#don't read worm because i'm feeling nostalgic

[brokshi]

disclaimer: i haven't read worm proper in like 4 years.

so wolfspider, shipping taylor and rachel is interesting, right? taylor and rachel's first interaction is to beat the shit out of each other. rachel fought to assert dominance and show she won't accept a smaller cut of their heist money, and taylor fought to earn the respect of the villain team so she could rat them out to the authorities later. but after rachel storms off and everyone assures taylor "don't worry about her too much, she's a hard to deal with freak," taylor isn't satisfied. she hasn't earned the respect of the whole team yet, and how will she integrate with them if she hasn't succeeded yet, nevermind that everyone told her it was fine.

so quickly after that, taylor starts putting some effort to getting on rachel's good side, after most of the undersidera have met her with acceptance or indifference. from this point until the timeskip, rachel's opinion of taylor is the most emphasized out of everyone in brockton bay. lisa may be annoyed with taylor's suicidal do-goodery, she and brian may hang out and date, but rachel's relationship with taylor ebbs and flows with the narrative and is usually representative of the biggest changes in taylor's situation. she approves of her when she acts with conviction or shows that she's strong, she gets furious with her when her indecisiveness and lack of loyalty come up. but after the talking is done rachel is always there by her side.

she visits rachel's compound where she takes care of like 50 rescued dogs alone, and helps. she's the first one in the team, including the member with super intuition powers, to figure out rachel's power fucked with her brain and made her more dog-like. they begin to connect, with rachel starting to feel taylor was the only member of the team she actually liked, before taylor's first betrayal. but even then, she sacrificed the only thing she cared about, her dogs, to rescue taylor from leviathan when it came to town.

not even getting into how when the disease that makes everyone forget everyone else hit, taylor cured rachel by kissing her. or how rachel, who can't read or write, dictated a letter for her most trusted henchman to write to taylor after she got arrested. how when taylor came back after being released, she hugged her tight and stuck by her side for basically the whole of the slaughterhouse 9000 arc. they watched the final sunrise before gold morning together in each other's arms. then During gold morning, after taylor got her power hacked to control people instead of just.bugs and stopped being able to talk, rachel willingly walked into her bodyjacking range and just said “She’s smarter than I am. Let her do what she needs to.” after taylor forced her out. she trusted her so implicitly by the end that she was willing to give taylor her bodily autonomy. she kept a fucking shrine to her in the epilogue!

but they were both Totally straight, y'know.

[leviathancries]

FAKEVOX

[Plus-Tech Squeeze Box] (2000)

Plus-Tech are a Japanese Picopop trio (They are a trio, not a duo. Wikipedia is WRONG!!!) who are known for their off the wall music and lively sound.

Plus-Tech Squeeze Box's first album, released in 2000. 'FAKEVOX' is all over the place, It's a kid who cant sit still. Full of wonder and life. High-pitched sounds and upbeat melodies are the backbone of this album. If this Album was food it would be a strawberry sundae. It's hyper sweet, cute and feels like a sugar rush.

(also on a side note. I have noticed that Plus-Tech have been featured a lot in British stuff, for example they have been on the BBC quite a few times and featured in a British Coca-Cola ad. Just thought that was interesting....) anyway on with the review.

Track 1: Channel No.17

"What time is it?!"

Plus-Tech really sets the tone of the album with this intro track. You are hit with all sorts of sounds from VOX samples to bowling balls and carnival sounds. It's fast and alive.

Track 2: early RISER

"Bouncy!"

Track 2 is quintessential 2000's hyper J-pop. This song reminds me so much of the Jet-Set Radio OST and I love it. Plus-Tech create super catchy ear worm songs that play on loop in your mind all day. It's so upbeat you can't even be annoyed at it.

Track 3: A Day In The Radio

"I'm a plus-tech girl friend!"

Track three is more vocal based letting Kamada sing. This is another cute song you can't possibly feel mad when listening to.

Track 4: Test Room

"1,2,3,4. Plus-Tech!"

Test Room is a super bright song. It's fast, lively and experimental. The vocal chop in this song carry it a long way. It's just so satisfyingly to listen to lol.

Track 5: rocket coaster

"Rocket coaster! la, la, la, la-la."

Track 5 is Plus-Tech's most popular track for a reason. It's definitely their most accessible song by far for a normal audience. It's got a nice duet going on, a catchy chorus and a light rock instrumental. Really sweet and cute song.

Track 6: Scene1 - launch a spaceship into space →

Track six is an interlude following the space theme of the album.

Track 7: ☆

"Have you ever met a great astronaut?"

Track six takes us right back into the cutesy vibe with an instrumental that wouldn't be out of place on a Frenesi album, especially with those tom drums and pluck-y melody.

Track 8: White Drops 

"fantastic..."

Man, White Drops. This song will always have a special place in my heart. I really do love this song. It's so nostalgic to me. It's so simple yet so affective, It's upbeat, endearing and... idk cozy?

Track 9: MILK TEA

"しまうのさー”

Milk tea is an other nostalgic song for me as I used to listen to it a lot. It's got guitar, synths, vocals and bleeps n bloops. what more can you ask for in a song to be honest?

Track 10: Scene2 - citybilly lived happily after

"BEEEWOOP! FUNNY GUITAR!"

Lots of sounds and a guitar. This song is like if you were at a fair on many, many substances.

Track 11: Sneaker Song!

"Why don't you tell me? hey! you're little rascal!"

Sneaker song goes right back to the hyper sound that the rest of the album follows. Lots of bleeps and gated sounds. This song has more of a pop-rock guitar lean though.

Track 12: ​clover

"いつのまにか降り止んだ雨"

Clover is a great outro because it changes the vibe of the album completely. It is the complete opposite of the rest of the album taking on a more melancholy down-tempo tone. A lot less vocal processing and FX. But the a happy sounding melody comes in creating a bitter sweet end to the album. This song reminds me of looking through old photos. Sad it's over, glad it happened.

Overview: FAKEVOX

FAKEVOX is a great introduction to hyper J-pop and Picopop, if any of this sounds interesting to you I highly recommend this album. It's sugary sweet with a lot of life to it.

Rating: 7.5/10

If there’s any typos or inconsistencies in this review it’s because I can’t be bothered to proof read it.

[septembersghost]

i love your review of elvis. i had previously kind of resisted seeing baz's films, just having the impression that they were going to be Too Much for me, but when i heard he was tackling an elvis film, i thought the energies seemed to fit, even though i didn't know much about either man. but if his other films have that same effect of worming under your skin, i need to watch them all. i saw elvis four times in theaters and haven't stopped thinking about it/elvis for a single day since, it's outrageous. i think it makes so much sense to have an outside narrator of elvis' story drive the film. austin shows us the dynamic complexity of elvis through his every movement, but the film and the colonel and the audience are still crying to cage him into that still-life image, inserting distance between us and him. i think the film is always thinking about whether that distance is necessary to actually "love" a person you don't know, but that is the same question that paralyzed elvis with fear. his deep sense of isolation was always fighting against his love for other people and his longing to be on the ground with them, but he sensed that he couldn't let anyone see how much he was struggling lest they pull away. i keep thinking about how the first lyric we hear is "oh, let our love survive," and the film is like ... how much are you going to suffer to keep it going? and who tricked you into thinking you didn't deserve to be loved without giving so much of yourself away? it definitely works as a reflection on hollywood and culture, but it becomes more deeply personal and compassionate toward elvis the more you know about him. <3

chelsea! first of all, i never did take a moment to say how glad i am to see you again and to have you here <333

baz's signature is doing The Most and giving softly dreamy to intensely spliced energy to The Aesthetic, but he somehow manages this in a way that ends up being emotionally affecting and clings to you after viewing. (i think his only film i haven't seen is Australia.) he has a very specific signature and style influenced by his passion for dance/music/fashion, and it's fun seeing how he decides to express that and utilize it as an essential aspect of the storytelling, plus catherine martin makes such beautiful costumes for everything that are illustrative of character and design in such a rich way. i definitely understand why you might have thought his films would be a lot! but since you did enjoy elvis, i wouldn't hesitate to encourage you to give his others a try! moulin rouge remains a particular nostalgic favorite to me (i used to have a moulin rouge poster on my door as a teenager, i still remember my dad buying it for me in the mall. it was one of thee movies for me in high-school. my ex-best friend and i used to blast the soundtrack on repeat, one time during lunch in the classroom we used to hide out in, he jumped on a table to reenact ewan mcgregor singing your song. when i was first very ill, it was a movie i put on a lot. i'm sure this reveals something about me spiritually lol).

something with baz's style that comes through is the incandescent power of music and its deep connection to us. music is always almost like its own character, and he plays with interjecting those anachronistic pieces to give the stories a modernist edge while still staying rooted in their own times, which is very interesting! i loved the strong mix of elvis' own music with the honor to the gospel/r&b/black artists who influenced and inspired him, further mixed with artists he himself inspired and who are creating work now. it made those threads so potent and alive. you're right that the energies match well.

you described this beautifully, i honestly think reading this helped me sort through some of my thoughts and put parts of the film into better context! we have that distance because we're constantly observing, as an audience even when we do feel that sense of love and admiration/appreciation for an artist, there's also a certain complicity because we can never actually know them, and we do inherently want something from them. we can never be undemanding of them as humans, it's that tension where we cherish the art, but we're also by necessity consumers of it. we can't help but be part of the pressure and the noise, even when we try our best to exercise that with empathy for a person. there is an uncrossable distance.

austin shows us the dynamic complexity of elvis through his every movement, but the film and the colonel and the audience are still crying to cage him into that still-life image !!! exactly, and that's what i was referring to a bit in how the idea of an everlasting image haunts me at times, because that can never be a fully realized acknowledgment of anyone. the indelible iconography of it all becomes so much bigger than life that if we want to find the humanistic reality again, it takes some excavation. that's fascinating and heartbreaking to me.

the predatory nature of that framing device gives a lingering sadness to it too, where we are put both into the perspective of our place as audience members, but we also become emotionally connected to the person elvis was and have that reaction of sorrow. i kept wishing desperately that i could protect him from all the things. the ending as well, when it confronts that concept of "love" between an artist and their fans, and how massive that is, how it's intoxicating and enriching, but can also be corrosive. it's difficult and it's moving and it's complicated to navigate.

i think the film is always thinking about whether that distance is necessary to actually "love" a person you don't know, but that is the same question that paralyzed elvis with fear. his deep sense of isolation was always fighting against his love for other people and his longing to be on the ground with them, but he sensed that he couldn't let anyone see how much he was struggling lest they pull away. yes, VERY much so. he tried so hard to conceal that hurt and those struggles because people depended on him, but also because he depended on them too and understandably feared the loss of that love.

the use of suspicious minds as the film's overarching theme was perfect. it totally reframed its meaning and made it speak to both his inner and outer life, to the weight of that fame and love and need.

the film is like ... how much are you going to suffer to keep it going? and who tricked you into thinking you didn't deserve to be loved without giving so much of yourself away? it definitely works as a reflection on hollywood and culture, but it becomes more deeply personal and compassionate toward elvis the more you know about him. absolutely. it's a big question and often sadly a universal one regarding culture and consumption, the expectations put on famous artists to give and give continuously without breaking or showing the cracks (which is impossible and harmful), the demands when such a bright spotlight becomes searing, the strain that comes even from adoration because it's not wholly real. it also subtly questions our fascination with that suffering without exploiting it for visceral shock value. i really appreciate the way the film handled the ending, for example, giving us enough without ever being cruel or relishing in the tragedy for the sake of it. the compassion there is so central.

i knew a bit about him personally, and was familiar with many of his biggest hits, just by virtue of cultural osmosis and the long-held interest i have in older films/music, but the film made me want to do deeper dives into the personal story and the deeper cuts of the music, and i'm loving exploring that, which makes it even more wonderful to be able to share with you! thank you for posting about him and the film because it's what sparked my interest even further to watch it! i've caught up on a lot of movies over the past couple of weeks, but i think elvis had the biggest impact on me, both in thinking about it and the expanse of its themes, and emotionally in feeling both for him and for the magic that exists in the way music keeps living forever. 💗

[transporttoanotherplace]

Reread the Fallen Series and ???

My overall rating: 2.67 out of 5 (average mean# of my reviews)

Fallen: 2/5

Torment:3.5 /5 (because Daniel's hardly in this one and I was so happy)

Passion: 2/5

Fallen in Love: 3/5

Rapture: 2/5

Unforgiven: 3.5/5

Review (Spoilers)

For the month of September I reread the Fallen series by Lauren Kate as my nostalgic read for the month and I just....it was not good. Never thought I'd find the day where I think Twilight is better. However, I do see why as a teenager I loved this book but sadly as an adult, this isn't one I can come back to and love. It's one of the perils I face when I reread a series I loved when I was younger. Makes you realize how much you've grown up.

My favorite trope is soulmates. I have hundreds of soulmate fics bookmarked on AO3 but this story made me realize why so many people don't like soulmate stories. I just don't believe in Luce and Daniel. Or at least I don't believe in Luce's love for Daniel. Him I believe in a little more. In Fallen, Daniel is just a complete ass to Luce and yes, I understand why. He is trying to be off-putting so that Luce won't like him BUT LUCE JUST KEEPS GOING BACK (a very problematic message by the way but a lot of teen love is problematic) BECAUSE SOULMATES. Now, this has an easy fix. Just give me scenes where Daniel and Luce connect and I can see what they find so attractive in each other! But nope anytime they're with each other it's about how obsessed they are with one another! WHICH WOULD BE FINE IF I KNEW WHY! The number of pages spent Luce waxing poetics about Daniels's looks and the intensity of her feelings...kill me🔪 . It felt more like they were in love with love rather than each other. By the end of the book, I honestly had zero clue what they liked about each other besides their looks.

So when characters like Cam and Miles came in of course I rooted for those two. Both of these characters go out of their way to cheer Luce up, listen to and spend time with her, and support Luce. Miles in particular was hard for me to root against, particularly in the Thanksgiving dinner scene when he stands up for Luce. But no!! She can't walk away from this spark between her and Daniel. I get it girl You have a connection but what do you like about Daniel??? You have yet to tell me. Do you really expect me to root for the character who's hardly in the book and when he continues to keep things from Luce???

And I get that Lauren Kate tried to explore those questions more in Passion and I really appreciate that willingness to explore those questions that I have. I STILL DIDN'T GET AN ANSWER! The answer was once again that Luce saw Daniel loved her and she just needed to have faith in their love. *jumps off a cliff* I NEVER DOUBTED THAT! WHEN DID WE EVER DOUBT THAT??? THE QUESTION IS WHAT IS IT THAT DANIEL LOVES SO MUCH? WHAT DO THEY SEE IN EACH OTHER???

And I thought okay the answer must come at the beginning of their love story. However, they first met must have been an incredible love story. IT'S BARELY DISCUSSED! I admit what Daniel said to Luce as she's crying about Lucifer (a whole other can of worms) is touching and I can see why she was attracted to Daniel. But beyond that we get nothing. Did they spend time together after? It's one thing for Daniel to tell Luce love can be something different than what Lucifer believes but it's another thing to show her that. From how it went Luce was crying, Daniel gave her some good advice, and boom from that moment she decided Daniel was the love of her life. It was just this instantaneous thing and I'm sorry but you really expect me to believe Luce and Daniel decided to turn their backs on God for love at first sight???? We deserved to see their first relationship develop! I had to read an entire book about how far you two would go for each other but we can't devote a chapter to exploring how these two fell in love the first time??? Bullshit.

And oh god the contradictions. In Torment, Luce is heartbroken realizing how her love for Daniel has resulted in so much heartbreak for her past families. It's one of the hardest things she has to wrestle with: Is her love for Daniel worth all the pain and heartbreak they leave behind? Then all of a sudden in Passion there's a scene where she says it's strange how she doesn't even care about the families left behind but rather is only concerned for Daniel's pain. Excuse me, I just spent the entire previous book reading about how you did care. WTF changed? You just said fuck it I'm going to die and leave behind all my friends, my parents, Daniel's friends. Like could the ending not have been Luce and Daniel return to Earth, both of them human and living their remaining life together? God, we don't 'even see Luce grieve the idea that she's about to turn her back on everyone she knows. She's just like of course I'll die again for Daniel 🙄

Their selfishness honestly boggles me. Daniel and Luce are such selfish individuals and the problem is as a teenager love is all-consuming and often selfish. Now as an adult I want to cry because love isn't selfish and Daniel should have walked away from Luce a long time ago. I can at least understand why Luce is whiny and self-absorbed. She's a teenager but I would expect better from Daniel who may be stuck in a teenager's body but has been around since the beginning of creation. He literally has zero character growth and that's just shit writing people when he's a damn protagonist of several books. Love is also about knowing when to let go. When love consumes everything and only leaves disaster that is not true love.

Here's the damn truth: No, Luce. No, Daniel. Your love was not worth Penn dying. Or Gabby and Molly. It was not worth having 300+ families suffer the loss of their daughter constantly. If your love causes that much havoc it's not this beautiful ideal that Cam and Arianne constantly put on a pedestal. It's toxic and they're all idiots to root for you.

Now let's examine the angel thing. Something that gives this story a unique element but was executed so poorly I could cry. Why are the angels essentially teenagers with wings? Don't get me wrong I really enjoyed the angels particularly Roland, Arianne, and Gabby (as characters though). But they're supposed to be these powerful entities with eons of wisdom and they sound like just any other teenager. There's nothing otherwordly about them or enchanting. Yeah, their wings are cute but that's about it. Other than that they could've been any other human on the street. The only one who came close to feeling like a true angel was Gabby which is why I was so upset when she died. And so many unexplored areas that could have been fascinating but are hardly touched!! Why did Cam turn to Lucifer when Lillith died? What made him think "oh yeah I suck so I guess to hell I go." People can suck and still be on God's side. We could've explored that in Unforgiven but noooo. I would've loved to know more about the war between heaven and hell. It sounded like we were going to go there but uhm guess not. Wasted opportunity. Fuck, even Twilight did better using vampires.

Also, if the Devil is real I'm pretty sure the entity is weeping at their depiction here. Aside from Bill, who I admit was my favorite part of this entire series, the idea of Lucifer ending the world because his first girlfriend rejected him is the most laughable shit I could have ever imagined. Props to Lauren Kate for the original ending though.

I think I was honestly just so done with Luce and Daniel I really wanted to hear more about the other characters which is why Fallen in Love has higher ratings but it had it's own issues. Luce and Daniel take up so much energy that a lot of side characters are sadly very one-dimensional. Unforgiven wasn't as bad largely because I thought the characters were better developed and the conflict was actually well executed. What I didn't like was that we didn't really get more about Cam's backstory. Something that always confused me in the series is if he idealized Daniel and Lucinda so much why did he hit on her so much? In Torment, he even mentions how he could have stared at Luce all day and tells Daniel to watch out, that he's not done going after her (and then promptly proceeds to never go after her). Why do this as well if he's apparently so in love with Lillith? A lot of retcon which is always a mistake.

Lastly, why were these books so damn long? 400+ pages? Thank God I read fast and none of the books took up too much of my time but boy several of these books could've been edited down even more. Going to have to give my nostalgic choice this month a solid D. It would be an F but I think it was good for my soul to reflect on why this love story isn't as convincing. For a minute I was convinced that maybe I needed to stop reading YA but after further evaluations, I realized that was wrong. There are several YA's I've read that managed to accurately portray young love without toxicity. Peeta and Katniss are still one of the best depictions of love I've ever read from modern YA books.

[the-sappho-of-lesbos]

I got it over the rejection eventually, also I don't really use tumblr that much so that's why my responses are slow, how did that appointment go? I hope you get a good psycho shitty ones are - in the nicest way possible because I'm trying not to cuss - major ew. Question, do you have any book or show/movie Recs? I want to know what are your Favs. - R

I’m proud of you for getting over those emotions ! That can be a really hard thing to do and is no small feat. I hope you are in a good place now :)

Both of the appointments went okay, thank you :) I’m a bit disheartened about how things don’t seem to be improving right now. But hopefully if I keep going things will start to. It just seems a lot of them don’t really know what to with me it would seem aha.

Thank you :) I hope so too. I genuinely believe a lot of them have entered this field for the wrong reason sometimes which shows in their work. But I also know it’s a really hard field so they have my sympathy. Hopefully if I keep trying hard and working with them in ways that are comfortable for them I’ll start to see some progress :)

Oh man I sure do!! I am a bit embarrassed by some of the media I consume though , so I might leave that out aha.

Manga:

- Fruits Basket

- Kase-San and Morning Glories

- The Water Dragon’s Bride (I’ve only read 2 volumes so far but oh man I’m really liking it :) )

- My Leabain Experience With Loneliness

- Wake Up , Sleeping Beauty

- Beauty And The Beast Girl

Anime:

- Fruits Bakset (the new one)

- Fushigi Yugi (this one is 100% from nostalgia lol)

- Studio Ghibli

- Clannad + Clannad After Story

- Wolf Children

- Kaze Ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru

- Kannon

- Yona Of The Dawn

- HAL

- Erased

- Orange

- Your Name

- A Silent Voice

- Natsuyuki Rendevous

- Nana

TV Shows/ Movies:

- The Handmaiden

- Stranger Things

- Mr. Sunshine (I haven’t finished watching this but I’m really enjoying it so far)

- Romance Is A Bonus Book

- Avatar

- The Owl House

- Jane The Virgin

- The Good Place

- Sex Education

- Superhero movies ( lol I haven’t actually watched any for a while but I tend to enjoy them when I do :) )

Books:

- Everying by Ginn Hale

- The God Eaters

- Crossing The Wide Forever

- Sword Of The Guardian

- The Grass Widow

- Queen’s Champion

- stuff by Bridget Essex if you are looking for stuff that’s really fun and light

- Switched, Torn, Ascend (these books also has a very nostalgic place in my heart ahah )

- Shadowdance

- The Song Of Achilles

- A Little Life

- The God In Flight

- The Secret History

- Aristotle And Dante Discover The Secrets Of The Universe

- The Picture Or Dorian Gray

- Truly Wilde

- Gavelstone 1900 : Swept Away (probably my all time favourite book)

AND! Most Anticipated! ( I haven’t read them yet and I don’t know when I will but I have a feeling I’ll love them )

- The Forest Of Wool And Steel

- Our Happy Time

- The Raised By Wolves series

- The Queen’s Companion

- Robin Hobb’s books

- Hild

- Fire Logic

As I said I’m also kind of embarrassed by lots of the stuff I consume so this isn’t all of it ahah , but those are a can of worms I don’t want to spill right now ahah

Thank you so much for popping in! It’s always really lovely to hear from you ☺️ I hope you have a really beautiful and wonderful day :D