#i value music as a form of expression quite a bit

[koorinokujira]

Transformers thoughts that wouldn't leave me alone - Forgotten melodies of eld

I have a bit of a tendency to overthink my favorite media and make strange associations with other things, and Transformers is no different right now. Those robots are spinning in my head like leftover pasta in a microwave. Anyhow, last night I was thinking about Cybertronian music.

(Ramble incoming! Also I might get stuff wrong, I am still fairly new in the fandom, after all. So please, forgive my potential ignorance.)

Now, there usually isn't that much lore on it from what I've seen, which absolutely sucks and I need more. What I've also noticed is that there often seems to be more of a focus on the musical instruments (which I also definitely need more lore on), rather than vocals. And hoo boy do I have thoughts about that specificallly.

Cybertronians have voice boxes, right? And considering their mechanical anatomy, it's pretty safe to say that they can hold on for way longer than our vocal cords. After all, it's not like a computer or its speakers start breaking down after a few hours of music being played continuously. Of course, such a voice box would be more complex, and there are definitely some more unique ways for it to break or damage, but... I generally like to think they are pretty durable when they are used for speech or song. Which brings me to the concept which I decided to call "mechanical elves", or something to that effect.

Now, what does that even mean? It's simple; I was inspired by the portrayal of elven music in various fantasy media, like J. R. R. Tolkien's works. Songs that reach the deepest parts of your soul in an ancient, ellegant language, voices that sing heartwrenching ballads for hours on end about tragedies that happened millennia ago. And I thought... wouldn't that work for Cybertron? Or at least, Cybertron in its beginnings?

You have a race of giant, mechanical beings, many of which have lived for millions of years. And they do love their music, even if we often have no idea what it's like and get only snippets from their culture. You have people like Blaster, who is literally nicknamed "The Voice" in the IDW1 comics and uses his voice to inspire his fellow Autobots, among other things. Just their voice boxes alone have so much potential, and that just makes me feel stuff, honestly.

Why wouldn't they sing for incredible amounts of time without stopping, at least when the times weren't so complicated just yet?

Did the first Cybertronian who ever hummed a melody feel so much joy that he simply kept going and couldn't stop, before excitedly teaching others? When a friendship started to feel more than it already was, did the night start with a passionate serenade sung by a singular voice, which, as the hours went by, turned into a duet full of affectionate words to one another? When a Cybertronian died for the first time, did his brothers sing for his memory, and to survive the sorrow as they had no tears to weep?

Mechanical voices crying out in raw emotion to let the world know they're there, only for others to answer. Languages and dialects no longer spoken, beautifully haunting melodies long forgotten. And as the time went on, the world started to get more and more quiet, before the old compositions finally gave way to the new ones. Perhaps the Titans who yet live still remember a few notes or words once sung.

All that's left of the beginnings now is a requiem doubling as an ode to hope.

Its words?

"'Til all are one."

[raw-law]

I really need to get this out of my mind so bear with me for a bit

I'm someone who enjoys a lot listening to music, it's a part of me and I would dare to say without it I can't function correctly. Just as it's a huge part of me, I think it's a part of everyone, more present in some than others(? I'll try to elaborate further on it.

It has been like this my whole life and I've learned that a song can influence your mood and even your way of thinking, hence, is a reflection of who you are. Still amazes me to this day. But anyway, what I came to say here is that, I think we don't value enough when someone gifts a song, written by them or by someone else, be in a serenade or just mentioning they thought of you when listening to it.

It's like saying "Hey, this form of expression I came across (or made), that i liked or disliked in some way, made me think of you, but also of me"

Why? because we felt the song, processed it, and came to the conclusion, those feelings and thoughts brought up were the same or similar to those when we are around or even thinking of that other person. It doesn't even have to be in a romantic way.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, gifting a song is a beautiful and deep way of acknowledging oneself and others, but is also underrated haha

So, with that in mind

Everytime I hear "Good Luck Babe" by Chappell Roan I can't help but think of you two, but mostly of Light

Individually, "Come As You Are" by Nirvana makes me think of L, if I had to describe you somehow, it would be with that song, or maybe "Smells Like Teen Spirit"

"AMG" by Natanael Cano x Gabito Ballesteros x Peso Pluma makes me think of Light, I'm not elaborating because it's self explanatory if you listen to it

-🐉

L:

the way you describe music really is beautiful... i wish i could experience it the same way you do. it sounds divine.

the songs you've listed are quite neat. "Come As You Are" was my favorite. thank you deeply for sharing them, especially with how personal music is for you.

i'm sorry i can't give much back in return. i care about music simply because it's self expression in its purest form. plus, it's an art form as well, and i prioritize art above everything.

however, i've never experienced a personal connection to it. there are songs that i hold dear to me, but those were never because of the music inherently. liking or disliking songs has always been more of a choice to me than something embedded in my dna. it sounds like an exquisite connection to have, you should continue cherishing it.

Light:

Personally, I don't much have a taste for music, but I did look up your song recommendations online, and I do enjoy the lyrics.

Probably my favourite line is from "Good Luck, Babe"--- 'You'd have to stop the world just to stop the feeling". Sometimes, it really does feel that way.

Anyways, I'll have to listen to these songs when I eventually get the time---so far, they do seem rather interesting.

I do agree that music is a wonderful thing, and if anyone ever recommends you a song and says this reminded me of you, it's certainly an honour. It's just that I don't really enjoy music myself, despite being a pianist. But I won't forget this---thanks, Anon. I really do appreciate it.

[selfshipping-central]

I'm curious what I'll get lol

Fandom requesting for Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss

Male and female, I don't mind

I'm a average height average weight individual with long drift blonde hair, eyes as blue as the ocean, and really pale skin. I have quite a bit of acne (most of my family members have it even in adulthood) and I wear big round glasses. I switch my style on a dime, but it's usually cutesy girly girl or gothic lolita

I am a ball of stress, and always switch my decisions. I can count how many days I have felt calm since 2020 on one hand. However, I value other people's opinions a lot and always make sure who I care for is happy and alright. I'm creative as well. I am bad at describing things, however on the 16 personality test I got Mediator/INFP. This doesn't mean I won't fight back when needed though

My hobbies include art, music, writing, video games, true crime, and cooking. My interests are technology, all creative forms, and history however. I have two main collections, one of sanrio figurines and the other of fashion dolls.

I would prefer a mix of platonic and romantic, however I do not any romantic pairings with any of the Morningstar family or Vaggie. Not sure I'll even get them, but JUST in case! Hopefully this is enough info

Fandom: Helluva Boss

Octavia!! (Romantic)

She thinks you're kind of cute the moment she meets you.

Thinks your aesthetic is really cool!!

Really likes the gothic lolita, it fits with her aesthetic too!!

She definatly tries to ease you with your stress, anything she can do she will.

Tries her best to be the best girlfriend possible but there are times she slips up.

Take her stargazing oh my god take her stargazing she will cry.

Your dates are usually very chill, not overly overwhelming and in quiet areas to avoid overstimulation.

Doesn't mind when you lash out but she does find it quite hot...

"Woah.."

She would recommend all her favourite bands to you <3

Loves your creative style, thinks its awesome you're so expressive with your art.

If you end up gifting her something she'll treasure it until the day she dies.

Fandom: Hazbin Hotel

Husker!! (Platonic)

Father figure!!

Doesn’t really care about your style but if he catches some demon hitting on you or making you uncomfortable he will not hesitate to show them why he used to be an overlord.

If you call him ‘dad’ he will melt.

So overprotective, if you’re not by his side, Angel Dust probably is because he trusts him

He’s very low with his energy so when you’re freaking out and being indecisive he’s trying to comfort you and deal with your mood.

Supports your hobbies wholeheartedly and would hang some of your art in his bar.

He notices your collection and while he doesn’t say anything he quickly buys you more so you can add them to your collection.

Burn out so bad I might take a break （︶^︶）

[peppertaemint]

Dear Peppertaemint,

I sort of think of you as an expert when it comes to K-Pop, media literacy and topics that deal with queer themes, given your writings on Taemin's work for example. I hope my inquiry won't be considered a waste of time because I know you don't deal with silliness in your inbox, but I will try my luck.

I will admit that I keep up a bit with the BTS members, albeit scarcely. I happened to read on twitter (known as X now) that through his artistic expression, Taehyung is either indicating he is queer or perhaps a suporter (an ally just like Valentina) of the community. All that is supposedly apparent in his first solo music video, with references to queer cinema or the clothes he's wearing for a photoshoot. Of course, this is not the first time this has been speculated in online circles. I'll post a link at the end of this message so you could get an idea of what I'm trying to explain.

What I would wish for is a more unbiased opinion from someone with vast knowledge and a cultural background and who doesn't feel the need to prove anything about their bias. At least I think he's not your bias. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

I'm looking forward to your response. As always 🩷

Sincerely

Lady A. Assante

https://twitter.com/polyatannies/status/1689591513032900608?t=Kp20X2STVljKh0RDs7MNVg&s=19

Hello Lady A. Assante,

Despite there being a high probability that this ask is a put-on, I’m going to take it at face value and reply in earnest.

I looked at the link you sent, which was a tweet of a Russian video purporting to tie the films Velvet Goldmine (1998) and Jubilee (1978) to Taehyung’s recent MV and, seemingly, his identity. I can’t read the Russian blocks of text in the video, but I can see the split-screen shots comparing Tae to characters in Velvet Goldmine. I can also see that Taehyung appears to wear a shirt of the film Jubilee in a promotional photo.

Now, I’m old enough to have been around when Velvet Goldmine came out; it’s a film about sexuality and aesthetics in the glam rock era, and it not-so-subtlety tells, at least in part, a take on the long time rumour of David Bowie and Mick Jagger’s liaison as lovers during glam rock days. In all honesty, I cannot see how this film in any way, shape, or form, has any relation to Taehyung’s “Love Me Again” MV beyond perhaps they both involve sequinned outfits.

“Love Me Again” is a slightly moody, barebones MV of Taehyung singing in a Spanish cave surrounded by retro items. His hair is a golden mess, while his clothes are cheap sequin getups with golden chains around his neck. Tae is moody in his MV, but he’s no glam rocker. He’s a crooner lost in time and confused. He ends the MV practically disgruntled. For me, the through line of the exotic setting, the props and the styling doesn’t quite come through. So, there wasn’t a lot for me to take away from Taehyung’s MV, but when all his MVs are released, I will watch them in order and share my thoughts. Again, I don’t see any meaningful relation between these two works. And certainly I don’t see anything overtly queer about Taehyung’s MV. If someone wants to come with concrete examples of “he said X” or “he did X” or “he wore X,” then I can consider such things.

And about his clothes: Derek Jarman was an important gay rights activist in the UK. But his activism was, more generally, in the 1980s onward, and focused on certain laws that effected education in the UK as well as raising awareness of the AIDS epidemic. These are very important works, especially to me living in Britain as a queer person. However, the film Jubilee is not about that work. It’s a punk film in response to the Queen’s Jubilee in 1977, and it presents a dystopian future of monarchical Britain and features some of the best punk bands of the time, including The Slits and Adam and the Ants. That shirt is about the punk movement - an important movement in Britain to be sure, but it isn’t centred on queerness.

My advice to Kpop fans looking for queerness in Kpop is to start with those who are doing concrete things in the genre: Holland and OnlyOneOf are a great place to start. Then you can look at Taemin, Key and SHINee as a whole, and reach out from there. SHINee’s “My Identity” from the album Hard (2023) was played at Seoul pride this year. I’d really recommend having a listen. And before a critical interloper writes in to say that everything queer must be cryptically coded because SK isn’t safe for LGBT+; I’m very aware of the rights people are lacking in SK. However, there are levels to meanings in art, and every artist has their own comfort zone when it comes to what they wish to share, and what they wish to be “unlock-able,” and what they wish to keep firmly for themselves. What I don’t think is helpful is conspiracy-level theories about art being queer-coded. That’s because art is already meant to interact with its audience; what a piece of art means to you is what is the most important. If you find something that speaks to your queer side in Taehyung’s work, than for you, that’s what his work is. That doesn’t mean his identity matches yours. There’s no need for that. That’s the beauty of art.

As a postscript, this shot here is exactly what reminds me of Key’s solo work: spooky retro style. That’s Key’s signature, which has been a personal extension of certain works in SHINee’s oeuvre (like “Married to the Music”). What remains unclear for me is what this union of elements signifies for Taehyung.

[xirae]

Tbh though I do Think Lil Nas X exists in a weird spot. Pop stans have always kind of had it out for him imo, and I don't think it's their fault as much as they're not aware of the dynamics of it all.

For figures like Lady Gaga and Madonna there's a process of decoding and recoding of the mainstream, industry-produced object. Gay men grab these songs, then rewrite the values and messages around gender and desire to fit their own personal expression. It's a process shared with the old love for specific Hollywood movies like Mildred Pierce, Sunset Boulevard, The Women, Mommie Dearest; otherwise traditional, conservative works when taken at face value, these movies took on unique meanings for gay men.

There's an air of inauthenticity and artificiality around pop music worked in favor of this to put dominant values in question. There's a split where the dominant values around gender and desire expressed in pop music become denaturalized while the song as an object paradoxically becomes more potent. Pop music becomes an avenue to express feelings gay men can't just normally say or express with what is given to them "naturally" - the assigned rules given to us as Men and the way it affects what we are even capable of saying, the way our bodies and words can even be interpreted. Possibly just as nebulous as my attempt to define and categorize it, David Halperin would call this feeling gay men want to express through woman-fronted pop music "queer subjectivity."

I think since Lil Nas is an "Industry Baby" this air of inuathenticity around his music works against his favor rather than for it - at least in terms of pop stan reception, not in terms of sales or financial success. The expression gay interiorirty becomes denaturalized without there being another sort of split, no recoded subculturual object that feels all the more potent. Maybe in some ways I'm wrong about the pop stans and am just bitter at them for my personal grudge; it's the ppl who have deep personal investment in pop music that are able to subliminally detect this. They simply can't use his music the same way they use pop girlie music.

There's more to this too, I think the fact Lil Nas is a rap artist deserves it's own post. Bc the exception to my rule this year is Troye Sivan - specifically Rush though and not necessarily his whole album. Rush, a song that owes itself to Madonna and Lady Gaga a bit more than a lot of the work Lil Nas X has put out, is what got gay stan twitter moving. And it definitely owes more than One of Your Girls and Got Me Started, Troye singles that didn't quite make the same splash on stan twitter - the former notably being a song about desiring a straight man, an explicitly gay song. What I'm saying here is in a rare case, pop music form can often save the desolate gay man from the artistic paradox of connecting to gay audiences, but it usually has to be POP, like POP music.

But then Saucy Santana had a moment with Material Girl...... making my head spin atm the fuck. Probably something to be said for that being a meme more than a song tbh

[manonamora-if-reviews]

Unmade Man by by Sophia de Augustine

============= Links

Play the game See other reviews of the game See other games by Sophia

============= Synopsis

a brief conversation at the end of the world with notorious smuggler, donovan hart.  running into familiar faces in the zombie apocalypse isn't always a given- so he makes it a point to make time for a quick chat en route to searching a compound pharmacy for supplies. he went to school for chemistry, y'know! 

============= Other Info

Origin of Love is a RenP'y visual novel, submitted to the 2022 Edition of the O2A2 Visual Novel Jam. This was the first Visual Novel of this author..

Status: Completed Genre: Post-Apocalypse, LGBT. Slice-of-Life

CW: mention of Zombies and accidents related to Zombies.

============= Playthrough

First Played: --- Last Played: 24-May-2023 Playtime: around 15min (2 playthrough) Rating: - /5 (see end) Thoughts: A love letter to desire and unending, overwhelming love.

============= Review

Unmade Man is a very short VN game spanning a small conversation between you and Donovan a trader of sort during a zombie apocalypse. Exchanging some small talk is never unwelcome...

Spoilers ahead. It is recommended to play the game first. The review is based on my understanding/reading of the story.

With the one thousand word and one sprite limit from the jam, Unmade Man is a very short and very sweet game, considering the setting. Through you small conversation with the man, you get to learn about his relationship with a small community (as a lone-wolf type of person, how the world is going (with the zombie roaming around and people looting things willy-nilly), and who he was before the apocalypse (a chemistry student).

The game itself is pretty simple and without consequences: you have two choices prompting slightly different topics, resulting in a bit of conversation. Two runs should be enough to cover all choices.

While the jam was pretty limiting, I did enjoy the choices made for the visual: the broken down city with a hint of nature taking over, the black and pink, the music... Depending on the line uttered, Donovan's facial expression will change.

Even with the incredibly dire setting, the mundane conversation kind of feels like something you'd have when crossing path with an acquaintance on the street, who shares a similar group of connections (save for the actual topics of zombies and looting). It is one of the most compelling and interesting aspect of the post-apocalyptic genre: whether humans strive to (re-)form a society/community or go further into wild behaviour for the sake of survival, what kind of past values and/or morals were kept or went discarded, how connections are formed when one can assume most modern technology does not work, how can people survive still...

I really liked the kindness in the exchanges, with Donovan not just catching up for the sake of catching up, but making a connection with you (even though he likes to be a lone wolf) and advises you on keeping some information for yourself or letting things you are not sure are useful (a.k.a you don't know how to use) for others.

The harshness of the setting (also depicted in the background and in the melancholy of the music) clashes with Donovan's kind behaviour and dashing smile.

Some random notes:

Loved the BDSM style on Donovan. Nothing screams more like post-apocalypse like a good leather and a nice choker.

The Bi-Pride necklace was really cute.

Is Donovan a vampire or does he just have sharp canines??

Weirdly, reminded me of Dalgrhen...

The game doesn't fit in my rating scale lol. Since the VNDB has a 1-10 scale, I'm going there for a good 7. Very enjoyable, even if too short for my taste. Quite lovely. Would waste another 15min replaying it every day.

[kxtekss]

How art can be used as activism

I have always been an art lover—though I never quite mastered my painting skills in middle school art class, I always found it fun to have a creative outlet to express myself in school. One of my favorite parts about taking AP European History in my senior year of high school was that my teacher would talk about the art being created at the time and how that reflected the important events going on in that time period. I love going to museums with my friends and seeing all types of art, whether it be a classic painting or some avant-garde modern art. In general, I’ve connected with art deeply.

This makes a lot of sense—according to Stephen Duncombe’s article “Does It Work? The Æffect of Activist Art,” art ties directly to the viewer’s emotions. This makes it a good way to communicate a message, whether that message is as simple as the beauty of nature or as complex as an important societal issue. It can even move people to discuss an issue with their peers or inspire people to organize to make change for the issue represented in the art. When art is advocating for a cause important to the artist, it is known as activist art.

Activist art has been around for a while. The popular artist Francis Bacon used his art to express his homosexuality during a time when it was illegal in his country to be gay. According to Rina Arya in the essay “Constructions of Homosexuality in the Art of Francis Bacon,” his “Triptych August 1972” is seen as his “coming out” art, and his popular “Two Figures” is an explicitly gay piece of art. By displaying his homosexuality in a bold and obvious way, Bacon was advocating for normalizing something that at the time was shunned by society. Undoubtedly, his art can be seen as a form of activism.

Analyzing activist art has made me consider how I can use it in my own life. I am currently enrolled in a College Writing seminar at American University, and for my class, I was tasked with creating a piece of activist art and writing an essay about it. I chose to advocate for the funding of arts programs in K-12 education. Since the Great Recession, arts programs have been severely underfunded since schools have placed more focus on their common core subjects according to Rogers et al. in their essay “Overburdened and Underfunded: California Public Schools Amidst the Great Recession.” At the same time, employers have started to value skills learned in arts courses more—according to an article by Mary Tamer in Harvard Ed. Magazine, many current employers see creativity as one of the most valuable skills a job candidate can have, and these types of skills are learned in art classes. 

This issue is dear to my heart, too. I have taken art classes since kindergarten, and I can’t imagine my life without them. Specifically, music classes have shaped my educational career. I went from being the vice president of my high school orchestra in my senior year to deciding to pick up a double major in music during college. I think that by choosing such an important issue to me, it will help benefit the art that I eventually make for this class.

Though I have not yet finished my art project, I have plans to create something that’s sort of a celebration of art itself. I want to create a vlog-inspired short film that incorporates me explaining how art education has affected my life. From anecdotes about my childhood to live videos of me creating or using art in my life, I want to highlight both the big and small effects that art education has on my life. I will make sure to update this blog with my reflections on the finished project.

It’s important to me that every child in America has access to a thorough art education, regardless of whether or not they plan to go into the arts. I hope that this project can inspire someone else to care a little bit more too.

Works Cited

Arya, Rina. “Constructions of Homosexuality in the Art of Francis Bacon”. Journal for Cultural Research  vol. 16, no. 1, January 2012. EBSCOhost, https://web.s.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=20&sid=f9cc5b13-512d-410e-8265-a70f1a80b70c%40redis 

Duncombe, Stephen. “Does It Work? The Æffect of Activist Art.” Social Research, vol. 83, no. 1, Spring 2016, pp. 115–34. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.c

Rogers, John, Rhoda Freelon, and Melanie Bertrand. "Overburdened and Underfunded: California Public Schools Amidst the Great Recession." REMIE Multidisciplinary Journal of Educational Research, vol. 2, no. 2, 2012, pp. 152-176. ProQuest, https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/overburndened-underfunded-california-public/docview/1034721740/se-2.

Tamer, Mary. “On the Chopping Block, Again.” Harvard Graduate School of Education, https://www.gse.harvard.edu/news/ed/09/06/chopping-block-again. 

[magicallymalted]

💋 & 📙For Rocky, 💛 for Janet, 🔥 for Lewis Faden (I can't write the bro names without the last name, they're one of these names like Robert Downey Jr or Sarah Jessica Parker or Hilary Duff 😂😂😂)

Ahaha! As everyone should! The Fadens are notorious, their name gives them POWER (probably the wrong kind of power).

💋 How affectionate are they with their friends? Their family? Their romantic partner(s) (if they have any)? Are they more physical or emotional when it comes to displaying their affection? Why?

The real question is how isn't he affectionate with anyone he's close to? Hugs are an absolute must — if you deny his hug he'll probably just jump to immediately thinking you hate him or there's something wrong. Otherwise, expect an arm around the shoulder, back pats, hand-holding (more of a romance and family thing, sorry friends), etc. Whether his affection takes on a more physical or emotional form tends to depend on however he feels like expressing himself in any given moment, though his body does tend to react faster than his mind, even if he has more control over his words.

📙 What kind of subjects (of conversation, of discussion, in school or whatever) does your OC find interesting or engaging or that they can talk for hours about? What kind of stuff do they just find fun?

...Did someone say dinosaurs? While more commonly displayed as a point of interest when he was younger, he does still find the subject of fossils (cough cough "Rocky") and prehistoric life to be quite fascinating. Those inclinations aside, Jr's also a bit of a muggle film buff and loves talking about (and watching) movies — he also likes to cook for fun. As for anything else he finds engaging... anything out of Rosa's mouth.

💛 In general, how in control of their emotions is your OC? Do they have a good hold on them or do their emotions control them, not the other way around? What do you think is the reason behind this and is your OC ever concerned about their lack of or good control?

Less in control than she'd care to justify, but more in control than she's willing to admit. The strong emotions that Janet feels for others are enough to get her to act on things, and likely she'll only later try to justify it with logic -- even if it doesn't particularly work. Janet likes feeling in control of things and so it scares her deeply when she believes things are out of her grasp. It is most often when deep down she recognizes that she is not in control of her emotions (and by extension, her actions) that she feels herself start to get defensive as she tries to logic her way out of feelings that don't make sense, especially with everything that relates to Barty.

🔥 Give us a list of general likes and dislikes, such as colours, textures, music, weather and other stuff! Oh boy, surely a list for such a hedonist would be too extensive, but we'll certainly try.

Likes: Spectacle, the color red, freedom, using magic, pasta (but more so wining and dining in general), illusions, games, reading (whoa, where did that come from?), dramatics, getting one up on people, night time, velvet, fog, parties, fun... Dislikes: Law, tradition, the drab and mundane, polarization of values, losing, green (he absolutely hated his house robes), physical violence (doesn't mean he won't resort to it though), meat (fish is okay), politics, social stigma

[carvedheart43]

Satisfaction

The sky overhead is gray. The thoughts in my head are much the same. The sky overhead is most often gray. The thoughts in my head are much the same. For most of my life I have enjoyed gray skies, and I suppose I still do. In my younger, albeit still recent years, I found them more pleasant than blue skies. Maybe it was because days of gray skies would provide slightly cooler air in the midst of the Texas heat. Maybe it was for the lack of blinding light which dominates each cloudless day. Maybe it was for the calmness that seems to take over the world when the sun is shrouded from view. In any case, the darker the sky the better.

Now I look out my window to the dismally gray sky and feel more morose than anything. I don't think it's an "everything is awful and will never be good" feeling. Rather, I feel that a lot of things in my life are quite good and nice, but that I lack some mental ability to find that goodness in things. I have tried, and succeeded at times, but that success is not lasting. For example, a few days ago I happened to be sitting in my bedroom and was not playing video games, watching YouTube, browsing Reddit, or listening to music, which is a very rare occurrence. And in this moment I felt very in tune (though I don't like that phrase) with my surroundings. And I spent many hours that day simply observing what was around me and interacting with it. In this I felt content. Admittedly, I haven't taken it upon myself to partake in this mindset very much since then. I would like to say that I should do this more often, and I should, but that would also get a bit boring. I feel that I have reached a bizarre point in my life where my mind has become so oversaturated with the aforementioned medias that I have almost entirely forgotten to simply be present and in the moment in day-to-day activities. Essentially, that I have forgotten how to be content outside of constant mental stimulation. It is very nice to sit in a quiet room and simply be. I believe that the seeds of this were sown many years ago.

All throughout my childhood I valued video games and YouTube over all other things. They were what I looked forward to the most and always thought about them outside of other activities which took up most of my time. I was greatly satisfied during these many years. In this I ascertain that "satisfaction" is the state of a lack of mental stress regarding one's purpose. I simply existed and lived life and was content with it. I believe that all of this changed in 2020 when COVID hit, though it affected me in an odd way. In mid-March of that year my schooling ended due to the pandemic and all of a sudden I had a lot of free time on my hands. So, I did what I had wanted to do all my life: play video games and watch YouTube all day, and somehow, though my life is so extremely different (yet bizarrely the same) now, I haven't changed greatly in this. I feel that I spent so much time dedicating myself to leisure that I forgot to do anything else. Not that I forgot how to do anything else, but that I simply stopped thinking to. And whenever I did, I was always accompanied by some stimulus. I began preparing and eating food, using the restroom, taking walks, exercising, doing school work, cleaning, hell even sleeping and playing video games with some other stimulus constantly in the background. In this way I feel that I have rotted my brain a bit and got myself to where I am now.

I currently, and for the past long while (which I will not define for I have lost track of time), am lacking in satisfaction. When I look to the sky outside I see gray. When I look to the thoughts in my mind I feel "gray". When I look at the apartment I live in I feel that same melancholic grayness. Nothing seems to fill me with any satisfaction and it brings me great anguish. I have long held that the cure for this dissatisfaction is self expression. For many years I thought that that would come in the form of music, but I never practiced guitar or bothered to actually learn anything about music so that didn't go anywhere. Then, about two years ago, I had a revelation that my desire to create would be better channeled in writing, and so I set out to write a book. That, as of right now, has not gone anywhere. I have scrapped many, many projects, and I know that all writers do that, but I feel especially stuck in my aspiration. I have had many ideas for stories, but completely freeze up when it comes to actually writing anything down. The moment I try to sit down and put pen to paper all thoughts in my brain evaporate, leaving me with nothing. It is incredibly frustrating. I truly believe that I have a voice within me, wishing to come out through writing, but I can't figure out how to get it to start speaking. I guess that it's ironic to say this seeing as that's what I'm doing right now. But I do feel that my inability to express myself in narrative writing is different. I want to tell grand philosophical stories, but completely freeze up when trying to make any of my ideas into anything that could be told in a narrative story. Maybe I'm not meant to be a story teller in that way. Maybe I'm meant to communicate my ideas in a different way. I have had ideas to explore writing in other avenues like writing reviews of video games and music, or essays exploring my personal philosophies, or even poetry. And maybe the answer lies in some of them, or none of them, or all of them. Maybe the answer to my ever-present lack of satisfaction lies in something completely different entirely.

You see, I once held that my satisfaction would come when I am in a position in life that forces me to diverge from the media addiction and focus on other things, but that didn't happen. Back in Texas I had a job and was in college at the same time. This took up a great deal of my time and I wasn't any happier then than I am now. I also once held that the answer was a grand adventure, so I spent three weeks travelling around Europe and was no happier then than I am now.

I'm not sure how to conclude this, and I don't think I've explored everything I wanted to, but that's equally true for writing a story. It is impossible for all pursuits to reach a satisfactory ending, and it is impossible for all ideas to be conveyed well, or at all. It is impossible to find a true answer to satisfaction. Eventually, it just arrives, and you won't know how or why, but it will come. I hope.

[munsonshire]

You said separate asks for different fandoms so I'm sending in another one, if that's okay?

Could I please get a matchup for stranger things? I'm a straight female and my pronouns are she/her

I'm 5'9 and I have long and curly dark brown hair and brown eyes. I have a fair skin tone, I'm slim and I've got full lips and fairly large eyes. I also have these dimples that I really like!

I love reading, my favorite genres are poetry, Russian lit, and mysteries! I love learning about new things and knowing a little bit of everything. I adore adventures, witty and playful banter, joking around and having indepth discussions on anything and everything! I adore all forms of art and I have quite a few creative hobbies! I listen to a lot of modern/indie rock and I love watching films very much! It takes me a while to feel comfortable around new people but once I do, I become really talkative and outgoing. I love helping out and I'm the therapist friend, people come to me to vent or for advice and comfort. I'm smart and ambitious; I love being the best at everything I do. I'm quite the hopeless romantic and I love being in love! I adore big and small romantic gestures and I love domesticity sm!! My love languages are acts of service and quality time. I'm a ravenclaw, my mbti is infp and my enneagram is 4w3!

Thank you once again!!

Hey there, sorry for the wait, I hope you like it

According to your description I think you would match well with Jonathan Byers

You both value learning and enjoy having stimulating conversations. Jonathan's introspective nature could lead to deep philosophical discussions that resonate with your INFP personality.

Your artistic hobbies could spark inspiration in each other. You could share favorite films and music you discover or create something together, like a photo series with a story.

You both have a strong ability to empathize with others. Jonathan's quiet strength would provide a safe space for you to express yourself, while your "therapist friend" nature would make him feel comfortable opening up. This mutual understanding could create a strong emotional bond.

Both of you are hopeless romantics who appreciate the little things. Jonathan's thoughtful gestures, like taking you to a secluded spot to stargaze, would perfectly complement your love for domesticity and quality time.

Your initial shyness might be balanced by your ability to become talkative once comfortable. Jonathan's quiet nature could create a calming presence for you, while your outgoing personality could draw him out of his shell and encourage him to try new things.

You might push each other to achieve your goals. Your ambition could inspire Jonathan to pursue his photography more seriously, while his artistic side could encourage you to explore your creative outlets further.

Both of you likely have a strong moral compass and a desire to do what's right. Jonathan's experiences in the Upside Down would resonate with your idealistic nature and desire to help others.

Your personalities could complement each other and lead to personal growth. Jonathan could learn to be more outgoing from you, while you could learn to appreciate a slower pace and deeper reflection from him.

Both you and Jonathan are intelligent and have a love for learning. You share a passion for creative pursuits, with Jonathan's photography aligning with your artistic hobbies. You both have a quiet strength and a deep well of empathy, making you natural listeners and comforters for your friends. Like you, Jonathan enjoys witty banter and appreciates a good film. He's also quite romantic at heart, appreciating both grand and subtle gestures of affection.

Jonathan might be a bit shyer initially compared to your outgoing side once comfortable. His music taste might lean more towards classic rock or alternative, but you could definitely find common ground with your love for indie.

Myers-Briggs and Enneagram types:

INFP: Jonathan shares your idealism and desire to help others. He might appreciate your creativity and ability to see the beauty in things.

Enneagram 4w3: Jonathan, like you, might have a desire for authenticity and self-expression. He would likely appreciate your individuality and your drive for self-improvement.

[selormohene]

day 116 (friday, october 27th 2023)

I went to see Black Coffee on Thursday. It was all right, I don't know if I expected much of the music or of the experience, but it was definitely a lot less fun than had been advertised, which is whatever I guess.

A lot of people seemed to be having fun during the concert. The thing about concerts is that they attract large and varied crowds — the variation shows up both across concerts and within concerts, although the nature of the within-concert variation tends to be different from the nature of the cross-concert variation. Bigger artists will tend to attract a broader variety of vibes, but more niche concerts will attract a particular vibe which is different from the norm, but within the group of people different from the norm you'll see forms of variation which themselves look quite different from the sort of variation you run into in everyday life. But especially if you attend such a range of concerts as I do, you’ll run into all sorts of kinds of people, and many of them will be niche, and as a result you’ll witness all sorts of possibilities for a human life lived intentionally in a direction other than the default, or even in the direction of a default which nonetheless is not yours.

I often find myself looking at these people and wondering what it would be like to be them, sometimes out of mere curiosity, because they're so different from me that I neither really want nor could hope to be more like them, but other times out of genuine practical interest, if one wants to call it that, either because in their difference from me they seem to reflect aspects of myself into which I'd like to grow, or else because what I find captivating about them isn't the matter of their vibe but its form; their individuality, say, or their self-assurance, or the unity of the aesthetic that they project in their clothing, accessories, and characteristic manner of bodily expression — gesture, speech, mannerism. And of course one wonders the extent to which these are things they're genuinely broadcasting versus things that I'm projecting onto them, as it were. But I do think that people are capable of giving off certain auras which they in fact possess, and so that I'm often picking up on something which I'm genuinely perceiving.

It so happens that I often entertain such thoughts when I've had a bit to drink. More generally I often find that when I’m inebriated I think certain things which, although it’s not quite that they’re never in my mind when I’m sober, I don’t dwell on them as much, or I’m a bit more circumspect about them, or I have no room in my mind for them, having found myself overtaken by the mundane, or some combination of these and other factors along these lines. And there's a question, I think, of whether the sorts of thoughts one has or experiences while drunk (or more generally angry, or whatever — in a more heightened or spontaneous state) versus those experienced while sober (or more generally in a more considered, more rational, cooler mood) are more indicative of the “real” you. But that seems to raise a prior question: what actually counts as the “real” you? Like you could take the line that there’s no such thing as the real you, just different facets which reveal themselves under different circumstances. Why would you want to suppose otherwise? I suppose the idea is that, first, there's nothing obligatory about the non-realist pragmatist metaphysics shared by people like Rorty or Goodman, and second even if you're not a realist about metaphysics you can still be a realist (of whatever sort) about value, and you can still subscribe to the idea that there's a version of you where there are certain ways of being in which your actual existence is more in harmony with your aspirations, or with what is actually good for you, or whatever, and so insofar as you're more unified or aligned with things like the sort of personality you'd like to express, or the sorts of relationships you'd like to have, or whatever. You could say that you manage to be the real you to the extent that you manage to be a "you" at all, a unified complex of values and expressions of that value, although there might be internal or external constraints on the space of possibilities within which such a complex could be unified — either from notions of the objective good or from constraints of consistent morality, or from something somewhere in between, more robust than consistency but maybe less so than a Platonic notion of objective good. So an Aristotelian ideal as a middle ground between Plato and Kant.

[annabellavalenti]

*Narratives and Rhetoric 

Tumblr Essay CQ 1

In this entry, I will examine the critical questions: How does this artifact use narrative elements to promote a certain ideology or constitute people in a narrative? What is (ethically) productive and/or limiting about this depiction, and is it more productive or limiting? 

To investigate these questions, I examined the song “This is America” by Donald Glover as my rhetorical artifact. "This Is America'' is a song on the various social and political issues in the United States, particularly those related to gun violence, race, and the African American experience. Thus this song and music video promotes the narrative of the complex and sometimes contradictory nature of American society through the use of social truth, and the size of the audience this video reached, made for significant social and cultural impact.

The release of "This Is America'' occurred during a period of extreme social and political awareness, with ongoing discussions and debates about gun violence, racial tensions, police brutality, and the state of American society. The video's provocative content and symbolism added to these conversations and made it a significant cultural and artistic moment. The song and video emphasize the duality of American life, where moments of joy, celebration, and distraction coexist with violence and oppression. This suggests that America can be both this amazing place of freedom and expression but also scary and dangerous. Throughout the video, Childish Gambino uses guns to commit acts of violence, including shooting a gospel choir. These scenes draw attention to the issue of gun violence in America and its impact on communities. The video also critiques the role of smartphones and social media in today's society. At various points in the video, people are seen using their phones to capture the chaos and violence, highlighting how these technologies can both document and trivialize important events. The video ends with Childish Gambino running in fear of a mob, symbolizing the ongoing challenges faced by African Americans and the danger they can encounter in American society. Childish Gambino's portrayal of violence, particularly violence against African Americans, serves as a commentary on racial injustice in the United States. This music video has over 800 million views on YouTube and caused a lot of uproar at the time because people aren't used to seeing America portrayed in this way. We as a society are used to seeing America projected as this' ‘land of free' ' and this video shows quite the opposite. 

A narrative is a form of communication that tells a story, typically involving a sequence of events or experiences, and often with a specific purpose or message. Narratives are a way for humans to make sense of the world and convey information. Palczewski explains that there's a bit of a blurred line between narratives and the truth.  He touches on a subject called “social truths'' which is “beliefs and values that do not refer to some objective reality, but to social reality – those beliefs about what is right that people have arrived at together,” (Palczewski 133). "Social truths" refer to beliefs and values that aren't based on some type of objective reality but rather on what a group of people in a society has collectively agreed upon. These are ideas about what is right or acceptable that the members of a community have developed together. Instead of being universally true or factual, social truths are constructed within a specific social context, shaped by the shared perspectives, norms, and agreements of a particular group or society.

Ideology plays an important role in understanding narrative. Ideology and narrative are closely intertwined concepts that often intersect in many ways. They both play significant roles in shaping how we understand, communicate, and interpret the world around us. Foss explains how the “size of the audience” contributes greatly to the impact that ideology has on the narrative. The size of an audience can have significant effects on the shaping of ideology. The size of the audience has an impact on how beliefs are presented, supported, and rejected in society. Large diverse audiences can be reached by mass media including radio, television, and the Internet. He goes on to say that “mass-mediated or other kinds of public discourse are likely to have more serious ideological consequences in daily conversations with coworkers” Foss (246). Mass media may emphasize and encourage existing social, political, and cultural norms when it spreads certain views because it can easily be reached through a screen. 

One of the narratives evident in “This is America” is that there's immense gun violence in America. The prominent use of guns and the chaotic scenes in the video draw attention to the issue of gun violence in America, emphasizing how it has become a pervasive and destructive part of the nation's identity rather than used to protect us. The video opens with a scene in which Childish Gambino shoots a man who is tied up. This scene immediately highlights the issue of gun violence in America and references the ongoing debate about police brutality and racial profiling. It creates fear and sadness through the use of the visuals and the song lyrics add to those emotional responses. In his lyrics he says “Yeah, this is America. Guns in my area. I got the strap. I gotta carry 'em”.  This promotes the truth that America is a dangerous place because of gun violence. In saying “This is America'', which he repeats throughout the entire song, he's implying that this is how America really is. As a society we are taught throughout our lives that guns protect us and that America is this amazing, free place but this music video represents the social truth that America is not as safe as everyone makes it seem.

Another one of the narratives evident in the music video is that there racial injustice in America. Throughout the video, there are references to racial injustice and the historical oppression of Black Americans. These references include the use of Jim Crow imagery, and references to the Black Lives Matter movement. In the song he repeats the line “This is America, don't catch you slippin' now". This line suggests that Black individuals in America constantly have to be on guard due to the systemic racism and violence embedded in society. He also represents the line, "Get your money, Black man (get your money)" - Again, this line alludes to the economic inequalities faced by Black individuals and the need to overcome financial obstacles. This promotes the social truth that America is a racist place and we aren't as free as it is portrayed to be. 

This narrative might be unproductive for society in certain ways, but overall, is ultimately productive. It might be unproductive if it never highlights the good in America. America is known for its cultural and ethnic diversity and the idea of the “American Dream. People from all over the world have immigrated to the United States to live a better life. With a democratic political system that values individual freedoms and the right to freedom of speech, America has a long tradition of fostering political and social change and has always been “the place to be''. However, the harsh reality is America is not a perfect place at all. With deep-rooted issues of income inequality, racial inequalities and poor access to healthcare continue to bring attention to systemic injustices that affect a large number of people. With that, the message this video is trying to convey is ultimately more productive than unproductive and will hopefully evoke some positive social change. 

In A Model of Competing Narratives by Krir Eliaz and Ran Spiegler it describes how most political disagreements are caused by a “clash of narratives'. In this model, different groups or individuals may construct narratives that align with their perspectives, values, or interests. Since everyone has different interests and views this creates a variety of different narratives which cause competing narratives that reflect the complexity of social, political, and cultural dynamics. Eliaz and Spiegler explain how “narratives can spin fantasies about the consequences of the policies they espouse but not about the status quo” ( Eliaz, Spiegler 3788). This quote highlights the narrative's selective power, suggesting that while it can craft imaginative stories about future policy, it might paint an overly optimistic or fantastical picture of the harsh reality of society. 

In relation to the video, it highlights the harsh reality of society with things such as gun violence, oppression, and  racial inequality in contrast to the prior beliefs that America is this amazing place that is free and where everyone gets along. Those two different narratives compete constantly in today's society because it's very hard for some people to want to  believe that America is a dangerous and racist place but that is the harsh truth unfortunately. And in making music videos with messages like this it opens up the gate to create social change and opens people's eyes to everything wrong with America. 

Works Cited

Childish Gambino. "This Is America." YouTube, uploaded by ChildishGambinoVEVO, 6 May 2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYOjWnS4cMY.

Eliaz, Kfir, and Ran Spiegler. “A Model of Competing Narratives.” The American economic review 110.12 (2020): 3786–3816. Web.

Foss, Sonja K. "Ideology Criticism." Rhetorical Criticism: Exploration and Practice, 8th ed., Waveland Press, 2014, pp. 233-260. 

Palczewski, Catherine H., et al. Narratives. 2012.

[lv-iceprince]

@ourclaryme

Hi there! I hope you’re doing well. Idk what to say anymore lol, you’re always a regular here so hi, I hope you’re eating and drinking well and yeah!

I know you requested for Golden Child as well but for the time being I don’t actually do written ships for them, however if you still wanted to request later down the track I will have gotten more familiar with Golden Child since I just started stanning them and I still want to get to know them better.

Now onto the ship! 

~Stray Kids~ Hyunjin

This was an incredibly easy decision for me to make, normally I have to take some time to really think through my decisions but this just felt so right to me. I was half way through reading what you sent me and I just stopped so I could write this. I really like shipping people with Hyunjin because he is one of the idols who I feel has a very specific personality, and it is always so fascinating when I find people who I think suit him and his whole thing that he has going on, and you fit each other so amazingly well.  

Now Hyunjin is a bit of a confusing person in the sense that when he is himself and when he flirts it seems like he is always flip-flopping between someone cute who you want to take care of and a person who is so dark, passionate and intriguing. And I truly feel that since you have a similar duality (although not as harsh as his) you would actually be able to come together to have a pretty strong relationship! I may have mentioned this before in a previous ship but you have quite a lot going on in terms of personality. Your interests and the way you choose to go about things in life results in a very interesting combination. Basically, despite all these contradicting aspects of your personality it comes together neatly to form the amazing person that you are. This is truly the start of what pulled Hyunjin towards you.

It is pretty obvious that Hyunjin has some very deep and sentimental emotions, so he would most likely be the one who falls for you first. He would find himself falling quite effortlessly as a result of how well  he can read you, one of the strongest aspects of your relationship would be the fact that Hyunjin knows exactly who you are, inside and out. He knows your temperament, he knows your hobbies and many other deeper things but he loves that. There isn’t really a part of your personality that he would find himself despising and this is mainly because there is so much about you. You are always catching him off guard in the best of ways. For the most part the two of you share a lot of the same hobbies, the ones that are more creative, emotional and come from the heart such as singing, song writing and poetry. Expression of self is also a major part in this relationship which also comes from your creative ventures as a couple. Hyunjin absolutely loves the fact that you are so fascinated in other cultures and are willing to explore various medias and though he isn’t as big on travelling as some of the other members he would still enjoy moments where the two of you could travel together.  Adding onto this Hyunjin has it in him to be incredibly domestic and I really think he’d appreciate a lazy day in where he could watch kdramas, jdramas, cdramas or thai lakorn. It’s all about feeling comfortable and It’s safe to say that Hyunjin will always feel comfortable around you and go out of his way to ensure that you are comfortable with him.

At the end of the day Hyunjin will find that he has put so much value on your relationship, your dream is to inspire people with words and music. And as cheesy as it seems you have probably already inspired Hyunjin with your words and your ideas, he truly has come to appreciate and love everything you are about and he is just so devoted to experiencing true love like this.

[welcometomy20s]

December 27, 2022

I consider myself a rational person, but what that really means is that I’m very good at rationalizing whatever I hear is true. I’m not that good at being an honest and truthful person, in fact perhaps my rationality makes me more disposed to lie and be fooled.

Back when I was in 5th grade, I entered into my first recital. I was wearing stuffy clothes, surrounded by serious people, listening to serious music. All of this made me uncomfortable, it looked as though no one was having fun, and I felt like I needed to do something. So I fidgeted quite a lot, and grumbled a bit.

My mom scolded me for the above behavior and I tried to explain myself above these lines and my mom exploded with anger. It is only now that I realize I was being nervous, this was my first recital after all, and that if I had said I was nervous, my mom would still scold me but she would be more understanding.

I could rationally rattle out all the reasons for hours but the emotional word, nervous, immediately clues the listener into all of those reasons. Emotions are a powerful construct in that sense. It can effectively communicate what is otherwise an absurdly complex situation for others.

Hence my immense distaste for the people who worship rationality and reason above all others. If there is one lesson that permeates my journey through life is that emotional knowledge is much more powerful and useful than whatever rationality has to offer. 

There is a book called Enigma of Reason that starts out with two questions - First, why are we alone in our world? If we believe intelligence is an evolutionary beneficial trait, why don’t more species… have it? Perhaps intelligence is not beneficial at all, some might posit this as a solution to the Fermi Paradox. Intelligent beings are just not preferred in our universe. Second, why are we terrible at making decisions? Rationality is supposed to help us in decision-making, right?

Previously, I used a variation on the Two Envelope Paradox to illustrate why rational approach of ‘expectation value’ fails to work and why our brain is primed with ‘irrational’ concept of loss aversion. To simply put, expectation value usually comes in the form of an infinite series, which only works when the value is absolutely convergent. Many of our situations do not create an absolutely convergent series and therefore we move onto the next best thing, which is loss aversion, which is more general.

Also previously, I talked about sub-optimization, as in general intelligence requires a being to optimize… what is to optimize. This makes sense as a general intelligence has to switch tasks given certain input, if the input wants us to identify an object and then later ask us to finish a game level, then we need to infer from the input what the goal should be. Reason comes from this region, as in reason is a set of intuition about intuitions. As I wrote before, doing lots of communication helps us reason, as it helps us understand the rhyme and rhythm of… well, intuitions. But this does not help any be more grounded in reality. 

The recent spate of artificial intelligence has been going around the news and the discourse lately, and they all suffer from the same problem. All these AIs are very good at reasoning, knowing the rhyme and rhythm of things, but they have little to no intuition, and hence they are never capable of producing any kind of art, as they don’t have an idea to express, merely an interpretation that is good enough.

The conclusion in the Enigma of Reason is similar to one that I and others had about the need of science. Ultimately, reason is there to provide concurrence. We all have intuitions about the world, but science is there to coordinate and present the intuition within a mesh of intuition networks. This is why I fret when people complain about science proving something ‘obvious’. Science’s job is not to prove new truths, but to concur old truths. Participatory science is powerful for this reason. Science gives a firm backing for intuitions had by the community to be explained to the general public.

Current problem with AI starts with a starved input. As Jackson famously points out, one could read and experiment with color but if you did not experience color, then you are missing the intuition about color. These AI are all childs in Jackson’s experiment. There has been no efforts to improve the input of AI. Inputs are a secondary thought to these researchers, indeed they are too focused on the rationality of the AI, rather than trying to build a good set of intuition. Not only do they not check for copyright of these things, but they do not check for possible biases within the data and train the AI to spot and correct these biases.  

[corkcitylibraries]

Cork in Verse | Ana Spehar Interviews Noah Hamilton

Noah Hamilton was born in May 1987 in Waterford. He grew up in Thomastown, Co. Kilkenny and is a full-time artist.

Noah Hamilton studied Fine Art at the Limerick School of Art & Design. He graduated in 2009 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Fine Art. Noah then went on to focus on his drawing skills by undertaking a course at St. John’s College, Cork City studying Drawing (Level 5) and Web Design (Level 5).

When did you start writing? Is there a common theme, style, or structure you find yourself leaning to in your poetry?

I’ve been writing song lyrics since I was a teenager, drew comics since I was nine. Yet when I started really tapping away on the word processer it came from a certain purge, there are just some days where I'm in the mindset to write, a certain free train of thought, although when it comes to poetry, I have a few rules that relate to music theory. I focus on the rhythm of the syllables in each sentence, though every now and again I break my own rules on purpose. Usually with poetry I just type it into my phone. I went through a phase of writing haikus where you get 5 7 5 in the syllable count. It's good to consider the value of each syllable in length, it could have the value of a quaver, crotchet, have a different timing, a lot of music theory worth considering. 

As a visual artist, musician, and a writer, you express yourself in many forms. Where do you seek inspiration?

I hop between mediums just to alternate my time. One day or night I could be drawing, painting, writing, then playing music or a bit of carpentry and so on, any creative project I have a go at. I used to draw compulsively in sketchbooks for years, I still have the ones I kept since I was twelve, lots of drawings of devils and war. It freaked out my art teacher. Once, he rang my mother about it, when she saw them, she said they were quite good, but she asked me to draw something else so then I discovered music. Nirvana was my favourite band, so I drew rockstars in my teens, picked up a guitar to learn as many riffs from tabs off the internet. Art and music were the two big things in my life, why not do both? I remember that I always said to myself if I go blind, I can still play guitar, if I go deaf, I can still draw. Fast-forward to these days when engaging in a creative project, I have different themes to each medium. Innovation is crucial for my work, I always like something new to potter about with. I've learned to be okay with having creative block every now and again. I find comfort in knowing the likes of Francis Bacon went through months without lifting a brush. I like to look at the lives of artists in biographies rather than their work, good to learn from history before pursuing it as a career, though if you enjoy making art for the sheer enjoyment is a great gift in itself.

Do you show your work in progress to anyone?

I do, maybe a bit too much I think, though a painting isn't finished until it's sold. Pieces develop over time, even songs over time where I would add a middle eight here and there with more development on the subject matter.

Would you look on writing as a kind of spiritual practice?

More like an exorcism. I write away my demons, you might say. I like having a go at the Sci-Fi genre, makes it lighter and more aloof. I find it a safer place to be in, a certain detachment from real life with elements of truth involved.

What book would you recommend to our readers?

You know the real page turner for me was The Diary of Adrian Mole: The Wilderness Years by Sue Townsend. I once spent all night just reading that back to back as a teenager. Actually, I haven't read all of the Adrian Mole books, I must follow up on that, though it’s quite a sad thought as Sue Townsend, rest her soul, is no longer with us. Don't tell me how it ends but I’m expecting another cliff-hanger. My main recommendation, now I'm thinking seriously, is a book that I used to play as an audiobook while sleeping. I'll be frank that I don't read as much as I should as I predominantly just binge on audiobooks these days...Ten Books on Architecture by Marcus Vitruvius Pollio. It's very fascinating with instructions on how the Roman Empire was built. It teaches you about their knowledge of building, plumbing, painting, music theory, and geology to name a few of the subjects it covers. It was revived during the Renaissance and it's illustrated by the old masters at that time. I must root out the hard copy myself to see the illustrations.

Paintbrush

A madman with a paintbrush Saying he is an artist Still a madman with a paintbrush Though people are saying he is an artist They don't think he is a madman with a paintbrush They are betting on this madman as an artist as he says himself They know a bit that he is mad A madman with a paintbrush Saying he is an artist Though a paintbrush for a madman is a good idea nonetheless.

Rural I come from rural Ireland A place of cattle and horses Not too far from me Is where they bet on courses. I know a chap who can talk to cattle But not well with women Not that different from me But worse according to other sources In one pub there is gambling A place of many vices No one judges no one Even through their mid-life crisis They may stand, sit and talk shite The barman telling them that they are right His old friend calls him a bollox Just like Jackson Pollock Country life isn't so bad The pints are cheaper with a bit of trad Next day is not so sad Back again since one was a lad This is the frontline for an troubadour No pretense and vanity For those who do will not last long This town is better than any city Men are men here and the women same Hardly ones that aren't so tame Handy with an axe and saw The land will clobber if you break its law. Take heed of it's weather It's harshness and gruff No time for nonsense Faffing or fluff.

[noctivague]

☀️ Apollo devotional acts ☀️

Hello it's me again with a post I was meant to put online three weeks ago! I've done several of these: Artemis - Demeter - I also made one for Hermes during my 30 days challenge but I've just realized it's quite short so I will be making a new one again at some point in the future.

What are devotional acts?

Devotional acts, or devotional activities/practices are things one can do in order to honor a deity, just like one would do with physical offerings or prayer. In short, instead of giving, say, wine, you will offer time and energy (the mundane one). You would typically look at a deity's domains and pick some things related to them.

So here is a list of things you might do, in the hope that it would spark some ideas. Of course the list in non-exhaustive !

☀️ Study academic fields (sciences or humanities) - dedicating your studies to him can be one of the easiest devotional act you can do. Can be for school/uni/work or simply your research related to the hellenic path. He’s all about the pursuit of knowledge so no matter the field, you can dedicate this time to him. It's a side of him that is a bit forgotten as people will think of Athena first, but it is completely in line with his domains as a god of Knowledge and Education.

☀️ Art and Music making and appreciation - he is the god of music and all the fine arts so you can dedicate the practice of these things to him and call upon his aid to develop your skills and sensibilities. The mastery of Arts requires the combination of technical skills, emotional sensibility, the capacity to break down things mentally, and the creativity to bring out solutions, things that are his domains as a god of Reason and Expression. If you don’t make art, you can simply dedicate some time to your appreciation of those fields by going to an exhibition or a concert.

☀️ Honoring the Muses - his epithet Musagetes means leader of the muses and is meant to connect him to the Arts, as previously mentioned. However, you could also take that more litteraly and devote your time forming a relationship with the Muses to him.

☀️ Write and appreciate poetry - made this a separate entry for how important this was to the Ancients. Without judging yourself, write your thoughts and feelings freely and see it as an expression of your mind and soul. Alternatively, lose yourself into the writings of others.

☀️ Working around health - Apollo is the god who inflicts but also relieves plagues, and the father of Asclepios. He is thus linked to the medical field and any practice related to that would be a great idea. One of his epithets, Acestor, means healer.

☀️ Philosophy - Apollo is the patron of those who seek truth and wisdom, so not only would studying philosophies and religions be a neat idea, the most important would be to adopt that mindset and make sure you reflect on your values, the meaning of your life, your place in society, etc… The delphic maxims can be a good place to start, not to use them as dogmas but rather to stimulate your own thoughts and spark questions. When I think of Apollo I think of a god who wants us to keep questioning the world and ourself and push us to a better understanding of things and to build our own sense of ethics.

☀️ Introspection - As an extension of that, practising a form of introspection as a way to shed light on the most unknown parts of yourself and seeking understanding of your whole self. Keep an journal to write down your introspection sessions can be a great devotional act and would draw his good influence upon you.

☀️ Pursue the best version of yourself (with kindness) - to some extent all gods want to see you become the best version of yourself, but I don’t know why, maybe it’s a bit of an UPG, but I see Apollo as the one who thrives for perfection the most and works hard for that. Just be careful that this doesn’t become unhealthy and that you are always doing this with kindness and love for yourself.

☀️ Celebrate the blessings the light and the warmth of the sun gives us - he isn’t the Sun himself (that is Helios) but he is undeniably linked to the Sun and its light so he is the one I go to when I want to celebrate the bright season and its blessings. Personally I intend to celebrate the summer solstice with him.

☀️ Practice methods of divination - he is the god of prophecy and oracles and one you can go to to improve your ability to divine. He isn’t the only god whose domain is of one form of divination (Hermes has ornithomancy and astragyromancy, and Zeus had oracles), but he was the one who spoke through the Pythia so you can dedicate the development of your psychic senses to him. Also, Tarot is a relatively modern invention but I link it to him due to the fact that it’s an elaborated system through which spontaneous insight arises.

☀️ Teaching - giving a drawing or music class, or just anything really. The idea of transferring your knowledge and allowing someone else to become more skilled at something. Especially great with the youth since Apollo is one of its protectors.

☀️ Crafting things for your altar - maybe you want to make a laurel wreath (his sacred plant) to DIY your altar, or what about a scented candle containing solar plants, you could also use clay to shape little elements that you will paint later as a decoration. The possibilities are endless!

☀️ Note on donations: an alternative to practising the activities I previously mentioned, you could also give your money to those causes and domains. For example: by supporting local artists or health-workers.