#i can only hope i did them justice PLEASE go look at artist's blog she's an amazing character designer

[buttercup-barf]

Top ten ghost sighting photos taken moments before disaster.

Merry Christmas! I don't celebrate, but, @a-not-so-sure-artist's characters were begging to be drawn, they're just so dang charming!

[ybangtannies]

Hi, good luck with your blog! I've just discovered it and I can't wait for your content. As for request... I would like to read about artist Tae where MC is dared to pose nude and Tae fall in love with her, or MC having a bf so she pose nude as a present for him but Tae (obssesed) blackmail her whereas he will show her picture to the public if she don't leave her bf...

Hello! Thank you so much for your request and sorry for taking long to answer, I had a lot of ideas of what to write so it took me a little to actually get to write it but here it is! I changed it a little, I hope that’s okay and you like it.

Masterlist

Word count: 3.3k

Taehyung has been an artist for several years, he started up by taking photos of landscapes he thought were pretty and painting simple things until he got where he is now: one of the most claimed painters of the country; he still likes photography and keeps painting nature sceneries but the reason why he is so famous and well-known is because of his portraits, his nude portraits. He doesn’t just paint whoever is willing to pay him, though, he just accepts if he finds the person to be worth it of both his time and his eyes, at the end of the day, who would like to look at an ugly naked body, having to memorize it and then paint it as if it was something beautiful? People call him arrogant, a snob, frivolous…and well, maybe he is but look at where that got him so he’s not complaining nor he’s about to change it. He’s an artist so who can be better than him to judge what is art and what is not?

It’s been a rough week, not even one out of all the people that has been going to his studio was worth his time and he’s worried that maybe somehow, he has already painted all the beautiful people in the whole country. That worrisome dispels one evening when he is about to leave his studio and call it a day and you appear at his door; you with a shy smile and so much light in your eyes, you dressed in a casual outfit but still showing that you put effort into looking good (not that you really needed to put much effort though), you that speaks in such an angelic voice and calls his name in the sweetest tone he has ever heard before.

“Hello, is this Vante’s studio?”

“Yeah, it’s- that’s me, yes”. He finds himself at a loss of words, something that never ever happened to him, normally it would be the opposite and he would be the one making people not be able to speak even a simple phrase when in his presence. He swallows and thinks about how his hyungs would mock him if they saw him like this.

“Uhm, can I come in? I would like to talk to you about a possible job?” You are looking at him expectantly and he gets lost momentarily in your eyes once again until he is finally able to get a hold of himself and move to the side you could come in.

You smile brightly and move inside his studio while he closes the door and takes a deep breath in hopes of clearing his mind enough to be able to attend your request how you deserve.

“So, what is it that I can do for you, beautiful?”

You stop looking at the numerous paintings and sculptures that occupy his studio and turn to look at him with a light blush adorning your cheeks.

“I would like for you to paint a portrait of me…naked”, you say the last word in a whisper, so low he wouldn’t have been able to hear it if it wasn’t for the place being totally silent.

Taehyung looks at you from head to toe, out of reflex, with curiosity and maybe already imagining you naked, totally exposed for his eyes only. When he finally moves his eyes to your face, he takes pride in seeing the blush in your cheeks is now more noticeable than before.

“Of course, love, it would be pleasure. For when do you want it?”

“Oh, really? That’s a relief, I heard you were quite…refined when choosing your clients… so I was a little hesitant if you would accept my offer, I’ve been a fan of your work for some years now, I really love the way you portray the beauty of the people you paint and don’t even get me started with you sculptures, sometimes it feels like they’re actual people looking at you with how rough their emotions are- oh God! I’m sorry I’m rambling, I’m just pretty nervous and excited about finally meeting you and- I’m doing it again, am I not? I’m so…”

“No, please, stop apologizing. It’s okay, it’s really cute, you can keep praising me”. Taehyung smirks at you, he looks amused at your spur of compliments and your opinion on his art. He really wasn’t one for hearing people praise his works or him for they more than not did it with the purpose of getting in his pants but there’s something about the way you talked…it drives him crazy, he wants to keep listening to you talk for hours on end. “And yes, you’re right about the part of me being refined when I decide who I want to paint and that’s exactly why I accepted your offer, you’re exquisite yourself, I would be a fool to reject you, love.” He can’t stop himself, it’s like he doesn’t have any filter and just says everything that comes to his mind, or almost everything.

“Thank you then, Vante.”

“Taehyung, please, that’s my actual name.”

“Okay, Taehyung,” you smile once again and he feels his heart skip a beat, “and answering your question: I’d need to portrait for the end of the month? That’s when my boyfriend’s birthday is, and I want it to be a gift for him.”

Boyfriend.

A fucking boyfriend.

Taehyung’s posture becomes stiff and the smile on his face falls a little, not enough for you to notice, though, but he can feel rage starting to form on his body. So, you’re not for his only it seems, but a lot of things can change in three weeks, right?

“That’s completely okay, we’ll have to meet quite a lot, though, for me to be able to have it on time. I hope that’s not a problem?”

“Not at all. But I thought I would only need to come for a couple of sessions and then you would finish the portrait on your own?”

“I like having the model in front of me from the beginning until the end of the process, so I can fully portray their emotions when posing and their bodies just the way they are.”

Lies.

All lies.

He’s actually very quick with his works, needing only two weeks on top to have them done and obviously he doesn’t need the model to be there the whole time. It’s all bullshit but you don’t need to know that.

“Ah, I understand. I like that, you’re so dedicated with your work. So when can we start, then?”

“That I am, love. Tomorrow works for you? The sooner, the better. I’ll probably need you to come thrice a week.”

“Sure, that works for me, sounds perfect. So tomorrow in the morning, at eleven o’clock?” You look so cute, so beautiful, so eager to start working on it and Taehyung finds himself with a bittersweet taste in his mouth at the thought, of course he is dying to see you naked but he doesn’t want to paint you for your boyfriend. “Oh, and what about the prize?”

“Sounds good. And don’t worry about the prize now, we’ll get to that when I have your portrait completely done.”

You nod your head, smiling kindly at him and start walking towards the door. Taehyung follows you, once again checking you out and damning your boyfriend in his mind for being able to call you his when the fucker is sure not worth even of your time. He’d like to make any excuse to keep you for a longer time there with him, just talking about your lives and getting to know each other but he has three weeks to do that and right now he needs to make an urgent call.

Right before you’re about to leave, he asks for your phone number in case something comes up and any of you have troubles making it to one of the appointments. Bullshit once again but now he has a way to contact you.

Taehyung closes the door and presses his forehead against it, breathing deeply and already tracing a plan in his mind to make you his, as you should be. You’re ethereal, a goddess and you truthfully belong by his side. With that thought in mind, he takes his phone and dials a number. The person at the other end of the call answers almost instantly.

“Yeah, Tae? What is it?”

Taehyung smiles hearing the voice of his friend.

“Hey, Jimin. I need you.”

The next days are a complete blur for both of you and Taehyung and before you notice it’s already been three weeks and the birthday of your boyfriend is upon you.

As Taehyung said, he asked you to visit him thrice a week and made you stay with him from morning until almost night; the first times it was a little awkward for you: getting there, disposing all your clothes and just posing for hours on end naked in front of Taehyung with barely any words shared in between you both. Taehyung made a huge effort in being as slow as he could when painting you, paying an excruciating attention to every curve of your body, touching you here and there (maybe more than he really needed to, but who can blame him? You’re precious) and obsessing over you to limits he didn’t think was possible. Taehyung finally got you to open to him, to start talking about your life, your job, your stupid boyfriend, your passions. Everything, he made you talk about every single aspect of your life and by now he probably knew you better than your own mother. You eventually started eating with him at his studio and surprised yourself spending more time than you should with clothes than without them.

Finally, the last day arrived, Taehyung had finished your portrait and needless to say, it was absolutely perfect. You could recognize yourself, of course, but were still astonished at how pretty he made you look, all your curves were so soft, you never knew someone would look at you and see that. But Taehyung did, he was more than proud of his work for it was by far the best of his large collection; he doesn’t think he was able to truly make you justice, you were way too stunning to actually portray that in a simple painting but it was pretty close to the real thing.

And so, your paths separated. You gave your boyfriend the portrait and he loved it, everything was fine in your life and you were happy, sometimes you got messages from Taehyung asking about your day and the opinion of your boyfriend on the painting but that’s it.

On the other hand, Taehyung was miserable. He misses you terribly. As he suspected, he hasn’t been able to accept any requests for more portraits, too captivated with the memories of you and your body still fresh in his head. But he had a plan to make you come back to him again, he just needed to be patient, just a little more.

And it’s been almost two weeks when, in the middle of the night, he receives a phone call with your name and the first thing he hears when answering is your sobbing and incoherent words. Taehyung smirks, fully awake now, sitting in his bed. He tries to calm you, acting worried and asking what is that has you in such distress. He’s able to make out the words ‘boyfriend’, ‘fight’, ‘photos’ and you asking if you can go to his house. Taehyung accepts almost immediately, getting out of bed so he can get dressed and go pick you up. You reject his offer, explaining that you need time to clear your head and the walk will help you; he doesn’t have any option that agrees even if the idea of you walking alone at three in the morning doesn’t appeal to him at all.

Twenty minutes later, Taehyung is in his kitchen making some tea when he hears a soft knock on his door and smiling cheerfully goes to open you. His smile, though, disappears the moment he sees you: you’re no longer crying but your eyes are red and puffy, and your hair is a complete mess. He is quick to hug you and puts you as close to his body as he can, trying to comfort you at the best of his abilities.

“It’s okay, sweetheart, everything will be fine.” You just stand there in his arms, letting him hug you, with your eyes closed and hearing the softness in his voice, helping you calm your nerves just a little. “Do you want some tea while you tell me what happened?”

You just nod your head and follow him through his apartment, not really paying much attention to your surroundings. Your mind is racing and your hands clutching an envelope against your chest with such strength that your knuckles have turned white.

“Here you go, love”, says Taehyung while offering you a cup of tea. You whisper a simple ‘thank you’ before taking a sip, still grabbing the envelope with one hand. “Do you want to talk now?”

Taehyung sees you struggling, he can almost hear the gears in your head moving and how you are trying to find the words to speak so he stays quiet, giving you all the time of the world until you’re ready to start talking. After what seems like hours for you, you are able to raise your eyes from the table and search for his eyes though you can maintain the look for more than three seconds before your eyes are fixed again on the table.

“I… I’m sorry I’m breaking into your house at this hour, but I didn’t know where else to go or who to call but you...”You look at Taehyung again and see him already looking at you intently, making you swallow and taking another sip of your tea. “My boyfriend received this envelope this morning, he confronted me when I got home from work in the evening and started calling me names and saying not so nice things to me. He- he broke up with me, didn’t even let me explain anything and just started throwing things and he broke the portrait and kept screaming at me, not giving me any chance to talk and then he… he kicked me out of our apartment.”

At this point you were already crying again, and Taehyung can feel his heart shattering into million pieces by seeing you so sad and broken. He cursed your boyfriend, now ex, in his mind and with a worried frown got next to you in order to be able to hold you in his arms again. He was already addicted to the feeling of your body pressed to his, feeling the warmth radiate from you and realizing just how perfect you fit against his figure. He can’t let you go. Never.

“Sh, deep breaths, baby, okay? Breath slowly for me, calm down.” He rubbed your back, feeling you grabbing his t-shirt like your life depended on it and Taehyung absolutely loved that idea.

Some minutes pass by, you trying to calm your sobbing, and Taehyung whispering sweet nothings against your head.

“Can you tell me what the argument was about? What is in that envelope that made your boyfriend so mad?” Taehyung finally asks after you managed to stop crying, he puts some distance between your bodies, enough to see your face and still keeps his arms around your waist.

“It’s… there are photos inside…of us. Of me, naked in front of you. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry Taehyung, I don’t know how this happened. I can’t comprehend how someone managed to take those disgusting pictures and made it seem as if I was going to sleep with you. And now my boyfriend thinks I’m a whore that cheated on him and he blocked my number and won’t open the door to the apartment, and I don’t know what to do.”

Taehyung keeps silent, thinking about what you just said and turning his gaze to the envelope that now remains on the table. He looks back at you as if asking if he can take a look himself and you just nod softly, not being able to look at him while Taehyung takes it and proceeds to see the photos.

Indeed, they led you to think that something was about to happen in between them, there are plenty of photos of you taking your clothes, smiling at him while naked, moving around his studio in just a shirt, and so on. All of them were taken from the street, from outside and all of them have a clear purpose: destroy both his and your lives.

“Has anyone seen them apart from you and your boyfriend? Are there more copies?”

“No, not that I know at least.”

“I really hope you’re right. We can’t let anyone see these, okay? We have to destroy them.”

Taehyung is serious when talking, looking a little distressed himself and you feel even worse about dragging him with you in this mess.

“I know… I’m really sorry this is happening, Taehyung. I never thought someone would follow me and take those photos, and I’m sorry this is involving you too.”

Taehyung frowned a little at your words, you thought someone could have followed you? For him, it would make more sense to be the other way around: a person he rejected or one of the multiple girls he fucked and never called again trying to mess with him now, trying to ruin his career by making it seems as if he wasn’t professional enough and couldn’t help but getting in the pants of his clients. It could potentially ruin him, no one would ever trust him enough to paint another portrait if those photos see the light of the day.

“It’s not your fault, sweetheart, please stop apologizing. I’m sorry if I was a little harsh, I wasn’t expecting this to happen at all, I’m sorry. We’ll figure it out, okay?”

“Thank you so much, Tae. I truly cannot go to anyone else; all my friends are my boyfriend’s friends as well and I don’t think they’ll take my side on this.” The look on your face, so lost and troubled make him feel almost guilty about the whole situation.

“I understand, love. You can count on me, okay? You can stay with me here in my apartment if you want to, I have enough space.”

“Really? Could I?” Your facial expression changed to be one of relief that makes Taehyung heart jump in his chest and smile at you lovingly while caressing your cheek.

“Of course, love. You can stay here for as long as you want, nothing would make me happier than that. Come, you’ll have to sleep in my bed tonight, though, tomorrow I’ll tidy the room that would be yours.”

You nod in his direction, letting a yawn escape your mouth that almost makes Taehyung coo at you. He guides you to his bedroom, and searches for some clothes he can give you for you to change into. The thought of you dressed in his clothes, in his bed causes him to have problems keeping his breathing stable. While you are in the bathroom, Taehyung takes his phone to write a quick message.

Thank you so much, Jimin. It worked perfectly.

Right when he presses the send button, you enter his room again looking shyly in his direction with a sleepy expression. Taehyung locks his phone and smiles at you, guiding you both to his bed.

You reach out to him, asking for permission to hug him since you’re used to cuddle with something when sleeping and he doesn’t need to think twice until having his arms around you, your head pressed to his chest. He looks at the ceiling, feeling totally content with how things developed, sighing slightly when looking down and seeing you fast asleep already. The screen of his phone lights up but he pays it no mind, closing his eyes and falling asleep with you.

Anytime, Tae. Enjoy your prize ;).

[ikemen-girl]

Hello, sweety! I don't know if you're currently taking up request or not (please don't mind this ask if you're not doing it right now ^^). I'm a teacher and seeing how Mitsuhide teaches MC in his route, may I request you for a HC of Mitsuhide finds out that his MC is a teacher as well in her future life? I really want to know how he would react on that. Thank you for visiting my blog beforehand and hoping you a wonderful upcoming weekend! ✨🍀

Hellooooo dear 😍😍♥️♥️, thank you very much for this interesting request 🥰💗! I am also aspiring to become a teacher in few years so I am very glad to meet you😍😍! And I would like to say that you are an amazing artist👏🙌! I hope you also have a great weekend💃🌹! So, here we go😉~

Ikesen Headcanon⚔💗

Mitsuhide reacting to a MC being a Teacher👩‍🏫:

You loved teaching children😍❤ but you ended up in the sengoku era while travelling to Kyoto on a school trip with your students & other teachers leaving a very good life in the modern era😩 & accidentally saved Nobunaga's life to your surprise & Mitsuhide took a special interest in you👀 & his mind-reading skills used to freak you out😨.

You were honestly terrified after stepping on the battlefield for the first time in your life😱 when you have been always surrounded by the laughter & twinkling eyes of children and you were missing it terribly😭, to top it all, the shock of seeing a man die infront of your eyes was too overwhelming, so you fell unconscious😵 & Mitsuhide carried you back in Azuchi Castle.

"Starting from tomorrow, I will be your teacher, little mouse, for the subject matters, I think, tactics, equestrianism, self defense, firearms seems a good start😏!", said Mitsuhide with a huge smirk on his face.

"I hope you will be a good pupil, little mouse🐭!", said Mitsuhide as he stood and gave you a head-pat.

"Pffffttttt, I am waiting for that moment", you murmured, chuckling to yourself🤭.

"Did you say something?", asked Mitsuhide turning back to look at her.

"I am looking forward for tomorrow, Mitsuhide-sensei, goodnight😅!", she straighten up with a slight bow. Mitsuhide smiled at her🙂 and goes outside the room.

"His smile creeps me out, well, nevermind. I am excited to see the surprise on his face tomorrow😁", she let out a huge grin.

"Before starting up on the actual studies, I would like to test your knowledge base, here is your questions sheet, fill it up, little mouse📝!", said Mitsuhide as he gave her the question paper with a smirk on his face����.

You took it, pretending to be afraid of the test making him amused, "Go on, little mouse, it's not that difficult, I assure you!", he said with a amused grin on his face😄. As you look down at the questions on Japanese literature, history & general knowledge, on the inside, you were so happy 💃while on the outside, you kept a face of a child who is horrified at the thought of giving an exam😱.

You submitted your answer sheet to him and as Mitsuhide scanned it, his eyes went wide with shock😲, he was NOT expecting this at all. You honestly wished that you have a camera 📷 to capture his expression which was so funny to say the least. Each & every answer was correct💯.

"How😳?", it's the only word that came out his mouth. You couldn't control anymore & burst out laughing loudly🤣. "Because I am also a teacher, Mitsuhide👩‍🏫", you said with a proud look on your face. "What😳?", he was left speechless once again which only made it harder for you to control your laughter.

"You really surprised me there, little mouse😅!", Mitsuhide laughs along with you to hide his flustered expression. "So, what do you teach🤔?", he asked, curious to know about you.

"Let's see, I mainly teach japanese literature & history, apart from it, I am well versed in general knowledge, english literature, I love art, psychology, etc, so if any child wants to learn it, I teach these skills to them as well with full excitement as being around them & seeing them grow in their lives makes me so happy🤩❤!", you said with a biggest smile on your face🥰 & eyes shining with happiness since you came to this era👀✨. Mitsuhide was, to be very honest, awestruck seeing your genuine happiness☺️.

As much as Mitsuhide didn't want to interrupt you, but he grew suspicious of your origin as being this educated in this era was surprisingly rare especially in something like english literature🤔. "Who are you & where are you from, mysterious little mouse? Tell me all your secrets, little one", he asked, narrowing his gaze at you👀.

You froze for a moment😳 as you knew very well that you have raised his suspicions when you were rambling non-stop😬 & you couldn't lie or else you will be in huge trouble😓. "Why should I tell you when you are also a potential "traitor" in Oda forces infront of everyone, hm?", you asked jokingly trying to avoid the question😅. "Little mouse, I am used to prying out the secrets and I would not prefer to use the same techniques on you", he said with a frown on his face🤨 unknown to him but you noticed the discomfort in his expression & sighed.

So you showed him your purse👜 and told him everything about yourself as Mitsuhide listened patiently. "So our little mouse came from 500 years in the future, it's hard to believe but you have proof with yourself, now I can see the reason how you are so innocent & untouched by the realities of this time", said Mitsuhide with a amused smirk😏.

"I have only told you the truth, rest is up to you to believe in me", you said with a pout☹.

"Don't pout, I believe in you, little one, as you have been a very nice girl, I will treat you with tea & sweets🍵🍡 as a reward, little mouse", Mitsuhide said caressing your cheek with his thumb😏. You honestly couldn't stop yourself from smiling after hearing the offer😍.

Mitsuhide was overcome with affection for her as she believed in him as a person despite having her doubts and confided in him with everything, he made a secret vow to himself to protect her from everything❤.

You both went to the teahouse together & suddenly Kyubei called Mitsuhide for giving some urgent information. Mitsuhide excused himself for a moment while you were happily eating your sweets😍, but then, you heard some men were talking bad things about him behind his back & you couldn't stand seeing & listening something wrong so you strongly defended him infront of them😡, not caring for the fact that you had no weapons on yourself, one of the men tried to hit you but Mitsuhide arrived in time to rescue you from them😎.

So this started the strong feeling of love in heart of Mitsuhide towards you😍💓💞 as nobody has ever done something like this for him, he was so impressed by the fact that you strongly stood for your values proving your strength of sense of justice as a teacher & a good person by heart☺️💯.

He continued training you in survival skills like self defense, horseriding, shooting as you were already were well-versed in theory. In exchange, you would definitely teach him english literature & tell him about many fascinating things about the human mind & everything you know about future along with many other things😍, you both loved spending time with each other and always look forward to such meetings everyday.

Once, you were well trained in these skills, you gave your gratitude towards your "teacher" Mitsuhide by gifting him a very beautiful portrait✍❤ of him playing with his pet fox, Chimaki🦊. He couldn't resist hugging you tightly the moment, he laid his eyes on it🤗💗. You yourself was the biggest & the most precious gift for him in his life but your gift made him the most happiest person💓😢, he would definitely try to hide his happiness with a amused smirk & headpat but you can see through his facade that he is genuinely happy🥰. He would definitely put the portrait in such a place where everyone could see his little mouse's amazing skills😎😏.

After facing many difficulties together, you both confessed your feelings towards each other💐 and you both were a lovely couple infront of everyone😍👫💗.

You would both use knowledge of english as a medium for infiltration as spies together in other territories🧐. Surprisingly, a language, i.e., english, became a special kind of exchange & secret code between you☺️ and Mitsuhide😏 as you both would often converse in english infront of other warlords much to their surprise & confusion🙄😳🤔.

As you were always willing to stay by his side, he used to take you along to infiltrate certain places, your skill of art would definitely come as a big help for Mitsuhide💯, as you could easily draw the suspects making his workload way more easier than it was before✍😌.

In exchange, Mitsuhide would always make sure that you were not uncomfortable in such investigation trips, he would always give you tips in dancing, singing, acting, etc �� and also expect loads of teasings while he is at it, fufufufu😘.

You both being the best teachers around in Azuchi would definitely use this opportunity to teach as many children as possible who don't have access to proper education without asking for anything in return as you both did it for your own self-satisfaction & happiness in your free times💛. Mitsuhide generally taught the skills of self defense🤼‍♂️, weaponry🔫, etc while you would educate the kids in literatures, general knowledge & art👩‍🏫. Children would also always look forward to meeting both of you everyday🥰❤🤗. It became one of your most favourite & productive ways to spend time with each other❤. Children also ships you both together, mind you👀❤🤭!

Mitsuhide loved the way your eyes sparkles with happiness👀✨ whenever you are around the children🥰😘❤ and can't help falling more deeply in love with you😍💓.

He would always praise you infront of everyone, everytime he gets a chance😏. Cue warlords- We know that already, Mitsuhide, you just told us🤦‍♂️. Mitsuhide: Hooooh~But not that...😏 endless praise begins & he shuts up only when you take him outside the council room dying of embarrasment😳🙈🤦‍♀️ to which he only laughs loudly🤣😏.

Mitsuhide would often call you "my brilliant little mouse💯🐭!", as his way of showing affection towards you💗😏. Cue you blushing deep shade of red tomato and running away from him😳🙈🍅.

Extra~

"You really love her, huh?", asked Hideyoshi as he was walking down the hallways😆. "Obviously, I love her with all my heart💗, she is the brightest star of my life🌟!", said Mitsuhide, his eyes filled with love and a beautiful smile on his face.

"Was that a genuine smile on your face, Mitsuhide?!", exclaimed Hideyoshi, shocked😲.

"My, My, Hideyoshi, I don't have any idea what you are talking about😏", said Mitsuhide as he realised that his facade broke their for a moment out of his love for you. Hideyoshi *eye twitch* : whatever🙄!

Mitsuhide then went looking for you to tease and shower you with all his love & affection❤😏.

Hope, you all enjoyed it❤😍🤗. Comments are appreciated😇!

[plumrabbit]

DA Fandom and moving forward - Calling In vs. Calling Out

Hi everyone,

As a PoC member of the DA fandom, I felt I have been quiet for long enough on the issues that have been presented recently. I am not here to argue against or on behalf of any individual or group, I am only here to present some information that I hope will be helpful moving forward. This is a long post, but it’s my hope that if you read it and want to help contribute to making this place better for everyone, then you will be willing to try to put what is said here into practice.

Since I am a relatively small blog, I wanted to start with a little personal introduction that will segue into the topic at hand. My name is Liz (you can call me Jade too, that’s part of my middle name), and I am a mixed race, “ambiguously brown”, aspec person from Canada. I grew up around mostly other immigrant families, attended predominantly non-white schools that were run by mostly white admins, and completed my degrees at a very white university in a field that does not have much racial diversity. I have experienced racism first-hand many times including, but not limited to, name-calling/slurs, fetishization/exotification, being followed by staff, people second-guessing my name, jokes about hurting/killing people of my race, etc. as well as witnessing racism directed at my friends and peers. I know exactly what it’s like to be exhausted and feel unsafe or othered.  There is, however, one thing I need to point out about the multitude of instances of racism I’ve experienced - most of them were caused by ignorance, and not malice. Yes there are absolute assholes out there, but personally I can count those people I’ve encountered on one hand (I am not speaking for everyone, though). The vast majority of racism, bigotry and general harmful acts come from a place of ignorance, particularly on left-leaning tumblr (to clarify, this discussion is centered around well-meaning people and not the actual lost causes). When I say ignorance, I don’t mean a lack of education or intelligence, I mean not being able to see or understand an issue from another person’s perspective. It’s not quite the same as empathy either (where empathy means you are able to feel another person’s emotions), but fighting ignorance does require empathy. It also requires knowledge on the context of the specific situation, and that I believe is the crux of the problem.  I think the main reason why this is issue is particularly prevalent in the DA fandom is a result of the too-close-to-reality-to-ignore inspirations that have been confirmed by the devs. Yes, it’s fiction, but there are also a lot of people that see themselves (mis)represented in the themes and characters. And what one person sees as disrespectful, another person may not see at all. This can come full circle, too, for example: one person sees themselves and their trauma represented in a character, another person sees their race misrepresented in the same character. Person 1 uses the character as a comfort character or coping strategy. Person 2 thinks using that character in certain situations is disrespectful. Neither one sees the other’s perspective.  This is where intersectionality starts to come into play, and requires empathy and effort to address the intentions and emotions of the other person. Perhaps person 1 is LGBTQ+ and has been traumatized by being as such, and uses Dorian as a character to explore their trauma. Perhaps person 2 is Brown, and racism towards their people is their trigger, and thinks person 1 did not do Brown representation justice in their creative works.  Looking at this more specifically, person 1 may have put Dorian in sexual situations. Person 2 feels that the way it was conveyed was fetishist or exotified. Person 2 doesn’t know person 1′s intentions. Person 1 is not aware of certain descriptions that are racist (e.g. using food to describe a PoC’s skin tone). Perhaps person 1 was self-inserting and wanted to feel desirable on their own terms, but this gave person 2 that squick factor.  Now person 2 wants to address this issue, and I think this is where a call-in (not a call-out) would be appropriate. Here is a good infographic that compares the two: 

(Original source)

Note that there is quite a large difference in the language used. Going back to the above example, person 2 could privately message person 1 asking them why they chose to represent Dorian the way they did, with specific examples, and using call-in language (and I’m going to get back to this in a minute). 

The point of this post and infographic isn’t meant to tell marginalized groups how they should be bringing up issues (though it is a good guide if you are concerned about being polite, particularly to a first time offender), it’s intended to demonstrate to people unintentionally participating in harmful behaviour what a call-out vs. call-in looks like. For PoC and other marginalized groups, yes it does take emotional labour to use call-in language and to try to understand someone that wounded you (here is a good read that incorporates the concept of emotional labour for call-ins, and discusses asking yourself if you are ready to do so). For the people who have unintentionally hurt a marginalized individual or group, please understand that someone calling you in is not an attack, it’s a chance to explain why you expressed something the way you did. 

That being said, we may have reached another hurdle. What if you call someone in, and the person called in does not want to discuss the fact that they were inserting their personal trauma? I think this is where things start to get a bit messy, but I am of the opinion that if you’ve unintentionally triggered someone else’s trauma through ignorance present in your work, you owe it to them to at the very least mention that you were inserting your trauma, without having to bring up specifics (anyone is allowed to set boundaries). From there, the discussion can be hopefully be opened up to learning from each other, and reaching a consensus. Sometimes that consensus requires the creator to edit or remove their work. As an addendum, if you are a creator that unintentionally hurt someone with your work that didn’t have an ulterior personal motivation, it’s your responsibility to understand why what you did was wrong, apologize, remove the work and do better next time. I know some people cherish their OCs, but you are allowed to change your perspective and make adjustments to your character without erasing them entirely. Now we’ve reached another potential obstacle - what if an offender doesn’t respond to your call-in? First of all, ask yourself, did you actually call them in, or did you attack them? Here is a good opinion piece from a Black professor on this matter. I’d like to clarify that I am not trying to tone police, I am speaking as someone that used to go ham on ignorant people on Facebook and Reddit, and has since changed their tactics and has even gotten through to Trump supporters (some of this stems from my spiritual growth as well, but that is not the point here).  There is another issue to address here now as well - what if you have tried, repeatedly, to call someone in and they just don’t change their behaviour? Alright, then it’s probably time to call them out. But again, ask yourself, did you truly try to get through to them? If so, well, at the end of the day, some people are, unfortunately, lost causes. In summary, a call-in is meant to come from a place of wanting to help someone who has seemingly gone astray, because you are worried about their thoughts, feelings, and behaviours towards a marginalized group. You know that if they made a mistake it isn’t them, isn’t their heart, and you want them to be able to understand why what they did hurt others, and give them the chance to correct themselves. It comes from a place of love and acceptance, because you don’t want your friends to harbour negative beliefs.  Finally, I want to give a real example of this in action. My cousin is a photographic artist, and was recently called in to discuss the nature of one of her pieces. Her subjects are usually people, and they come from a wide variety of backgrounds. To help support BLM (she does a lot of work to help fight racism in general), she auctioned off one of her pieces. The subject of the piece happened to be a Black woman. She was called in by Black members of her art community to discuss how people bidding on an art piece that featured a person from a marginalized group perpetuated the ogling and monetization of Black people. She gave a response that acknowledged that her piece did perpetuate this issue, because she wanted to raise awareness of this historical harm, and recognized that her intention was ignorant of this perspective. The Black community also acknowledged that the piece itself was not harmful in any way, only that the surrounding issue that they were painfully aware of needed to be brought to light. The auction went ahead, and the piece sold for ~$1000, all of which was donated to BLM.  I think as a fandom we should be cognizant of when a work itself is harmful, or when the intention is harmful. Sometimes they overlap, sometimes they don’t. Both are talking points, and we should not be afraid to discuss them, but this requires respect from all parties. We also do need to be able to recognize what is strictly fiction, versus what has real-world impacts. My askbox is always open and my DMs are open to mutuals if you would like anything clarified or expanded upon. Or, if you’d just like to discuss a topic, vent, or have any questions about my own beliefs, you are welcome to reach out. I am happy to discuss anything, as long as there is mutual respect. 

[curioushistorian]

Contemporary art reflective blog

My name is Helen, I am a mature first year undergraduate History of Art and Museum Studies student. For the contemporary art module, we have been asked to create a blog on how we understand and connect to contemporary art. This is where I have to confess that out of all the modules that we have studied this is the one that I feel I connected to the least.

I am hoping by the end of this blog and through my own research to have deepened my understanding and gained a better insight into contemporary art.

I have grown up in and around Renaissance art having spent a quite a bit of time in Florence with the family I have there, the time spent in art galleries like The Uffizi, The Accademia and the Pitti Palace deepened my love of all things ‘old’ so the modern contemporary art I just do not feel like I understand quite so well.

 Medusa with the Head of Perseus

'Medusa with the Head of Perseus', by artist Luciano Garbati. COURTESY OF MWTH PROJECT AND THE ARTIST

 Luciano Garbati is an Argentine-Italian artist who grew up in a little village just outside Florence. In the Piazza della Signoria sits the famous Cellini sculpture for all to see. In this sculpture Perseus stands naked atop of Medusa’s corpse, holding her head aloft in victory over the crowds that gather in the square, every child in Florence knows the story.

As Garbati told Quartz’s Annaliese Griffin in 2018, seeing the work as a child led him to imagine a reversal of its dynamic.

“There are lots of depictions of Medusa, and they are always describing the myth at its worst,” the artist said. “… What would it look like, her victory, not his? How should that sculpture look?”

Medusa was a handmaiden of Athena’s sacred temple and one day Poseidon tried to seduce her, she rebuffed his advances as it would jeopardise her position in the temple, not taking no for an answer Poseidon raped Medusa. When Athena found out she, in a fit of rage for defiling her temple, turned Medusa into a Gorgon with deadly snakes for hair and a gaze that would turn anyone she looked at into stone, she banished Medusa from the temple.

A number of years later Perseus was sent on a seemingly imposible task to kill Medusa and cut off her head as a gift. Not being able to look directly at Medusa Perseus used the reflection in his shield to complete the job and take her head.

In Garbati’s sculpture things are a little different, Medusa’s lithe body is naked, she still has the snakes for hair and she is still a beautiful maiden, but in one hand she clutches a sword and in the other the severed head of Perseus (modelled on the artist) but its her gaze that catches the attention of the viewer, head tilted slightly downward, there isn’t a glee to her victory just a quiet resolution that she got the job done and woe betide anyone else who tries to take her life from her, inviting the narrative that she as a rape survivor, she will rise and that victim shaming is both wrong and immoral. This has been highly publicised recently in the media with the #metoo movement.

Photograph Jeenah Moon for the New York Times

Although Garbati created Medusa with the Head of Perseus in 2008 the sculpture was chosen to be erected in 2019 directly opposite the New York County Criminal Court, where Harvey Weinstein stood trial prompting a mixed reaction from the #metoo movement. Medusa has been reinterpreted as being symbolic of the victim-blaming suffered by rape survivors. “How can a triumph be possible if you are defeating a victim,” Garbati said in a statement.

On his Instagram page, Garbati wrote, “The place chosen is not accidental, since there they judge cases for crimes related to violence against women. We are already in the final stage working on the last details of this sculpture that became a symbol of justice for many women.”

Photograph Jeenah Moon for the New York Times

Some women were outraged that a male artist was chosen to represent their voice saying that Medusa’s body was too perfect and Poseidon’s or Athena’s head ought to be at Medusa’s side, not Perseus’s as they were the initial perpetrators.

Regarding Medusa’s model-esque figure, Mr. Garbati suggests that critics consider the literature from a recent exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art that chronicles how artistic depictions of Medusa morphed from beastly to beautiful starting in the fifth century B.C. You can find that information here https://issuu.com/metmuseum/docs/dangerous_beauty_winter_2018_bullet

The feminist activist Wagatwe Wanjuki, who has written extensively on violence against women, wrote on Twitter, “#Metoo was started by a Black woman, but a sculpture of a European character by a dude is the commentary that gets centered? Sigh.”

But what if we have the story wrong, what if it’s been interpreted incorrectly all this time? What if Athena was in a fit of rage because her maiden had been raped? What if she was so angry that she turned the beautiful Medusa into a Gorgon to protect her from being a powerless victim? What if she sent her away to safe place where no one would find her? What if, what if, what if….

You can find Luciano Garbati’s web page here https://www.lucianogarbati.com/

  Faith Ringgold

 I first came across Faith Ringgolds work in a lecture we had about the Harlem Renaissance and the impact of the Windrush generation on art at that time, how black artists were using art, music, dance and other mediums to comment on the political status of the era and the black community’s social standing.

What first caught my eye was the riot of beautiful colour Ringgold uses, also that she uses the traditionally ‘gentle’ medium of quilting to depict such abject horrors such as racism, segregation, riots and street violence.

This led me to find out more about her life as an artist and civil rights activist, she is a mesmerising character and I watched many interviews with her, this one was particularly interesting as she was accompanied by her black feminist author and cultural critic daughter Michelle Faith Wallace. Watch it here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GK6G-S33V6w

 Faith Ringgold was born in Harlem New York in 1930 at the tail end of the Harlem Renaissance.

Harlem welcomed thousands of African Americans from the southern states of America, they moved to escape the prejudice and persecution that was going on at this time. Many famous people settled in Harlem such as Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald also authors, artists, musicians and athletes flocked to this area. It was an exciting time in Harlem and the Harlem Renaissance was born.

Faith Ringgold attended City Collage New York where she studied art from the European Masters such as Da Vici, Van Goch and Titian. Although she learned from them, she thought “I am black, I am a woman and I am of African descent” so she started to look at African art that was brought to Harlem by her relatives, she started to make quilts with her own twist on the designs, this led her to making her quilt stories, a series of quilts depicting the plight of African Americans in Harlem at this time, dedicating her career to activism, fighting gender and racial equality and highlighting the horrors of the race riots.

Echoes of Harlem 1980 is the first quilt of the series. This was a collaboration with her mother (who she called Willy) and was made the year before Willy died, this was the only one they collaborated on together. It features all the faces of her neighbours and friends in Harlem and takes the traditional tanka for inspiration. The fabric was quilted on to wadding and then the images were painted directly on to the fabric. This meant she could roll them up and easily transport them to various galleries as she found her paintings too heavy to lift and did not want to wait for her husband to arrive home from work to help her lift her canvases.

Echoes of Harlem 1980 photo Artsynet

Street Story 1985 This a quilt that features her house in Harlem, 222 West 146th Street. It also shows the burned-out houses of her neighbours after the civil rights rioting took place.

Street Story 1985, photo metmuseum.org

 Sonny’s Quilt 1986 This quilt depicts her legendary neighbour saxophonist Sonny Rollins who would practice playing his tenor saxophone on the Brooklyn bridge to get away from complaining residents.

Sonny’s Quilt 1986, photo Artsynet

 Tar Beach 1988 This quilt depicts the hot summers of Faith Ringgold’s childhood, no one had air conditioning and the families of Harlem could not afford holidays so instead they would use the roofs of the apartment blocks to get away from the stifling heat of the city. This was as a place to spend recreational time. They called it Tar Beach. Families would gather with friends and neighbour’s, children would fall asleep under the stars as the adults played card games, listened to music and told stories passed down for generations. This quilt captures the magic she felt on the roof top, the George Washington bridge in the background, the stars above their heads.

 Tar beach1988, photo Artsynet

 When Faith was a child, she was sick much of the time with asthma so consequently spent a great deal of her time absent from school, the roof top was where her fashion designer mother Willy taught her to sew. On the days that she was well enough her mother would take her to the theatre to watch Jazz performances, these are portrayed in later story quilts.

Harlem reflects heavily in Ringgold’s work, from the connection and love she felt with friends and family to the outpouring of rage, despair and inequality felt by the Black community at the time. She used her work to depict the political tensions on the streets of New York.

To find out more about Faith Ringgold’s extraordinary life and works of art including paintings, books, and many more quilts please start by taking a look here www.faithringgold.com  

   Tracey Emin, Everyone I Have Ever Slept With 1963–1995

Photograph Wordpress

 Tracey Emin is a British artist most associated with the art movement of the late 1980’s early 1990’s in London called the Young British Artists or YBA’s, with most of the artists graduating from Goldsmiths or the Royal Collage of Art.

Emin hand stitched and appliqued over 100 names of everyone she had ever slept with up until this point on a tent. The tent filled her small living room floor for six months whilst she worked on it, having to put her television inside it to fit it in the room.

I find this piece fascinating for a number of reasons, firstly the way the media reacted to it. The Tent as it is sometimes known, got such bad press as I think it was just too much information about Emin’s sexuality and private life for most of the general public, jumping to the hasty conclusion that all the names in and on the tent were sexual partners when in fact the literal meaning of the word ‘slept’ in the title was including all the people she had ever fallen asleep in the same place as, names included her Grandmother who she used to fall asleep besides listening to the radio, her teddy bear, two unnamed aborted foetuses and school friends. Of course, Emin had the names of past and present lovers and one-night stands in there also, but the deliberately provocative title of the piece meant that people jumped to their own conclusions without considering that there may be names of people in there with innocent connotations.

Photograph Wordpress

 The second reason I like this installation is because it reminds me of Duchamp’s ‘Readymades’. Emin has taken a mass-produced boring plain two-man tent and added something to make it extraordinary, and thought provoking. So, I find myself thinking would it be as striking and controversial if it wasn’t for Tracey Emins brash, eccentric, feisty and at times unpredictable personality? After all it is just a tent with some names sewn on.

The Tent was first shown at Minky Manky at the South London Gallery and the brainchild of Carl Freedman (who Emin was in a relationship with at the time) He was a friend and collaborator of Damien Hirst who also exhibited in the gallery along with YBA’s such as Sarah Lucas and Gilbert and George. This gave Emins work a much-needed boost as she was not as well-known at this point.

Emin tells Widewalls ‘At that time Sarah (Lucas) was quite famous, but I wasn't at all. Carl said to me that I should make some big work as he thought the small-scale stuff I was doing at the time wouldn't stand up well. I was furious. Making that work was my way at getting back at him. One review was really funny, the journalist had written something like 'She's slept with everyone – even the curator'!

Charles Saatchi the well-known art collector, Gallery owner and wealthy patron of Hirst and many of the YBA’s wanted to buy The Tent but Emin wouldn’t sell it to him due to his advertising work for Thatcher administration. Saatchi eventually bought it on the secondary market from another dealer and put it into his storage facility at the East London Momart warehouse where it was destroyed by fire along with many other valuable pieces of art.

In 2008 during her Edinburgh retrospective show, Emin claimed that she was offered £1 million by the Saatchi Gallery to rebuilt The Tent, but that she cannot do it since it was very personally despite the fact she recreated few smaller pieces for that show. (Widewalls 2020)

To find more about Tracey Emin’s tent watch this short clip https://www.widewalls.ch/magazine/tracey-emin-everyone-i-have-ever-slept-with

 Eve Provost Chartrand

In mid-February we had a guest lecture by the Canadian artist Eve Chartrand, I found her work quite disturbing to look at at first, her organic matter looking creations that incorporate teeth, wax, fabric and living fungi can look like something out of a horror film. But then listening to what motivated her to produce her works really resonated with me.

Chartrand has been observing in her art how ‘she experienced first-hand how disabled and ��disgraceful” bodies trigger unease, contempt, and/or indifference, even violence. Living in a culture that equates old age with disease and decline (Calasanti 2005) compelled me to find ways to resist and transgress such discriminative gazes’.

As a woman of 44 I can tell you that I am treated differently now to how I was treated in my 20’s. It is like you become invisible or perhaps treated as a slight inconvenience, like your opinion does not count as you are not young. How the adverts on television are reminding you that you must not age, to stay thin and retain the appearance of a perpetual twenty something with long thick lustrous pigmented hair, wrinkle free and with the perfect figure. And the cruel reality is as you start to feel the most comfortable with yourself that’s when your body starts to age and diminish the youthful lustre it once held. When did it become the norm for the media to tell us that the aging process is not acceptable, beautiful or inevitable? Is the media the new male gaze?

Chartrand’s work challenges the viewer to see beauty in ageing, unconventional bodies, frailty and diversity.

 Chartrand’s work entitled ‘Is there anybody home?’ was inspired by losing elderly relatives, witnessing the aging process and using childhood memories to create sculptures that conveyed the smells, tastes, vibrations of previous experiences. This body of work particularly stuck a chord with me as I have elderly parents and recently lost a most beloved Aunt, Chartrands work made me think about what I hold dear and after my loved ones have gone what would I have to remember them by.

Is There Any Body Home? Specimen #5: A Hair Brush. 2018 Eve Provost Chartrand

 Chartrand explained in her lecture that she made this after rummaging through a box of mementos and keepsakes of her Grandmother who she was afraid of when she was a child. The poetry is typed on velum to mimic the fragility of aging skin mirroring it with a slightly translucent quality.

The bacteria grown in the petri dish was taken from a swab of Chartrand’s Grandmothers 80 year old hair brush. The idea that you can resurrect a living organism (all be it bacteria) from a relative or loved one’s belongings I find fascinating and macabre at the same time. The thought is comforting to me that even when someone is long gone a part of that person still remain and can bloom into life once more.

Is There Any Body Home? Specimen #2: Dentures. 2018 Eve Provost Chartrand

 Find more of Chartrands work here https://www.eveprovostchartrand.com/

  Andy Goldsworthy

Andy Goldsworthy is a site-specific artist who works outdoors with natural found materials such as leaves, twigs, rocks, ice and water. He uses these materials to compliment the landscape and documents the breakdown or decay of the installations by photographing them at different stages. His work is none permanent and open to elements which give them a fleeting beauty.

“It's not about art,” It's just about life and the need to understand that a lot of things in life do not last.” He told the Guardian

Photograph by Artsynet  

 Instead of using canvas, paints, clay, tools and other traditional artist materials Goldsworthy instead opts for what nature provides him. Choosing not to paint landscapes but rather paint on them, in them or around them, incorporating the seasons, the weather and the tides. Nothing he creates is permanent and every component as natural, even down to the thorns he uses to fix leaves in place.

Photograph Artsynet

 I think Goldsworthy’s art is particularly poignant at this current time. The global pandemic rendering travel out of the question so people have been able to explore the countryside around them, many of them for the first time. Busy lives, jobs, and schooling have us all on the giant treadmill of life, it has taken a catastrophic advent for all to slow down and enjoy walking in the countryside, local parks, gardens and shorelines of Britain, watching seasons come and go, watching nature in her great cycle realising that to take care of our earth provides a wonder for us all and our future generations.

Goldsworthy states in his book Passage ‘An artist makes things that become a focus for feelings and emotions - some personal, some public, some intended, some not. At best a work of art releases energy that is a shock to both the artist and the viewer – I do not mean shock in the conventional sense but an emotional tremor that articulates a feeling that has been in search of form’ (page 69)

The transience of Goldsworthy’s art can also be likened to the way that contemporary art is fleeting, what is considered to be contemporary at this present moment in time will undoubtedly be not what we would consider it to be in 10, 20 or 50-years’ time. Art that is created today is considered contemporary but all art was created ‘today’ that day and then we will have to find another name to call it, another category to fit it in to.

I have learned in the duration of completing this blog that I very much enjoy some contemporary art, I may need to do some research into the piece that I am looking at to understand the artists meaning behind their work, or that I may have to understand the actual artist and their background before I can fully appreciate what they are communicating, I know now that I will be slowing down in the contemporary art room in the Walker Art Gallery the next time I visit instead of rushing through, I will take time to read the information the galleries provide and continue to learn, who knows, maybe I will find a new passion I did not think possible.

[inspired-by-the-music]

For You: Stand By Me

Taglist: @jineunwootrash​

If you would like to be added to the taglist of any of this blog’s works, please ask!

Recommended Reading: For You: 4 O’Clock; these works have separate, independent, but deeply interwoven timelines.

Chapter 6: The Boy Who Reminded Me

Lei’s POV

At fourteen, life changed for better or for worse. 

When I walked into co-ed vocal training, Mark caught me by the door. Grabbing both of my hands and jumping up and down as he greeted me with a wide smile, he cheered, “We have a guest instructor!”

I followed his gaze to the front of the room to find none other than Onew— SHINee’s Onew— humming scales. Too starstruck to allow my gaze to linger on one of my idols, I flinched away from Onew, grinning faintly at the sound of Mark’s giggles. At that exact moment, my eyes fell on who must have been the cutest boy I had ever seen. Again, I flinched away. 

“You must really like him.” Mark was referencing Onew. 

Fearing that Mark had caught me admiring somebody our age— somebody who, frighteningly, could have admired me back— I left my gaze on the floor and spoke despite my blush. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“Huh?” Mark retraced my stare and smiled knowingly when he gathered that I had been transfixed by a boy— I was blushing about a boy— a stranger, no less. He didn’t quite tease me, but his poorly muffled chuckle was embarrassing enough before he waved the cute boy over. “Come here, Jaemin!”

The boy, Jaemin, became much cuter the closer he stood to me. “Hey, Mark.” He wore a sparkling smile that didn’t falter or fade when his eyes fell on me. My heart skipped several beats, and I almost screamed because I had only known Sehun to affect my pulse, because I only trusted Sehun to touch my heart. “Who is your friend?”

Mark placed his hand on my shoulder, and he quickly retracted it when I stiffened under his touch. His smile didn’t fade, though. “This is Lei!” 

Bowing and giggling as my blush grew under his stare, Jaemin asked, “Just Lei?” Because he didn’t know me well enough to know my last name, Mark joined Jaemin in looking to me for an answer. 

I hurriedly bowed to Jaemin, meeting his eyes for a brief second, and nodded profusely. “Yeah. I’m Lei. Just Lei.” I guess I thought I was protecting my identity. I guess I thought I was holding Jaemin, who— bright smile and all— threatened to break through the walls I was building to protect my image. 

You have to understand: back then, I was not at all afraid of holding a broken heart. I didn’t know to be afraid of past tense love. My self-imposed (Sehun-encouraged) total dating ban was initially enacted only to discourage others from eyeing me disapprovingly; I didn’t think to protect my heart. 

“Well, ‘Just Lei,’” Jaemin winked, and my stomach flipped, “I’m Na Jaemin, but you can just call me the love of your life.” 

Mark groaned, and I tried to force my trembling smile into a straight line as I mimicked Sehun’s voice, feigning utter disinterest in Jaemin as I asked, “How old are you?”

Poking his chest out, Jaemin boasted, “I’m thirteen!” It wasn’t wasted on me— the realization that, for the first time, I was the oldest in one of these heart-fluttering conversations. 

(Note: I was older than Mark, but that doesn’t count because a.) I was only a few months older, and b.) sadly, Mark never made my heart flutter.)

Before I could respond to Jaemin— likely to succumb to his charms— Heechul’s voice broke through the scattered pre-practice chatter. Because I hadn’t seen him or heard his voice for much of his two years of military service, I smiled at the first sight of him standing atop a chair at the front of the room. My smile quickly crumbled, however, as his words filled my ears. 

“So, I heard some of you are curious about my love life!” Heechul’s bulging eyes bore into those girls who never liked me, and I understood all too quickly that this— the most humiliating moment of my life (so far)— was a belated response to their insult directed at Mom. 

Maybe I could have managed to feel bad for those girls had they ever apologized. They hadn’t even grown out of glaring at me or tripping me at every opportunity, so it was clear that they weren’t even slightly sorry. The only real difference between that day and the past was that I had grown out of caring about them. I had grown out of straining to hear their muttered thoughts. 

I wasn’t proud of Heechul for causing a scene (as usual); I just didn’t squirm for those girls because I have always believed that when you choose to unapologetically, intentionally speak cruelly, you have to accept the consequences— even if they aren’t immediate. Maybe, in some way, I thought that Heechul’s outburst was an act of justice. 

Maybe justice isn’t usually comfortable. Shrinking, I looked at Onew, hoping that he would silence Heechul so we could start practice. Why couldn’t justice have been served some other day when I wasn’t talking to the cutest boy in the world? Why couldn’t justice have been served on a day when I wasn’t scheduled to learn from one of my idols? 

Onew only stared up at Heechul with wide eyes, mouth agape in some surprised smile. Apparently, he wouldn’t dare to disrupt the hand of justice. 

Heechul continued, “First of all, if you want to survive in this industry— and, to be frank, I’m not convinced that you have what it takes— learn to mind your own damn business. Don’t make enemies out of senior artists because they can crush you, and— let me warn you right now— I’ll go gangster on all your asses!”

Murmurs rippled through the other trainees, and I hung my head in shame because, even through his insanity, I was associated with Heechul. 

His eyes narrowed. “Now, here’s some wisdom to carry through life whether you debut or flunk out of training: the vast majority of your relationships will NOT be sexual!” Since all of us were teenagers who liked to giggle at naughty words, the immature among us swallowed their amusement for fear of attracting Heechul’s scorn. 

“My relationship with Manager Kim—” 

When stares turned to me at the mention of  Mom’s name, Heechul raised his voice to turn heads toward him. “My relationship with Manager Kim is one of these many non-sexual relationships in my life! So the next time you try to fit our names into your filthy mouths, don’t spread lies! And if you choose to spread lies anyway—” 

I would have hated to be on the receiving end of Heechul’s glare. 

“— well, just suffice it to say that I don’t tolerate liars.”

The threat, although vague, stunned everybody into silence. Heechul might have taken advantage of the silence to lecture everyone all day had Mom not filled the doorway, brows arched and drawn together in utter confusion as she took in the sight of Heechul precariously balanced on the chair.

Eyes rounding as if he were a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar, Heechul flinched and jumped off of the chair, drawing gasps from me, Mom, and everyone else who was concerned about his injury. He stumbled, barking, “Come on, Lei! You can’t learn anything else from these people!”

Nobody had ever been more wrong than Heechul was in that moment. Burning partially from embarrassment under Jaemin’s stare, but burning mostly from the desire to learn from Onew, I shook my head until my eyes fell on Mom. From her place in the doorway, she quietly beckoned me with one quick subtle gesture. 

I tried to obey her— I promise— but my feet were somehow stuck to the floor. Like an idiot, I would have stood there, motionless, wide-eyed, and slack-jawed, had Heechul not dragged me out of the room after wrapping his hand around my arm. 

What’s worse: Kyungsoo, Baekhyun, Chanyeol, and— of course— Sehun sat together at the table by the vending machine. As I briefly met Kyungsoo’s, Baekhyun’s, and Chanyeol’s pale-faced expressions— as I watched Sehun massage his temples in small circles the moment I walked out of the studio, I did not doubt that they had heard all of Heechul’s speech. I tore my eyes away from them as I ripped my arm from Heechul’s grip. 

Probably because they were friends, Mom decided not to try to talk Heechul out of his fit. I followed her lead and devoted my energy to forgetting the numb embarrassment washing over my entire body. 

I filled the silence with the obvious fact: “I can never go back to training.” The other trainees would never let me live past Heechul’s outburst, and after his allegation that I had nothing left to learn, the instructors wouldn’t care much for me either. 

“You can’t learn anything else from them anyway!” Heechul repeated so passionately that I wouldn’t raise my voice to argue. I only looked away from him to focus on the tiled floor beneath my sneakers, wondering how he could have determined such a thing when he had never seen me dance or heard me sing. 

Hooking an arm around my waist, using the other to hold her clipboard, Mom promised, “I’ll do everything in my power to keep you from having to face the aftermath of Heechul’s fit.”

In hindsight, I guess I should have realized that meant Mom would advocate for executives (or whoever makes those decisions) to allow me to debut, but I was so anxious about the weeks of missing practices that Mom caught me off guard with her announcement over dinner (on a rare night that Heechul was absent) of the “exciting” news. Figuring that I should have been happy to debut so soon, I forced a smile to match Mom’s, and I didn’t release a single tear until I was alone in bed with my radio. 

Don’t get me wrong: I was happy. I was proud that my hard work in training had resulted in the debut that was the dream of so many people. Still, I couldn’t escape the thought that two years of training wasn’t long enough. Two years weren’t enough to prepare me for what would (hopefully) be a lifelong career. Even if two years had been enough to teach me the necessary skills— and I wasn’t sure that they were— they definitely had not been enough to teach me the necessary confidence. 

Had he been there with me that night, Sehun probably would have told me that confidence only comes with experience, and I would have frowned because I wasn’t ready for experience.

My primary stress was that the agency decided (for some reason that was never relayed to me) that I should not debut with a group as I had always imagined. I would be alone. There would be no older member to look up to and learn from. There would be no more talented or experienced member to distract the audience from my many weaknesses while somehow making me better by association. There would be no unbreakable family-like bonds formed by teamwork— shared pressures and joys. 

On stage, I would stand by myself, just like I sat by myself at the table by the vending machine, just like (even with Joy and the NCT boys) I stood in the corner of the training room with my arms crossed tightly over my chest, just like I laid alone in my cold bed as soon as I finished dinner after long days. I don’t know when I got so lonely, but I couldn’t remember the last time I hadn’t felt that cold almost numb tingling eating its way through my gut and chest and brain. I knew it couldn’t have been that distant— my last genuine smile and the next— but I couldn’t remember, and I couldn’t imagine. 

That’s why I couldn’t quite smile when I wandered into my dressing room on debut day. Even when my face nearly collided against Sehun’s chest, my lips were tucked into some unappealing shape that was neither a frown nor a smile. I wish I had tried to smile up at him even if it was fake, even if it was strained and painful. 

I didn’t even look at him, though, because I was afraid that his face would remind me of the melted cotton candy. Or maybe I was afraid that he would find my fears swimming in my eyes. Or maybe— most likely— I was afraid that he wouldn’t notice that anything was remiss, and then I would have to confront that he, who I still admired most, didn’t know me better than anyone else did. 

The thing is, I wasn’t done idolizing Sehun yet. I wasn’t ready to wake up from my daydreams about him, and with every word— with every glance— the dream was fading. I know that it isn’t right to idolize people, but I (selfishly) thought that if I couldn’t have a friend, I could at least cling to the idea of Sehun as the person who knew me best. 

Although I had been too distracted by my labyrinth of thoughts to ask Sehun why he had been in my dressing room, he said, “I was looking for you, but you showed up later than I expected.” 

Our timing was never in sync. And I didn’t know how to reset the clocks. It was probably impossible, but I would have liked to try. 

Before I could wonder why he had been looking for me, Sehun scuttled down the hall, explaining, “I have to get ready for my performance, so— um— good luck.”

I wanted to thank him, but he was gone. Thinking that I probably wouldn’t have been able to find my voice anyway, I frowned and tiptoed into the dressing room where I found it sitting on the vanity: a baby blue jewelry box. I wouldn’t have dared to open it were it note for the note atop it reading: 

Lei, 

Never forget that so many people have been looking forward to your time to shine. Wear this whenever you need to be reminded of that. 

— Sehun and Donghae

From the scrawled handwriting and our brief encounter, I gathered that the note had been written by Sehun before reading the postscript: 

P.S., The clock charm is from me, and the crown charm is from Donghae. 

I probably would have given anything to learn why they had chosen those particular charms, but I never would have been brave enough to ask. I guess the meanings don’t really matter. No, I don’t believe that. I guess it’s okay to leave some things as a mystery. 

I guess all that matters is that I wore that bracelet on stage that day. I wore that bracelet every following day for five years, never once dreaming of taking it off until I could no longer bear its weight. 

[keepyourpantsongohan]

Ayesha Liveblogs Naruto Shippuden S20 (Pt. 4)

Hashirama’s “:O” face at everything is so endearing

Hagoromo is now really the time for a family story there are three children and a sad old man in need

“It was a few thousand years ago” Zetsu just said it was 1,000 years ago how bad are you guys at telling time 

I wonder how Hashirama feels about Madara being his Soulmate™

“I want make sure [the Tailed Beasts] don’t fight amongst each other, and that people don’t use their powers for evil” better 2 have tried and failed I guess 

“That’s because a toad’s dream is destiny” weird flex but ok

“So then, will everything I do now be meaningless?” “Don’t waste your time worrying” Ffgkjhfgkjh damn I didn’t ask for a lecture on fatalism in my Naruto liveblog

Lmao @ this dude revealing his thievery scheme after talking to Hagoromo for 0.5 seconds what makes him think everyone will be on board with it 

“I only want you to go away as soon as possible” ah looks like Hagoromo made a friend lmao 

“If we make it too sturdy, you’ll break your bones when you try to destroy it” they actually did a really good job of making Hagoromo charming like consider me charmed I wanna hear abt ur ninja way

Hahahah I admire Futami for not bringing up the horns for the entire length of time it took them to build the bridge 

Futami: Hagoromo-sensei gave me a high-five one time and it touched my heart so I formed a cult around him

Wait if Hagoromo only gave 8 disciples chakra are the nine of them together responsible for fathering all the shinobi world what kind of Gengis Khan fuckery

Minus the Hyuga, who, for some reason are moon aliens, I guess

“Throughout this long history men appeared, one after another, with the desire to use the tailed beasts for their own evil purposes. And that turned the tailed beasts against mankind. Anyway, back to my story.” Hahahaha did Hagoromo just go “(A/N: Fuck Obito and Madara lol)”

Unbelievable you’re telling me there was someone who wanted to get with this old man with horns and three eyes who leads a cult and you won’t show me WHO where is the justice 

OH HEY FUTAMI HELPING RAISE THE KIDS I GUESS? WILD

Mmmm I love Ashura already 1000/10 endearing impulsive baby

Some filler storyboard artist who I respect beyond reason: But what if... we added.... a dog

“It might even be bigger than yours” please don’t tell me they fished Zetsu out of the river

"I didn’t realize you thought so deeply about [chakra being used as a weapon]” “Yeah, well” “But then again, what will be, will be” what kind of parenting is this Hagoromo kjhgkjhgkjhg

Indra, 10 years old: I am concerned about the ethical impact of my innovation

Hagoromo: YOLO, son ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

“I’ll be watching you” Is that the voice of......... Pubescent Zetsu 

LMAO IT IS

These kids are really emotionally unprepared for the boar considering they were following boar tracks into the woods 

ARE YOU SHITTING ME THEY EVEN USED THE SAME FILLER DOG NAME LMAO WHO IS WRITING THIS 

I CANNOT BELIEVE THEY KILLED THE DOG I’M SO MAD

Wow @ them having Indra invent chidori instead hkjhgkhg poor Kakashi

Indra awoke his sharingan over losing his dog I cannot believe this how are dogs the central plot device of multiple arcs

“Whatever is in this village belongs to everyone - that’s the law” wow along with fatalism this arc is also teaching us about the practical failings of communism 

“The law is still the law” where’s the post that says Sasuke is ethnically a cop. Because that’s this arc

Not 2 be that gal again but Indra’s voice is also nice on the ears he has inherited his grandmother’s kekkei genkai of having an attractive voice and a terrible moral compass

...............kekkei grandma 

“Looking into his eyes reminds me of my mother’s eyes” I was kind of joking about the kekkei grandma thing but fair

“At that moment I felt that I understood for the first time why heaven had blessed me with two sons” have you ever considered your eldest son is mean in part because you make comments like this 

“What will the two of you do when you are out in the world alone” wow Hagoromo is giving his kids some kind of High-Stakes Bell Test 

Hahaha I like Taizo I hope they don’t do anything to him but they probably will because he’s had so much screen time

HAHAHAHA I LOVE THIS SQUAD it’s the first ninja team and the boy is the healer!!!

Ashura: OH NO I’VE FORGOTTEN HOW TO GENJUTSU

Kanna and Taizo: WE GOT U BUDDY WE GOT BATS

I thought I was going bananas for a sec but the intro did change lol 

Poor Tenzo I think he’s been officially discarded from OPs RIP

Side note: Having a Naruto blog has made me so wary of Kakashi and Sakura standing next to each other I don’t trust the ppl on this website to be normal for a second RIP x2

“They’ll suffer, sure, but everyone dies eventually” okay calm down Taizo

“It doesn’t matter whether it’s possible or not, because I’ve decided to do it” I admire Ashura’s blind optimism lmao

Not to poke too many holes but why would the water in the well not be affected by the Divine Tree

I take my comment about healing back ludicrously all the men get to display chakra natures and the women can only display glowing yin chakra hands booooo

Omg there is a Tenzo after all in an ED at least!! This is the first time I’ve seen all three members of the Naruto’s Dad Association in one place!!! Bless up

A shot of them standing all together!!!! My heart!!!!!!!!

SASUKE AND NARUTO’S GRINS AT EACH OTHER I WEEEP

[Hagoromo as Kakashi voice]: TEAMWORK!!

I was very much expecting Indra to go crazy and kill those two guys but wow that was a scene

“Enough to make you fall in love with him and follow him all the way here” At least Ashura gets like a real wife instead of Hagoromo’s ‘ ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ she dead’

Hagoromo: Indra’s a dick because his eyes are red trust me it has nothing to do with my parenting I’m a chakra scientist

“Indra, just what is the meaning of this” it’s a temper tantrum lmao

Was it really necessary to kill both of those guys Indra one best friend death usually suffices for mangekyo my dude

Minato joining Kakashi in the club of Boyz Who Jutsu Was Plagiarized

Hagoromo really has absolutely zero hesitation to attack his son and you wonder why Indra has a complex

“THIS IS THE POWER OF OUR BOOOOOND” he said, as he punched his brother in the face with a thousand wooden hands (mood)

Indra’s Lightning Teleportation Jutsu is really doing The Most the Raikage is not nearly this dramatic about it 

Can you... just.... declare that your soul will be reincarnated? Is that how that works? 

Also. Who slept with Indra?! U made him out to be like. Very Not Okay. But he’s the forefather of the Uchiha?? WHERE ARE THESE CHILDREN COMING FROM TELL ME WHO IS BANGING THIS OUT OF CONTROL FAMILY

Hahahahaha I’M SO READY FOR THIS RIDICULOUS TEAM 7 TRYING TO UNMASK KAKASHI EPISODE BRING IT THE FUCK ON

I knew the Sukea voice would be different but omg I’m still thrown

“S-kay-a” is really not how I thought that would be pronounced wow 

“If I’m able to capture this Kakashi guy without a mask on, it’ll be the biggest scoop since the Leaf was established” a little arrogant Kakashi but okay kjhgkjhgkjhgjhg

This is such an adorable and weird bonding exercise of Kakashi teaching his kids how to break into Konoha’s archives I’M WHEEZING

I would pay money to see Kakashi explain what he was doing to all those dudes in ANBU who probably thought he was intimidating as all fuck catching him a wig with three twelve-year-olds breaking into his own file

“Who cares what I look like anyway!” THIS IS SO DUMB I LOOOOVE IT

“I think that a woman might’ve drowned right over there on the river bank” HINATA!!!!! UR TOO NICE TO BE ENLISTED INTO THIS SCHEMING HAHAHA

Oh I remember seeing reference to this scene booooo do they really have to make it weird all the time

This concept is even MORE ridiculous in the show bc it expands beyond Team 7 to all the other Konoha rookies like Kakashi how much do u enjoy teasing the children that this is how you’re spending your day

HAHAHAH Kakashi is lucky that the person who knows him best has face blindness and can’t call him out for his schemes 

Okay not to betray my own brand but ᵏᵏᵍᵃᶦ ᶜᵘᵗᵉ

They really designed a nicer apartment for Kakashi just so they could animate his silhouette in the shower STUDIO PIERROT PLEASE

Fhkjhkjfhkjhkf that last scene made me so uncomfortable I don’t really like seeing Kakashi’s mouth while he talks it’s weird

You know I spent a lot of this interlude chanting main arc main arc in my head but alas now that we have arrived I’ve remembered that the war arc climax is a mess

“If my chakra runs out, I’m done” seriously Obito.......... how are you here

Can you imagine if Naruto actually died.... what would that even mean for this series I can’t imagine 

“I already marked this space, so I can hide out in my time-space” I want to know how Obito “marks a space” is it like a jutsu or does he just have to nod at it and go “my space now”

 I would also pay money to see what Obito and Sakura talked about when they had to hang out in Kamui for a solid two minutes lmao 

“So you’re friends with sensei huh?” “Yeah it’s complicated but I think we’re cool now” “Yeah, same with us and Sasuke” “Sorry about that” “I don’t forgive you but thanks”

“You alright?” define ‘alright’ but also Obito’s never been alright a day in his life, Sakura 

Uh oh foreshadowing to the heavy gravity space where Obito d*es

Okay maybe this is the part of me that is still clings to their Part I friendship but Sasuke helping Sakura stand really brings out my inner soft bitch

 “It would’ve been helpful if we could’ve received this advice a bit earlier” Tobirama’s bitter about sitting through five episodes of filler

Tobirama: Why haven’t u been helping this whole time

Hagoromo: It all comes down to Madara’s magic pelvis—

“This man lent me his power and that’s why we were able to get here” does Sakura not know Obito’s name either khgkjhgjkgh

How many times will we watch these same two flashbacks of Obito’s life

Looks like Kakashi brought a knife to a taijutsu fight LMAO

God Rin is such a good friend to Obito and he repays her by literally defacing her grave 

“Am I powerless to do anything but sit here and watch” it’s not really your fault you can’t fly Kakashi tho u could try throwing some kunai or smth ur not a one sharingan pony

Ddkjhsdkjhd why does Obito get a line worrying about Naruto’s death but Kakashi doesn’t he’s spent the past two days trying to kill Naruto

I’m still emo abt Kakashi trying to die for Sasuke that’s his soooon

“Rin... this time, let’s spend some alone time together, just you and me” Why phrase it like that, Obito

"Why save someone useless like me” Kakashi get some therapy

“A fool full of only mistakes” it’s hard to disagree with Zetsu when they’re flashing back to every mistake Obito has ever made

Where’s the graphics set where Obito goes ‘admittedly I lost my cool here’ because that’s what that flashback was 

Update: found it

“Don’t cry, Obito, you’ll just get laughed at” this fantasy is an indication that Obito has no real comprehension of how fucked up Kakashi was by Rin’s death

Can you believe that Rin still dies in Obito’s jonin AU like....what. It’s not even like ��AU of what I want” it’s like “AU where I learn how to cope with trauma” 

Also was this just an out for not designing an adult Rin bc he’s been thinking about Rin endlessly for like three episodes straight so..... what up with that

It’s still so fucking funny that Iruka’s in Obito’s jonin fantasy like when did they meet did he just absorb secondhand Iruka appreciation from Naruto 

“But, if you screw up, I won’t hesitate to step up as a candidate for Hokage myself” yesssssssss let Kakashi be the playful menace he truly aspires to be

Gjghjkhgjhg Obito’s “euuuuuuuuehhhh” when the paperwork dropped was funny

Sasuke’s face when Sakura punched Naruto was also v funny 

Honestly to be real for a second Obito imagining himself as buddies with Team 7 makes me mad u’ve done nothing but make these kids’ life TERRIBLE until today babysitting license REVOKED!!!!!!

Am I a hypocrite for enjoying AUs ft. Obito? Mayhaps!!!

“You told me that saving you was pretty much the same as saving the whole world, remember?” (Well.)

“I’d say, you did your best” You know that post that said it makes sense that Rin said this bc she’s a Scorpio. I’m still upset about it

You know... Naruto’s “the coolest guy” (“nothing but awesome”) comment about Obito is a direct parallel to “Bravest man I ever knew” in HP and that’s why, if I were to meet either adult man, I would dropkick both of them. In this essay I will—

“It’s kind of annoying seeing [Kakashi] all stiff and useless” u right Obito

Kishimoto pick up the phone I just want to talk about that rabbit bijuu design 

“A Susano’o? But whose?” DAD’S HEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRE

Kakashi with Six Paths Power REALLY feeds into my theory that Kakashi is Hagoromo’s transmigrant 

THAT’S MY TEAM READY TO SAVE THE WORLD TOGETHER!!!!!

😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 KAKASHI GETS HER VULNERABLE AND THEN THE BOYS ATTACK WHILE KAKASHI GUARDS THEIR BACKS AND SAKURA FORCES HER INTO PLACE THIS IS WHOLEASS TEAMWORK

“I really love you guys” YEAH HE DOES 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Okay arc over haha right guys we’re good now RIGHT GUYS??

In part, Kakashi jumping around to save his students feels very much reminiscent of Part I’s “MY SENSEI SENSES ARE TINGLING” swoop and scoop that he and Gai loved to do

Lmao @ Kaguya spitting Madara out like he’s a bad-tasting vegetable

Coming up with an OP specifically for VOTE2 is so extra but I kind of love it the Diver parallels!!!!

Sasuke is SUCH a liar abt his attitude towards Team 7 - more specifically towards Sakura and Kakashi bc he has already granted that he cares for Naruto

Sasuke: Comrades? I don’t know her

Also Sasuke: Constantly urging Sakura and Kakashi to get to safety and actively intervening when they’re not

“Honestly at this point I don’t think anything could shock me anymore” Sakura really needs a hug and a nap

“I shall be sure to ask Obito tell me that tale in the afterworld” the real question is if Obito will still look 12 when he takes Hagoromo on the harrowing journey that is his life

Kakashi truly has endless love in his stupid ass heart Obito’s like, “Hmmm... whoops sorry 4 committing mass murder” and Kakashi’s like “Hehe, we all mess up sometimes :) See u in heaven”

Madara and Hashirama really did invent being in gay love huh

WOW I WAS NOT EXPECTING TO TEAR UP BUT KJHFKJHFKJH MY BABY BOY SAYING GOODBYE TO HIS DAD HE IS THE WORLD’S BIGGEST SWEETHEART

“You’ve now finally settled things with Madara” Tobirama has been waiting for like a hundred years for his brother to get over his ex

Hagoromo: Naruto’s your new conference room congrats kids 

Mmmmm I don’t like aaaaannnnnny of this

“You’re suggesting that I enjoy a roooOoomance” why say it like that Sasuke

I genuinely think this is the maddest that Kakashi’s ever been at Sasuke that boy is very, very grounded

“I, too, had two children at one time” OMG KAKASHI OFFICIALLY DESIGNATED TEAM 7 DAD BY HAGOROMO (ur miscounting tho Kakashi actually has four (4) children)

“I think I shall let Naruto handle this” said Hagoromo, and everyone who encountered any problem in this series ever

I’m very distracted from Sasuke’s dictatorship speech by the fact he looks so much like an alien. What is UP with his eyes they never look like this???? Why are they so far apart and narrow and angled

“Your blood will be the last that I shed” what r u just gonna keep genjutsuing ppl Sasuke? Could just keep the Tsukuyomi on then, homie

It also plays into the Hagoromo and Kakashi are related (spiritually or literally) that Hagoromo is equally as useless with advice to him lmao

Kakashi: What should I be doing, sir?

Hagoromo: Sometimes I like to pray :) 

Fjkkjgkjhgkjhk Sasuke claiming that Naruto is his only bond never ceases to amaze me like Sakura and Kakashi are RIGHT THERE ghkjhgkjhgkj u have been protecting them this whole time while they shout how much they care abt u. Just admit u have a crush on Naruto and go!!!

“I know your heart well by now. And you mine” Sasuke u unintentionally romantic dumbass

“Finally decided to kill me, huh,” said a thrilled Sasuke, taking a lesson from the Kakashi School of Very Much Needing Ninja Therapy

This entire fight is the Life or Death equivalent of this tweet:

Lmao one of these boys lost a tooth I want to know which of them has a dental implant 

Omg............... Iruka what is going ON.... u are suddenly v pale and also I think ur VA might be different could they not get the same Iruka or has he just forgotten how Iruka sounds

It was real unclear until this fight that Sasuke had any of the same powers as Nagato

“Now I can finally be alone... farewell, my one and only... friend” again... Sasuke... u can be in love with Naruto and still have other friends!!!!!!! Ask Naruto he has tons of friends he’s not in love with*

*Disclaimer: they are all in love with him

The idea that everyone Naruto’s ever cared about is spiritually trying to help him kick Sasuke’s ass is p funny

“Sakura and Kakashi are still there, they’ll figure something out” cute that you have such an assload of faith in your loved ones in ur life-flashing-before-you moment Sasuke but with what jutsu lmao

“I began to see a shadow of my own family in Squad 7″ YEAH HE DID  😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

I still can’t believe that Kishimoto really wrote that all it took for Sasuke to return to Konoha was Naruto explaining to him how love and empathy work 

Omg Sasuke laughing...... I missed your laugh you precious boy

“Release the infinite Tsukuyomi once I’m dead by transplanting my left eye into Kakashi or someone else” Fhjfhkfh it detracts a little from the significance of Sasuke offering his eye to Kakashi to add the “someone else” but I guess they gotta make the syllables match up

Why is every Uchiha’s long-term plan just to die before they have to deal with the consequences of their actions

“I’m sorry” “Sorry? For what” “For everything” “You got that right” Sasuke I think u need to treat all of ur teammates to ramen 

“It’s finally back to the way it was” Kakashi loooves his baaabies 

TENZOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO 

Omg they included Guren from the filler arc in this crowd hahahaha

Gaara and Naruto enveloped in that same beam of light like Kakashi and Tenzo in the Tsukuyomi kghjghkgh SP said gentle gay rights

“I’m forbidden to talk about it” Team 7 would RIOT if Sasuke was locked up in a cell like that fuck you

Hahahaha I wish I could see the scene where Kakashi and Iruka decided to ambush Naruto with study materials 

Okay this is definitely a different Iruka ahhhhh weird I don’t like it

Iruka bursting into tears whenever Naruto talks about his progress.... same

I 100% believe that the vast majority of the reason Kakashi became Hokage was to pardon Sasuke but also that prison scene still seems appalling to me STOP MAKING THINGS WORSE THAN THEY WERE SHOWN TO BE

"Maybe next time” is super funny in the context that he does take her on his next mission outside the village and comes back with one (1) whole baby

Sasuke’s introspection usually seems to amount to “Birth is a curse and existence is a prison... oh hey Naruto <3″ 

The moral of the story seems to be that the best way to show someone you love them in ninja language is by telling them you want to keep punching them for the rest of your life

[gylisaa]

So I get asked to do a tattoo blog ALOT, and while I don’t see myself as tattooed enough to warrant one – all of y’all do, so here we go.

My first tattoo, the one considered to be the ‘gateway’ tattoo.

My first tattoo! I drew myself, mistakes and all when I was 17, and my best friend Hannah treated me to it on my 18th birthday and she got the same tattooed on her other arm. Best friends 5eva. So no underage tattoos here guys! Not for lack of trying…>:)

Now, if I HAD got tattooed underage, I can honestly say I would have been lumped with a monstrosity for life – I drew up my own design of a trad style anchor, with two swallows either side – doesn’t sound that bad right? Well I wanted it in traditional garish colours, and no where other than my lower abdomen. Let’s just say thank fuck for tattoo artists who check ID and don’t just ‘take my word for it, my mum said I’m allowed one and I’m deffo 18.’

I had the tattoo bug from a very early age, didn’t help that we were regulars at festivals like The Bulldog Bash – a motorbike, music and booze festival run by the Hells Angels,  which happened to be a stones throw from our front door. My other best pal Naomi, got her first tattoo there, underage ! And it was me who got called the bad influence!!

Anyway, I fucking love art, so much so I wanna be the art. Is that so strange?

My next tattoo was on a whim, with an old friend of mine in London, we filled up on chocolate vodka, decided to get ‘matching’ hand tattoos and she ended up with an ace of spades, while I ended up with a tiny anchor that has since spread so much it needs explaining every time I show it. Scratcher tattoos, for the win!

On my right hand, a tiny anchor tattoo sits on my finger! Yes, that is an anchor.

  My third tattoo, and my first proper learning curve, was that some tattoo artists don’t just ‘know’ what you want! I was besotted with Valerie Vargas style tattoos at this point, having just discovered her work in several tattoo mags, and so when Ryan and I booked a day session I showed the guy a picture I liked and said ‘I want something like that, please.’

19 years old, and shy AF, he showed me a stencil briefly and slapped it on my upper arm, I have a mole on that arm (about where your TB jab might be) and he’d positioned the design – that I’d hardly seen – so the lady’s face had a huge mole on it!

I asked if he could move it, and he scrubbed my arm roughly and moved the stencil. By now I’d seen the design and it wasn’t what I wanted. Feeling too rude to say so and ask for a new one to be drawn up, I sat through an hour or so knowing I hated my tattoo.

Here’s the lesson I have since learnt…

TATTOOS DON’T FUCKING COME OFF! 

They are on you FOR LIFE.

That is what you are paying for. A permanent mark. A permanent design that you will look at – FOREVER. If you don’t like it – speak up ! A tattoo artist doesn’t want you to be unhappy! They want you to love your art, on paper, and on skin. It’s their job, and generally – their passion too. Communicate! Be specific, your artist will want to work with you to get an end product you are happy with living with, and they are happy scarring you with.

So yeah, here she is, and she’s remained untouched since that fateful day. Sorry hun.

A few centuries later, had a spell of homelessness, living on the dole and finally getting our acts together and adding to the clan – Lily was born. And upon her ejection, it was time for another tattoo.

I got my second and third finger tatts on Ryan and I’s anniversary, so as an ode to my two loves of my life, I opted for a heart for Ryan (hint hint, I would like a ring) and an L for…Loopy Lily the First. This is one of those photos that at the time I thought was beautiful and now she is grown look back on and think ..urgh Potato Child.

Sorry babe, you are beautiful now.

On maternity leave and with money and time to kill, the arm began to fill up. This was done at Dust n Bones Tattoo in Plymouth, by lovely Robin!

Brightened up the peg something chronic!

Then! Fate struck, and two ‘brummies’ immigrated to Looe one fine day in 2017, (infact, TODAY! Two years ago!)   Ryan noticed a shop being refit whilst on a job, and Lo! The Vault in Looe came into our lives, bringing with it two of the best people ON THE PLANET. Melanie Allen (then Bates!) and Cat Allen. We even made them a song. But let’s not go off on that tangent.

Ironically, most of our friends in Cornwall are not Cornish natives, not sure if that says more about Cornwall being The Place To Be, or if it means Cornish folks are…weird AF.

Anyway! Ryan went in, introduced himself (and me, although I was none the wiser a friendship egg was being laid.) And booked himself in for a hand tatt. Long story short – we go there for all our tattoos now, I recommend them to everyone I know – even Aussies, y’never know when one may be visitin’. And frankly, if anyone else were to touch me with a needle I’d feel like I was cheating.

In 2018, Mel and Cat invited us to be part of their wedding, and we were blessed with being a part of their happiest ever day – what an honour!

The hand tattoo that started it all, and our place settings at M & C’s wedding!

And so, here are several tattoos laid upon me by the one and only Catherine Rope Head Allen.

Crystal Ball, the runes mean success, luck all that kinda shit.

Friday 13th tattoo, lucky ol’ 13! Ryan got one too, and he tattooed one on Cat!

A birthday tattoo, and yes I drank tea as it was stabbed into me!

My finger tattoos, and not to sound like a pussy but these are up there with most painful tattoo! I love Cat but when she tattoos me sometimes I’d like to punch her.

One for the Foot Fetishers

Oh, my most recent tattoo is the swallow on my foot, and I nearly forgot to mention my own mishaps – tattooing ‘Love Hate’ on my toes on Christmas day, probably not my greatest idea, but it was funny at the time. And what’s life for, if not for laughing.

Another ‘home job’ a sugar skull on my thigh. Hurt like fuck and Ryan did a line too. A blurry photo honestly does it justice.

  The rest of my arm, a crescent moon which was done by Robin at Dust N Bones, which i got ‘cus I liked it. (Life aint always deep and meaningful!) and then following a few successes with my blog and writing in general I got a writing hand, with the word ‘Mother’. This was my own design and tattooed by the wonderful Cat! It actually covers over some scars which was pretty poignant – like making an ugly reminder of a hard time into something that I am proud of and truly self-made. I’ve done well since that period of life, and now whenever I see my arm I am reminded of it.

Lucky Horseshoe – Freshly done! This tattoo was a nod to my first love Amy (RIP), Also Ryan tells me I am supernaturally lucky (that’s true!) and he recently got a tattoo that said ‘Fuck Luck’. So its an ode to being a ying/yang. He’s unlucky, but I’ve got enough luck for the both of us.

Excuse the shite photo, but have you ever tried to take a photo of the bottom of your arm?! This piece was just a gap filler I decided on, on the day. Super bright and colourful dagger and rose.

So… I THINK that is it! Theres another anchor on my ankle, stabbed into me, by me. It’s not too bad actually! I’ve got another tattoo booked this weekend – so we will have to wait and see what that is!! I’m sure I’ll document it all on Instagram…so be sure to check that out! ( @Rocknrollmother_)

I’ve popped a link in above to The Vault’s Facebook if you wanna have a nosy at Cats most brilliant work – I am not the greatest advert for her amazing talent. Their Instagram is here.

That said! A few of you asked for more tattoo blogs, so there will be more to come! Watch this space for a walk through of Ryan’s tattoos! (Wayyyy more interesting than mine) And tattoo etiquette – a guide to getting your first, third or the rest of your tattoos! Etc. If there’s anything you’d like to read, drop a comment or message on my social media.

Thankyou for reading, I hope you enjoyed it (:

My Tattoos! So I get asked to do a tattoo blog ALOT, and while I don't see myself as tattooed enough to warrant one - all of y'all do, so here we go.

[glowysweetfab]

The Best Day Ever: WSC Chicago 2018

So if you have been following my blog, you know that I am not thrilled with The Walking Dead right now. However when @mdgart offered up the chance to go to WSC Chicago...I had zero chill (wait until you see the shirt I wore) and accepted immediately. First of all I love her art work and I was dying to see her work and her in person. Then 2nd I knew Chandler Riggs would be there and I wanted a photo. I am still super heartbroken that they killed off Carl so I was determined to just like get a photo with him...Idk why. LMAO

So I got my picture. :D

Let’s keep it real, my hair is huge, my hair is bigger then him TBH, and I tried to shape it and use As I am on it so the curls made sense but...okay.

I took my glasses off to avoid glare in the photo and, if you have ever seen that episode of Black Mirror called White Christmas where you can block people IRL and they basically look like blobs, well I took them off and Chandler basically was super blurry to me. I was actually stunned at how he basically disappeared when I took my glasses off, LMAO! He was super nice. I didn’t have a super long interaction with him and I wanted to be like I am gonna miss Carl so much and say how devastated I was that he was gone from the show but I was blind as a bat and feared that I would be speaking to the curtains.

I plan on going to WSC Atlanta and I hope he goes and I’ll say that when I get his autograph. I didn’t have the funds to pull that off today. Also sorry for the poor quality of the pic, too tired to scan it into my computer. However the photo is really nice in person.

So besides getting my photo with Chandler, hanging out with @mdgart was so much fun. I am normally super nervous when I interact with other people but IDK, I just embraced this day and pushed my anxiety aside and I had so much fun hanging out with her in her booth. I didn’t think I would be there all day but I stayed all day and it was awesome. It was really cool talking to someone about the show and like being on the same page. I do have a cute pic of her at her booth but I am not gonna post it because I didn’t ask her first but here is a pic of just the booth. <3

The vibe was so awesome. Just talking about art and stuff the whole time. Also the booth next to us was selling these cute charms, you could make them into a keychain or necklace, I am wearing a Michonne one in the pic above with Chandler, that was gifted to me by Shane, who was running the booth for his wife while she tried to get an autograph from JDM. I looked out for the booth when he had to leave. So shoutout to Kat and Shane. So super nice. I hope I see them again.

So we have all seen this piece of art.

Would you believe the artist was right across from us! I never fathomed meeting him in person or being able to buy this piece anywhere but his website, but I did!!! 

Also super nice and had a great conversation about his work. I picked up three pieces. :D

I caught a little of Chandler Riggs and Katelyn Nacon’s panel which only solidified how adorable CR is and I can’t believe The Walking Dead thought it was a good idea to let him go. Like not only was Carl important to me as a character, I don’t get how they could part with him as an actor. Which is silly to say because alot of the actors are amazing people but they did perish on the show, although I believe strongly that fate shouldn’t have happened to Carl.

I stayed until closing and I think I would make an awesome convention roadie. Like I like traveling and all that stuff, I liked helping, hopefully I was helpful. I of course picked up art pieces from @mdgart, my crummy photography doesn’t do their beauty justice. I can’t wait to hang these in my house. Huge thank you again to @mdgart, I loved this entire day and loved hanging out with her.

Anyway, my photography sucked through out this post and I’m sad about it but please trust and believe all the art is so beautiful. I am sorry. Anywho I am going to bed because I start a new job tomorrow and yea...I need to do well so I can save up for WSC ATL.

[bluriginals]

Quest for the Northwest Review

@gfdeepwoods @mysteryseeker

Sorry to keep you waiting!

It's been a long time coming, but it finally came! Not only since the last Blu Blogs (all the way back in March; yikes!) but since I made the promise to provide a review of Quest for the Northwest for a member of its crew (all the way back in June). Now I know what you're thinking and I will tackle these thoughts in order of importance:

1.) What's Quest of the Northwest?

It's the first installment of Gravity Falls: Deep Woods, a fanimatic based series chronicling some adventures in between the normal episodes of Gravity Falls

2.) jesus /march/

yes i know i'm awful

3.) Someone requested you to review their stuff?

i know it's so exciting!

ok maybe none of you were thinking that but i was and it was so flattering and cool and stuffs

4.) Does this have anything to do with the Mystery Hut review?

Only vaguely; MysterySeeker (who I'm assuming is running the project) saw it and thought I was apparently good at this so they asked me to throw some of my...'me' their way.

5.) You promised this review in mid July and it's almost October. What do you have to say about that, HydroPants?

Uuuuuuuuh...there's my ride?

Now in my defense, the first part was released January 16th and the second Hirsch Day and that's a 5 month wait so if anything I'm like, 3 months fashionably early!

Read and weep, boys.

Alright alright, in all seriousness deepest apologies for me taking SO long to get to this. Getting that feedback on time is likely important for whatever you guys are doing with Deep Woods moving forward and it's just plain unprofessional. Really sorry to you all! But enough apologizing, let's get to the review of...

If you haven't already watched it, you should check out part 1 here .

As I stated before, I might not have known about this or looked into without my Mystery Hut review and as I stated there, I was really hyping that project up. Since then I've learned to abolish hopes/dreams and reject happiness, but the thumbnail did give a good first impression. It had a well-crafted quality to it and had been made specifically TO be the thumbnail. This really contributed to my gut feeling that Quest for the Northwest would really be something special. And let me tell you it is DEFINITELY really good. However, rather than talking about it on its own, allow me to spend the entire review judging it not only by its own merits, but by comparing it to Mystery Hut. Naaah, just kidding I'll leave that ol' coot alone. Before I we go in on the story, let's talk about the presentation. Oh my.

Presentation

This presentation is just /amazing/. It's really like taking a step back into Gravity Falls as if nothing's changed (as much as you can in an animatic sense). Starting off with the sound direction, Quest for the Northwest has a distinct element that truly gives it the GF edge any project attempting to emulate the original series needs: the music and audio cues. Brad Breeck's music fills the scenes it needs to and adds to the atmosphere so much. However we aren't dealing with Johnny Test or a 4Kids dub here; the fanimatic knows when to stop talking and deliver some golden silence.

This example from early in the episode where Mrs. Northwest discourages Pacifica from playing with the commoners utilizes sound cues in a way that emphasizes what happens in it

I can't think of a true example of silence off of the top of my head, and it's likely that many scenes use a more lowkey part of the OST, but that works towards the same objective: quieter, more somber moments that appropriately juxtapose the louder ones. It never feels like these silences are too long, awkward, or the result of someone flubbing a line or not being able to think up some dialogue to put in the place of said silence. Speaking of flubbing lines, there's basically none of that: the casting and voice direction are extremely solid. I feel as though some of the people from Mystery Hut (THIS AND TWO THINGS LATER WILL BE ONLY COMPARISONS I SWEAR) may be 'reprising' their roles in Quest for the Northwest (which will hence forth be abbreviated as QftNW) and if they are I gotta give some shout outs to them and the voice director because the delivery and inflections of every line are just right and more. You really get a sense of the emotions and mindset of the characters with every word they say and on the whole the inflections feel very reminiscent of GF. Dipper, Pacifica, Jeff and Preston while not perfect matches are honestly good substitutes and deliver every one of their lines the way you'd imagine the real VAs to. Soos is honestly spot on aside from not being as deep but the real star of the show is Mabel. Though she isn't a near perfect match like Soos, whenever I hear her voice actress speak I can actually feel those Kristen Schaal-isms in her; not just through her dialogue but how she says certain words and just her voice in general. There's even special attention to detail in some places like when Jeff's voice breaks when he's pepper sprayed and in some instances, you can even tell what a character is saying based on their mouth in a single frame.

You can EASILY tell that Jeff's saying something with an 'L' sound, and while you don't have to mark little things like this in boards unless they're really important, I appreciate it a lot.

The only gripes I have with the sound (and they're admittedly minor) is that I feel like Part 1 is a bit quiet, even at max volume and Snadger's hiss audio in part 2 is loud. Like, if you have it at 100% prepare to get that faux jumpscare chord feel. But these really are nothing in comparison to the great sound in this fanimatic.

Upon my first viewing of the episode I was blown away at how well-crafted and consistent the art was. I could NOT believe that there were that many boarders; 4 at most. But I found myself shocked to see a plethora of different artists names flash on screen during the credits (16 to be exact; 4 times as many as appeared). On the second viewing, I was definitely able to distinguish more than 4 styles, but 16 is still WAY more than I'd ever guess. It's just so consistently good, on-model, and expressive, its many artists are able to carry it together with pride.

This shot in particular is really pretty, so I wanted to highlight it :)

Sure there'd be occasional hiccups like Dipper and Mabel's heads being squarshed in some frames or the first portion of Jeff's beast slaying plot but you still get a genuine sense of effort from each and every frame/artist and (Mystery Hut comparison incoming) not ONCE does it ever stoop the low, haphazard inconsistencies and disregard of the Gravity Falls artstyle as Mystery Hut did. In fact, it goes so much further beyond that. Just...take a look.

(Nearly) Every. Single. Face in this project oozes with the Falls. I absolutely loved it and it was a pure joy to look at. Not a second goes where something isn't moving and it's in the best way: each frame is logical and compliments the one preceding and succeeding it. I can honestly imagine so many of these frames transitioning smoothly from one to the other in animation and this level of attention to detail and desire to express a genuine Gravity Falls experience is commendable to say the least.

They remembered dramatic, shading using close-ups and in some shots they even bothered to put in unique towns people that fit the style! Cute!

But the biggest thing of all that propels this to new heights artistically has got to be the understanding of the characters.

QftNW has such a great understanding of Gravity Falls' characters not only in how they talk but equally as important: how their physical body works in relation to other objects as well as themselves.

Dipper's (audience) right hand has such a nice depth to it and the way Pacifica's hair bends on the bench looks like it jumped straight outta the show.

But there's on example that stood out to me above the rest. Just...look at this beautiful  8 frame scene where Dipper and Mabel take off their Pacifica costumes.

Forgot how tumblr shrinks wide images like this, so here: bask in the full glory of these frames!

Whoever drew this is my Super Star, the 1-Up Boy (or Girl). It's on model, it understands how the individual 'pieces' of Dipper and Mabel work (hair, arms, face etc.), it has touches like their changing facial expressions and Dipper turning his hat forward. I just can't do it justice this scene is so /good/. MysterySeeker when you get to this, please give that boarder special shout outs. I love this scene so much aaaaaaaaaah

Alright that's enough gushing about the glorious art and sound. There's one last remark I'd like to make about the presentation. The episode managed to get in a special monochromatic full version of theme which is great, but in the end the episode totaled out to /27/ minutes. Now, if that's what they want to go with that's absolutely fine. Nothing wrong with having your Gravity Falls fan series run a couple over the normal limit. But if they really want to go for that Gravity Falls feeling they should cut 5 of those minutes.

Story and Characters

Quest for the Northwest's basic premise is that Dipper and Mabel decide to go out to a parade being held to honor the election of the holder of the best running gag, Tyler Cutebiker. However upon seeing a miserable Pacifica in the parade Dipper and Mabel (mostly Mabel) callout to her and try to get her away from the parade and by extent her parents. All isn't right however as with Jeff's role as leader being questioned due to his inability to find a new queen, the town's precious princess may find herself in more trouble than she's bargained for. The basic story definitely shows lots of promise, particularly in the idea of having an episode where the Pines twins both interact with Pacifica. But before we really go in on that let me talk about the structural elements that hold up this story.

As stated in the presentation section, the visuals here are on point and they really propel the episode forward with great action based gags, both subtle and dynamic. Jeff rubbing his eyes after being pepper sprayed and Preston's reactions to all of the filthy commoners being near him (Soos especially) added to the scene SO much.

Don't touch me, PEON. And on a similar note...

Don't touch me phone, PEON.

The characters aren't just moving through each scene as lifeless dolls, occasionally making flanderized quips that are supposed to remind you "YUP THAT'S THEM". That wasn't uh, that wasn't supposed to be a Mystery Hut sneak diss either I just wanted to say that the characterization is great. Speaking of that third Mystery Hut diss, it's finally time to get to it as we talk about the characterization. Mabel's characterization is MILES better than it is in Mystery Hut. There she was a spouting faux-Mabel non-sequiturs and generally being a flanderized nuisance. But here? Her dialogue isn't substanceless; it's endearing, and smart, and feels SO Mabel. And being that this is QftNW, it's not just her dialogue. It's her actions. How she moves and the things she does: licking the beard hair twice (and ultimately eating some at the very end), her "balloon sense" in scene 2, picking the cotton candy off the bench when they hear people calling for Pacifica and then sliding next to them when they look behind the wall.

It culminates into making Mabel feel well represented and because she's one of our two protagonists, it's pretty important to have her on point. And that my friends is that LAST you'll hear of Mystery Hut for the rest of this review. Probably ;)

I think that Pacifica was handled really well too! Some fans would've had her be a complete 180 from her appearance in Northwest Mansion Mystery, having her be all nice, and kind, and forcing Padippica down our throats in a way that feels unnatural, Pacifica still retains a lot of her personality. She's clearly only JUST learning to be better person and it's the gradual type of character development that I love to see.

Pacifica says "It's ok, most people are terrible at what they do." and not only is this a funny line but it feels perfect for a kid who's only steadily learning to drop her rich girl tendencies.

Sort of reminds me of the Steven Universe episode "Beta" where Peridot is showing Amethyst and Steven the Beta Kindergarten and making remarks about the gems that emerged there that really bring out her more Homeworld-like habits.

Jeff's pretty well-handled as well. Due to him being more of a recurring character in the series he's got nothing that really stands out but he's still well represented, especially in relation to the show. Basically all of his dialogue feels right at home with him. Though there is one action he takes in the story that particularly stands out, and that's retrying the Norman scheme from Tourist Trapped. I know this seems like the type of thing that'd I normally whine about and call forced reference/fan-pandering, but the way it goes about is such a unique parallel to Dipper and Mabel's encounter. The Gnomes are NOT the smartest creatures in Gravity Falls, so it makes perfect sense for them to double down on such a make-shift plot. It further expands on the parallel by having the plot fall apart very plainly. Him stumbling over his words, dropping the hand, and just coming on too strong coupled with Pacifica not buying it at any point and eventually fighting her way out is a serves as a smart subversion of Mabel's encounter with them, helps advance the plot in a unique direction. On the topic of throwbacks that brings us to Dipper and well...

For the most part I believe Dipper's also himself. At first I was thinking he was being a bit of a downer but honestly, it fits Dipper to be resistant against things like going to the parade. Him not thinking about Pacifica's huge milestone in Northwest Mansion Mystery (NMM) where she disobeys her parents is a little bit harsh but things really go over the edge when after the twins manage to get Pacifica off the float, Pacifica mentions that while appreciative, she doesn't want to be caught with them for fear of more punishment from her parents. Dipper replies to this by saying "See Mabel, she hasn't changed at all. And here I thought you were gonna start trying to break the world's worst chain".

Barring the fact that reprising the "world's worst chain" in the context of demeaning Pacifica comes off as absolutely brutal seeing as the line was such a landmark part of NMM (it was the thing that made Pacifica finally consider a change of heart), it feels very forced. Dipper didn't need to say something that cut so deep AGAIN especially after Pacifica saved ALL of their lives not out of obligation but out of wanting to do the right thing. And that's just the world's worst chain part; the fact that he says she hasn't changed at all? Way too much. And considering that she's just doing something as little as running away from a boring parade and not tricking Dipper into exorcising a ghost it was really unwarranted for him to go nuclear on her like that. Honestly this is the only instance of bad writing in this entire fanimatic. Like, Pacifica not wanting to consistently disobey her hella strict parents again makes sense. Has the Fear of God never been put into this boy by Mr. and Ms. Pines?

But don't let this minor blemish make you think it's NO good. The episode's writing is honestly SO good. And it's referential/injoke humor definitely isn't a hit or miss in most cases. You know, based on the fact that I gave 1 hit example and 1 miss example; I didn't want it to come off as QftNW being a crapshoot when it comes to reference jokes. It's very subtle but you can catch things like 'Dope Dog', an obvious reference to Cool Cat who we all probably know from YMS, Pizza Guy being jibbed YET again,

Shout outs to whoever boarded the first montage too btw

Alex Hirsch's face being on the TV and name somewhere else in the episode, the former Mayor's honorary statue and the fact that it has 2012 on it,

You guys KNOW they would've had to vague the date if this was a real episode.

And best of all Pacifica's response at the end when asked if she wants to visit the shack. If you don't get it, listen to how she responds to Dipper. You'll get it. QftNW is just plain good at balancing the worlds of emulation and fandom. I salute you fair fanimatic.

As you could guess from how much I've gushed about the characterization, the writing is a joy. The jokes are very much Gravity Falls and from start to finish this episode is doing its best to give you that feel when you have GF.

On first viewing this had me /ROLLING/, oh my god. What a great way to start off an episode.

And it keeps this kind of stuff up throughout its entire run. BTW shout outs to one of the guys who said "MS. NORTHWEST" while they were looking for her. This is so random but the way one of them said it honestly sounded like professional VA work. He knows who he is. Alright that's enough goofing around. How do I feel about the actual plot, the meat of the story separated from the writing/art framework? As stated before I truly believe this to be a great fanimatic. Its production efforts are high for a fanmade project and you can just tell lots of love and heart were put into every aspect of it. But if I'm being quite honest, I found the actual plot sort of weak. The writing itself was top notch so that did it a lot of favors but if you take a step back, you realize that not a lot really happens. Like, a lot HAPPENS but not a lot of substance happens. The episode deals with two primary conflicts: Pacifica trying to take a break from her daily routine and avoid her parents and Jeff trying to prove he's a worthy leader. Both are handled in a pretty straight forward manner: Pacifica avoids her parents all day and worries how they'll react, Dipper and Mabel come up with a valid excuse less than half way through the episode; Jeff tries to kidnap Pacifica, fails, the kids pity him and help him out by doing the classical costume farce and all is well. It's lacking the strong character plot (ex. Mabel questioning if she is a good person in Last Mabelcorn, Dipper confessing his crush in Into the Bunker, Dipper and Mabel wondering if Stan is really what he seems in well, Not What He Seems, Soos learning how to deal with girls/the fear of being alone in Soos and the Real Girl etc.) present in nearly every Gravity Falls episode. Even the segments within Bottomless Pit! and Little Gift Shop of Horrors managed to place some significant character plots that easily feel just as strong as the real episode's despite them not actually happening. Here minor conflicts arise, but they're never anything that hard to surmount or quite frankly, that interesting. After letting it sit with me for a while, I realized that

1.) The episode has two montages. Not that having two is some abominable sin they should've avoided at all costs, in fact montage 1 is great for giving an abridged showcase of the kids day together. Montage 2 on the other hand doesn't exist to parallel montage 1 (showing an advancement/decline), or show anything of interest in general. It's just your normal training montage. It has funny jokes but it seems sort of excessive. Montage 2's results are a total flop and result in them having to think up a b plan. The fact that montage 2 is ultimately not important isn't even lampshaded, in fact it's more played as unfortunate with how Jeff nearly cries. I'm not saying that montage 2's failure should've been played for laughs, especially since in episode the failure is punctuated by a gag, just that in the end montage 2 was a bit cliche and unnecessary.

2.) Pacifica's presence in the second half feels sort of extra and as if it's there primarily so we can get more Dipper, Mabel, Pacifica relationship-growing-time fanservice. Which is not to say that is at ALL a bad thing (the bit in the last scene before the credits scene is SO cute and not forced at all I love it), but when you're trying to write a good story, particularly a Gravity Falls one, having a strong central conflict to carry the episode is pretty imperative. One easy example I can think of off of the top of my head? There could've easily been parallels drawn between Jeff and Pacifica and the pressure from the obligations they have to their families. Jeff on his only simply isn't that compelling a character and making him into a compelling character that late into Gravity Falls isn't that beneficial. He isn't locked out of development due to being a recurring character, but having him have his own little arc that ultimately contributes to Pacifica's (a major character) would've been a better choice. There's obviously more than one way to do things, but that's something I thought would've worked out well.

3.) The title "Quest for the Northwest" doesn't reflect the episode's contents. Jeff's easily apprehended by Pacifica so there's no such quest to speak of and it isn't a clever bait-and-switch title like "The Ricklantis Mixup" because Pacifica defeating the gnomes on her own isn't the big bait of the episode, it's just a nice little parallel to Dipper and Mabel's encounter. Had it actually been about Pacifica being kidnapped and Dipper and Mabel going on a quest to save her whilst say, Pacifica decides to help Jeff out of pity after she breaks free on her own, eventually coming into her own as someone who's taking the first steps to being a better person, THEN it could've been called Quest for the Northwest. It would have the double meaning of not only Dipper and Mabel being on a quest to save Pacifica (the Northwest), but Pacifica being dealt her own 'quest' in helping Jeff out. But that's just me spitting out a specific theoretical I liked, there's tons of ways the title "Quest for the Northwest" could've been justified. The episode's plot just isn't one of them.

4.) Last and certainly least, the black eyebrowed Gnome who's clearly trying to usurp Jeff really isn't relevant. He's shown as the leader of this growing insurgence, but all he really does is talk mad game in two scenes and get absolutely destroyed in an admittedly funny scene. He didn't need to be his own character and the gnomes dissatisfaction could've been more properly represented with a mob rather than a man...urr, gnome. But really, this is a drop in the bucket compared to the bigger issues presented in #1 and #2. Had those been more refined this would just be an outlier rather than a cherry on top of a problem cake. A single layer problem cake mind you, but still a problem cake.

But enough of the negative: in the end Quest for the Northwest is a satisfying episode that captures the soul of Gravity Falls magnificently well despite its faults. An absolute must see for Gravity Falls fans, and if you for some reason read this review without watching it, check it out part 1 and part 2 here. There's plenty to see both writing, visual and gagwise that I didn't spoil, and honestly? Not seeing it is a disservice if you like Gravity Falls a lot. Definitely worth a watch. 8/10; MUCH better than Sonic Lost World.

th-that's my thing now guys. any time i give a number rating it's also quantitatively compared to sonic lost world u

Anyway enough of me babbling, if you enjoyed this fanimatic like I, you should check out their tumblr page for updates on whatever they have in the works . Pretty sure the next episode coming is being titled "Deep-Rooted Misunderstanding" so look out for that, cause I know I will! And while you're here, you might as well check out some of the rest of the this blog and see if you find anything you like. Stay tuned because next week, we're going to be talking about Sonic Forces and/or Mario Odysse-- on second thought let me not get back on my bullshit and promise next week, see you guys in june lmfao

[heinoushangar-a]

m e? for any url bUT ONLY IF you haven't already gotten swamped with these fkjh

lemme love you || @bluesmuses​

THE SUPERIOR PRIMARY APPEARS.

“#red loves blue exists for a reason” all the way across my blogs. for a Reason.

Do I Follow Them?: YES. ALL HER ACCOUNTS I WILL FOLLOW TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH. which is scientifically infinite since we’re all on one big blueberry so you get the gist. B) Forever.

Why Did I Follow Them?: I was so nervous to follow her beautiful and oh-so-very-necessary-for-insanity-and-order lawcow [ @dakctadude​ ] on jessica [ @krupnick​ ] bc … i’m gross. i’m unfiltered. she is rated G and magnificent in writing and such a sweet person. i felt so intimidated and nervous but omg i wanted to rp with blue so much?? BC WOW WHAT A LEGEND?? people who take severely underrated characters, rp them and put so much life into them deserve the highest ranking of honors possible, and blue did just that with Dakota. I’ve never even heard of the cartoon Dakota’s from, but Blue went and made this amazing blog for this awesome character I feel so much love for now because of her. I have so much respect for her. Dakota is such a necessity for Toon Roleplay, man. he keeps order, he looks after everyone and he is such a lovable big blue moo that everyone can feel safe around – except evil doers, which run wild on this blog lol. but… man. talk about an awesome character.I think I eventually decided to go for it and slammed follow bc yeah, I wanted to rp with that beautiful blue moo!! I was already having my little fantasies of Jess being good pals with Dakota and them having this unshakable bond together bc he is a genuine man. He’s honest, he’s respectful and he is so kind; he wouldn’t screw Jess over or use her like most of men Jess has come into contact with. He’d actually fend them off!I thought this was all silly fantasy tho.. and then Blue followed back and I flew into a panic LMAO. It was very much a Fester moment.

HELP SOMEONE AMAZING AND BETTER AT CENSORING THEMSELVES FOLLOWED ME WHAT DO I DO !!? Oh, I know! How about I initiate our first thread for Jess approaching Dakota and asking him for guidance against SEXUAL HARASSMENT. THAT’S A GOOD ICE BREAKER RIGHT.  what a dingus i was. i swear it was innocent, i was just like ‘cool i can set up a first thread for us and also give way for blue to connect another muse of hers to KMs so they can have potential future threads together!’. THAT’S THE BEST I HAD. MY GOD DO NOT TRUST ME WITH G-RATED BLOGS LMAO.But surprisingly, Blue stuck around after that. In fact, we had a few more threads together and ended up having Dakota & Jess bond so tight that the torchsinga [ as bugs calls her ] trusts him with her life and everything else. He looked after her when a Judge Doom rolled into town and she had PTSD meltdown and even let her stay at his place for a few days (with Roger too, of course). If that isn’t the cutest thing then idk what to tell you more, bc that just melted my heart. You could just see those little sim “++”s above Jess & Dakota’s heads through that whole event, and every other time they interact after. Not a day goes by where I’m not thankful for Jess having her blue law moo in her life, and for Blue being so cool with me and my awkward butt that she sticks around; even when I’m on this awful account.I follow Blue everywhere because I just love her and her muses that much, and I look forwards to making new connections with hers and mine.

Do We Role Play?: YES YES YES WE DO.

Do I Want To Role Play With Them: YES YES YES I DO. pls don’t take blue from me i love her sm, her muses are so cute and make me so happy. ;v; i wanna rp with this girlybob forever she’s so FUN

An AU Idea For Our Muses: n/a, but give it time!

A Song For Our Muses: Jessica & Dakota: Jessica trying country to sing “Cowboy Take Me Away” by the Dixie Chicks for Dakota? More likely than you think! [platonically, of course!]

Do I Ship Our Muses?: Platonically all the way across the boards! Jess & Dakota are so important. Their friendship is just so comforting lmao. You have this big bulky cow looking after this non-threatening sultry woman and together they are just.. SO TIGHT. Jess ended up thinking of Dakota as her last straw before she completely snaps and gives in to bad morality choices (LIKE IDK MURDER). She just will take him by the arm and go: “I feel like doing something very awful and very illegal, but I won’t, that’s why I came to you: will you help me take care of this thing”and murder impulse control aside, they’re just cozy buddies. Jessica’s filming all the country concerts she takes part in and brings those recordings home to Dakota for him to watch. Whenever he’s free, she’s going to kidnap him and surprise him by taking him to a concert featuring one of his favorite bands, with backstage pass and everything. This is the least she can do for him for being such an awesome guy. Jess & Duke? A FRIENDSHIP I NEVER KNEW I WAS MISSING. WOW. They’re gonna be like siblings on that relatability front, ain’t they? I’m looking forwards to rping them more jdgfsjdg --Graves & Purgy, my brain is just like “what if they end up with a crazy father-daughter dynamic despite being so different”. I don’t know why my brain is doing this to me but either way, I am just hoping they form a really tight bond together lmao. DUBIOUS LITTLE IMPS. im highkey so happy and excited and nervous and excited for her giving my creepy old oc a shot sfdgskdgf ty blue ty ty ty.

What I Think About The Mun: RED LOVES BLUE. Blue is such a sweetheart, oh my gosh. She is so, so sweet. She is so chill, she is so cool and I am just so thankful she’s around even on this account. She is just like.. I don’t know how to explain it. It’s like hanging out with someone who is like the essence of a breezy spring day? It’s just so easy to co-exist with her and relax. She’s someone I think who can sit with you in comfortable silence and just chatter the day away idly with, giggling and cracking jokes with, and talking about cartoons and depth of them. She’s so relaxing!And my god, you wanna talk about art? Blue is an amazing artist. She’s worked so hard for her style and you can tell every time she posts a piece; it has so much love put into it and so much genuine emotion. The eyes, the body language and the closeness of the characters or the intimidation of the interaction – you feel it, without a doubt. I am so honored to know this amazing artist who is such a hard worker. She says she doesn’t have the patience to be an animator, but what little she’s done? It’s good. It’s really fricken good. If anyone in this world was to inherit the rights to The Dakota Dude and Duke L’Orange, Blue is the perfect choice because she is always doing their justice; not just in writing (but dear god the writing – please check out her blogs @dukelcrange & @dakctadude, and she’s even recently picked up @falcongravcs ! she does a really cute @rcadrunner, too. dfgksdfg - ), but in terms of artistic justice. You’re looking at her art and you are seeing them, in honest to Goodness truth, you are seeing those characters she plays and you see so much heart in them. Her drawings are so warm and always make me happy whenever she posts them. I’m so proud of her.

Overall Opinion: red loves blue ok. red loves blue and will die for blue.

Blog Rate: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 + INFINITY!

[michelles-garden-of-evil]

Episode 9 Review: Nine of Swords

{ YouTube: 1 | 2 | 3 }

{ Synopses: Debby Graham | Bryan Gruszka }

{ Screencaps }

Another day, my darling Erica, another day without you. The storm we’ve been sitting through has subsided and I’m going over to the main island to commission the young man your sister recommended to do an oil of you. Until the day your loveliness returns from the beyond to reality, your portrait and I will share the hours.

My darling Erica, I have to go. Quito is waiting. Sleep, my love. I love you and I need you.

Don’t you want to give Jean Paul a hug? No? I do.

After an argument scene between Reverend Matt Dawson and Elizabeth Marshall that consists entirely of recap, we see Jean Paul and Quito in the Great Hall talking about how they need to find Raxl before they leave to watch the cryonics capsule. (It’s really weird how this show lampshades the absent cast members by having the other characters say things like “Where is X?” and “we need to find X.” There’s a whole pointless filler scene about halfway through where Jean Paul says, “I was wrong about Raxl. She was with my wife all the while.” If Raxl doesn’t show up and isn’t important to this episode’s plot, why does she even need to be mentioned?)

Jacques, too, has to comment about Cosette Lee’s absence from this episode.

In other news, Jean Paul has begun to suspect that he is not only damned, but is also a devil. Fearing that Jacques has cursed him, he threatens to cut up the portrait, which pleases Jacques as much as one would expect. “If you do, you just might cut your dear sweet Erica from you,” the handsome devil replies. “The choice is yours. But I do promise you this: I won't bleed.”

“Raxl is right!” Jean Paul exclaims, and Jacques does not refute the claim, but rather says, “I'm the devil? As you yourself said, maybe you are too. Now, how does the saying go? As thick as thieves.”

With this line, we get one of the first examples of a clever script-writing trick Ian Martin often used in his episodes: having the last word or line of dialogue in one scene double as the first word or line in the next scene, with different characters. Here, the scene transition line is “as thick as thieves,” used both by Jacques to describe his possession of Jean Paul and by Elizabeth when telling Matt of Holly’s closeness to the late Mr. Marshall. We shall see many more of these from now on.

Because this episode jumps back and forth from Matt’s office to the French Leave Café, I think that, for the rest of this review, I will do what I did in my Episode 3 review and lump all the scenes in each setting together instead of writing one small paragraph for every mini-scene. Elizabeth says this rather enigmatic line about Holly: “ I begin to realize why you helped her to run. Suddenly, a child seemed like a woman to you--a child who is going to be very rich very soon, a child who knows how to twist men around her little finger. I should know. I lost a husband to her.” (Emphasis mine.) What does she mean by this? Is she jealous of Holly because her late husband liked her more or gave her more attention, or is there a darker meaning behind it? Could she possibly be blaming her for Mr. Marshall’s death? This is a plot point that none of the writers ever explored, one of many plot threads dropped later on. That Matt responds, “You lost your husband to God” only makes it sound more like she’s blaming Holly for his death. Was that Ian Martin’s intent, to imply that Holly somehow caused her father’s death, or am I reading too much into this scene?

At the French Leave Café, Vangie tells Boring Artist Tim that she keeps drawing the Nine of Swords--“the card of death”--for Holly whenever she tries to read her fortune. This worries her especially because, as she explains, her ESP is accurate slightly over half the time, meaning that Holly will almost certainly die. When Holly walks up to them and asks Vangie to read her future, she refuses and the focus shifts to Boring Artist Tim and the debt that Jean Paul is just about to pay off. Cue an interminable recap of Tim’s backstory (in short, he’s in debt to the Mafia because he took out $7,500 in loans to pay his mother’s hospital bills). Also cue one Holly line that is interesting if you’re re-watching this after Desmond Hall and you consider how the writers of that arc turned her into a hopelessly naïve ingenue:

An example of the Dunning-Kruger effect? Or did Martin originally intend for Holly to be smart and later writers dumbed her down? I’m thinking the latter.

Enter Jean Paul looking especially dapper in an all-blue ensemble, to which the poor video qualty does not do justice. (He also wears it in the next episode which has clearer video, so, when I write that review, there will be good screencaps.) He goes to talk to Vangie, who tells him that she keeps drawing the Nine of Swords when reading the fortunes of everyone connected to him. She also tells him that he knows of Dr. Menkin’s death because Quito brought his body to the island (or is it mainland?) where the Café is located. And then they have this exchange:

Vangie: "I guess now you will be leaving the Island."

Jean Paul: *shocked* "Why should I?"

Vangie: "With your wife in her last months of pregnancy, she should not be so far from a doctor."

Jean Paul: *suspicious and worried that she knows about Erica* "She isn't. Her sister is with her; she's a doctor. Now...” *hurriedly pulls out paper from his pocket, desperate to change the subject* “Tim Stanton?"

He promises to pay off the Mafia so that they stop pursuing Tim. Then Vangie says, smiling, “Your wife will love his work!”

She has to be feigning ignorance, or at least pretending not to be suspicious of him. Jean Paul is trying so hard to act nonchalant, but failing because he, too, knows that she suspects that something is going on.

Jean Paul: “Will she?”

Meanwhile, Holly is discussing her plans for the future with Tim:

LOL

He flirts with her a little before Jean Paul comes over to the table to commission him. He gives him $7,500 in cash, which must consist of $500 and $1,000 bills that were withdrawn from circulation that same year because the wad of bills that he gives him is way too thin to consist of 75 Benjamins.

That does not look like 75 $100 bills.

  Jean Paul tells Tim that he hopes he can bring Erica to life, which Holly thinks is a strange thing for such a “dreamy” man to say. Tim, on the other hand, is just grateful that his debt with the mob has been paid off before the end of Week 2--which is also probably before most people in the audience have started to care about that subplot. Still, it’s downright exciting compared with his next subplot, which will provide many of the low points of the Maljardin arc and, in some episodes, slow the pace down to a screeching halt. But that’s for another review.

Vangie hires Holly, but, right after she does, look who comes waltzing into the Café just as she stands up:

It’s Reverend Stalker!

Holly: “Why don’t you leave me alone? Get out!”

Overall, a mediocre episode, save for a few good scenes and that cliffhanger ending. Other than that, it mostly consisted of filler--especially of the “where’s Raxl” variety--and recap. Next one’s better, though. I just don’t know if I’ll have time to review it this week, because I’ll be very busy. (I actually wrote this post last week and scheduled it for today, if anyone is wondering.) Granted, I don’t think that anyone other than me reads this blog yet, but I have the sort of personality where I want to do everything yesterday and so I feel like I should be writing these reviews at a faster pace even if no one else is reading them. I wish that I could publish a new review every single day, but it’s just not practical for me, especially during this time of year. So I’ll see you...whenever.

{ <-- Previous: Episode 8   ||   Next: Episode 10 --> }

[namitaylor1-blog]

Major self directed Media based artwork.

Before starting my media based artwork I looked to my favourite artists; Wes Anderson and Nadia Lee Cphen, to gain some inspiration. I further looked at various installation artworks, one that stood out to me the most is Tracey Emin ‘My Bed’. With the help of these artists I was able to come to the conclusion of creating my own installation for my overall artwork. I knew I wanted to focus on portraiture and play with the theme surrealism by manipulating the time and situation within my work. Further, I think it would be interesting to incorporate a high fashion theme amongst my images to add individuality and character towards my series of photographs. 

INSPIRATION

Wes Anderson is a American filmmaker who is well known for his distinctive visual and narrative styles. ‘Moon Rise Kingdom’ (2012), really stood out to me through the use of colours and composition that was used throughout the whole movie.

His techniques within filmmaking has always been intriguing to the public, I would liker to adapt such skills and intertwine them into my own images but still maintaining my own style. By indulging myself within the world of Andersons I’m able to gain a rich understanding of composition and the overall style that will help me in my final project. 

Nadia lee Cohen is a British filmmaker and self-portrait artist. Her style mainly focuses on the 1950-70s American and British cinema that is portrayed specially through her series ‘Hello my name is’. 

Cohen’s unique style of photographs and films has always been extremely satisfying to the eye. She creates captivating images through her unique skills in what seems like a materialistic world that she creates in studios and settings. In this series especially  has inspired me to create my own bizarre portrait photos. Her use of hair, makeup and costumes are all factors that build a somewhat plastic/fake appearances in each image creating a doll like figure. The posture of these subjects is what builds a strong composition and character that I will have to think about very carefully as I will only be using one piece of item with each image. I will have to use that to my own advantage to create a solid composition within the frame. 

Tracey Emin is an English artist known for her autobiographical and confessional artwork. I looked closely at one of her most famous installations of all time, ‘My bed’ (1998). She was inspired by the aftermath of her bed following a bad-breakup. Surrounding her bed was crumpled tissues, cigarettes, empty vodka bottles, through this image she believed that this was a work of art. 

Installation view of Tracey Emin, My Bed, at the Turner Prize Exhibition, Tate Gallery, London, 1999-2000. 

I was inspired by  her use of various random objects and created it into a one large installation artwork. It makes you wonder all the little things that we own or collect over the years into one little section of your own home. I wanted to use this idea within my own work by incorporating one random object in my house to show our relationship with our belongings towards the audience. The messy and uncleaned bedroom creates a buzzer compositions as it is placed in the middle of a meusume. She expresses a personal response depicting vulnerability, a self-portrait that doesn’t veer from the messiness of depression and heartbreak. Where she comments the views and her own painful experience. 

Mario Testino is a Peruvian fashion and portrait photographer whose work is found mainly in international magazines such as Vouge, V Magazine and Vanity Fair. High fahsion  photography has always been an interest in mine through the use of set design, preprofessional models and the mood and styling of the overall photo. Testino creates emblematic images that have contributed to the success of high fashion brands while he challenges traditional views on gender by mixing masculinity and femininity and suggests sensuality rather than. sexuality. 

Right: Amiaya, Tokyo, 2018   Left: Mario Testino Document Journal, May , 2014 

Above it is clear that Testino captures the moment in time and brings out the humanity of his subjects, creating a connection between the model and the audience. His images are captivating to the eye using bright bold colours, he also draws on his printed work to create a two layer image to exemplify the chaos within the image. Further I chose Testino as one of my artist of inspiration as his works have always stood out to me, especially for this task I want to create a my own inspired high fashion photographs to create an editorial series based on context and situation. 

DEVELOPING IDEA 

Before capturing any photographs I've decided to to sketch out each image that I will be taking, to gain a better understanding fo what my series will ultimately look like.  As you can see each drawing has one coloured object item that will correspond with the outfits. I wanted to keep a colourful rainbow theme throughout each image to indorse a light-hearted mood for the audience. 

Red: In this image I will mainly focus on the the colour rose red. This strong vibrant colour will be structured by the object; Eiffel tower statue. 

Blue: The image will have a striking electric blue tone throughout the photo. I will be using a phone box as my prop. 

Pink: For this image I will be using a mannequin head wearing a pink bob wig as my prop. My model will be wearing a pink coat that will correspond to the wig. 

Green: The green pop wad a little tricky to find as I will also be using toilet paper in the image as my main prop. 

PRACTICE SHOOT 

Proofsheet

Evaluation: For this shoot I had to create my own little studio within my house. This was very tricky as I had to find multiple lamps and set them up facing towards the subject, however there was not enough lamps to achieve the studio lighting that I wanted. Resulting to using flash on my camera allowed me to get that bright image that I wanted. I worked with small colourful objects just so I can see how myself series will turn out. Overall I’m very pleased with my final mini practice shoot as it helped me know what camera settings I should use and how I should position my c camera for the actual shoots. 

SHOOT ONE: BLUE

Proofsheet

Evaluation: The blue images turned out exactly how I wanted and I’m very pleased knowing that there are potential images that I can use for my final series. I did have problem with the lighting as my flash was turning off and on. I did like the ones without flash but I would have to ensure all my other images have the same tone in colours to keep a theme throughout my images.

SHOOT TWO: GREEN  Proofsheet

Evaluation: This shoot was very tricky as I couldn’t find anything in my house that was green except this this three layered holder for tissue paper. My whole approach to this series is suppose to express quriky and playfulness however use toilet paper was very hard create a structured composition. Once again the lighting was going all over the play due to the flash turning off and on which made the images seen dark. There are a few images that the subject is holding the toilet paper that covers the entire frame however there is something still very off about these images that don’t quite fit into my series. I will have to see how I go for my next couple photos if I was to incorporate a green image of not.  SHOOT THREE: PINK 

Proofsheet 

Evaluation:  The test shoot did not go as well as I hoped it would due to the prop not suiting the overall image. I felt as if the mannequin head with the pink wig looked somewhat awkward and due to the flash it washed out the white face in an unpleasant way. Further, I used a flask but the i felt as if the small object did not justice and was failure once again. Thus, I’ve decided to not use these pink images in my final work and due to the short amount of time I have im enabled to repeat this pink shoot again.       SHOOT FOUR: RED  Proofsheet 

Evaluation: I am very pleased with this shoot as it turned out exactly how I expected. I was able to create new composition within each image by placing the Eiffel tower artefact around the photo. It was also very fun to shoot as it was quirky and random. As of right now the red and blue images are the only ones that turned out great but for the other ones I was very disappointed. I decided to do another photo shoot using the colour yellow that will hopefully stand out just the other primary colours. 

WEEK FIVE

FEEDBACK FROM TEACHER 

In today’s class I was able to discuss my overall idea to my teacher, Vicky and showed her my images that I have taken. Further, I discussed how I will be doing another shoot today with a yellow theme however we both agreed on just work on the blue and red images to create a more detailed image. She suggested to put a backdrop to add texture and more depth. I also decided to present my work in a large spacious room because it will allow the audience to  move amongst the space and interact with the objects. 

 I further went to the printing room to meet with Josh, where he helped me set up my images on Lightroom, however we discovered the image quality is very low due to my camera setting. This meant my images will not print in a high resolution causing it to look burly and having a lot of noise. Since I will be doing another shoot today I will have ensure that my camera is on the highest pixel where next Tuesday I will be able to print them in a higher resolution photo. 

Throughout the day I worked on my blog and edited a few parts. Later in the day I will hopefully be taking my last shoot for this task that will help improve my overall final work. 

PINTEREST INSPIRATION 

Before my shoot I wanted to look for more inspiration to really develop an idea throughout my images and to see what composition I’m aiming to create. I looked through Pinterest and found a couple of images that have really helped me gain an idea on how to develop my backdrop for my final images. 

SHOOT FIVE & SIX

Set up: For todays photo shoot I was able to get a ring light from a friend of mine which allowed me to achieve that bright studio lighting without using flash on my photos. In the early photo shoots my flash kept going off and on due to the auto setting, however this time I kept it off. Below, the images show a set up off my mini studio that I’ve created. You can see I had purchased fabric for my background and had to tape it to my wall creating riffles to add texture. 

SHOOT FIVE: RED & BLUE

Evaluation: I was very pleased with this photo shoot as I was able to pick two images for my final work. I made a few annotations on the proof sheet that describe which images I liked my ticking them and others that I found awkward or out fo place. 

EDITING & PRINTING 

Below is the two chosen images of red and blue photos. I have placed my edits of the red photo as you can see the before and after image. Where skin tone is now warmer and will suit nicely with the blue skin tone. I also had to  fill in the left bottom corner of the blue image to get rid of the white background. 

Then Josh helped me print test images on fine art smooth paper. This allowed me to view my printed images and see if the colours and tone on the screen matched with ones on the paper. Below is an image of the set up for printing the mini test prints. 

Here is a photo of Josh placing the art smooth paper A3 into the printer. 

TEST PRINTS 

I’m very pleased how my test print turned out as they were both successful. The skin in the red image was really balanced and complimented the other blue image. This ultimately made a nice duo. 

PRESENTATION

Below is my overall presentation setup. I had to pin up the print using a hammer however during this stage a couple of finger print marked my blue print. I then asked Izzy to help, we decided on taping a clear plastic seal at the edges of my image and hammer those down without touching my prints. 

Further, I placed two pillars infant of my photographs and put the objects on it. As you can see I placed a miniature version of the red chair on the pillar because it would of been impossible too bring the actual human size form chair to the University. Hopefully this alternative still manages to bring a high quality installation. 

(I tried to upload my final images on a google drive but it wouldn't upload because of the photos resolution being too high. I could email you the images so please let me know.) 

FINAL EVALUATION 

Overall, I am very pleased with my final media based artwork, as it turned out exactly how I wanted. Throughout the long process I was able to finally achieve my final images. By the last shoot I knew that I have came a long way, and was extremely happy how they turned out. The editing and printing stage ran smoothly with the help of Josh as we were able to achieve it in less than a hour. I learnt how to use Lightroom where he helped me edit the red image skin tone to match the blue one. We printed on shiny gloss paper however when I was hanging it up I accidentally go my finger prints on the image. This made me question if I ever wanna use glossy paper again but the overall look was spectacular. On the presentation day I was able to locate two block stands where I placed my two objects. The outcome was nicely placed however, if I was given more time and resources I would of done a whole large series, to really complete my vision. Thus, despite the lack of photos and time, Im very happy how the overall presentation was put together. 

ARTIST STATEMENT 

My media based artwork, “What the eye can't see”, focuses on beauty found within the mundane as we look beyond the superficial standards of human perception. The images tells a story, of a young women possessing the objects; a vintage phone box and a love heart chair,  that challenge our perception of beauty where these inanimate objects oppose our natural indications of beauty. Furthermore, the model becomes one with the objects where we start to associate beauty to a further extent than our natural standards. 

Inspired by situation and creating a time and place, each setting compliments the colour of the object, forming an aesthetic appeal to the series. By brining these objects to life by presenting them directly in front  of the audience it creates a layer of realism allowing us to maintain our focus on the bright vivid items. The interactive installation allows us to question our own individual associations of beauty, as we view two perspective; the images and the objects placed in front. Overall, by exploring humanities identities of true beauty and superficial perfection, my work looks beyond these standards viewing mundane items that provide its own natural beauty. 

[magick-thoughts]

TO ME IT’S AMAZING HOW WE CAN USE SECOND LIFE FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES AS WELL AS STORYTELLING. For example, I have gone and visited my friend Cybele’s art and storytelling at Niamh’s Journey of Dreams where she and CK have teamed together to create a world you can walk through and see and read. I have tried to do this justice with my pictures and I hope you enjoy them and go see this installation.

~Niamh’s Journey of Dreams~ by Cybelemoon and CK Ballyhoo LM

At the end of the blog I have included the Drax Files latest episode about Second Life and education. Its amazing to me how we can relax in SL with our avatar and our minds are more open to learning and education as well as creativity. My work in SL is proof of this as well. Please enjoy Cybele(The Dune Mouse) and CK Ballyhoo’s work.

Please click the images to see them larger!

© CybeleMoon (With permission to share) Background of the Legend:

For any who do not know the legend and story of Oisin ( “O”sheen.” Ossian in Scottish) you can find many interpretations and tellings of the tale. This is just my own fable told from another perspective, that of Niamh (“Neev”). It is said Oisin himself was the son of a great chieftain and a fairy. While out hunting he came across the beautiful sidhe, Niamh, and fell in love. He went back with her on a white horse to the land of enchantment, Tir-na-nog, where they danced and feasted every night and lived happily. As happy as he was, at some point he became homesick for his friends and family and wanted to see them one last time. Niamh begged him not to go back but he was determined, so she gave him a horse and told him he must not dismount or set his foot down on the ground for if he did he would never be able to return. Back in the land of his birth he could not find his family or any of the familiar places and when the girth on his saddle broke he fell and accidentally set his foot down. At that moment the spell was broken and he became a very old man. He had not known that he had been away for more than 300 years. It is said that St.Patrick found and baptized him after hearing his story. Some tales state that Oisin did say that he would rather spend one day in fairyland than an eternity in heaven.

Morning of the Tuatha

Niamh the daughter of Manannan Mac Lir set out on a quest to find the Sacred Spring. As she followed the way deeper into the woodland, She became confused. She looked at the map her mother had made for her. So, was it right or left at the tree by the little stream? Something definitely was wrong and nothing looked familiar. Should she go back to the beginning?

Niamh’s Journey of Dreams LM

On the Artists ( I have taken from the notecard)

Cybele Moon (Hana Hoobinoo) or the Dune Mouse, and “not always here or there” maintains a wanderer’s life in both worlds.

Cybele loves the telling of tales. She is drawn to both history and myth. Much of it has a Gaelic flavour, like The Siren’s Bones”. She loves to travel and so “Tales of the Caravanserai” is based on travels through North Africa, and The Sacrifice of Smoke Jaguar is inspired by a journey through Central America.

“There is a traditional wholeheartedness in the way Cybele tells stories. Her characters have a strong moral significance, and the spirituality, the essence, is affecting and deep. Simple, captivating,- profound!- -(Peter Nena of An African Anthology) “Her own magical images and atmospheric artistry illustrate her tales.”

In real life she photographs both dreamy landscapes and old stones, sometimes using an infrared camera. Her photos have been sold in art shops and displayed in a museum gallery – as well as a few galleries in the virtual world.

“I have a mix of SL and RL in my photos. For me, there is only a fine line between a perception of reality and a vision, and so, as with all things my work is constantly changing and evolving.”

Links: The Runes of the Gatekeeper’s Daughter

Cybelmoonstruck Flickr

Ceakay Ballyhoo (CK Ceakay Ballyhoo (CK) has been around SL for quite some time. In recent years she has shifted her focus from socializing to art. First as a photographer, later combining photographs with atmospheric builds. In 2016 she felt she was ready for a full installation and got a grant for a LEA sim. For six months people were able to roam around in her Watercolour Wander, completely built out of watercolour paintings and watercolour textures. Finally having developed her own style and a fairly unique tradesmark, ideas were flying around again soon. Having your own world to wander around in is very inspirational and highly addictive!

It led to the installation The Forest Beyond which was on display from January till March 2017 and now to this joint effort with CybeleMoon.

CK has an inworld gallery and an artwalk with collected art of fellow SL artists. Both can be reached by taking a tp from the Landing Point at Niamh’s Journey (UP).

Links: Ceakay Ballyhoo’s Blog

CKB Art on the MP

Ceakay Ballyhoo’s Flickr

I believe SL has so much to offer in terms of creativity, education and our physical and mental health as well. Many people come into Second Life for so many different reasons including healing from illnesses in real life. Our minds need so much stimulation for our mental and physical health that I am a firm believer with proof from others as well as myself that YES THIS CAN HAPPEN WITH SECOND LIFE!

The Drax Files: World Makers – Episode 44: Istanbul University

….::::::::::AmandaMagick’s connections are as follows::::::::::….

Magick Java Cafe Sydney City Australia~new location Gallerie D’Magick~new location~  Chamber Magick Lounge Magick Thoughts SL Blog Magick Thoughts SL Flickr Magick Thoughts Facebook Magick Thoughts Tumblr Magick Thoughts Twitter Magick Thoughts Instagram Magick Thoughts YouTube Magick Thoughts Google+ Magick Thoughts DeviantArt

❤❤❤❤If you enjoy my site please follow, share and comment!❤❤❤❤

~Niamh’s Journey of Dreams~ by CybeleMoon and CK Ballyhoo~ Storytelling in Second Life TO ME IT'S AMAZING HOW WE CAN USE SECOND LIFE FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES AS WELL AS STORYTELLING.

[yukiminamoto]

Elizabeth Midford: Character Analysis Part 2

I tag these people for the amazing things they do for the Kuroshitsuji fandom! I hope this analysis on Elizabeth Midford is to everyone’s liking! I did my best. Please enjoy! Ya’ll know when to inspire someone me! Thank you all the fan-artists, the bloggers who do AMAZING META in their respective fandoms, and the people who support this girl in general! YOU GUYS ARE AMAZING. I dedicate this whole blog post to you guys!

@shinigami-mistress @nobodysuspectsthebutterfly @his-fiancee @sieglinde-sullivan @a-bitter-master @skania @queenzelda @eecmidford @cielizzydefencesquad @lizzy-phantomhive @lizmidford @thedarkestcrow @otakusiren @darkspellmaster @dorkshadows @silyabeeodess @akuma-de-shitsuji @i-like-phanime

I’m currently spending my Friday writing up this post for the last 4 hours, getting my thoughts together.  I’ve never thought that I would write something this big with this many references to Elizabeth Midford posts from other bloggers who love her as much as I do, including pictures, screencaps, and manga caps, but what can you do when inspiration hits you like a truck? 

I should be doing my weekly blogs for my classes and getting ready for my NUMEROUS group projects in all of my classes, but no I decided to spend 4 hours in the college library writing this bad girl up like it’s a final report that’s due in 30 fucking minutes. Fuck My life. 

And yes, I’m citing my sources. Dear god, it’s like a fucking final report on who Elizabeth is and how she fits into the story. Jesus. You guys better be happy that I’m doing this! I worked hard on this damn it! 

And thank you to all the bloggers that I used as references & adding more character analysis on my golden haired bae than I could ever cover on one blog post. 

Kuro Chapter References:

Ch. 37  | Ch. 51 |  Ch. 58 |  Ch. 66 | Ch. 117 

Elizabeth Midford Posts (more character analysis if you can’t get enough and want more):

Chapters 58 & 117 by @skania

A Second Look at Madam Red's Advice to Lizzy by  @shinigami-mistress

How Precious Lizzy is to Ciel by @otakusiren

Ciel’s Precious: Elizabeth by @otakusiren

Ciel and Lizzy: something special that happened on the boat… by @darkspellmaster

About Elizabeth by @dorkshadows

Reminder about Elizabeth by @lizmidford

Reflecting on the Kuroshitsuji Easter Chapter: by @silyabeeodess

Kuroshitsuji Positivity Day   @akuma-de-shitsuji

Rant: Respect Elizabeth Midford @i-like-phanime

I should write a fanfic about her thoughts (we rarely see her at all during the Lizzy Kidnapped arc). And when Lizzy does show up, she only gives us more questions. I hope Yana-Sensei does her justice. My girl deserves it.

I mean, it’s hard and easy at the same time to see WHY she’s agreeing to go with Mr. Strange ( I keep forgetting his name honestly.)

Yeah, it’s going to be a LONG ASS POST. Sit tight and grab a drink and some food. I’m heading deep into Elizabeth Midford’s character in Kuroshitsuji. She’s so underappreciated in this fandom, I swear. 

Superficial and bubbly on the outside, deep as fuck with huge angst hidden behind a mask on the inside. 

It hit me that EVEN HARDER (in this mangacap in Chapter 133) she does care about Ciel deeply and even very misguided in her attempts to make him feel open to his feelings/trauma about his past when he was kidnapped as a child.

People tend to forget that Elizabeth is a teenager with TONS of baggage on her hands as well. The way many fans in the Kuroshitsuji fandom treat her as an annoyance and bother really gets under my skin.

If you had to go through society’s expectations of being a proper woman and at the same time feeling pressured to protect your future husband later down the line, you would feel very conflicted and confused at best.

EVERYONE needs to know that she is a teenager who lives in a society where if you are a noble girl from a very prestigious family, you are going to have to get married at one point or another (spinsterhood was look at with horror and revulsion). At a very young age, Lizzy path was already set for her: See chapter 58 for more information.

Hell, Frances sympathizes with her daughter, even if she disagreed with not continuing her training. Her mother slaps her for speaking out.

And yet, Frances knows what path she’s forcing her daughter to walk since she was born in the Watchdog family. This rare, and touching moment between mother & daughter is so significant. Frances knows how important this sort of training is to Lizzy as a mother and aunt. It’s unconventional training, but if Lizzy can survive being the Wife of the Watchdog, then she’s going to train Elizabeth the hard way. 

Frances only wants to protect her kids and Lizzy accepts her fate with tears in her eyes. At that moment she knows that Lizzy can’t run away. She has to continue her training no matter what. This was the pivotal moment she choose to make that vow to protect her beloved cousin. 

At the very least, she grew to love Ciel as a person and feared that if she showed that she was more powerful/masculine (gender dynamics were pretty strict back in the day too.) he wouldn’t love her. It goes to show how much of an impact Ciel made on her as a child.

She cared for what he thought of her so deeply, that she took those words to heart later on in the years.

She wanted to help Ciel and protect him to the best of her ability. She knows what she’s doing is wrong (in her own eyes and her family’s eyes) but she feels very strongly that this is the only way to save him.

See Chapter 117 for more information.

Her has two personalities at this point: cheerful,immature, bright, VERY socially aware of her surroundings, and slightly overbearing, but chapter 117 shows us that she has another side to her she hides extremely well. 

See Chapter 51 as reference. 

With her fight with Sebastian, she uses EVERY OUNCE OF HER TRAINING TO NOT GO BACK. She has to stay no matter what. It shows that she’s not as air headed as she portrayed herself. She can be stubborn, selfish, headstrong, and conflicted.

Like, A FUCKING 14 YEAR OLD WENT UP AGAINST A DEMON. A DEMON. YA’LL DON’T KNOW HOW MUCH I FEEL WHEN SHE FOUGHT AGAINST SEBASTIAN. HOLY SHIT. Why is the fandom not crying out with joy about this? I know Lizzy fans were freaking the fuck out when ch. 117 came out.

It shows so much of her character in that chapter, I wanted to hug my girl and never let go.

I was inspired by this AMAZING POST. Check it out! I mean from Ch. 58 to Ch. 117 compare the two please:

Before

After

Elizabeth Midford has changed so much throughout Kuroshitsuji. It’s funny really how Yana-sensei slowly shows who Lizzy is subtly until it hits everyone in the face in Chapter 57.

At first, we thought the same thing as Ciel: She was kind, overbearing, and very forceful in getting what she wants. That was how Lizzy wanted to be seen as.

She’s in-tune to how Ciel feels as early as chapter 37 when she visits.

When she figured out that Ciel was bedridden from Soma, she was worried about Ciel not opening up to her.

Sebastian reassured her that Ciel was all right and Lizzy was relieved and slightly skeptical. 

Even if the fans didn’t see it initially, when she slowly integrated herself within Ciel’s inner circle, she’s very much emotionally intelligent from the get go. Even if her ways of cheering up Ciel was a bit much, she admitted it to Sebastian privately.

It’s funny how Ciel shortly AFTER the Campania Arc, in chapter 66 he was also tricked by Lizzy despite “knowing”  and accepting Elizabeth for who she was strength an all.

It’s ironic, seeing that Ciel felt successful in tricking her in order to make her happy, Lizzy knew something was wrong the moment he “remembered” their Easter tradition.

She then wonders what happened to him during that month he was kidnapped.

It’s obvious that he’s changed into a completely different person because of the trauma he went through.

She knows that he’s changed and she’s trying her best to see him smile again despite the fact that forcing him to be happy/cheerful isn’t very good for his mental, emotional, and physical health over all.

But when you’re also broken, conflicted in where you stand in life, especially at such a young and impressionable age and a girl at that, it’s “hard to pick up the pieces” after someone who’s also suffered trauma in an untold amount.

What I personally want is an heart-to-heart conversation between the two of them. They’re both trying to push the other person away while at the same time, they’re both conflicted at how emotionally, mentally, and physically different they are from each other.  They’re both flawed characters who misunderstand what the other wants.

They really don’t know how to open up to each other and are hiding things that can be detrimental to their relationship.

Ciel is hiding and closing Lizzy away from his lifestyle in order to protect her from the dangers of being in the Watchdog’s family; a life she’s, ironically enough has been training all of her life for.

While Lizzy is trying and failing at making Ciel happy while at the same time trying to figure out where she stands with him as a person. She has a HUGE complex within herself in how to become a perfect Victorian Lady and how to be a woman who can protect the person she loves the most.

They’re both complex, broken, and fragile. At the peak of this arc, I hope that Lizzy finds herself as a person, not as Ciel’s fiancee she’s been told all throughout her life. I hope that Ciel is at least honest with her on how he feels about her and to reassure her that she’s fine the way she is.

I want them to talk without Sebastian or anyone on the outside to interfere with their relationship and I know that’s almost never going to happen.

And what do you guys think about Lizzy and the pressures she has to go through to conforming while simultaneously trying to hide who she is underneath?

I’m gonna quote George R.R. Martin since it matches Elizabeth so well:

My skin has turned to porcelain, to ivory, to steel.—  George R.R. Martin, A Storm of Swords

[jswdmb1]

Who Are You?

“I really wanna know

Oh I really wanna know

Oh tell me who are you, you, you, ah you?”

- The Who

Tumblr sent me a note the other day congratulating me on my fiftieth post.  I had no idea I was being so productive, nor did I know that they knew my e-mail address.  In any event, I wish I would have known because that last post was a bit of a downer.  I went back and looked at some older posts and realized that this blog used to be fun.  I won’t go as far as to say entertaining, but the subject matter wasn’t quite so heavy.  With the eve of Halloween upon us, I decided to change that.  I am going to get into the spirit of the holiday and share with you some of what I consider my favorite costumes of all - when artists sonically dress up with the cover song.

Musicians love pretending to be someone they are not.  Plus, sometimes it is just easier to let someone else write the song, try it out for a bit, and then steal it.  That is probably 99% of cover songs.  The best ones are different, though.  They elevate the original work and often transcend it.  The best example of this is what is considered the greatest cover song of all time - All Along the Watchtower by Jimi Hendrix (of which I agree).  Bob Dylan said that after he heard Jimi’s version, that is how he has played it live ever since.  Dylan’s version really doesn’t wow me at all.  The melody is lost under his nasally tone and the lyrics were a bit non-sensical.  Hendrix took the song and flipped it on its head.  It almost sounds as if he started from scratch.  The lyrics go from confusing to a bold allegory on the state of the world in the late 60′s.  And words cannot describe the guitar work.  It would have been an instant classic if Hendrix wrote it, but becomes more amazing in his ability to interpret what turned out to be an excellent song that Dylan wrote.  To me, that is what a great cover version is all about.

The songs I chose for my playlist I like to think follow the same pattern of artists taking an original work and reinterpreting it in a way that makes the song their own.  Often, the original artists acknowledged this.  Some were hits, others not so much, but in all cases resulted in a masterful recording.  By the way, I have only considered recorded works for this list versus the obligatory live cover that shows up at almost every concert.  Some of those can be good, but I’m searching here for a true original work that is dressed up in a way that turns it into a classic.  

I will release the full playlist on Spotify via my Dear Mr. Fantasy blog, but here are a few of what I consider the highlights:

“Hurt” - Johnny Cash - (originally recorded by Nine Inch Nails)

Towards the end of his life, Johnny recorded a series of albums with the legendary producer Rick Rubin filled with only covers.  There are some real gems on these albums, but nothing tops a stripped down and haunting version of Hurt.  The accompanying video was shot shortly before he died.  I won’t do the images justice by describing them, so please just You Tube it.  The song itself is stripped bare and Cash’s voice crackles over the acoustic guitar.  It was a courageous and honest look at a hard life nearing the end and Trent Reznor’s song was the perfect vehicle for that message.  Outside of Hendrix’s Watchtower, I consider this the second greatest cover of all time.

“Hallelujah” - Jeff Buckley (originally recorded by Leonard Cohen)

Jeff Buckley recorded only one studio album in 1994 and was working on a second when his life was cut tragically short due to a drowning accident in 1997.  But, that one album left a lasting impact with a cover that is considered by some to be one of the best songs ever recorded. The song itself is a masterfully written piece of music by Leonard Cohen that has been covered hundreds of times, but none stand out like Buckley’s. His version added depth and despair that linger so painfully, especially knowing he would be gone shortly after recording it. It’s probably the best example here of brilliant songwriting matched with the perfect performance to create one for the ages.

“In Bloom” - Sturgill Simpson (originally recorded by Nirvana)

This song goes down as my favorite and most different arrangement. The original Kurt Cobain song was great, but it was a pretty straight on version done by Nirvana. Then comes alt-country Sturgill 25 years later and he offers us a nuanced ode to his newborn son. What is so great about it is that Simpson takes the song and boldly makes it his own despite the legendary status of Nirvana. It is a striking performance and was my introduction into the wonderful world of Sturgill Simpson. If you still don’t know who he is, google his SNL performance of “Call to Arms” and you’ll see what you’ve been missing. Contrasting that with the restraint he shows on this cover makes me believe the depth and range of Sturgill Simpson will be a huge part of music for a very long time.

“Waiting in Vain” - Annie Lennox (originally recorded by Bob Marley & The Wailers)

I’ll qualify this by saying I could listen to Annie Lennox sing anything. She could sing a string of Trump tweets to the melody of “Old McDonald Had a Farm” and make it sound elegant and beautiful. That being said, Annie released an album of covers in the mid-nineties with an interesting twist. All of the original performances were by male artists. It created an interesting dynamic to hear these songs flipped to be from the female perspective. My favorite of the bunch is this Bob Marley tune that is my favorite song of his. That Annie could take the song and improve on it amazes me. Her version strips out the reggae beats and creates a lush mix of sentiment, despair, but ultimately hope. Again, I can not do justice with words to describe this performance. Of all the songs on the list, listen to this if you have time for just one. You’ll never forget it.

“Wonderwall” - Ryan Adams (originally recorded by Oasis)

I’ve heard that Noel Gallagher said that he didn’t know what this song was about until he heard Ryan Adams’ version. I don’t fact check here, so I don’t know that for sure, but I would believe it. It’s a great song and this is a case where the cover isn’t necessarily better but almost separately just as good as a whole different song. Maybe that was what Noel was talking about if he said those things. Like some of the other songs on this list, the starkness of Adams’ version strips things bare and turns what I initially thought was a silly and playful tune into something much deeper. Just go with Oasis version if you need a pick me up as Ryan’s has me crying in my non-alcoholic beer every time I hear it.

These are just a few of what I put on the playlist. You can listen to the full set on Spotify via my jswrockon tumblr blog. There are literally of thousand of more choices that I missed and I would love to hear about your favorites that could be added.

In the meantime, hopefully we can get this blog back on track and fun again. Just writing this out has already helped improve my mood. Plus, now I know what I’m going to be for Halloween - an old guy sitting out on his front porch handing out candy while listening to some of the best cover songs of all time. Now there’s a perfect costume for me.

Cheers and Happy Halloween,

Jim