#i include the harpsichord in this btw

[detectivehole]

i think string instruments are the sexiest instruments

[anonil88]

It seems I never uploaded this so here it is 3 months late.

Kick iiiii (my final live listen and react)

The final? piece to a kickmas. This is even more just instrumentals but stripped all the way down. I've heard but its supposed to be a push into like a new era or just catch up where she's at now like a sketch book bare bones. I don't know entirely though, Arca can be cryptic as hell when she's not straight forward. And these fans don't make it any easier, they are out here theorizing over the damn binary in the audio. Sis dropped this and then played a show in LA on some cool girl blissed behavior.

In the Face: "How does one coax in the face of pain" um girl i don't know? Cry? This shit sounds like Paul Atreides evil dreams.

Pu: In the best way possible this remind me of her new mascot, Mima. Who i need a plushie of like yesterday cause its so freaking cute and just *pinches cheeks*.

Chiquito: Same toy piano filter from last song.

Estrogen: I wonder if this can be played on a harpsichord.

Ether: This is deadass 16-bit video game music, not a bad thing btw that would be cool. That really sad 8 bit game as an arca edit would be so cute and so sad.

Amrep: Yea this is definitely gonna be my favorite from this album. Reminds me of one artist on the PC Music comp albums, Pobbles.

Sanctuary: so ambient and a whole self description with a great narrator. Yea this is up there with Amrep. "A mutant faith, Vanity." Is queer people's self introspection almost religious like view of one self vanity becomes a certain level of confidence that some may consider "godlike or in the image of god"?

Tierno: Her singing vocals are really good and I know she doesn't use them very often in some of these songs because well she is a producer, but she should.

Muscolos: I believe this was leaked by her like a really early version a while ago. Another I missed, but I love this.

La infinita: sigh

Fireprayer: wait wait wait wait this too good wait

Crown: IS THAT SHYGIRL?

Shit i guess ranking: 3, 4, 2, 1, and 5 and I really enjoyed 5. It is just something I'd listen to while working but get lost in the songs towards the end and forget about work entirely. Rumors are mom is taking a 5 year hiatus, I doubt it will be 5 years but she's been working on all 5 albums including kick I since 2017/2018. A break is well deserved or a change in direction of what she wants to do artistically for a bit. She has mentioned settling down so maybe that's coming and when new music does happen we will get an entirely new sound thats still Arca but different. My favorite song from all of the songs is hard but close to the top is definitely Andro. It just makes me feel weightless. So thankful to still have queer artists to listen to especially this nonbinary trans latina making music and just existing with little fucks given.

(Some of my thoughts have changed but I'm too lazy to change that or add that.)

[peremadeleine]

This might not be your thing, but if you were to make a playlist about book!Hannjbal Lecter, what songs would you include? (The songs don’t have to be the sort that Lecter would listen to, just what remind you of him?) I love your hannjbal posts btw!

I love that someone loves my ridiculous and overzealous Hannibal posts. :3

 It’s definitely my thing–I have one for Clarice, two for Clarice & Hannibal (one is tongue-in-cheek and one is serious), and one (very unpopular, haha) “music from the novels” playlist–and I’ve seriously considered making a Hannibal fanmix, though I haven’t gotten around to doing it so far.

But yeah…there are a bunch of songs that make me think of Hannibal, which isn’t surprising because he’s on the brain a lot as one of my all-time favorite fictional characters! (I did my best to leave off songs that made me think of Hannibal and Clarice together, though this list isn’t completely free of those…)

Rambling list under a cut for length.

Sharp-Dressed Man | ZZ Top

Silk suit, black tie / I don’t need a reason whyCufflinks, stick pin / When I step out I’m gonna do you in

Monster | Lady Gaga

That boy is bad, and honestly / He’s a wolf in disguiseBut I can’t stop staring in those evil eyes

I did a silly fanvid with this song several years ago; I see there’s also an NBC video now (that video has 141,000 views…mine has 7,100. Surpriiiiise…)

Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy | Queen

Dining at the Ritz, we’ll meet at nine preciselyI will pay the bill, you taste the wineDriving back in style, in my saloon will do quite nicely…

Sympathy for the Devil | The Rolling Stones

Please allow me to introduce myselfI’m a man of wealth and taste

So if you meet me have some courtesyHave some sympathy and some taste

Madman Across the Water | Elton John

There’s a joke and I know it very wellIt’s one of those that I told you long agoTake my word, I’m a madman, don’t you know?

I think the tone–slightly menacing–and the sound–very grand and orchestral–of this song reminds me of Hannibal more than the lyrics; I have also always vaguely associated Hannibal with Elton in general just because of his costume in the final scene of the Silence film. (I can’t help it!)

Renegade | Styx

I been years on the lam / And had high price on my headLawman said, “Get ’im dead or alive!”

This one’s silly, and I would never put it on an actual Hannibal fanmix, but whenever it comes on the radio he pops into my head.

I Want to Break Free | Queen

I’ve fallen in love for the first timeAnd this time I know it’s for real

This one is for SOTL!Hannibal. Also, yeah–I just like Queen.

Million Dollar Man | Lana Del Rey

You got the world but baby at what priceSomething so strange, hard to define

How did you get that way, I don’t knowYou’re screwed up and brilliant And look like a million dollar man

I associate the general vibe of “Off to the Races” with H&C, so I actually went looking for another Lana song that reminded me of just Hannibal for this list, and unsurprisingly I found one.

I’m sure there are more, but these are what came to mind first. Some I’d put on an actual fanix if/when I ever made one; some I wouldn’t. All of them make me think of Hannibal (whether or not they should). And finally, I don’t listen to classical music frequently, but when I do, I associate with Hannibal absolutely anything I hear that includes a harpsichord.

I’d love to see anyone else’s lists of songs they associate with Hannibal/the (book) series/Clarice/Clannibal/whatever, if anyone is so inclined.

Thanks for the ask Bunnies! (I’ve admired you from afar for a long time–shh, don’t tell Tiny–so it’s a pleasure to find out you’re also a Harris fan!)

[palpablenotion]

Let's not forget the range of queer expression in the series. None have clean hands but who tf does on the show? Every main character except for the least (or most, she's polarizing) liked character has legitimate blood on their hands (and she arguably has blood once removed).

Hannibal - We have I'm literally the Devil in an Ugly Suit That I Look Sexy af in But You'd Look Like a Couch. The original villain of the show, and like Satan, he tempts, he twists truths, and he does not make those horses drink even if he led them to the water. He finds what can be corrupted and plucks that string like he's playing his harpsichord (or therimen omg the nerd). He puts people into situations just to see what happens. He sends Will after a serial killer (arguably to punish him, and if so for A: rudely interrupting his dinner, B: kissing Alana Bloom, or C: all of the above including the see what happens bit) then mourns his possible loss, pettily killing his patient to punish the serial killer who wanted to kill him (no one liked poor Franklin) before openly killing the sk and calling in the FBI as a victim who fought for his life. He has tears in his eyes when he sees Will didn’t die. He's a complex character that Mads' plays as legitimately Satan in a person suit, pansexual (with a description attached that sounds demi but is not explicitly stated so is imo atm), and genuinely in love with and attracted to Will Graham. If you take Word of God (WoG from here on) then you also have to accept into canon that between Will turning him away in season 3 and the hours he spent outside Will's house in the cold, he was crying. Mads and Hugh also wanted to kiss pre swan dive and Bryan had to be the "reasonable one" and say I think it's overkill (pun intended). Because to the cast and crew, it was officially out in the world in season 3, Will just had to accept it. (Also tangentially connected: because Hannibal is played as a fallen angel, Mads also played him as not being a cannibal. He is the inverted Tantalus, a demigod feeding men to men. He is a hunter and farmer, feeding his carefully chosen prized hogs with feral swine he himself hunted and took down. Hence all the pig comments.)

Will Graham - he's an odd duck. I've personally heard no word on if he's bisexual or if he'd even identify as anything. Bryan Fuller used queer to describe most of the aspects of the show; as a gay man, he uses queer as the umbrella term for whatever orientation that's non normative. You have to watch unrelated Bryan interviews and speeches to get that much, as he's been fighting to get just one out out gay couple for 20 odd years. I believe ST:D was his first gay kiss on screen, though Hannibal might have had his first official queer couple (and no it's not Hannigram). (I just realized ST:D's initials are std...) Between his on screen attractions/ actions/ known relationships, we have no proof of former mlm relationships. He has romantic feelings for 2 women during the show and sexual attraction for 2 (Alana was confirmed as romantic, Molly was confirmed as both, Margot was presumed a sexual attraction - at the very least, she was a willing hook up on both his and her ends). He probably is sexually attracted to Alana at least in season 1 as well; he called her desirable, but that was also in/during an admitted bid for normalcy. I think he mentioned qn ex girlfriend at one point but I'm not positive. Hannibal is his only confirmed male prospect. All that being said, if you asked Will to label himself, I think he'd get annoyed and leave the conversation. He has a very pronounced dislike of labels, and it feels like it could spread to most hard to define corners of his identity. A much more common identity than many in community give credit too, btw, I know several "Im just me" orientated individuals. A queer Gen X woman I'm friends with defined herself as that but said queet can be used for simplicity. Will is interpreted by a lot of straight viewers as canonically straight and then they get confused and or surprised by season 3. The whole series was a courtship with a lot of weird break ups. Hannibal has a couple retaliatory relationships while genuinely having feelings at the same time (one must never forget he's a hedonist as well). Will's morality is odd, coming and going like the tides. He's autistic by admission, and maybe he's other things as well. He has intrusive thoughts that his job is to dive into. Over time, his distress over his intrusive thoughts recedes and he takes more interest in them. Perhaps this is an expression of Folie a Deux as Hannibal as a concept seems to be the blanket that covers his distress over said thoughts.

Margot Verger - possibly the only on screen verbally confirmed labeled character. She's a lesbian, easy as that. Let's address the accused lesbophobia in the room: yes she has sex with Will Graham. The show and Bryan Fuller received some criticism for this, but the fact is, if a lesbian chooses to have sex with a man, isn't it important to be supportive of that and not police it? She appreciated Will as a friend and thought him a good man (considering her alternatives especially). He used him to get pregnant in a way that wouldn't alert her controlling, abusive, monster of a brother, thinking him off the radar enough. And she almost got what she wanted (Hannibal was determined to take away every child Will ever had, that's a different story). Besides, that entire sexual kaleidoscope scene was pretty much an orgy, crisscrossing relationships between current happenings, past desires, and future outcomes. Her morality is fairly consistent. She wishes to protect innocents, but she's willing to put off doing the "right" thing (in her mind at least) until she is not ruined by the outcome. It isn't even a lack of integrity as she is up front about her motive (except to her brother and occasionally to people she wishes to use, which she is not sorry about because it leads to her greater purpose, such as using Will). She justifies the murder of her brother and frankly so does the audience. However she doesn't turn a blind eye to murder indiscriminately, wanting to save Will. She also helps free Hannibal because he gets her and Alana what they need and want (the means for IUI/IVF - I'd personally guess IVF - and Will's life). Once she has her son, she leaves it all behind an seems to live a normal life aside from her marriage.

Alana Bloom - two on screen relationships, one a tryst with Hannibal that ends in attempted but ever promised murder, one the results in her carrying her wife's nephew and son to term. The Vergers were weird. In the beginning she has unwavering morality and fights tooth and nail for what she believes. This leads to unfortunate blind spots sometimes. She most likely has the most societally acceptable morality and integrity in the first 2 seasons (discounting the lab rats, who I'm not getting into here) and it's only changed by the traumatic experience of near death, brutal rehabilitation, and a deep, twisting betrayal. Her transfigured morality extends to her partner and later wife, Margot and Margot's vendetta against her brother (again, most view this vendetta as completely justified). Her trauma led to her plotting murder, manipulating Mason Verger to utilize his resources - greater than hers and lacking scruples - committing murder, she claims purgering herself to give Hannibal a solid insanity defense (so she could keep an eye on him), and ploting and conspiring to commit/orcastrate premeditated murdering a dangerous bid that endangered law enforcement.

So we have 4 major queer characters that vary morally (as much as the show allows), two with shifting morality. It's limited to a degree but also greatly varied in expression, reaction, and characters.

For a murder show that had to get so aesthetic with murders as to be on prime time network, that's a good chunk of representation. Hopefully abstract more than literal, but still.

i’m so sick of people saying hannibal is bad queer representation because he’s a villain.

[vrheadsets]

VR vs. The New Sensation

So. Here we are again. It seems we can’t get through one week without the need to address something or the other that’s happened in the world of virtual reality (VR). Some scandal that or disaster or so forth that in reality is less Kilimanjaro and more Standardmolehillo. However, since I am on holiday for most of this week and the next, finally cashing in a chunk of my acquired lieu time and am looking to explore among other things a rumoured concept called “sleep”. Added to that this week’s column was decided to be required reading at a relatively late time, this will be, if you will forgive me, somewhat briefer than I otherwise would have liked.

So here we go with the first in a possible series of relatively quickfire opinions on some recent items.

The big story of the last week or so, ignoring the HTC standalone news, was the announcement at the end of last week from AltSpaceVR that due to a cashflow crisis they sadly could no longer afford “to keep the virtual lights on”.  Of course, this is a terrible shame for the hardworking AltSpaceVR team who have been one of the trailblazers of social and non-gaming VR. Unfortunately, is often the case, business doesn’t care whether or not you were first and these things can happen. You can argue that AltSpaceVR’s role has in many ways been replaced by the likes of Facebook Spaces in many people’s minds, but the service had a very dedicated audience of users, continued to have a number of firsts for VR and had only just come off a deal with ESPN of all places that could’ve been a great door opener for them. (Learn more about that in last Saturday’s edition of This Week In VR Sport, btw.)

But is it the, as oh so many publications debated in the follow-up, the beginning of THE END OF VR?

Urgh. Sorry, but I’m at the point now where if my eyes rolled any more on seeing these they’d be hired as dice in Las Vegas. If we ever do an article in response to such an event asking “Is This The End Of VR?” I fervently hope it is just the title followed by a one line answer of “Of course it f****** isn’t. Don’t be stupid.” No, AltSpace going down – whether or not Palmer Luckey will act on his Twitter poll where he mused over marching in to save it* – isn’t a sign of the beginning of the end.  Put away your sandwich boards and tin foil hats people. Even if one of the other head mounted display (HMD) creators pulled out of VR tomorrow it wouldn’t be the end Do I need to whip out your favourite image out again? Yup, I probably do.

*Incidentally regarding that poll: Doesn’t that come across – inadvertently I readily admit – a little bit toying with people’s fate? The addition of a (thoroughly sensible) ‘it might not be possible regardless’ caveat or not; when everyone knows you have the power to do so putting the future of people’s livelyhoods to a Twitter poll doesn’t exactly feel right.  If you’re interested in saving it, and there’s a sound business reason upon looking at the books to do so, then obviously please do. Social media is a great thing but there’s a danger of false hope in this instance. 

Unfortunately, and brutally, that’s just business. What about all the little AR creation service that have been around for years likely feeling the pinch now ARKit has come out and Apple is stealing their thunder? If they go under will that mean THE END OF AUGMENTED REALITY? No. If a film flops at the box office it doesn’t mean it’s the end of the cinema. If a book fails to become a New York Times bestseller it doesn’t mean we should all give up on that silly ‘reading’ thing. Pfft. What’s it ever done for us anyway?

How often have videogame fans, myself included, mourned the loss of a great and talented studio owing to mismanagement by it’s ultimate owner of the failure of a singular game? Heck, even having a successful one doesn’t mean a studio is safe in today’s climate.  Many have fallen, more will do so in the future, others will rise to take their place. That’s the way of things and I don’t recall, other than the collapse of Atari, any other time a game business went under that anyone anywhere asked if this was the end of videogames.

Which of course it is. It’s all over people. We’d best get back to learning how to play the harpsichord or how to crochet, or something, to pass the time. I wonder if you can turn knitting a jumper into an eSport? Maybe hemming a dress? Intel: Call me. Let’s set up a Sewing Bee Challenge League.

All the best for the AltSpaceVR team. I sincerely hope you all find yourself on your feet again soon.  Your hard work and contributions to the early days of this generation will not be forgotten.

from VRFocus http://ift.tt/2whl1ed