#but stylistically it kind of bridges the gap
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I know I'm up too late when I start having vivid Past Life Feelings triggered by one specific folk song
#regular disclaimer that i am not really spiritual i just think about the idea of a past life a lot#also this one isn't really a folk song i suppose it's a 15th century hymn#but stylistically it kind of bridges the gap#mine#the past life instinct
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The Pillows is one of my favorite bands. A band that stuck out above everything else to me, even when I was in that... "discovering who I am", "middle-of-the-road" phase in my life of "oh, I listen to a little bit of everything" and "I like most genres". As soon as I got an mp3 player (a SanDisk Sansa c100), The Pillows were one of the first bands I loaded onto it.
A big part of why is because of their association with FLCL, an anime I caught purely by chance when I stood up late one night in August 2003, at nine years old. I had watched anime before- Dragon Ball Z, Big O, several of the 4Kids/Foxbox lineup, and snuck in some episodes of Case Closed and Inuyasha when I stayed up late.
But FLCL was the first show I ever saw that maintained its Japanese musical identity, rather than scrub it for localization. And when the first episode played and I heard One Life in the first scene, I knew there was something special about this show that I had to see.
Nine year old me, sitting there, watching a show with dialogue I barely understood, set to lyrics I certainly didn't. Yet I was captivated, pulled along more by vibes and mood, than anything. I understood the story, kind of, but I think I felt it, more than anything. Where my lack of vocabulary and maturity failed, the music of The Pillows bridged the gap of understanding.
It's only as I've gotten older that I've come to understand the profound impact the show has had on me. The fact I even started drawing in the first place, that I began with anime and manga tutorials, was a way that young me was trying to capture what they saw and how they felt when watching FLCL. And while later anime like Fullmetal Alchemist, Naruto, and Bleach would later have larger impacts on me stylistically, it was FLCL that planted that Spiky Seed there in the first place.
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And that goes the same for the music. The Pillows's albums have always found a place in whatever music player I've used, from my middle school school Sansa, my high schoo iPod Nano, to my college and onwards phone. Even as my tastes in music changed and evolved, The Pillows were a mainstay, and my appreciation for their work only grew deeper once I was able to find translations to their lyrics and finally understand what they were saying. But even when I finally knew the meaning of the words, I wasn't surprised by what they said. I felt like I already knew what they were saying, almost despite the language.
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It is pretty much impossible for me to separate The Pillows from FLCL- every song of theirs, even if its never been used in the show or its subsequent seasons, is colored by that one night I decided to stay up late in August 2003. A night that, I've come to realize, changed the trajectory of my life forever.
Thank you, My Twilight
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A hair-raising Tale: The Enchantment of iFoto's Virtual Hair Try On
In the ancient days, when the world was woven with magic and the air was thick with the scent of possibility, there lived a realm where beauty was not just a fleeting moment but an enduring quest. Enter the realm of iFoto, a beacon of technological wonder that has swept through the land like a breath of fresh air, promising to turn the dreams of hair styling into reality.
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Ah, the hair! That crown atop our heads, the symbol of our inner beauty, the canvas for our creativity. Imagine, if you will, a time when the only way to gauge the allure of a new hairstyle was through the pages of magazines or the kind words of a trusted stylist. Such a time, indeed, was the past.
But now, in this age of digital enchantment, the future of styling has arrived. With iFoto's Virtual Hair Try On, the veil of uncertainty has been lifted, and we are free to roam the land of hair styling as if we were faeries dancing in the emerald fields of innovation.
Ah, but how does one partake in this marvel?"" you may ask, your eyes twinkling with curiosity. It is simple, dear reader, as simple as the touch of a wand on a crystal ball. With iFoto, you need only upload a photo of your own, and voilà! The Virtual Hair Try On converts your visage into a canvas of endless possibilities.
Whether you seek the boldness of a pixie cut, the elegance of a sleek bob, or the whimsy of a beachy wave, iFoto's AI haircut simulator is at your command. You want to see how you'd fare as the mythical king of hair with a flowing mane, or as the graceful queen with a cascade of locks? The choice is yours, and the results are instant.
But wait, there's more! iFoto's Virtual Hair Try On is not just a playground for the whimsical, it is a sanctuary for the identifying. With a click of a button, you can experiment with colors, lengths, and textures, all in the comfort of your own home. Imagine, if you could, the thrill of testing the waters of a new hue without the fear of commitment!
Is this magic, or is it merely a trick of the light?"" some might think about. But fear not, for iFoto is a true sorcerer of the digital age. The Virtual Hair Try On is powered by advanced artificial intelligence, a beast of sophistication that learns from your preferences and suggestions, growing ever more adept at predicting the styles that will resonate with your soul.
Ah, but what of the common folk?"" you might inquire, your heart filled with a desire to share the wonders of iFoto with all. Rest assured, the magic of iFoto is for everyone, from the young to the young at heart. It is a bridge that spans the gap between the artiste and the everyman, connecting us all through the common thread of hair styling.
So, dear reader, let us begin on this journey of discovery together. With iFoto's Virtual Hair Try On, the future of beauty is at your fingertips, and the world is your oyster. Are you ready to embrace the change, to cast aside the constraints of the past, and to let your hair be the vessel of your inner beauty?
The future is now, and it's flowing with the grace of iFoto's Virtual Hair Try On. Will you join us in this enchanted quest for the perfect hairstyle, or will you remain a prisoner to the old ways? The choice is yours, brave adventurer of the beauty realm.
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R.C. Gorman, Moon River, lithograph
R.C Gorman was an internationally recognized queer Navajo artist and namesake of the R.C Gorman Navajo Gallery of Sedona in 2016, the fourth of its kind, with the first being in Taos, New Mexico where he lived and worked until his death in 2005. A prolific third-generation artist, he was friends with Andy Warhol and Elizabeth Taylor and became a mainstream artist in his lifetime, yet always prioritized sticking to his roots and representing his culture. Dawn Walker, the Sedona gallery’s manager, told Sedona Monthly that “his work bridge[d] the gap between avant-garde and commercial art.”. He was also dubbed the “Picasso of American Indian Artists” by the New York Times. His lithographs often feature Navajo women admiring, or at least in the midst of, the beautiful Arizona landscape. Recurring backdrops include where he used to tend sheep with his grandmother and aunts, in Canyon de Chelly, where he’d often draw on sand, mud, rocks and sculpted with clay. His grandmother, who he also lived with, encouraged him to become an artist while equipping him with the stories of his artist ancestors and Navajo legends.
His tranquil scenes of Indigenous life sometimes verge on the surreal, creating a mystical, dreamy scene for the viewer to fall into. The role of the woman here honours Indigenous women as earth nurturers. Gorman’s stylistic tendencies borrow from Navajo pottery design and Mexican murals, re-interpreting and re-contextualizing them in these paintings. His work was important in shaping the modern Indigenous artistic aesthetic, and became highly influential for contemporary Indigenous artists today.
SOURCES:
https://sedonamonthly.com/2017/r-c-gorman-navajo-gallery-sedona/
Image source: Photograph by Michael Thompson for Sedona Monthly
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Searching the Ingenious Spectrum: Style Communication, Graphic Design, and Interior Design Degrees. In the realm of ingenious occupations, the chances are large and varied. As visual communication winds up being significantly important across markets, pursuing specialized degrees like design interaction, graphic style, and interior decoration opens doors to a world of creative expression and expert chances. In this blog site, we relax the significance of these degrees, clarifying the lively fields they represent. Fashion Communication Courses: Crafting Stories Through Design. Design is more than just clothes; it's a type of expression that connects identity, culture, and art. Fashion communication courses bridge the gap in between the fashion industry and the audience through tactical visual storytelling. Students signed up in these courses discover how to convey the essence of trademark name, collections, and patterns to enthrall customers. From producing aesthetically attractive lookbooks to curating impactful social networks product, fashion communication courses get ready students with skills to effectively engage style stories. The curriculum normally consists of design journalism, photography, public relations, and marketing methods. Graduates can take a look at functions such as style editor, stylist, PR expert, or material designer in a dynamic market that grows on improvement and imagination. Graphic Design Degree: Where Art Satisfies Communication. In an increasingly digital age, graphic style is the structure of visual communication. A graphic design degree prepares students to blend creative perceptiveness with technical abilities, developing visuals that resonate with audiences throughout numerous platforms. Through courses in typography, layout style, digital illustration, and user experience (UX) style, trainees get a comprehensive understanding of visual looks and interaction principles. Graphic designers have the power to form trademark name identities, boost user experiences, and convey complex concepts through remarkable visuals. Whether it's developing logo design styles, web interface, product packaging, or print products, a graphic design degree empowers individuals to correspond concepts into impactful visuals. Graduates can find themselves running in ad agency, design studios, publishing houses, or maybe pursuing self-employed chances. Interior Design Degree: Changing Areas into Experiences. Interior decoration pertains to producing environments that promote sensations, manage efficiency, and expose the character of their residents. An interior decoration degree exceeds visual appeals, teaching trainees to balance kind and function, cultural impacts, and sustainability in their designs. Through courses in spatial preparation, item choice, lighting design, and task management, students discover to alter areas into properly developed experiences. Interior designers have the ability to shape how people get in touch with their environments, whether it's homes, workplaces, retail locations, or hospitality areas. They consider elements like ergonomics, color psychology, and environment-friendly effect to produce places that resonate with clients' needs and goals. Graduates can check out professions as interior designers, location coordinators, style experts, or perhaps set designers for movie and television.
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‘Can’t You See Me?’ Lyric Analysis (The Day The World Burned, We...)
Ahh, my namesake (and my first title track with TXT)! Perhaps I should have started with this one...
Released with The Dream Chapter: ETERNITY, May 2020.
The song marked a distinct shift in TXT’s style and concept, from youthful and magical to dark and vengeful. Fire was a particular motif, in the MVs, choreography, and lyrics. This was a complete plot twist, and was both completely unexpected, and absolutely what we would expect from TXT. It perfectly rounded out the Dream Chapter trilogy, and showed the beginnings of the consequences of the boys’ mistakes in the previous two albums. Along with Minisode, it bridged into the dreaded Chaos Chapter.
The Korean name of the song, which translates to, ‘The Day the World Burned, We...’ is very unique and interesting. It ends on a cliffhanger with the elipsis, and has an aspect of uncertainty - we never know - do we fill in the gaps ourselves, or do they just not tell us what they did? The matter-of-fact nature of the name makes it very creepy, like they just stood by and watched everything burn (think of that meme of the grinning girl in front of the burning house). Let’s just say, it’s considerably more creepy than the English title.
The song itself describes the falling out between the group, and the consequences of their anger and pain. It is very sinister and Gothic. There are a few interesting line distributions, and some interesting transation differences.
For instance, the line ‘friends don’t understand me any more,’ is sung by each of the members individually, except for Beomgyu, who only sings it with others. Was this a stylistic choice, or does it have meaning? Does Beomgyu not voice his concerns because he doesn’t want Taehyun to notice that he is the sketchy one? He did murder Taehyun in the MV, so maybe he’s just trying to cover his trail?
The teasers that came with the MV were ridiculously confusing, and I still don’t really know what was going on. But everyone is suspicious in some ways - why did Soobin lie? Why did Beomgyu murder Taehyun? Why did Yeonjun cause so much destruction? What happened to Kai? And why is Taehyun investigating and staring into our souls constantly?
No one is in the right.
The choreography is also key in telling the story of ‘Can’t You See Me?’ It, along with the MV, styling, teasers, and especially the lyrics, shows both chaos and insanity, and many symbols of a broken friendship and youth (think the ‘crumbled sandcastle’ and the pinky promise).
In my storyline playlist, the track is after ‘Blue Hour’ and before ‘Magic. Why did I put it there? I don’t really remember. Perhaps because the end of the ‘Blue Hour’ MV shows Beomgyu stepping on the book/grimoire, a symbol of their friendship and power, and because ‘Eternally’ comes after ‘CYSM,’ and ‘Magic’ comes before ‘Eternally’.
Yup, I think that was it.
Full lyric analysis below the line.
Can’t You See Me? (The Day The World Burned, We...)
‘Scintilla’ is a synonym of ‘iota’, but this didn’t seem to make sense, so I dug deeper. It also seems to be a variety of blueberry. Blueberris represent youth, eternity, optimism and confidence in the future. All of these are aspects of the TXT storyline which bloomed in the first two albums and burned in this one.
HYBE really like their flora and fauna references.
It’s a lyric analysis post, but I ought to mention the choraography here. In the ‘who’s a liar?’ part, Kai and Yeonjun make pinky promises. It is debated whether Beomyu makes a finger gun or a pinky promise. Soobin and Taehyun both cross their fingers - ihding their lies from everyone else. This is kind of ironic - Soobin’s asks ‘who’s a liar’ while he himself is lying.
We know that Soobin lies, which is an element contributing to the rift between the boys, but we don’t know why Taehyun lies - he is just trying to solve the mystery of who started the breakdown of their friendship. Although it’s possible he lied to get close to others and find the answer. We know that Kai and Yeonjun, although they have their suspicious elements, aren’t liars.
No idea what is going on with Gyu. I’m not sure Gyu knows what’s going on with him either.
I would also like to mention that one piece of lost media - the stage where Soobin made a pinky promise instead of crossing his fingers. This happened once and once only. Taehyun still crossed his fingers. No one knows why this happened, and whether it was a mistake, or was a specific message as part of the storyline. At this point, after searching so much, I kind of wonder if it ever actually existed, or did I (and many others) hallucinate it?
The last two lines of this verse are also, ‘gone in a dream, something, something, abandoned island, that forgotten melody.’ This mention of Magic Island being forgotten is interesting - in this era and the MAGIC era, it is both burnd and forgotten by the boys. It is another symbol of their friendship, and is forgotten as they drift apart.
So, Soobin and Yeonjun are the two members who say ‘save me,’ and it is pretty clear why they want to be - Yeonjun wants to be saved from his endless death, and Soobin wants to be saved from the state of being forgotten and alone that he is in during the ‘Eternity concept trailer.’
Conclusions
This song, and the whole album, did major heavy lifting in the story. Very important, very snazzy, and wonderfully dark and Gothic. It is on the border of horror, but is perhaps even more horrific for its real life inspirations.
I just love it so much. What a time to be alive during CYSM era!
#txt#tomorrow x together#moa#txt theories#tdc#the dream chapter#eternity#the dream chapter: eternity#lyric analysis#cysm#can't you see me?
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LGBTQ+ and Queer Operated/Founded Brands
A composite list of some of the notable brands I have worked with or been in contact with throughout my time as a stylist. Rooted in queer communities, founded by LGBTQ+ designers, and dedicated to pursuing gender inclusive styles as well as providing an uplifting community committed to showcasing the talents of LGBTQ+ persons. A number of these also have a deal of activity in supporting POC or black owned and operated fashion brands and design studios.
Otherwild: Los Angeles, California.
Queer identified and woman-owned, Otherwild was established in 2012. It is a store, design studio, and event space. They offer apparel and accessories, as well as lo/no-waste home cleaning products and personal care products. Very grassroots and have a foundation of ethics and sustainability, working in earnest to establish a countercultural relationship to exploitative, extractive, and excessive consumer capitalist culture. They’re quite cost-effective with fair pricing on their range of products.
Rebirth Garments: Chicago, Illinois.
Entirely gender non-conforming, Rebirth Garments caters specifically to all non-binary, trans, and disabled. Their clothing line is custom made upon order, touting a distinct lack of standard sizes since part of their mission and manifesto is to tailor their styles to exactly the consumer’s specifications regardless of body type. Their party line is “Radical Visibility” and have a zine under the same name; their manifesto expressed as a desire to establish and nurture a community of people that have been excluded from mainstream fashion but are still deserving of an outlet to feel confident in expressing pride in the intersections of identity. Their materials are all vibrant and wild, bold and exuberant as a means to challenge the ableist and sizest ideals of mainstream fashions which still centers on gender and binary conforming styles. -- They also offer virtual lessons on accessibility, entrepreneurship, and much more.
Automic Gold: New York City, New York.
Queer owned and queer operated all inclusive jewelry, Automic Gold promotes their products as the most comfortable and versatile jewelry available. The founder is genderqueer and makes a point to create truly genderless accessories and does so with designs that specifically mix and warp the essence of masculinity and femininity, bringing together that which is both outside and inside to form that which is beyond. Sustainable and eco-friendly, all of their jewelry is made from reclaimed gold and 100% recyclable material. Automic Gold is the only known jeweler that carries rings in sizes 2 to 16 and utilize this point to shade the fashion industry for being so constrained by sizing standards.
Wildfang: Los Angeles, California/Portland, Oregon.
Women found, women run, women oriented. Wildfang is seated in the belief that women can and should wear whatever they want and be whatever they want. They give much of their profits to charities and organizations that center on the rights of the oppressed communities, namely queer, reproductive, and immigrant activism. Their collections offer full suits tailored to a female body, workwear made of truly durable materials to outlast even the worst of working conditions, and button ups that won’t gap at the boobs and are not super form-fitting. They promote the sort of modern feminism that holds no underlying toxic ideals of woman’s superiority, and works in the name of women having their rights unrestricted so that they can live their fullest lives with a true sense of self and self-worth alike.
STUZO CLOTHING: Los Angeles, California.
Steeped in the ideals of love, people, and life STUZO celebrates existence without emphasis on identity. Women owned and black owned, STUZO offers apparel with no gender bias with designs meant to invoke thought and feeling; an experience of the self, expressed without boundary. STUZO looks at clothing as being without life and therefore cannot be limited by borders of gender; textiles worn and filled out by consumers breathing life into them.
PYRAMID SEVEN: Chicago, Illinois.
A niche brand; they provide boxer briefs for periods, not gender. Their philosophy and belief is that regardless of where you fall on the gender spectrum or identify yourself as, if you menstruate you should be wearing their briefs. Designed with comfort and protection in mind, PYRAMID SEVEN briefs offer assurance that there is no longer a need to worry about leakage or bagginess - discomfort does not exist in their brand. These briefs are made to be used either in tandem with menstrual products of all kinds or even for free bleeding, it’s all at behest to comfort during an uncomfortable time. They are also advocates of privacy and neither reveal themselves too freely nor make comments on their consumer base, only expressing the validity of their representation being that of all who menstruate.
Fluide: Brooklyn, New York.
Beauty brand founded by a mother’s goal to establish a gender-expansive beauty line to celebrate under-represented faces and voice, supporting young people’s self-expression and creativity. Fluide is queer oriented and offers a full range of vegan/cruelty free cosmetics for all skin tones + types and gender expression. Their belief is that makeup is joyful, transformative, and meant to be inclusive of all with a wish of being expressive and to invent themselves as they want to be seen. They are a platform of queer voices showcasing queer beauty and work with many LGBTQ+ non-profits and advocate for revolutionizing the world of fashion and all of it’s mainstream conception of beauty standards and create a style space of authenticity.
Official Rebrand: New York City, New York.
A unique brand founded by a non-binary artist, Official Rebrand revives discarded clothing and remakes designs by breathing life back into what was unwanted. The mastermind behind the concept paints or otherwise alters (rebrands) items that have been cast aside and turns them into works of art which in turn proposes an anti-waste alternative. The rebranding process strips clothing of their proposed gender categories and promotes the fluidity of identity. Official Rebrand dominates the medium where art and fashion overlap, reintroducing his pieces without any sense of today’s arbitrary societal constraints.
PHLEMUNS: Los Angeles, California.
Black and queer owned/operated, PHLEMUNS is a non-binary all inclusive brand that seeks to merge elements of nostalgia and modern contemporary fashion. With a goal of bridging the gap between high fashion and every day communities, this brand takes what is called a slow-fashion approach to their designs and crafts meticulously and intentionally on styles meant to be seen as accessible, inclusive, and wholly unisex. This is a brand which exists in the grey areas of society, fashion, and thrives on the idea of intersecting identity.
NO SESSO: Los Angeles, California.
The brand name itself is Italian for “no sex/gender” and the fashion it produces truly encompasses this meaning. This is a fashion house that cranks out collections specifically targeting conventions of art, fashion, and culture. Their lines offer ranges in color, fabrics, prints, and reconstructed materials but their true signature is hand embroidery. Much of their collections are made from upcycled fabrics and materials found at flea markets and make use of patchwork designs as a motif of their community-based foundations. Think streetwear but couture, and this is what NO SESSO is defined by.
gc2b: Maryland, USA.
Trans-owned, founded, and operated. gc2b produced the first chest binder and snapped off transitional apparel and established themselves as the first gender-affirming company in the industry. The credence of the company is comfortable, safe, and accessible binding options designed by trans people for trans people and to accomodate the vast spectrum of humanity. gc2b has donated over 6000 binders to those in need and sponsors over 100 LGBTQ+ organizations while working extensively with LGBTQ+ communities and charities to raise funds and awareness.
Likely I will revise this post from time to time and update the listing.
I really like being able to use my position as a platform to provide notice of undervalued communities within the fashion industry and world of style. I have often purchased outright and incorporated many key pieces of some of my most notable styles and ensembles from LGBTQ+ brands that deserve recognition and think of it as a soft promotion of their talent and falls within the conduct my company expects me to abide.
Originally I did intend to have links in this post to make checking them out easier, but I was having some issues with tumblr being crotchety and had to forgo them sadly. Still, I encourage anyone interested to take a peek at their online sites or social medias - they’re all very lovely and inspirational!
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TerraMythos 2021 Reading Challenge - Book 6 of 26
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Title: The Killing Moon (Dreamblood #1) (2012)
Author: N. K. Jemisin
Genre/Tags: Fantasy, First-Person, Third-Person, Female Protagonist, LGBT Protagonist, Asexual Protagonist.
Rating: 8/10
Date Began: 2/07/2021
Date Finished: 2/13/2021
Peace is sacred in the walled city-state of Gujaareh, and must be maintained at any cost. The Gatherers are a priesthood tasked with maintaining this goal. In the name of Hananja, Goddess of the moon, they walk the city at night and harvest Dreamblood-- the magic of dreams-- from Gujaareh's denizens. They bring the peace of death to those who need it... and to those judged criminal or corrupt.
But something else haunts Gujaareh's streets. A Reaper, a rogue Gatherer driven to endless madness and hunger from Dreamblood, is preying on the innocent, casting their souls into an eternal nightmare. Ehiru, one of the elder Gatherers, finds himself caught in the middle of a political conspiracy between his priesthood, the holy Prince, and the monstrous Reaper. An insidious corruption runs deeper than Ehiru knows-- and it may be too late to stop.
The Gatherer’s eyes glittered in her memory, so dark, so cold--but compassionate, too. That had been the truly terrifying thing. A killer with no malice in his heart: it was unnatural. With nothing in his heart, really, except the absolute conviction that murder could be right and true and holy.
Full review, major spoilers, and content warnings under the cut.
Content warnings for the book: Graphic depictions of violence, gore, death, warfare, and murder-- including death of children and mass murder. Discussions of p*dophilia/grooming (nothing graphic). Brief reference to r*pe. One character is a minor infatuated with a much older character-- not reciprocated. Rigid gender and social roles, including slavery. Magic-induced addiction and withdrawal. Loss of sanity/altered mental states/mind control/gaslighting.
Last year I read N. K. Jemisin's short story collection How Long 'Til Black Future Month? One of my favorite stories was The Narcomancer, which explored a vibrant, ancient Egypt-inspired world with themes of faith, dreams, violence, and duty. I wanted to read more from the universe, and finally got to do so with The Killing Moon, the first book in the Dreamblood duology.
Jemisin's creativity in worldbuilding is, in my opinion, unmatched in the fantasy genre. I thought Gujaareh was super interesting and fleshed out. While the ancient Egypt inspiration is obvious, it's also clearly an original fantasy culture in its own right. Everything from religious practices to social castes to gender roles to the fucking architecture felt methodical and thought out. The base premise of assassin priests compassionately harvesting magic from people is a fascinating idea and totally gripping. The pacing is a little slow, but I didn't mind so much because learning about the world was so fun.
While there's a hefty amount of worldbuilding exposition in the story, Jemisin doles out information gradually. Bits and pieces of Gujaareen law, etc are introduced at the beginning of each chapter, and usually have a thematic connection to the events of the story. Information is sparing at times, meaning that one doesn't have a full picture of how everything ties together until pretty far into the story. Even something as crucial as the dream-based magic system isn't fully realized until near the end. I like the mystery of this approach, and I can appreciate how difficult it must be to keep the reader invested vs frustrating them with a lack of info. Jemisin consistently does a great job with this in everything I've read by her.
I did want a little bit more from the narcomancy aspect of the story, since dream worlds are such a huge part of Gujaareen religion and culture. In The Killing Moon we see just a few dreamscapes, and then only briefly. There's so much potential with narcomancy as a magic system, yet most of what we see is an outside, "real-world" perspective, which isn't terribly unique compared to other kinds of magic. Dreamblood being a narcotic (heh) with some Extra Fantasy Stuff is interesting, but I wanted more. Perhaps The Shadowed Sun expands on this.
Characterization is the other Big Thing with this book, as it's very much a character-driven story. Overall I'm torn. There's some things I really liked, and others that felt underdeveloped. I'll go over my favorite things first.
Ehiru is probably the strongest of the main cast, and I really enjoyed his character arc. Here's a guy who is completely devoted to his faith, regardless of what others may think of it. Yet he's not a self-righteous dick. He sees Gathering as a loving and holy thing, so when he errs in the line of duty, it totally consumes him. And things just get worse and worse for him as the story progresses. Say what you will about the Gatherers and the belief system of Gujaareh; Ehiru comes off as intensely caring, devoted, and compassionate, and I genuinely felt bad for him throughout the novel. I'm not religious but these kinds of faith narratives are super interesting to me.
Looking at characterization as a whole, I appreciate The Killing Moon's gray morality. No one in the story is wholly good or evil. The Gatherers are an obvious example, considering they murder people in the dead of night in the name of their Goddess-- but do so to help those in need. Despite being a megalomaniacal mass-murderer, the Prince has believable reasons for his horrific actions, and they’re not wholly selfish. Even the Reaper is a clear victim of Dreamblood's addictive and mind-altering nature; it sometimes regresses into the person it used to be, which is sad and disturbing. There's a lot of moral complexity in the characters and the laws and belief systems they follow. This kind of nuanced writing is much more interesting to read than a black and white approach.
Beyond this, though, I struggled to connect with the other leads. Nijiri's utter devotion to Ehiru is basically his whole character, and while the tragedy of that is interesting for its own reasons, I kept wanting more from him. Sunandi is a good "outsider perspective" character but I had a hard time understanding her at times. For example, the two most important people in her life, Kinja and Lin, die in quick succession. Yet besides a brief outburst when Lin dies, this barely seems to affect her. I get people mourn in all kinds of ways but it seems odd. Her sexual tension with Ehiru is also weird and underdeveloped. Perhaps this is meant to be a callback to The Narcomancer, but it doesn't accomplish much in this narrative.
Another issue I had was emotional connection to minor-yet-important characters. Kinja dies offscreen before the story, yet is supposed to be a big part of Sunandi's past (and thus emotional arc). But he's never even in a flashback, so I never felt WHY he mattered to her. Una-une is the big one, though. It's pretty easy to figure out he's the Reaper by process of elimination, but he's barely in the story outside of a few early mentions. There's this part near the end that's clearly meant to be an emotional moment; Ehiru realizes his (apparently beloved) mentor Una-une is the horrific monster, and thus a foil to the situation between himself and Nijiri. But we never saw the relationship between Ehiru and Una-une, and nothing really established this prior... so there's no emotional payoff. It felt at times like this book was part of a much longer story that for whatever reason we never got to see. In some ways that can be useful to make the world and history seem vast, but here it made me feel emotionally distant from several characters. Perhaps flashbacks with these important characters would have helped bridge the gap.
Credit where it's due, though; it's clear a lot of the dark, often brutal tone and stylistic flair in The Killing Moon was adapted into Jemisin's fantastic Broken Earth trilogy. Probably the most notable are the cryptic interlude chapters told from the perspective of a mysterious character whose identity is unknown until the end. We learn bits and pieces of the beliefs and lore of the world through excerpts of common laws and wisdom. I also liked the occasional stream-of-consciousness writing during tense or surreal moments. The Broken Earth is an improvement overall, but I can appreciate The Killing Moon for establishing some of these techniques early.
I enjoyed this book overall and am planning to read The Shadowed Sun. While I have some criticisms about The Killing Moon, I think it just suffers in comparison to other works I've read by Jemisin. It was still an entertaining and intense read, with a captivating and original world. It's not a story for the faint of heart, though, so please mind the content warnings.
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Put Me In a Movie
Keanu Reeves x Reader. Requested (A/n- I know huge age gaps aren’t for everyone, but alas, it is the bases of this series. Warnings will be included on a chapter by chapter basis. This is sort of a half chapter to set the tone between the two, next week, things are bumped up a few notches. For more info, you can heck out the series summary here)
Prologue
“Stop doing that,” Walter warned as he sank down next to her on the plush grey sofa in the private waiting room. They were in Los Angeles, at a popular studio; Y/n had recently gotten a part in an action film, where she’d play a nurse who had found a rogue C.I.A operative bleeding out near her apartment. It was seemingly your run of the mill; young girl getting caught up with an older guy, damsel in distress, high action movie, but her agent; Walter thought it would be a good way to transition onto the big screen as the television show that she starred in came to a close after six seasons.
Y/n’s head snapped up, turning to face him, her eyes wide, “Doing what? I’m not doing anything!” She frowned, though she knew exactly what he was talking about; Y/n hand been wringing her fingers since they were in the car, on the way to the studio. Walter had been her manager since she started her career at sixteen and knew her almost as well as her own father; he could tell when she was doing one of her nervous ticks, even the subtle ones.
The graying man chuckled, offering her one of the disposable cups filled with coffee, which might not have been the best choice of beverage when one was already vibrating with nervous anticipation, “Here, drink this. And try not to spill anything on that top; Grace,” her stylist, “Will kill us both if you do.”
“I won’t,” Y/n grumbled, “I’m not a kid, you know,” she rolled her eyes, bringing the scalding hot latte to her lips.
“Relax,” Walter went on, “I know,” he sighed, drinking from his own coffee before he continued, “I guess I’m nervous too, my wife says that I micro-manage when I’m nervous.”
At that, Y/n chuckled and slowly, the knot in her stomach starting to loosen, “She’s right. The last time we were here you kept asking me if I was sure I wasn’t cold.”
“It was raining and the A.C was on,” he defended, “What the hell is taking them so long?” Walter grumbled lowly after a couple minutes.
“We’re early,” Y/n reminded, “There’s still,” she glanced at her phone in her lap, “Fifteen minutes.”
Sighing again, Walter didn’t respond, opting to deal with a few emails on his own phone; getting back to other clients and organizing her appearances for the week.
Keanu stood, near his car, smoking a cigarette while browsing through the excerpt of the script that they were using that morning. He had already read it through a couple times earlier that week but wanted to be sure that he had everything right. The scene was supposed to be the one where his character would meet his co-star’s; Y/n Y/l/n.
Prior to that day, Keanu had heard of the young girl and had seen her on television interviews in passing. Up until then, she had starred in drama series called Behind Lipstick which chronicled the life of a young model combating struggles with addiction, her mental health issues and the pressure of fame in the superficial world she lived in. Keanu himself had never watched the series but his sisters loved it and Y/n had even won a few Emmy's and Golden Globes for her performance.
The film was supposed to be her introduction to the ‘movie’ side of things and while Keanu was excited and honored to star alongside her what was to be a milestone in her career, finding out that she was also supposed to be his love interest in the movie was still something that he was having trouble getting used to. She was just so young; twenty-two seemed so far away from fifty-five. “Hollywood has a daddy kink,” is what his agent had said when Keanu had first found out and while he could certainly see the appeal, he wasn’t sure if working with a woman that young was his wisest move.
“Keanu!” Someone called from behind him, and he shook off his thoughts as the familiar female voice grew closer, “They’re almost ready to start.”
It was his agent Eleanor, a woman just about his age, who Keanu had worked with for most of his career, “Yeah, okay,” Keanu pushed off the side of his black Porsche, tossing the stub of his smoke to the ground stomping it out with the toe of his worn boot. At an unhurried pace, Keanu shoved his phone into his pocket, joining Eleanor as she headed back towards the large building in the near distance.
“Are you ready?” Walter asked quietly, close to Y/n’s ear as they took their seats at the long, varnished table. The conference room that the director had instructed them to meet at was a large one, with floor to ceiling windows that let the bright L.A sunshine in, the hint of warmth mellowing out the air-conditioning. It was a huge contrast from the window-less, flat-toned minimalist room that Y/n had auditioned in a few months prior.
“Of course,” Y/n nodded, shifting in the cushions of the leather chair. Laid out in the center table were several varieties of refreshments; hot water and over turned cups for tea and coffee, and a selection of finger foods. Though everything looked inviting, Y/n wouldn’t say it out loud, but she was far to nervous to eat and was certain that any more coffee would have her bouncing off the walls.
Closer to the edges of the table, nearer to the seats; were copies of the script along with pencils. Not too long after Y/n and Walter had taken their place, an older woman in a well-fitting pale pink skirt suit, her heels clicking softly of the black tiles, entered. Close behind her, a taller man with dark hair falling just past his ears walked in, looking like every sin in a movie where the girl next door falls in love with the older man who just moved in; wearing a sport coat over the plain black t-shirt and dark jeans. Keanu fucking Reeves. He was still wearing his sunglasses, though the minute he walked in, he removed them, hooking the Prada shades on the ‘v’ of his t-shirt.
For some reason, though Y/n knew that they’d be in the movie together, she was still a little in awe of his presence at their scheduled table read. ‘Awe’ that Walter would argue was vastly misplaced; she had earned her place in Hollywood and through she hadn’t been in the business for as long as Keanu had , certainly her status should have granted her some immunity to being star-struck. If only that were true.
Quietly, greetings were exchanged and to her surprise, Keanu took the seat directly to her left, shifting awkwardly to offer his hand, “Keanu,” he said briskly.
I know were the words she almost stuttered, but thankfully, she was able to sum up enough courage and push away her initial ‘breathless wonder’ and coolly return, “Y/n, it’s nice to meet you,” she smiled politely. Keanu’s hand was large, easily swallowing hers up and was rougher than she expected, though the little embrace was still warm, welcoming and seemed genuine.
At that, Keanu returned her smile with a faint one of his own, “The pleasure is mine,” he assured her. So he really was as humble as they said.
The end of their introduction was met with a bout of awkward silence; Y/n was too shy to initiate a conversation and Keanu couldn’t think of a thing that he’d have to talk about with a girl her age. When the director; Jackson Gardener, a known name in the genre, walked in, they both straightened in their seats and quickly, another round of introductions were exchanged.
Sinking into his seat, Jackson glanced between the two, pushing up his black-framed glassed up onto the bridge of his nose with the joint of his thumb. Jackson’s whitish-grey hair stuck out widely on all sides, looking severely wind tousled and his beard seemed to be overgrown. “I see you two have met,” he said, gruff and absent, shoving up the sleeves of his charcoal sweater, “Good,” he nodded, “Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to get into this.”
Y/n’s lips quivered; was he really just going to get started, no setting the scene, no background on their roles and not even a hint of what he was expecting from them? She was about to speak up, ask a question or two, when, surprisingly, Keanu put a tentative palm on her jean clad thigh, his eyes barely meeting hers as if to say, ‘its not worth it.’
Sucking in a nervous breath, Y/n nodded slightly in understanding, grateful that Keanu had possibly just saved her skin. Even after he moved his hand, the warmth of it lingered on Y/n’s leg and she had to fight the feeling that came with the thought of Keanu’s hands on her. Y/n wondered if every other woman who had come in contact with him felt like that. Trying to ignore the whole thing, she picked up the script and tried to immerse herself in the role, hoping that her flustered feelings weren’t seeping through.
Thankfully, the table read was over in just under and hour and while Jackson’s praises were limited and were delivered with his same stoic tone and un-meeting eyes, he had been kind enough to let everyone go shortly after it was over, with promises that they’d all meet in the near future on location.
Y/n was a few paces behind Walter in the parking lot when someone jogged up beside her, his long legs easily bringing him into pace with her steps; Keanu. “Hey,” he said, an she nearly jumped.
For the briefest second, Walter slowed down to turn round and look at them, though, quickly dismissing his concern when he saw it was Keanu. “Hey,” Y/n tried to smile, combating the reappearance of her nerves, “Uh....what’s up?” She couldn’t believe that he was speaking to her. Why was he speaking to her?
Keanu’s hands were in his pockets and his sunglasses blocked out the sun from his eyes, not mention adding to his cool, suave appearance. How could one man be afforded the opportunity to look that good in his fifties?
He towered over her, though Y/n supposed it was because she had opted to pair her light-washed ripped jeans and stylish button up with flat pumps, not aiding her small stature. Maybe it was because she was so nervous, or maybe it was just a part his nature that didn’t translate through the camera during interviews, but Keanu seemed more confident that she’d thought he’d be, seemingly not noticing what a nervous mess he was making of her.
Removing one hand from his pocket to rake his nails through his short beard, Keanu thought on his words for a moment, before he eventually spoke again, “I just wanted to let you know; working with Jackson is gonna be a little tough; he can be kind of an asshole sometimes,” that was something she had quickly caught on to, “But don’t let him spook you, he’s really just one of those ‘crazed artist types’; lots of talk, loads of talent, but sometimes his head is so far up his ass that he forgets that he’s working with actual people,” at that, Keanu chuckled quietly, “The point is; don’t let him get to you. And if you wanna talk, I’d be happy to listen.”
They were approaching a black SUV and Walter was already waiting at the back door for Y/n, though, she knew that he’d give her the space that she needed. “Sure,” Y/n blushed despite herself, “Thanks.”
“No problem, why don’t you take my number, and I’ll take yours?” Keanu had already gotten his phone out and Y/n took a minute to do the same. Briefly, they exchanged devices and by extension; contacts. “Alright,” Keanu determined, reclaiming his cell, “Well, I've gotta get going, but I’ll see you around Y/n,” he quickly patted her shoulder and was already turning to walk off before she could muster up a dumbfounded goodbye.
She had just traded numbers with the Keanu Reeves.
It was about to be an eventful three months.
******
Tagging- @fickensteinn @harrisongslimited @babygirltaina @fanficsrusz @paanchu786
#Keanu reeves#keanu reeves x reader#keanu reeves x you#keanu reeves fanfic#john wick#john wick x reader#john wick x you#john wick fanfic#put me in a movie#ff#fanfiction#fanfic#fulff#angst#keanu reeves series#keanu reeves fanfiction
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2. Applied Linguistics and Language Use
In this chapter of his book on Applied Linguistics, Davis (2008) explores non-educational areas where applied linguistics works in order to analyze problematic situation and design plans of action. Fields such as Lexicography, Forensic linguistics, Language Treatment and Applied Stylistics have all benefited from the interventions made by applied linguists. In this paper, I illustrate some of the instances discussed in the chapter, in which the field of applied linguistics have acted to facilitate communication on hard-to-navigate grounds by giving unbiased assessments of the issues and evening out the passions stirred by societal affairs.
On his discussion of social problems where applied linguistics is likely to be of use, Davis exposes a wide range of circumstances where misunderstandings between the parties involved leads to serious consequences such as wrongful convictions, inadequate medical diagnoses and unfair institutional demands. One of the issues where language is only a part of but also plays a “key” role, is when accounts by witnesses or those accused of having committed a crime, are taken by police officers. In this kinds of situations, there exists great room for error because of the possible bias on part of the institution which might lead to partial or full on fabrications of what was actually said. Similarly, it has been demonstrated that medical professionals need to be instructed about the need to modify their condes of communication from a specialized one to one which could be easier to interpret by the patient regardless of their social class. Likewise, graduate students often find themselves struggling when they are only partly proficient in the program’s language of instruction and therefore have to acquiesce to institutional demands such as writing about areas other than the one of study and using the language outside the institution which, under different circumstances, would have little to no relevance for the program itself.
As a way to further discuss the ways in which applied linguistics is to be used in different areas of interest, matters such as the slippage of Standard English, effective writing social class markers and non-discriminatory language, are presented. When it comes to the disagreements over the prepositional use of “due to” and “owing to”, the author highlights the intrinsic fluidity of standard language and writes that what matters most is that “we are sensitive about the ay others feel about language use”. (p.98). Conversely, regarding effective writing, Davis reviews the criticism H.G. Wells received on his preface to the book The Common Sense of War and Peace; and notes how the critical comments and subsequent redraft of the text are a clear example of applied linguists prescribing what is acceptable or not.
Next, the chapter addresses the differences in speech that emerge within different social groups in a community where everybody speaks the same language. One of these manifestation has to do with the vocabulary used by people belonging to distinct social classes, such as upper class words like “present” and “expensive” versus their not-proper counterparts “gift” and “costly”. The argument is made that these are trivial distinctions whose usage does not impede communication but does indicate a social divide. The opposite is true, however, as far as non-discriminatory language is concerned whose advocators have called out the use of assumed gender roles in occupational titles such as “cleaning lady” and “grounds man”, as well as discriminatory humor in the form of racial and ethnic jokes. On these matters, the author suggests that even though such criticisms of the language often do not evolve to language change, the claims are nonetheless valid and should be taken notice of, just as much as people’s doubts regarding language correctness, both issues where applied linguist is to devise answers and treatments that bridge the gap between theory about language and contextual needs.
Applied stylistics is yet another area where applied linguists have lent their expertise to scaffold learners’ reading skills so that they can interact with the literature in a way the ideal expert would; that is, by designing specialized reading materials that develop not only appreciation but also guide students to make educated guesses as to what specific patterns of language choice means both for the writer and reader of the text. In a similar manner, lexicography and the knowledge would-be lexicographers ought to have is a cause of concern since, according to Davis, coming up with a sound text is a matter of making reasonable choices about which words to include or not, on the basis of the kind of audience the dictionary is meant for. Furthermore, for a dictionary could be taken as both a descriptive and prescriptive text of language use, applied linguists are called to “balance the reality of language use and at the same time be sensitive to the attitudes towards that use”. (p.110). Finally, the author considers the controversy around language treatment and contrasts a priori and posteriori artificial languages to modified languages. The first variety of the artificial languages refers to those which are entirely made up of invented elements, while the second kind, for instance romance-based Esperanto, is born out of the combination of two or more existing languages. Modified languages, on the other hand, are simplified versions of one natural language which attempt to help users “cover every day needs” (p.112). On the relatively low success of these languages and not much attention paid by applied linguists, Davis explains that it all comes down to the act that they are unable to provide users with a sense of identity. As shown so far, the field of applied linguistics works outwardly and in tandem with non-linguistic factors in order to get an objective view of the problems that affect particular context; in other words, it understands that language is only one of the many factors that account for social phenomena.
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not to be a nerd but i accidentally just wrote a whole impromptu essay about editing ndjsdksksk im throwing it under a cut bc it's fucking inane and really long but honestly... i just want other people to become as passionate about editing as i am lmaooooo
i also recommend 2 books in the post so if anything at least check those out!
quality books about editing... *chef's kiss* a lot of the basic ones (including blog posts online n such) are geared towards beginners and end up repeating the same info/advice, much of it either oversimplified or misrepresented tbh. but i read one yesterday and i'm reading another one right now that really convey this passion for editing + consideration for it as its own sort of art and i just!!
it's such a weird thing to be passionate about lmao but i AM and i've spent a lot of time the past year or so consciously honing my craft (ik i mention this like 4 times a week i'm just really proud of how much i've learned and improved) and kind of like. solidifying my instincts into conscious choices i guess?
and these GOOD editing books have both a) taught me new information and/or presented familiar information through a new perspective that helped me understand something differently or in more depth, and b) validated or even just put into words certain preferences or techniques that i've developed on my own, that i don't normally see on those more basic lists i mentioned
btw the book i finished yesterday is self-editing for fiction writers: how to edit yourself into print by renni brown and dave king, and the one i'm reading currently is the artful edit: on the practice of editing yourself by susan bell.
the former was pretty sharp and straightforward. the authors demonstrated some of their points directly in the text, which was usually funny enough that i would show certain quotes to my sister without context
("Just think about how much power a single obscenity can have if it’s the only one in the whole fucking book." <- (it was)
"Frequent italics have come to signal weak writing. So you should never resort to them unless they are the only practical choice, as with the kind of self-conscious internal dialogue shown above or an occasional emphasis."
or, my favorite: "There are a few stylistic devices that are so “tacky” they should be used very sparingly, if at all. First on the list is emphasis quotes, as in the quotes around the word “tacky” in the preceding sentence. The only time you need to use them is to show you are referring to the word itself, as in the quotes around the word “tacky” in the preceding sentence. Read it again; it all makes sense.")
and like i said, i also learned some new ideas or techniques (or they articulated vague ideas i already had but struggled to put into practice), AND they mentioned some suggestions that ive literally never seen anyone else bring up (not to say no one has! just that ive never seen it, and ive seen a lot in terms of writing tips, advice, best practices, etc) that ive already sort of established in my own writing
for example they went into pretty fine detail about dialogue mechanics, more than i usually see, and in talking about the pacing and proportion of "beats" and dialogue in a given scene, they explicitly suggested that, if a character speaks more than a sentence or two and you plan on giving them some sort of dialogue tag or an action to perform as a beat, the tag or action should be placed at one of the earliest (if not the first) natural pauses in the dialogue, so as not to distance the character too far from the dialogue -- bc otherwise the reader ends up getting all of the dialogue information first, and then has to go back and retroactively insert the character, or what they're doing, or the way they look/sound while they're giving their little speech
and like this was something ive figured out on my own, mostly bc it jarred me out of something i was reading enough times (probably in fic tbh) that i started noticing it, and realized that it's something i do naturally, kind of to anchor the character to the dialogue mechanic to make sure it makes sense with the actual dialogue
so like. ok here's an example i just randomly pulled from the song of achilles (it was available on scribd so i just looked for a spot that worked to illustrate my point djsmsks)
the actual quote is written effectively, but here's a less effective version first:
“Perhaps I would, but I see no reason to kill him. He’s done nothing to me," Achilles answered coolly.
see and even with such a short snippet it's so much smoother and more vivid just by moving the dialogue tag, not adding or cutting a word:
“Perhaps I would, but I see no reason to kill him.” Achilles answered coolly. “He’s done nothing to me.”
the rhythm of it is better, and the beat that the dialogue tag creates functions as a natural dramatic pause before achilles delivers an incredibly poignant line, both within the immediate context of the scene and because we as the readers can recognize it as foreshadowing. plus, it flows smoothly because that beat was inserted where the dialogue already contained a natural pause, just bc that's how people speak. if you read both versions aloud, they both make sense, but the second version (the original used in the novel) accounts for the rhythm of dialogue, the way people tend to process information as they read, AND the greater context of the story, and as a result packs significantly more purpose, information, and effect into the same exact set of words
and THAT, folks, is the kind of editing minutia i can literally sit and hyperfocus on for hours without noticing. anyway it's a good book lmao
the one i'm reading now is a lot more about the cognitive process/es of editing, so there's less concrete and specific advice (so far, anyway) and more discussion about different mental approaches to editing, as well as tips and tools for making a firm distinction between your writer brain and your editor brain, which is something i struggle with
but there have been so many good quotes that ive highlighted! a lot of just like. reminders and things to think about, and also just lovely articulations of things id thought of or come to understand in much more vague ways.
scribd won't let me copy/paste this one bc it's a document copy and not an actual ebook, but this passage is talking about how the simple act of showing a piece of writing to someone else for the very first time can spark a sudden shift in perspective on the work, bc you'll (or at least i) frantically try to re-read it through their eyes and end up noticing a bunch of new errors -
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or she talked about the perils of constant re-reading in the middle of writing a draft, which is something i struggle with a LOT, both bc i'm a perfectionist and bc i prefer editing to writing so i sit and edit when i'm procrastinating doing the actual hard work of writing lmao
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it's just this side of fake deep tbh but i so rarely see editing discussed like this--as a mixture of art and science, a collaboration between instinct and technique, that really requires "both sides of the brain" to be done well.
and because of the way my own brain works, activities that require such a balanced concentration of creativity and logic really appeal to me. even though ive seen a lot of people (even professional writers) who frame it as the creative art of writing vs the logical discipline of editing. but i think that's such a misleading way of thinking about it, because writing and editing both require creativity and logic -- just different kinds! (not to mention that the line between writing and editing, while mostly clear, can get a little blurry from up close)
but like...all stories have an inner logic to them, even if the writer hasn't explicitly or consciously planned it, and even if the logic is faulty in places in the first couple of drafts. when you're sitting and daydreaming about your story, especially if you're trying to figure out how to bridge the gap between two points or scenes (or, how to write a sequence of events that presents as a logical, inevitable progression of cause and effect), the voice in your head that evaluates an idea and decides to 1) go with it, 2) scrap it, 3) tweak it until it works, or 4) hold onto it in case you want it later? that's your logic! if an idea feels wrong, or like it just doesn't work, it's probably because some part of you is detecting a conflict between some part of the idea and the overall logic of your story. every decision you make as you write is formed by and checked against your own experiential logic, and also by the internal logic of your story, which is far less developed (or at least, one would hope), and therefore more prone to the occasional laspe
but while ive seen a number of articles that discuss the logic of writing, i don't see people gushing as much about the art of editing and it's such a shame
the inner editor is so often characterized as the responsible parent to the writer's carefree child, or a relentless critic of the writer's unselfconscious, unpolished drivel
and it's like... maybe you just hate thinking critically about your work! maybe you view it that way because you're imposing external standards too fiercely onto your writing, and it's sucked the joy out of shaping and sculpting your words until they sing. maybe you prefer to conceive of your writing as divine communication, the process of which must remain unencumbered by lessons learned through experience or the vulnerability of self-reflection, until the buzzkill inner editor shows up with all those "rules" and "conventions" that only matter if you're trying to get published
and like obviously the market doesn't dictate which conventions are worth following, but the majority of widely-agreed-upon writing standards, especially those aimed at beginners, (and most especially those regarding style, as opposed to story structure) have to do with the effectiveness and efficiency of prose, and, in addition to often serving as a shorthand for distinguishing an amateur from a pro, overall help to increase poignancy and clarity, which is crucial no matter the genre or type of writing. and even if you personally believe otherwise, it's better to understand the conventions so you can break them with real purpose.
so editing shouldn't be about trying to shove your pristine artistic masterpiece into a conventional mold, it should be about using the creative instincts of your ear and your logic and experience-based understanding of writing as a craft to hone your words until you've told your story as effectively as possible
thank u for coming to my ted talk ✌️
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⭐️ starstruck | wooseok x reader
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◆ pairing kim wooseok x reader
◆ genre fluff, smut, (angst.. maybe?)
◆ warnings tiny age gap! like by a year.
◆ a/n i am thinking abt making this into a series because i really do love this idea! but please let me know what y’all think. i’ve had this in my head for awhile just thinking about this sort of thing. i rly wanted to give this sort of request to someone but then i just started writing !! i rly love it a lot actually.
◆ inspired by the weekly idol episode that included gfriend, twice, got7 & btob. if you haven’t seen it ! go watch it, it’s worth it. there’s also other episodes where groups are on together but this one is my fave !
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to say you were excited would be an understatement, your group had just made their debut and here you are making your variety show debut but it was a rookie / sunbae special so it meant you’d be in the same room with those that you look up to, in particular, your favorite boy group x1 were taking part but you had heard that it was only the hyung line that was appearing. this caused your stomach to fill with butterflies because you really did look up to them, especially kim wooseok, you had been a fan of his for a long time even in his up10tion days and of course your band mates knew this so they wouldn’t let it go, making kissy noises at you since you arrived on set.
you were sitting in the styling chair, as your stylist made last minute details to your make up, applying a soft rose colour onto the apples of your cheeks and the bridge of your nose as you were the maknae of your group, your look was overall innocent as you were styled wearing a white cotton off the shoulder dress that stopped just slightly above your thighs, you really liked the dressing up part because your stylists did such a good job. once she was done with you, you relaxed into the seat deciding to take a few moments for yourself, “girls!” your manager yelled interrupting your thoughts, “please go over the talents that you’ll be showing today and make sure that each of you are showing your best abilities. this appearance can do a lot for you, seeing as you’ve just debuted. y/n, your acoustic guitar is here if you want to do that cover you spoke about.” you smiled brightly as he remembered your request, nodding, a part of you grateful that your manager really did act like a big brother, taking care of each of you incredibly well, you looked over at the girls who nodded enthusiastically at you agreeing about the cover, “that’s a great idea y/n! maybe we could do some dance covers and just share some funny stories about the dorm?” you nodded softly, “that’s a great idea, f/n-unnie!” you smiled before looking into the mirror, applying more lip tint as you waited for the alert to head to the set, the butterflies never ceased to die down. taking out your phone, noticing the notification from x1members official twitter account, smiling very big noticing it was a post from wooseok, trying your best to hide the blush that was clearly forming on your cheeks, “wow...” you accidentally blurted out causing your band mates to clamber to see your phone but you just ran from them, “it’s nothing!!!!!” you giggled, hiding your phone. “she was probably just staring at wooseok-sunbae, look at her cheeks! it’s clear!” one of them remarked, smiling, “shush! he could hear you!”
— wooseok pov —
it had already been a long day and it was only 9am but with prerecordings that they had to do at music shows and interviews, they were finally at their last schedule of the day which wooseok was so grateful for, he was excited to spend the rest of the day with his members. they made their way through backstage to get to their dressing room, but then the mention of his name caught not only his attention but the rest of his members’ too, they slowed down their pace and peaked into one of the rooms noticing one of the recent rookie girl groups, “she was probably staring at wooseok-sunbae!!!! look at her cheeks!” wooseok darted his eyes over to the girl they were cornering, his heart tightened at the sight of this petite girl whose cheeks were as bright as fresh strawberries, he smirked a little as he took in all of her features, “cute..” he muttered to himself before he was interrupted by her cherublike voice, “shush! he could hear you!” at that moment, wooseok heard a chuckle from behind presumably seungyoun, he shook his head a bit with his smirk still present before making their way to the changing room, settling into his seat as the stylist began their work applying light brown eyeshadow, making sure to blend it carefully, wooseok took this time to look up the girl from before on his phone, smiling as he read over her profile, “y/l/n y/n... you’re so cute...” he sighed softly before scrolling down, his eyes growing in size noticing that you had once stated he was your idol, this really made him feel like he was on cloud nine and he didn’t know how to hide how pleased he indeed was other than letting out a small laugh, smiling to himself, “you’re driving me crazy.. y/n.”
— an hour later / y/n pov —
“all artists! please make your way to the set, thank you!”
you had thought that by now your butterflies would’ve died down but no, they only grew in size if that even made sense, you rubbed your hands together before feeling your leader take your hand in hers, whispering that it will be okay, she knew how nervous you get in these situations especially since you had spoke to her about the fact you didn’t know how you were supposed to act cool in front of your idol, but you shook the thoughts away and smiled at her, making your way towards the set.
— wooseok pov —
the minute the alert was made known, wooseok jumped at the chance to get out of the dressing room, just as he did, he spotted the way you were tightly hand in hand with your member, ‘is everything she does so cute?’ he thought to himself, slowly walking behind you but, every so often peaking at you to see your soft doll like features, noticing how plump your lips were, he smiled to himself feeling himself grow fond of her by the second. as he reached the set, along with his members, he bowed to them and trailed his eyes up and down your body, stopping on your eyes as they locked for a moment before you hurriedly looked away, he noticed how bright red your cheeks got in that moment and it would be a lie if he said he didn’t like that sight. seungwoo decided to make a move, introducing himself to their leader which made things easier for wooseok as he stayed beside his friend, smiling at them before levelling his eyes onto the petite girl that was occupying his thoughts; y/n, he noticed that you wouldn’t look up so he moved over a bit so he was in front of you, his smile never wavering as he looked right at you, taking in your sweet scent that he recognised as a strong cherry flavour.
— y/n pov —
you couldn’t believe it. han seungwoo has just spoken to your group, and your leader who was always so kind and there wasn’t a shy bone in her body had no trouble conversing back with him, but it didn’t even take a moment to register but you definitely noticed wooseok was standing close to his leader, and as much as you desperately wanted to you just couldn’t bring yourself to make eye contact with him, especially after the way ripped your attention from him moments ago out of shyness, so you just kept your head down, not even a second later you felt a presence in front of you and noticed feet just in front of your own, you couldn’t help your curiosity so in a slow action, you tilted your head, meeting eyes with him, your idol, kim wooseok, a small shy smile forming as you gazed into his eyes, ‘he is beyond anything i ever dreamed of.... he is ... beautiful.’ a dreamy sigh left your lips, your eyes widening upon realising your actions, watching as he opened his mouth to speak, “it’s time to line up! when i call your group name, come forward!” wooseok sighed heavily looking at you once more before turning to face the pd as he went through the groups, your heart racing as your group and x1 were left meaning that you were indeed paired up together, your band mates couldn’t help but make kissy noises at you when you all took your spots beside x1, noticing that you were right beside wooseok, you took this time to look up at him and bow, your band mates following you. he smiled at you, returning the bow causing you to lift your hands waving for him to stop because you couldn’t believe your idol was doing that for you. a few minutes had passed as you stood and listened to the pd go on about health, your smile never leaving your face and safety, then you felt a hot breathe against your ear, followed by a whisper, “you look pretty when you smile by the way.” your heart felt like it grew in size, recognising the voice it belonged to before looking to your side and seeing two beautiful deep brown eyes stare back into yours, wooseok smiled at you, you could feel your cheeks burn as your mouth opened a bit trying your best to understand exactly what just happened, ‘kim wooseok just complimented ME!!!!!! what!!!!!!! he must be mistaken’ you lifted your hands once again waving them to disagree with him, but stopping when you noticed the way his eyebrows furrowed, “you are, y/n-ah.” he spoke low, his finger tracing little shapes on the front of your hand that stayed by your side, you were incredibly thankful that you both were at the back. you softly smiled up at him, “y-you too.” you whispered back, taking the chance to compliment your idol, seeing the way he raised his eyebrows and a smile grew on his face made your actions feel worth it, clasping your hands together returning your attention to the pd. ‘he’s so... perfect. but why is he looking at me?’ you thought. ‘she’s so perfect... i’m going crazy.’ wooseok thought to himself, still looking at you.
#kim wooseok imagines#x1 imagines#wooseok imagines#x1 fluff#kim wooseok fluff#wooseok fluff#wooseok angst#wooseok smut#kim wooseok smut#kim wooseok angst
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Searching the Ingenious Spectrum: Style Communication, Graphic Style, and Interior Decoration Degrees In the realm of innovative professions, the opportunities are large and varied. As visual communication ends up being significantly essential across markets, pursuing specialized degrees like design interaction, graphic style, and interior design opens doors to a world of creative expression and professional opportunities. In this blog site, we unwind the significance of these degrees, clarifying the vibrant fields they represent. Fashion Communication Courses: Crafting Stories Through Design. Design is more than just clothes; it's a type of expression that interacts identity, culture, and art. Fashion communication courses bridge the gap in between the fashion business and the audience through strategic visual storytelling. Students signed up in these courses find out how to convey the essence of brand names, collections, and patterns to enthrall consumers. From producing visually appealing lookbooks to curating impactful social networks product, fashion communication courses gear up students with skills to efficiently engage design narratives. The curriculum typically consists of style journalism, photography, public relations, and marketing methods. Graduates can have a look at functions such as fashion editor, stylist, PR expert, or content developer in a vibrant industry that grows on advancement and creativity. Graphic Design Degree: Where Art Satisfies Communication. In an increasingly digital age, graphic style is the foundation of visual communication. A graphic design degree prepares students to mix creative perceptiveness with technical abilities, establishing visuals that resonate with audiences across numerous platforms. Through courses in typography, layout style, digital illustration, and user experience (UX) design, students get an extensive understanding of visual looks and interaction principles. Graphic designers have the power to form brand name identities, boost user experiences, and convey complex ideas through fascinating visuals. Whether it's developing logo styles, web user interfaces, packaging, or print items, a graphic design degree empowers individuals to correspond ideas into impactful visuals. Graduates can find themselves operating in ad agency, design studios, publishing homes, or maybe pursuing self-employed opportunities. Interior Design Degree: Transforming Spaces into Experiences. Interior design has to do with producing environments that promote feelings, handle performance, and reveal the character of their residents. An interior design degree exceeds visual appeals, teaching students to balance kind and function, cultural influences, and sustainability in their styles. Through courses in spatial preparation, product choice, lighting style, and project management, trainees discover to change areas into properly designed experiences. Interior designers have the capability to shape how people connect with their environments, whether it's houses, offices, retail areas, or hospitality locations. They think about elements like ergonomics, color psychology, and eco-friendly effect to produce locations that resonate with clients' needs and objectives. Graduates can check out occupations as interior designers, area coordinators, style professionals, or even set designers for motion picture and tv.
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Slipknot - We Are Not Your Kind
Apart from the finally realizing release of Tool’s exasperatingly long-teased fifth album next month and arguably Rammstein’s ten-year-awaited self-titled album, Slipknot’s We Are Not Your Kind is and was always going to be 2019′s biggest metal release, and since its release its chart success has fulfilled that prophecy.
Every new Slipknot release is quite the momentous and fixating occasion for the metal community, both for fans of the band their detractors, and part of these new releases feeling like such a big occasion is because they don’t come often. Despite the band blowing up in no modest sense of the phrase at the turn of the millennium with the one-two punches of their iconic self-titled debut and its successor, Iowa, the band have only released four more albums (including this one) in the nearly two decades since their sophomore album in 2001. And despite the motifs of brotherhood the band make a notable part of their image, the tight-knittedness among the nine of them there always seems to be some kind of inner tension or circumstantial tumult surrounding the band and these releases that results in hiatuses and hold-ups that result in these long push-backs.
The band took a hiatus right after Iowa’s draining touring cycle and volatile recording process that nearly prevented them from getting their first Grammy with 2004′s Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses), after which they took another hiatus before the tense and disjointed recording of 2008′s All Hope Is Gone, which the band have since cited in hindsight as a low-point of moral for them. Bassist Paul Gray’s death after the album’s touring cycle understandably put the band’s future in doubt and, along with the departure of longtime and beloved drummer Joey Jordison, contributed to the six-year gap between All Hope Is Gone and .5: The Gray Chapter (this album’s predecessor), which I consider their best work since Iowa. And Remember when Jim Root said he didn’t want the next Slipknot album to take a long-ass time... back in 2015? Yet, here we are, nearly five years after album number five with album number six. And yet, Slipknot consistently remains one of metal’s most recognized figureheads and biggest touring acts. I mean, fucking Slayer opened for them the first time I saw them live.
As much as we can take their presence for granted at this point, Slipknot’s unprecedented ascent from the desolation of Iowa to worldwide stardom and maintenance of it with a lot of “despite” along the way is certainly spectacularly intriguing. And the band’s sustained high profile could be owed as much to the band’s magnificent balancing act of raw, death-flavored nu metal and anthemic alternative metal as it is to frontman Corey Taylor’s notorious charisma with the metal press and his ability to draw headlines and speak so widely and mostly eloquently to and for the metal community. Like if this genre had to elect a president for some reason and candidates had to campaign for it like any other presidency, Corey Taylor would easily be the most poised to demagogue his way into office, with Loudwire Fox-News-ing behind him the whole way there, and that hypothetical scenario is the only time I will liken Corey Taylor to Donald Trump because I know the former really does not like the latter. But again, Slipknot’s career has been an impressive balancing act of infectious melodies and tasty grooves with unbridled visceral aggression that unites both casual and deeply invested metal fans and that a lot of other bands see as the optimum career model in this day and age (often citing Slipknot as the last big metal band to get hugely culturally relevant outside metal). So with the twenty-year mark of the debut of heavy metal’s arguably last big figure, how does that band’s sixth record contribute to the preservation of their relevance?
Like just about every Slipknot album before it, We Are Not Your Kind came with its own contextual tempest, this time being percussionist Chris Fehn’s suing of the rest of the band for financial injustices just a week and a half after the album’s announcement and swift subsequent dismissal from the band, leaving only six of the nine members that recorded the band’s first four albums. As much as the band’s proclamations of camaraderie in the face of one internal conflict after another might seem unfounded, internal disputes and line-up metamorphoses are a common reality of most bands, and it’s not surprising that the nine members in a band twice the size of the average band in the genre get sick of each other and fall out in some way. They can’t all be Rammstein, but even that marriage has had its rough patches despite never suffering a line-up change. But the falling out with Chris Fehn is not like your usual “creative differences” or “time for a new chapter”. The allegations of unethical financial misconduct by his former bandmates of his lawsuit are seriously heavy and potentially quite damaging to Slipknot’s and that hypothetical metal president’s reputation. Yet it has been relatively quiet since Fehn’s departure, the potential juiciness of which would be undoubtedly squeezed by any surrounding press, which has led to a lot of speculation about the band perhaps trying to resolve this with Fehn quietly and diplomatically and about his yet-unidentified replacement perhaps not being a replacement at all. And I bring this up because of “All out Life”, the single that was released in late 2018 from which this album’s title is derived that I did not place on my year-end best songs list last year because it sure seemed like it was intended to be on an album. Despite being a truly ripping riff-fest featuring the album’s title as a lyric, “All out Life” was curiously left off the final track listing of We Are Not Your Kind, which led to speculations of it being left off for legal reasons in the face of this pending lawsuit (being that Fehn was featured on the track). Yet, the song made it onto the Japanese release of the album as a bonus track at the end, which leads me to explain how I’m going to be assessing this album. “All out Life” is a great, identifiably Slipknot track and the album is better with it, and while it’s not the most official part of the album, I’m listening to the album with it every time, and I’m including it as part of the album for all assessment purposes. It’s a song the feels like it was intended to be more of an opening statement right after a signature Slipknot intro track, and its sudden finish feels a little weird at the end of the album, but it works in its own way as a more abrupt closer more effectively than “Solway Firth” does as a not-so-grand finale. So, yeah, for the good of this album, I’m taking its differently-titled-not-included title track into account.
Okay! Wow! That’s a lot of context; let’s have a peaceful, uneventful album roll-out next time guys, even though I’m sure the seventh album being due to be released (by extrapolation of the pattern of its predecessors’ releases) during the Kanye presidency will inevitably come with some more gaffs, laughs, and way-too-long preambles, maybe stick it out for one more album, Clown, for me, so I don’t have to write another history paper. (Good God what am I going to do next month with Tool’s new album) OKAY! Enough! On to the fucking musical content of Slipknot’s sixth album.
Like I said, I really loved this album’s predecessor, .5: The Gray Chapter; the band were dialed in both compositionally and performatively all throughout the measuredly varied track listing, and the production was spot-on, with Corey sounding assertive and with Mick Thompson’s and Jim Root’s guitar tone to fucking die for. We Are Not Your Kind is a different story. It’s not a stylistically or procedurally radical departure or anything, and much of the production carries over from their last album. But there’s a certain twist to the band’s otherwise enrapturing X factor that feels like they’re trying to do something unnatural for them. And a lot of it stems from the odd bits of widely noted experimentation among the longer-on-average tracks across this album compared to previous albums. It’s not that the band haven’t incorporated diversions into industrial or eerie ambient tension-building territory in the past, but albums past have incorporated these non-exclusively-metal features in cohesive ways that contribute supportively to the albums’ flow, whereas here, the flow of certain songs and certain sections of the album feel disjointed as a result. Also contributing to the weird flow of the album is the distinct era-mimicking of certain songs (quite possibly unintentionally). The album’s opening song after the “Insert Coin” intro track (which might unfortunately be the most meager and least effective hype-building intro track of the band’s six albums) and lead single, “Unsainted”, feels quite like it’s 2019′s “Sulfur”, with the similarly alternating gruff alt. metal verses and soaring cleans on the melodic choruses and the bridge slowdown. Like “Sulfur”, I find the primary melody sufficiently anthemic, and even though I wish the band did more with the choir supplementation that kicks the melody off, I quite like the song. But then there are stylistically schizophrenic trajectory and flow disruptions not too long after, like the distinctly Vol. 3-type groove-banger, “Nero Forte”, whose pair of headbang-inducing nu metal beat and falsetto melody and the battle snare drum march at the bridge akin to “The Blister Exists” are certain calling cards to the band’s third album. Fans seem to have taken quite a liking to this song in particular, and I like the delicious nu metal riffage at the core of it, but I feel like the song is a bit repetitive as it goes on and still needs to do a little more across its run time to feel as fulfilling as it should be. I’m sure it’ll get the crowds moving though, and I sure appreciate that.
The album even presents even full-on callbacks to the fast-paced visceral vitriol of Iowa on “Red Flag” and the industrial nu metal creepiness of the debut on “Birth of the Cruel”. The pensive acoustic strumming and seething melodic guitar work of the interestingly emotionally progressive “A Liar’s Funeral” also feels somewhat lifted from the dynamic of the band’s previous album (which makes for a pretty bright highlight in my eyes). “Orphan” and “Not Long for This World” revel in the same thick, crunchy guitar tone, metallic percussion, loud-soft dynamics, emotive guitar melodies, and elevating chorus vocal melodies that made songs like “Nomadic”, “Sarcatrophe”, and “The One That Kills the Least” on The Gray Chapter so integral to its consistency, and “Critical Darling” feels like it pairs Iowa-reminiscent violent alternative metal verses with a Vol. 3-esque melodic chorus. Again, I quite like these songs. And on their own they are mostly well-composed and all fine and dandy, and I’m certainly not knocking Slipknot for sounding like themselves, but together the songs run like a compilation album with some rarities and scrapped tracks from the vault tossed in the mix as well. But getting past the weird flow of the album is not too high of a hurdle to clear, and once cleared, the album really is a confident, appetizing, and satiating exhibition of Slipknot’s time-tested talents that have put them at the level they are at.
The album has been noted as palpably experimental in comparison to previous efforts, which occurs in the album’s dark, muggy corners interspersed around the usual verse-chorus-verse-chorus structures at the foundation of the album: the ambient experimental bits that take the form of codas like the end of “Critical Darling” or interlude tracks like reverbed xylophone plinking of “What’s Next” and the incantation of “Death Because of Death”.
Despite its cliché title, the album’s most perplexing exercise of experimentation comes on the drawn-out, experimental, atmospheric melancholy of the song “My Pain”; it serves as a breather of sorts on kind of a take-it-or-leave-it basis. And the song “Spiders” I’m not really a fan of either; the repetitiveness of its harmonized chorus clashing with the intended spook of the song gets old kind of fast, which is too bad because I quite like the industrial sampling, the eerie piano plinking, and the weirdly effects-driven guitar solo around it. But honestly, that’s the lowest the album goes for me, and there are still positives to be taken from those songs, which is a testament to the band’s work on this record.
This album honestly took some time to grow on me after my first experiences with its weird flow left me perplexed. But once I got past the flow and familiar with the album enough to be able to focus more distinctly on the individual tracks, I was able to see it as a comprehensive display of the band’s full arsenal of abilities, a balancing act of Slipknot’s long-running balancing acts that still manages to make room for surprises (that the band might be able to expand upon in the future as they continue to carefully develop their sound) without sacrificing compositional or stylistic/aesthetic integrity. Again, the flow on this album is quite unlike any other Slipknot album, but it’s hardly enough to spoil the strong compositions from end to end. Despite my and many others’ high expectations for this album (and perhaps its high susceptibility to disappointment), I was pleasantly surprised with We Are Not Your Kind; and I think the band will be able to look back on this album positively in the years to come. Evidently, we should probably just let Slipknot take their time on the next one too because this one was worth the wait. And I know it’s probably the basic bitch thing to do to praise a Slipknot album like all the other mainstream metal critics probably are, but I can genuinely see why, and I’m not gonna slag an album just because its creators are extremely popular and it looks good for underground karma points. It’s apparently fun for jaded metal fans to shit on Slipknot for not playing 280 bpm blast beats or for using clean vocal melodies and emotive acoustic sections like a bunch of pussies, which is laughable. I mean if you don’t like what Slipknot strive for and it’s not your cup of tea, that’s chill, but if you’re talking shit because you think you’re special for liking a lesser known death metal band that plays faster and think Slipknot is shit because they aren’t doing what you want by not playing like your favorite techdeath band, that’s so tired, narrow-sighted, and embarrassing not just to you, but to the aforementioned chill people you embarrass by extension. If liking a Slipknot album like Loudwire and Metal Hammer probably do makes me a basic bitch, then buy me a pumpkin spice latte next month and send me a crop top with “live laugh love” on it in the form of a black metal logo.
Despite/10
#Slipknot#We Are Not Your Kind#WANYK#new music#new album#album review#alternative metal#nu metal#heavy metal#metal
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MEET: Jenna Mohr
![Tumblr media](https://64.media.tumblr.com/ef38b24f11bc257667be5aa2d78c6006/4d6e41f35c977a91-44/s500x750/b27682fd223aecc582d8c2b6cde517288c1df49d.jpg)
JENNA MOHR is a cosmetologist and hair stylist living in NYC. (Instagram / email: [email protected])
CATHOLIC ARTIST CONNECTION (CAC): What brought you to NYC, and where did you come from?
JENNA MOHR (JM): I moved to NYC after college to start a new job as a tax accountant in Midtown Manhattan almost 4 years ago. I came from Charleston, South Carolina, where I was ready to take a position at a local firm and live a comfortable life eating lots of great food, listening to local music and enjoying cheap libations with friends. Living in New York and working as a hairstylist had always been a dream of mine; but as time progressed, I grew to accept the notion that my dreams might end and not materialize into reality.
A friend from high school, who was studying accounting at Clemson University, mentioned that his classmate had just finished an internship at a firm in NYC that was hiring. We were able to get a hold of the recruiter, and the rest is history. Now, I am living out my dream working at a Big 4 accounting firm to pay the bills and going to Arrojo Cosmetology school part time, contemplating what my next move will be. I would love to style/cut hair in the film, theater or print industries and am excited to explore those avenues once I graduate in February. I have close to no free time and eat mostly Cliff bars, but, hey! Living the dream!
CAC: What do you see as your personal mission as a Catholic working in the arts?
JM: I have never contemplated the term “Catholic artist” until answering these questions, but I suppose I can call myself one now. I definitely define myself as a Catholic but feel that I am growing into the term “artist” since I had to convince everyone around me in New York that I was an accountant first until I started cosmetology school in September 2018. Now my mission as a Catholic cosmetologist is to help bring out the innately good and beautiful in whoever I am working with. Although my profession as a cosmetologist is seemingly aesthetic only, I have come to discover that how you treat the individual you are working with and make them feel, regardless of what they end up looking like, is where the value is. Being in this profession, I have realized how truly selfless I need to be in order to give of myself to the client. As a result, I feel that my faith has strengthened because I recognize that only God and his grace can give me the emotional energy I need to make whoever is sitting in my chair to feel like the best possible version of himself/herself.
CAC: Where have you found support in the Church for your vocation as an artist?
JM: Sister Virginia Joy with the Sisters of Life! I first met Sister Virg in middle school where she was the assistant soccer coach and also a high school academics/college admissions counselor. I told her how I wanted to be a hairstylist but that my parents wouldn't let me and said I needed to get a 4 year STEM degree instead. Throwing in the towel, I thought I may study engineering but Sister Virg challenged me to not give up on my dreams. She helped me to to devise a plan where I could study accounting, specifically tax since it is seasonal nature, and then pursue cosmetology down the road in the "off seasons". My sophomore year, she told our soccer team she was moving to the Bronx to become a nun. Fast forward almost a decade and I also am moving to New York and reconnecting with Sister Virg. She helps to keep me Catholic by inviting me to Catholic events throughout the city and I have even gone to the house to style one of the mother's hair for a gala.
A special shout out to St. Patrick's in Midtown because I have the opportunity to go to daily mass and confession at one of the most beautiful churches in the country and arguably the world. Also, it has been a safe haven for me where I would go to nap during my lunch break during the gosh awful tax seasons where it was not unusual to leave the office before 2AM for months at a time.
Finally, reading the daily liturgy has given me the daily courage and reminder of what it means to be Catholic. Through daily readings, I have discovered one of my favorite passages where Jesus wakes the young girl up from the dead saying, "Talitha koum", or "Little girl, arise". This phrase is my own personal, "YOU GO GIRL!", from Jesus. I got it tattooed on my finger (highly advise against finger tatts, they fade and will look a little silly) as a reminder to keep pushing and pursuing my dreams.
CAC: Where have you found support among your fellow artists for your Catholic faith?
JM: I don't know a lot of Catholics or a lot of artists but Renee Roden (the editor of the newsletter!) has been instrumental in supporting my art and faith. She asked if I would like to be one of the featured artists on this blog. When she asked, I think that is one of the few times where I really felt like an artist and more importantly, a Catholic artist. She has invited me to plays, readings and is always excited to explore art and our faith. I am incredibly grateful for a friend that shows so much gumption for a world that I love and admire so deeply.
CAC: How can the Church be more welcoming to artists?
JM: My first reaction is: how can the two be separated? The Church and the arts have so much in common and both are all about exploring, discovering and seeking truth in some form. I think if we look at it from that angle the Church will naturally be more welcoming to artists. Seeing that my free time is limited, I am not aware of a lot of "happenings" in the city; however, I think if parishes hosted open mic nights or other art forums and extend it to the general community that people would be receptive. I understand that Church and religion can seem scary and rigid but I think a forum that allows people to express themselves free of judgement can create a bridge to a safe space that the Church needs to extend to the outside community.
CAC: How can the artistic world be more welcoming to artists of faith?
JM: I think it is a 2-way street! The outside world, particularly NYC, can seem scary to a law-abiding Catholic. However, these safe spaces, created through art forums can help to bridge those gaps.
CAC: Where in NYC do you find spiritual fulfillment?
JM: I am a parishioner of St. Patrick's Old Cathedral; however, I have been attending St. Cecilia's in Brooklyn lately due to its proximity to where I live. I highly recommend both! While Old St. Pat's is the cool, hip place for young folks to be, St. Cecilia's, at a fraction of the size, has also been great and just as welcoming! Both have beautiful music and the priests are very kind, welcoming and give great homilies. If you are in Brooklyn, you should definitely check out St. Cecilia's, us Catholics are out here too!
(Side note, St. Cecilia's is close to McCarren Park, Graham Avenue with so many cute places to eat and stroll around. I am currently answering these questions at FourFiveSix an outdoor bar with eclectic decor and food inside. Only a 2 minute walk to St. Cecilia's and they have WI-FI!)
CAC: Where in NYC do you find artistic fulfillment?
JM: I like to sit at the park and listen to my thoughts and take in the sites. I love North Brooklyn Farms in Williamsburg (you should visit since it will be closing soon!). You can see the Manhattan skyline and the old Domino sugar refinery factory, my favorite building in the city, is located there as well. I love the industrial look that parts of Brooklyn has to offer. I think a lot of that architecture and scenery influence the styles I like to create as a hairstylist because it is all about embracing the imperfections and bringing them to light in a romantic and beautiful way.
Due to my schedule, I haven't had a lot of opportunity to join many other extracurricular activities outside of work and school; however, I believe there is so much to be inspired by in our everyday lives that may transpose into another medium. You never know what may trigger an idea for a new hairstyle; it may be a building, a sign, someone on the subway, construction sites throughout the city, even a podcast!
CAC: What is your daily spiritual practice?
JM: I read the daily readings/reflections from the Laudate app on my phone on the way to work every morning. It is a great way for me to set the tone for the day. Sometimes I will go to daily mass and/or confession at St. Patrick's.
CAC: What is your daily artistic practice?
JM: Right now, my daily artistic practice is going to class every evening. On the weekends, I may do hair for my friends. In the past, I have gone to a music festival to braid hair. I love music and the performing arts in general so I was very excited to be in a setting where I could experience both!
CAC: Describe a recent day in which you were most completely living out your vocation as an artist. What happened, and what brought you the most joy?
JM: I love cutting and styling hair. I enjoy challenging myself, learning new skills and most importantly, seeing a client's reaction when they are feeling the LOOK! I am actually surprised by my most recent day in which I was most completely living out my vocation as an artist. I braided my friend's hair this past weekend. I was nervous because I am not super experienced with braiding add-ins (adding additional hair so that braids can be longer/fuller/more colorful, etc.) or working with natural hair. I was satisfied with the outcome and enjoyed the process but there was still plenty of room for improvement. What caught me by surprise was my friend's reaction. She was so grateful and excited that I was open to learning and pursuing a skill, being able to work with multiple hair types, particularly natural hair types, that is so under served in the beauty world. I am realizing that my sense of fulfillment, as far as living out my vocation, does not need to come from a high-profile job but can emerge from small encounters and bring a massive impact to myself and the client.
CAC: You actually live in NYC? How!?
JM: Friends of friends, my alumni group on Facebook, and the good Lord! This is the first time I am renewing my lease since I've lived here and I couldn't be happier! For one apartment search, I posted on my Facebook alumni group to see if anyone was looking for a roommate and reconnected with a girl I had interned with years ago for Charleston Fashion Week! Whenever I was searching, I think it was very helpful to start with the resources I had - friends of friends, alumni groups, or anybody I knew that was already living here. The options can be very overwhelming but I found that using my current network, as small as it is, to be very beneficial.
When I first moved here, I wanted to be in Manhattan so that I could ensure I was able to navigate life and get to work. Then I discovered North Brooklyn Farms and Brooklyn and cheaper rent and I've been moving further east ever since.
CAC: But seriously, how do you make a living in NYC?
JM: I became an accountant first and got my CPA. It was brutal. I know that my vocation is to be a world class hairstylist ideally in film, theater or print. However, I wanted to make sure I had a practical course of action to get there that would allow me to pay for my education and support myself in the city. My plan A started with my plan B. It took years of discipline and I know that I am coming into my vocation a little later than most; but Hey, look at Sarah! God's timing can be worlds different from ours; but patience, practice, discipline and most importantly faith has helped me to reach and keep striving for my goals. How much would you suggest artists moving to NYC budget for their first year? I think the important things to consider are transportation, food, rent, laundry and maybe a flight home to see mom every once in a while. If the budget allows, you may consider a gym membership that has a shower...you never really know the quality of the apartment you are about to be living in or the responsiveness of a landlord. Having a gym membership proved to be very helpful when my bathroom was out of commission for about a week. After that, you really need to tailor it to your lifestyle and figure out how much you want to spend.
CAC: What other practical resources would you recommend to a Catholic artist living in NYC?
JM: Find a good coffee shop or cafe! Some of my favorite coffee shops are closing due to increased rent prices so if you have a local coffee shop that you love, keep loving on them! These types of places will also host great events for artists and can be a great way to connect with others with shared (or different) interests. I love working outside as much as I can or to find a space with great natural light. I have enjoyed North Brooklyn Farms, Domino Park, McCarren Park, Little Skips, 19 Cafe, Bushwick Grind, FourFiveSix and runs along the east river through Williamsburg into Greenpoint or across the Williamsburg Bridge.
CAC: What are your top 3 pieces of advice for Catholic artists moving to NYC?
JM: GO TO CHURCH (and confession)! Even if you feel like you are losing your religion as an adult, stay open to God's grace. I think NYC is an incredibly challenging place to live - spiritually, financially, emotionally. If anything, allow the church to be a quiet place to sit and find solace in the silence, and let the Big Guy do the rest. I love going to confession in the city, because nobody knows who the heck you are!! It's such a weird and liberating sensation knowing that the guy behind the screen may never see you again. Also, I have had some of the best confessions of my life at St. Patrick's in midtown. You would think that it could potentially be an assembly line of people expecting a dry, one-size fits all confession and absolution; but it could not be more the opposite! The priests will make jokes, advise you on your life, provide tailored insight and give you a penance that will make you feel awesome.
Make friends with the non-Catholics and non-religious. I am a cradled Catholic and love my faith but God gave us free will and I want to use such an incredible gift and what better way than to learn about others who do not share the same beliefs as you. I recently met a man who said that he has always wanted to be religious. He considers himself spiritual but his parents never took him to church and religion is something he has always wanted to explore but didn't quite know how. These kinds of people need you in their lives. You don't need to turn them religious, or Catholic, but being there and listening is sometimes all it takes. I try not to tell people that I am religious or go to church because realistically, it can scare people off sometimes. However, some of my friends that I have become close with in NYC say that they admire that I still practice and have even asked if they could come to church with me. We are just mediums for God's art; sometimes we just need to show up and he will take care of the rest.
Call mom. Like St. Monica (also my mum's name!), our mothers are likely worried sick that we are turning into delinquents hustling in the city. Let her know you are doing OK, brushing your teeth and still going to Church. And if you aren't doing those things, call mom anyway and tell her you love her and thank her and then try to go do those aforementioned things.
If you know anyone looking for a hairstylist please don't hesitate to reach out! I am new to the artist world and would love to become as immersed as possible in my spare time while I am waiting for school to finish in February 2019.
#arrojo cosmetology#cosmetology#sisters of life#catholic#catholic artist#catholic artist connection#catholic artists nyc#jenna mohr#laudate#st. patrick's cathedral#Renee Roden#St. Patrick's Old Cathedral#North Brooklyn Farms#williamsburg#brooklyn#Domino Park#mccarren park#little skips#19 cafe#bushwick grind#fourfivesix
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