these muted harmonic strums that sounds pieces of sheet metal flapping in the wind in between chords. It's just so cool. Night Verses might be the only instrumental band I've ever really fallen in love with and I'm totally ok with that.

I should really just wait until Boundaries releases their new album next week, but YOLO. The three singles they have put out are just too good. Boundaries have double down on the heaviness with these tracks, and in doing so have maximized the contrast between the brutal and melodic parts of their sound. The heavy parts are blistering, and the choruses are succinct and effective in their ability to inject a quick blast of relief into the storm. Matt and Tim are also possibly my favourite duo of vocalists in metalcore right now. They are both just so distinct and powerful in their own right, and compliment each other so well. I didn't even realize that Tim is also the drummer until watching their music video a few days ago, so I have gained a whole new level of respect for his cleans.

A new album from One Step Closer has probably been my single most anticipated piece of news ever since their EP Songs for the Willow swept me off my feet in early 2023. That EP showed a distinct shift in their sound in a more melodic direction, and the result was three of their most memorable and interesting songs to date. This new album so far seems to indicate an even further push into pop punk territory and it is a welcome change for me. OSC are at their best when their hearts are on their sleeve, and this new track is oozing in heart. Honestly getting some Separation era Balance and Composure vibes from this song which I absolutely love. This album is coming out a week after the new Like Moths to Flames album which is insane. We gonna be eating good in May.

This new album by Irish folk musician Sam Lee really came out of left field and took me by surprise. I honestly only checked it out because the album art gave me weird Shire Hobbit vibes, and I was pleased when I played the first track and my initial thought was "yup... Hobbit music". I don't listen to a lot of folk music, and when I do, it doesn't sound anything like this. This album is just sounds very mature, and I don't mean that in an egotistical way. I mean it in the way where it sounds like there's some type of ancient wisdom or energy seeping through the cracks of Sam's deep storytellers voice and the thoughtfully dramatic arrangement of instruments. This is one of the most unique albums I'll listen to this year, and I'm glad I took a gamble on it.

A new Greyhaven single also dropped today, and good lord the reception has been nothing but praise. This band has not dropped the ball at all. This Bright and Beautiful World was one of my top 5 or 10 albums of 2022, and this new song is one hundred percent on par with, if not better than the best parts of that record. They are releasing a new 5 song EP on April 12th, thru their new home of Sharp Tone Records. I'm not even mad that it's not a full length, because the quality of this song is so promising. Spiritbox's The Fear of Fear honestly changed my perception about what an EP could accomplish, and now I am hyped at the prospect of a band I love putting out 4 to 6 tracks solid tracks with NO FILLER. The replay value is gonna be huge.

Poisoned Seeds are a local band, and I'm super excited about them right now. They are one of the few really good bands in the scene right now that are drawing more influence from 90s and early 2000s melodic hardcore and metalcore bands. I think it's fairly obvious by now that I love melodic bands, so I'm always hyped when there are people in my own back yard providing that sound at a local level. Guitarist and main song writer Avrinder Dhillon personally cited Shai Hulud as an influence, and I think they provide a great reference for how Poisoned Seeds implement melody into their riffs and vocals with a tasteful subtlety while maintaing an essence that is tough as nails.