#like its the Avant Gard of weird

[ot3]

need a shirt that says "I <3 NICHE SHIT FOR LAME WEIRDOS"

[bmpmp3]

I NEEED to go back to making art that makes it ABUNDANTLY clear that theres something wrong with my brain BUT NOT in a cool or stylishly interesting way. i need to do it in a way that makes people say "hm." and walk away

[eisthenameofme]

In having decided to look for prospective leitners and finally starting on indexing and attempting to start sorting my books, i have discovered a book in my collection that i seeming Cannot Find On The Internet.

[centrally-unplanned]

Have seen 3-4 "death of culture at the modern university" posts on my dash, so lets address the forces being missed in those posts. People today are not less cultured, they are not less creative - hell that is actually hilarious, due to radically lowered barriers of entry a good deal more people are creative in some way today. The average 21 year old is as awash in hot takes or avant garde art or crazy political movements as they ever were, give-or-take the zeitgeist fluctuations of any given year.

What has changed is that the university is no longer as necessary a lodestone for that culture. The primary cause is of course the internet of it all; in the same way people just have less friends now because they can be entertained otherwise, if I want freeform poetry readings I can go on Youtube, I can *post* on Youtube. I don't need to be a part of my uni's zine, I can just write for...any zine!! Anywhere!! Colleges used to solve the coordination problem of bringing disparate people together to participate in distinct hobbies all in one place; the internet does that better. College for some is a little obselete.

Meanwhile, universities themselves have changed, and a lot of it is that stifling, bureaucratic stuff you see in those posts. But supply meets demand; those schools changed for a reason, and one of the big ones is that how undegraduates spend their time has pretty radically changed too. The "have fun majoring in ~whatever at uni" idea that peaked in the 1980's is pretty dead; if you are at a top school you are planning out your internships for freshman summer, because you need multiple as part of your four year plan to max your odds of getting into med school or a slot on the marketing consulting team at Deloitte. The competition for entry-level jobs has escalated dramatically since the late 90's; companies both lost faith in the "liberal arts" stamp as a universal smartness indicator, the complexity of jobs legitimately went up and demand more skills at entry level, and enough savvy students were building comprehensive resumes that they didn't need to settle any more, they had their pick. And these all feed on each other through competition; once enough students are doing it, everyone has to do it.

So college is just "about" career prep more and more now for people. Which just isn't fun and not the place you stick your creativity in; it doesn't vibe that way. These transformations are structural, and even sans the bureaucracy things like Greek Life would be fading. How is that boosting your organic chemistry grade again? Who has the time for that shit.

But people are still doing all the creative edgy art weird stuff. Just not within the confines of the college quite as much. And of course many still do; its all margins in the end.

[drdemonprince]

this will sound like one of those "let men be masculine" level niche internet community brained posts, but i honestly really was embarrassed of how much i like drag for a while. in the circles that i run in, liking drag too much is seen as pretty cringey and for wealthy cis gays. like everybody knows a few cool avante garde local performers that they fuck with who run queer dance parties that are inclusive and the like, but very few people that i know will just go to a drag show at an entertainment or social engagement for their own sake. it's almost seen as a tourist thing, a normie gay thing.

but its one of the few spaces where i can actually recognize a lot of feminine men and nonbinary man-thing-girly-freaks like of the particular type that i am. leather bars are so masc and buff and im often invisible. bear bars are really nice and i do feel welcome there! but people are only feminine in their mannerisms, not presentation very often. the more explicitly gender inclusive trans/queer spaces cater to more of a wlw and adjacent crowd whose relationships to masculinity and femininity are different from mine. circuit gay bars are obviously terrible.

drag is nice. there's guys with weird little haircuts and long earrings who aren't buff and are swishy and dress interestingly but are a little uncomfortable as their regular selves and have to don alternate personas in order to be outgoing. and i even like that it's okay to be bitchy and insulting sometimes in drag world, like sometimes that is just your genuine feedback on the work someone has done and it's not the end of the world. there's lot of open conflict in the drag world that actually works out pretty alright.

it's a local nightlife scene like all the rest, its got its theater kid bullshit and egos and superficiality out the ass and so many people are trying to be famous or make money, but even to this day i forget that i can just be a really weird feminine guy until i'm around some of them and watching them prance about. i worry about how i look or am being read and then even just watching a fucking drag race episode i'll see like 9 different guys who are so fucking androgynous with their weird assymetrical self cut haircuts that they pass less than i do and they're cis men. they have bodies or faces like i do. and in the local scene it's obviously even better because you're looking at real life people. maybe i should be over it by now but im not, i need to see weird little awkward feminine guys with funny outfits playing dress up and crying and fighting with one another because they never got over their last picked in gym class baggage. its meeee i relateee. i even like that its a little toxic! we've got some issues out here, let's joke with them and make a character of them instead of pretending to be nice!!

i tend to be pretty skeptical of "representation matters!" type shit but part of that is probably because i never really feel represented. i know, boo hoo, thin white man doesnt feel depicted on screen, sounds very silly. but then i see kade gottmik on drag race and i swell with emotion and suddenly feel like who i am is POSSIBLE in this world and i realize that even with all my privileges i am starved for representation and that it does benefit you to have it. theres trans guys on screen but thats not close enough to ping that ooh!!! ahh!!! i can love myself!! radar for me. it has to be a very particular kinda person. matt bernstein makes me feel similarly

[rangarlamamicado]

Deltarune CH3 & 4 (+5) Predictions (UPDATED)

Ch3:

* Two Rooks (Mike and Tenna, a duo who run the station/dark world)

* Bonus: Mike is the voice of the two, but Tenna is the brains behind the operation.

* Secret Boss: A cowboy from a canceled show. Potentially elements of missing green crayon?

* Bonus: Uses a pan (green soul weapon, in tradition w/ jevilKNIFE (red) and Big SHOT (yellow)) and maybe pans for gold? To make money and strike it rich since his cancelation likely ruined his life.

* Inverse of green's kindness, anger and hatred. (Jevil was hopeless ('undetermined') to continue and gave up. Spamton experienced and doles out injustice, scamming people for no good reason.)

* Somewhat hotland-esque? (If Ch1's DW was New Home (castles and traditional layout) and Ch2's was Core (Cybernetic/electric) it could be going in reverse order)

* Undyne is wrapped up in it (a la Berdly) with Toriel as the party member. Weird route could expand on brief part in UT where Undyne needs water due to metal armor in hotland.

Ch4:

* Dark world in Holiday House. Thus, two Bishops (can involve Alvin in some way as antagonistic?). As for main villain this chapter... unsure! Likely two new original ones.

* Power outage, whether by weather or by Kris, leads Kris & Susie to the dark world with Noelle.

* Despite wintry theme, will have elements of Waterfall. Likely due to an official or sombre atmosphere of the house thanks to Mayor Holiday (and absence of Dess?).

* Secret Boss: Ice-E, maybe related to the pizza box Dess burned in the sweepstakes?

* Bonus: Cyan soul, inverse of patience (anticipation/longing), as if waiting for this moment and obsessing over it with insanity. Incorporates toy knife as weapon, like an ice-pick?

* Bonus: Weird route likely involves Alvin or Mayor Holiday in some way? Details unclear.

Ch5:

* Dragon-Blazers Dark World. A 'dark world within a dark world,' even. Hence, rudimentary, simplistic art style paralleling classic JRPGs (reality becomes more avante-garde the further down you go until complete darkness).

* Skies Forever Blue was actually Dragon Blazers all along! Reveals two 'knights,' the MC from Dragon Blazers likely being the antagonist for the chapter (sees party as 'enemies/invaders of the kingdom'), and Kris (though maybe not said deliberately or at the start).

* Bonus: Revelation of existence of multiple knights/beings who can create dark worlds? Two light knights maybe being Alvis and Dess, and two dark knights being Dragon Blazers MC and Kris' Soul. (Dragon Blazers MC is the other dark knight because they too are a player surrogate character, albeit for their own game. Can add some interesting meta-commentary?).

* Wintery elements paralleling Snowdin, likely leading to the Glacial Palace mentioned in the Spamton Sweepstakes.

* Secret Boss: Dess/Dragon Blazers Princess. Represents inverse integrity - deception, deceit. Likely regarding their true identity? Due to being princess and blue soul, incorporates dancing?

* Bonus: Likely sealed within Glacial Palace, being the chapters' final area (as with all secret bosses). Thus, glitch usage and potential deep-darkness delving?

* Weird route may expose Kris as the Knight, and represent a turning point for the story as a whole with Susie and Kris.

Complete Chess Theory:

Light world -

* King: Asgore

* Queen: Toriel

* Rook: Undyne, Alphys

* Bishop: Mayor Holiday, Rudy?

* Knight: Alvin, Dess

* Pawn: Susie, Berdly, Noelle, Monster Kid, Jockington, Temmie, Snowy, Catti

* Player: Chara (Us, the player, the puppet master of those from the realm of the 'real')

Dark world -

* King: Spade King

* Queen: Q5U4EX7YY2E9N (Queen)

* Rook: Mike n' Tenna

* Bishop: Two new characters, most likely

* Knight: DB Protag, Kris' Soul

* Pawn: Ralsei, The 7 Vessels

* Player: W.D.Gaster (The puppet master of the origin of the dark world and its denizens)

[brokehorrorfan]

Tod Browning's Sideshow Shockers will be released on Blu-ray and DVD on October 17 via The Criterion Collection. The set collects three films directed by Tod Browning: Freaks, The Unknown, and The Mystic.

Freaks (also known as The Monster Story, Forbidden Love, and Nature's Mistake) is a 1932 horror film written by Willis Goldbeck and Leon Gordon. Wallace Ford, Leila Hyams, Olga Baclanova, and Roscoe Ates star.

The Unknown is a 1927 silent horror film written by Waldemar Young. Lon Chaney, Norman Kerry, Joan Crawford, and Nick De Ruiz star.

The Mystic is a 1925 silent drama film written by Browning and Young. Aileen Pringle, Conway Tearle, and Mitchell Lewis star.

Freaks has been digitally restored in 2K with uncompressed monaural sound. The Unknown has been digitally reconstructed and restored in 2K with a new score by composer Philip Carli. The Mystic has been digitally restored in 2K with a new score by composer Dean Hurley.

Raphael Geroni designed the cover art. Special features are detailed below.

Special features:

Freaks audio commentary by film scholar David J. Skal

The Unknown audio commentary by film scholar David J. Skal

The Mystic introduction by film scholar David J. Skal

Interview with author Megan Abbott about director Tod Browning and pre-Code horror (new)

Freaks archival documentary

"Spurs" - Reading of Tod Robbins' short story on which Freaks is based

Freaks prolgue, added to the film in 1947

Freaks alternate endings featurette

Freaks portrait video glalery

Essay by film critic Farran Smith Nehme

The most transgressive film produced by a major American studio in the 1930s, Tod Browning’s crowning achievement has haunted the margins of cinema for nearly one hundred years. An unforgettable cast of real-life sideshow performers portray the entertainers in a traveling circus who, shunned by mainstream society, live according to their own code—one of radical acceptance for the fellow oppressed and, as the show’s beautiful but cruel trapeze artist learns, of terrifying retribution for those who cross them. Received with revulsion by viewers upon its initial release, Freaks effectively ended Browning’s career but can now be seen for what it is: an audacious cry for understanding and a singular experience of nightmarish, almost avant-garde power.

The most celebrated and exquisitely perverse of the many collaborations between Tod Browning and his legendary leading man Lon Chaney, The Unknown features a wrenchingly physical performance from “the Man of a Thousand Faces” as the armless Spanish knife thrower Alonzo (he flings daggers with his feet) whose dastardly infatuation with his beautiful assistant (Joan Crawford)—a woman, it just so happens, who cannot bear to be touched by the hands of any man—drives him to unspeakable extremes. Sadomasochistic obsession, deception, murder, disfigurement, and a spectacular Grand Guignol climax—Browning wrings every last frisson from the lurid premise.

A fantastically atmospheric but rarely seen missing link in the development of Tod Browning’s artistry, set amid his favored milieu of shadowy sideshows and clever criminals, The Mystic provides a striking showcase for silent-era diva Aileen Pringle, who sports a series of memorably outré looks (courtesy of art-deco designer Erté) as Zara, a phony psychic in a Hungarian carnival who, under the guidance of a Svengali-like con man (Conway Tearle), crashes—and proceeds to swindle—American high society. Browning’s fascination with the weird is on full display in the eerie séance sequences, while his subversive moral ambiguity extends surprising sympathy to even the most seemingly irredeemable of antiheroes.

[headcanonsandmore]

What is the Doctors favourite music?

One: Old-timey music-hall. Oh, you don’t recognise this one? My dear boy, how uneducated are you? Young people nowadays...

Two: Plinky-plonky circus music, with lots of organs. A couple of bagpipe compilations because Jamie kept insisting on playing his set. 

Three: Smooth jazz music; basically, anything that sounds sophisticated to listen to whilst drinking expensive wine. 

Four: Some weird avant-garde folk, with banjos everywhere. His companions are alarmed, but he won’t stop blasting it at all hours. 

Five: Abba. His kids friends roll their eyes when he sings along.

Six: Back to the jazz music, but now its bebop instead.

Seven: Some immensely complicated piece of classical music. A couple of punk rock songs that Ace recommended.

Eight: Some very smooth classical music. He probably knows the person who composed the piece.

War: He doesn’t have time for music.

Nine: Billy Bragg and Public Enemy, but this will extend to “anything that sounds good while smashing totalitarian regimes and monarchies”. 

Ten: Abba again, but this time Donna sings along with him.

Eleven: Queen; he tries to sing along with Freddie but can never quite manage it.

Twelve: Lots of punk rock and Jimi Hendrix.

Thirteen: Ryan introduced her to Stormzy, plus a few songs that Yaz likes (she tries not to think about the way her hearts clench when listening to the love songs Yaz recommended). 

Fugitive: Similar to Nine’s taste, but in a more general “whatever sounds cool while I be a badass” way. 

[lily-alphonse]

I want to see a Emily/Sandy plss

Emily and Sandy are another that are canon in my heart. They make so much sense. (Me when Emily talks about her “friend” in the desert) :

I headcanon Sandy as having a rough upbringing and an even rougher life as an adult, pulled into a shady life running a store that is nothing more than a money-laundering scheme and coverup. There are parts of her life that are/were downright disturbing. Things that have made her strong, she’s a survivor after all. But things anyone would understandably want to forget.

Emily lets her forget. She can get lost in Emily, her Stardew Valley rose.

They can go for long periods without seeing each other. In those long months Sandy thumbs the blue quartz around her neck that Emily had given her. It’s meant to be soothing, something her aura needed. But its also the closest approximation to a mermaid pendant Sandy would ever get.

Sandy wouldn’t have accepted a real mermaid pendant. Not that she wouldn’t have wanted to. But life isn’t that simple, and they both know that.

When they do see each other, it’s like they’re kids again, since neither of them ever really got to be kids. (ft. Parentified Emily)

They play dress-up, and do each other’s hair. They use gel pens to draw on each other’s skin, the colors bleeding and mixing in the shower. One time, Emily didn’t wash one of Sandy’s drawings off, and got it tattooed.

It almost ruined everything. This was supposed to be an escape. Something impermanent and fleeting and beautiful. In a way, Sandy had never really considered the permanence of her fingerprints on Emily’s skin.

She didn’t want to be permanent anywhere. Emily still didn’t even know her real name. But she knew her soul. And maybe that was a problem, but it was too late for either of them. They were so intertwined now, that if Sandy disappeared Emily might even come looking for her. That’s what scared her the most, Emily ending up putting herself in harm’s way for her.

She thought about breaking her heart to push her back to safety. But in a selfish way, she couldn't. She was too happy when they were together. So she went back to her, and kissed Emily's arm where it was tattooed, and colored the doodle differently each time they saw each other.

Do they get to be happy though? Does something happen to one of them? I don't know.

I feel like I missed talking about the actual dynamic of their relationship. Emily sees Sandy as a Cool Girl (TM) and was immediately drawn to her for it, as someone always on the fringes of what can be considered cool. Something that was weird on Emily was avant-garde on Sandy. So having her attention was a big deal. Sandy sees Emily as this bright star in a dark world, largely unphased by it all. She is always smiling and seeing the bright side of everything. In their own ways, they are both survivors striving to protect each other, and be the light the other person needs.

I love them your honor

Send me any Stardew Valley rarepair and I will tell you how I would make them work! (Even non-marriage npcs) If youre lucky you may get a mini fic out of it. Check the list below to see if Ive already answered yours

Rarepair Masterlist

[cleolinda]

Mitsouko (Guerlain, 1919)

Guerlain, 1919, Jacques Guerlain. Post-2014 formulation; eau de parfum concentration; 2002 decant from the Perfumed Court.

(To discuss: what it smells like, why it smells like that, and the struggle to describe this legendary heritage throwback.)

Trust me, these specifications make a difference. A year ago, I read reviews of different versions and took notes on what I wanted:

Do not get samples from 2007 - 2013, pre-2007 will have real oakmoss. Every concentration has different focus. EdP is mellower than EdT. Extrait is "truest."

You see, the International Fragrance Association (IFRA) restricted oakmoss in 2001, and then more tightly in 2009, from what I can tell. Mitsouko is considered a "reference chypre," a textbook example of the genre, and chypres are, by definition, citrus (usually bergamot), labdanum, and oakmoss. (The Perfume Society adds patchouli to this trio.) Like, you gotta have those for it to be a chypre. But Mitsouko is not THE chypre:

Bois de Jasmin: Guerlain Mitsouko : Fragrance Review (New and Vintage):

Created by Jacques Guerlain in 1919, Mitsouko was a variation on the avant-garde fragrance of the period–Coty Chypre. Chypre was based on the startling contrast among the bergamot top notes, the jasmine heart and the richness of oakmoss. Though undoubtedly beautiful, Chypre was brutal in its impact. […] Mitsouko is a kiss to Coty Chypre’s slap in the face, and for this reason, its popularity endures to this day.

So when oakmoss was restricted as an allergen in the 2000s, perfumers industry-wide scrambled to come up with a facsimile; for Guerlain, with a fragrance this storied, failure was not an option. Reformulations everybody hated were, though. Edouard Fléchier took a crack at it somewhere around 2007, and in 2013, Thierry Wasser reformulated the whole thing to recapture the scent everyone remembered. People seem to have been satisfied with that version since.

So I've worn that new Mitsouko on and off, when I feel fancy, for about a year now. I put a little on a card for my sister to smell the other week, and she said, "It smells old." (She'll be the first to tell you that she’s learning what individual notes smell like.) Being crushingly literal, I don't understand what "smells old" or "smells like old ladies" means. Powdery, she said, struggling to explain. "Old." Maybe I haven't smelled enough old ladies.

Mitsouko does smell… weird, by modern standards. Generally, people either love it or hate it, and Results May Vary in a big way; it's worth getting a sample just to take it for a spin (kind of like Not A Perfume or Glossier's You, in that one regard), and to see what a piece of history smells like. Expert-of-experts Luca Turin says it's the one perfume he'd take to that proverbial desert island, but I am but a gentle woodland creature, a basic vanilla bitch; I would be more likely to take something that cost $10 instead of $145. But I still kind of love Mitsouko. Users who review it positively often speak of not liking it at first, then going back to it again and again. They also speak of a "pissy" stage in the middle that might be civet or oakmoss (or whatever represents those notes now); I know what they're talking about, but it doesn't read as anything so unpleasant to me. It's not easy to wear like the simple scents I usually go for, but the drydown is absolutely gorgeous. That's one of the things that makes Mitsouko so interesting to me: it's like two completely separate perfumes were mingled, and the first gradually recedes to let the Guerlinade take center stage.

But what’s in it? “La Guerlinade,” for starters, is a complex foundation that the historical Guerlains have—a house accord. (You could buy it unto itself for a while.) The exact formula is super secret, of course, but it's said to (possibly) include bergamot, jasmine, rose, orange blossom, orris, vetiver, tonka bean, vanilla, and lilac. The lilac—a note I didn't even know I would like—is what shows up on me with both Mitsouko and Guerlain's L'Heure Bleue (1912); it's a soft light purple note that peeks through from the very beginning, and gradually becomes the glass slipper that Cinderella leaves behind.

Over on the official Guerlain site, they tell us a bit more about the reformulation:

A masterpiece in balance and originality, Mitsouko combines a fruity peach note with jasmine and rose centifolia (May rose) flowers. Its mysterious base combines spicy notes with notes of undergrowth and vetiver.

Warm spices such as black pepper mingle with cold spices like cardamom and pink [pink pepper?] berries.

Patchouli essence features many vegetal, woody and earthy olfactory facets. Combined with rose, moss, and bergamot, patchouli forms the base of the chypre accord.

Hilariously, Guerlain also straight up tells you what Thierry Wasser actually put in New Mitsouko:

ALCOHOL

PARFUM (FRAGRANCE)

AQUA (WATER)

LIMONENE

LINALOOL

EUGENOL

HYDROXYCITRONELLAL

EVERNIA FURFURACEA (TREEMOSS) EXTRACT

CITRAL

BENZYL BENZOATE

ALPHA-ISOMETHYL IONONE

CITRONELLOL

GERANIOL

BHT

HEXYL CINNAMAL

CINNAMYL ALCOHOL

ISOEUGENOL

BENZYL ALCOHOL

BENZYL SALICYLATE

TOCOPHEROL

CI 14700 (RED 4)

CI 19140 (YELLOW 5)

CI 60730 (EXT. VIOLET 2)

FARNESOL

Yeah. There's the famous Guerlinade… in there somewhere. They gave that secret away, hidden under a tiny link, because it means fuck-all without proportions or a way to separate it from the composition as a whole. Well played.

A Basenotes user posted a suggested Mitsouko formula that's somewhat more indicative of what those chemicals would smell like (deep breath): sweet orange, lemon, bergamot, elemi, celery seed, tarragon (a component of oakmoss reconstitution), coriander, chamomile, lavender, geranium, ylang, jasmine, clove, anise, castoreum, civet, labdanum, tonka, patchouli, cinnamon, peru balsam, benzoin, vanilla, violet, rose, costus, vetiver, musk, and the famous "aldehyde" C-14: a peach-scented lactone from 1908.

Logically, Mitsouko (1919) must not have been the first fragrance to use gamma-undecalactone, but I'm not sure any other has survived the ages like this one. Carter Burr (another top expert) writes that Jacques Guerlain most likely got it from the supplier Firmenich, via their Persicol peach base:

C-14 was a marvel, a fruity, aromatic, delicious scent that gave ripe peach skin. Guerlain plugged C-14 into the equation perfectly (the rumor is, actually, similar to Chanel 5, that he in fact accidentally overdosed the stuff; who knows), and Mitsouko became a thing of subtle opulence, strength and balance and silken twilight.

Sidebar: peach is one of my favorite fragrance notes. It's in Tamora, one of the first BPALs I ever tried twenty years ago; I don't know what the actual peach accord in that oil is, but it's still probably my favorite Black Phoenix. No matter how weird people said Mitsouko was, I was GOING to try it for that landmark peach lactone. And that's what shows up at first for me. I do get that Guerlinade lilac peeking through, but the opening as a whole is a spicy autumnal peach lying on the dead-leafed forest floor, more velvet than flesh, Octoberish and unseelie. That first sequence is intriguing, and then it warms up into that unpleasant stage; then that uneasy note fades and the Guerlinade comes fully out, a soft pale purple-blue siren song floating by on a powdery cloud. Those are the two perfumes that seem to be twined: bewitchingly different, each one blended so smoothly that I can't distinguish all the notes within them, yet not quite blended together.

And that's just my own reaction. Watching Fragrantica reviewers describe Mitsouko is a pastime unto itself. It smells like power, sex, domination, old money, "strangely nutty," depressing, elegant, fascinating, bitter, ripe, like oil paint, "an old medicine cabinet," pungent, tangy, moldy, intoxicating, alienating, feminine, masculine, unisex—to quote frugally:

User Aerides: "Mitsouko is gloomy Sundays, walks in the woods after it rains, and empty auction rooms. […] It's incense and burning candles, and waxy floor polish. It's cinnamon peach jam. It's a bouquet of lilacs on the dining room table. It lasts so long it's like a ghost in the room."

User Amararata: "There is something vampire-like about this fragrance. It's the sort of scent a woman leaves behind after she's conquered a man, or a kind of lascivious tryst in the middle of the day."

User querty988: "For some reason, those stinky little [camphor-clove] whiffs endeared it to me. It was like the baby from Eraserhead whispering in my ear, 'yes, I am the most revolting thing you've ever smelled, but I'm here with you in public today, and it's our little secret that I belong to you.'"

User KingRidesBy96: "Can't explain it. Don't want to. She's a witch, it's magic."

Mitsouko is weird as hell, and yet, thanks to the “waxy floor polish” review, and (I swear) a review someone wrote that I can't find now that mentioned linseed oil, furniture, paint, and his wife, I knew exactly what Mitsouko was going to smell like. And I was right. And I think that the mental preparation is incredibly important here. Not to be snooty about what it takes to "appreciate" a perfume like this, but to frame for you where this being of times past is, at least, coming from. Mitsouko is Aslan, present when the Deep Magic was written in 1919, whether the Deep Magic smells good on you or not.

Further reading linkspam

Bois de Jasmin: What Does The Word Mitsouko Mean?

It’s the French spelling of a female Japanese character’s name (Mitsuko, “child of light,” “shining child”) from the 1909 French novel La bataille (“The Battle”); Jacques Guerlain was friends with the author, Claude Farrère, so this is thought to be the most likely namesake. Wikipedia:

The novel is set in Japan during the 1905 Russo-Japanese War, and chronicles a fictional amour fou between a British Navy Officer and one "Mitsouko", the wife of Fleet Admiral Marquis Yorisaka. Both Yorisaka and the British officer sail to war, and Mitsouko awaits with reserve to see which of the two will return alive to her.

Maybe this is reflected in the duality I’m getting from the perfume, I don’t know.

Isn’t all this very orientalist? Why, yes! Our antique faves are as problematic as ever!

Ayala Moriel: Olfactory Orientalism

Arts of the Working Class: Journey with Mitsouko and Mitsuko

More technical discussion:

Persolaise Review: Mitsouko from Guerlain (Jacques Guerlain; 1919 [and Thierry Wasser; 2013/14]):

Suffice it to say that whether it’s because [Wasser] increased the dosage of vetivert in the base, or he revitalised the citruses at the top, or, most interestingly, he created a special ‘oakmoss-like’ accord to compensate for the shortcomings of synthetic substitutes, the result is that the current Mitsouko feels like it has just emerged from the fountain of youth.

The Empress of Moss: Mitsouko

A look at the current state of the chypre: IFRA, Oakmoss, Chypres & Perfume Houses (2022)

Late breaking news: right after I fell down the stairs and injured myself rather thoroughly yesterday, my vintage pre-oakmoss-ban Mitsouko sample arrived in the mail. I’ll update once I can smell it. I also have a 2022 decant of L'Heure Bleue and, uh, about three drops of Samsara from around 1989, so stay tuned for more Guerlain at some point.

[borninwinter81]

Quick and simple t-shirt mod

My Subspecies shirt arrived, and thankfully its a good quality one, not a dropshipper or an Ali Express resell. It actually despatched from the UK in spite of the pricing being in dollars, so I think it might be print to order and they just send the order to a printer in whatever country the customer is in. Link for the site here, they have a few other horror shirts but seem to mostly sell merch for the Australian extreme metal band, Portal - I would highly recommend this band to anyone who likes bizarre, avant-garde, experimental or just fucking weird extreme music.

Anyway, I almost always mod my shirts to make them a little more interesting. I crop them because although I'm pretty slim I have hyperlordosis (a slight inward spinal curvature) that makes certain clothing including long shirts look really unflattering on me. If I crop a shirt to my natural waist it looks way better, though sometimes if the design is large I have to make a decision between losing part of it, or having it look unflattering. Not a problem with this one thankfully, the design is printed pretty high on the shirt.

I also usually cut out the neck and cut the sleeves off. Partially to show more of my tattoos but also because I prefer the way it looks. If I leave the sleeves on it, it tends to be a skinny-fit shirt.

After that I would usually cut and weave the sides or the back (there are many tutorials for different ways to do this online), but for this shirt I had the idea to add eyelets and laces. The shoulder stitching tends to come undone when you cut out the neck and sleeves of a t shirt so I needed some way of securing that part back together anyway, and they're nice and visible there.

Eyelets are cheap, and inserting them is super easy - just make a hole with something sharp. Though I have a leather punch, for this kind of thin stretchy fabric I usually use my scratch awl, but you can easily do it with scissors. Eyelets come in a pack with a tool for setting them in place, and you need a hammer to hit them a few times. Make sure you're on a very sturdy surface as you need plenty of resistance to get them nice and secure. A concrete floor is best.

I just folded the fabric in half to get the middle ones in the right spot but you can measure the spacing if you have more to put in.

I had boot laces to hand because I always save them if I get rid of a pair of old boots, but you could use pretty much anything you have available- ribbon, lace, even long strips of the t shirt fabric that you cut off.

I laced them up, tied them very tightly and then covered the knots in fabric glue to make sure they don't come undone. Then I trimmed them to the right length, and as they're synthetic (so, plastic) I used a lighter to melt the ends slightly to make sure they won't fray.

I had the bright idea to also singe the knots, forgetting of course that the glue would be flammable so the whole knot caught fire, but thankfully I reacted quick and blew it out straight away! At least they're very unlikely to come undone now, but please be extremely careful if you choose to do anything involving a naked flame!

I was going to add more eyelets down the sides to make it tighter, but I don't have enough left, and actually it's fairly tight already. I also may do something to the back as there's no print there and it looks a little plain, but for now I'm very happy with this.

[ot3]

I can't tell if you're genuinely enjoying Riverdale or not. like you're enjoying it but not because it's enjoyable or good?

i'm having a blast with riverdale. it definitely is not 'good' but it's absolutely enjoyable. In this context by 'good' i mean the show doesn't have what i consider to be particularly thoughtful, complex, or emotionally impactful character and narrative writing. but this is also an instance where i don't think that stuff is really the point here. i'm not here because i genuinely care about the way these events are going to play out or their longterm effects on the characters lives, i'm here because there's something just absolutely fascinating about everything this show is doing and the fact that it exists at all.

it does have some genuine strong suits. i think all of the actors are fully committing to the shit that's happening here in a way that is absolutely pivotal to it working. the show honestly just Looks good a lot of the time too. i enjoy the weird anachronisms of the aesthetics and character styling, there's some really fun color grading, it's got some really nice shot comps from time to time.

but more than that it's just really different from everything else that's on TV, while simultaneously being almost entirely composed of individual elements that are overdone on their own. earlier i said its the most TV per minute of TV and that was a bit tongue in cheek but i do honestly think its true. it's like they've distilled a specific kind of media down to it's most concentrated form and dished it back out, without watering it down at all by trying to ground it.

i dont really watch edgy teen dramas or anything as a hobby because its so not my shit, but overall I feel riverdale manages to feel very campy and honestly somewhat avant garde when other shows before and since have just been eyeroll inducing and unbearable. and i think its because its got this weird negative space of self awareness. A lot of modern media that Knows it's kind of ridiculous likes to do a lot of wink-wink nudge-nudge about how silly and convoluted it all is, making sure the audience knows that the writers are in on the joke in a way that rips you out of the story more than the events themselves do. but riverdale so far (keep in mind i'm only a season and a half in) presents itself in a way that comes across as fully understanding exactly unserious it all is while stalwartly refusing to break character. like a mime pretending to be trapped in a box.

i could say more on the subject but i feel like i need to watch the rest of the show before i can really lock in my broadstrokes conclusions about the nature of this beast

[sicherosaga]

Any tokusatsu that kinda transcends the genre? Like the tokusatsu equivalent of Akira or Evangelion - something true to form but "elevated" or distinctive enough that it can still be appreciated by outsiders? I want to dive in but I also want to convince a friend to watch some with me. A starter tokusatsu that is unmistakeably good

hello! first of all thanks for the ask and secondly i dont think i quite have the expertise on the subject i would like to yet, so dont take me as an authority. also! i really think most tokusatsu will be enjoyable to the average person as long as they understand what theyre getting into and theyre willing to engage with the given series and be receptive. anyways.

godzilla 1954: this one doesnt exactly transcend tokusatsu since it basically created the genre but its earned its reputation. dark, harrowing, emotional, and tragic, it also still has some of the best looking visuals of any kaiju media to date. I think its probably the single best godzilla movie

godzilla vs hedorah: this one has it all: with psychedelic musical numbers, animated interstitial scenes, and a stark environmental message, godzilla vs hedorah is a memorable standout from the showa era. it also has an uncanny bleakness and desolation you wouldnt expect from an era of godzilla known for being more kid friendly

basically any episode of the original ultraman or ultraseven directed by akio jissoji: jissoji had a very distinctive, almost avant-garde directorial style in the early ultra series and his are some of the most memorable. also i wouldnt call it transcendental but return of ultraman has some excellent episodes as well

heisei gamera trilogy, particularly 2 and 3: the heisei gamera trilogy is one of my favorites of the genre, the second one has incredible effects and the trilogy as s whole isnt afraid to do weird sicko shit that godzilla is afraid of. also frequent hideaki anno collaborator shinji higuchi directed the special effects

kamen rider kuuga: kuuga was the first of the heisei era kamen rider tv shows and as of right now my favorite. it gives a lot of the different usual aspects of kamen rider a sort of weight that you dont usually get from the series and it has an excellent ending. its also like. 1/3 police procedural 1/3 medical drama and 1/3 kamen rider show. it rocks. however you may want to do some research on how you watch it since the official shout factory subtitles on tubi and shout.tv make make some changes to the show

shin godzilla, shin ultraman, and shin kamen rider: its funny that you mention evangelion since anno and higuchi are actually enormous tokusatsu fans evangelion is chock full of references to ultraman specifically. i really think the shin series is and excellent introduction to their respective series. ultraman and kamen rider in particular embrace the conventions and themes of the original shows in a way that demonstrates a deep understanding of the source material on the parts of anno and higuchi. shin godzilla has already been talked about to deat, shin ultraman is like a perfect ultraman movie, and while its not without its faults shin kamen rider made me cry 👍. you may want to watch a few episodes of their respective series before you watch the movies bc they really do replicate the vibes perfectly

also of note but not exactly the most elevated , kamen rider agito, w, ooo, amazons, zo, j, and black are all good shows ive seen. i like them. zo and j in particular are worth checking out because theyre very short movies. also ultraman blazar is very good and its on youtube with official subtitles AND a dub. and while i havent gotten around to watching it yet, ive heard very good things about keita amemiyas graou series

no matter what you decide to watch or how much you enjoy it, its crucial to remember that scenes like this are why tokusatsu is good

[hapuriainen]

Now done with Ghost Trick. That was a solid game! Fun, charismatic and layered characters, a really well put together mystery, creative puzzles, memorable art style, excellent animation, sufficiently wholesome and some great moments of combining gameplay and story telling. Also Sissel S-tier character design with his dorky hair and Kamina style energy.

At first I wasn't sold on the gameplay since I really don't like to be rushed when doing puzzles, but the penalty for failure was so minor that it ended up being ok. There were some puzzles that I thought were a bit unfair though (especially the knit cap one) but many others were great, the second part of the medicine puzzle was probably my favourite. Also the stealth section can go kick rocks.

As for the story, I like detective stories but I'm not very good at solving them, so usually I just sit back without trying to solve the mystery myself. But here the story was particularly gripping (especially starting from the painting reveal) and new information was revealed constantly and in a way you can properly start piecing things together, but without being overwhelming, so even I found myself trying to come up with theories on what was going on. Though I must say I found the story to be at its best during the middle so it didn't quite manage to maintain all the energy to the end, but regardless the ending was still satisfying. Or I really didn't like the final reveal; I suppose it does check out if you think about it, but to me it just felt jarring that a character had had a completely different characterisation off screen. But luckily it was the kind of twist that's reasonably easy for me to ignore and didn't really impact how I felt about the rest of the story.

Salt under cut:

Finally usually I avoid talking about fandom stuff but I'll make an exception here because a lot of the way this game is talked about really grinds my gears. As in, the smug "the story is so amazing I can't say anything about it without spoiling it" shtick, like the game isn't so avant-garde that you couldn't make it sound appealing to a newcomer without ruining the plot so it just sounds like a weird flex on how you know the story goes while others don't. I do appreciate not wanting to spoil the plot at least, and this one definitely is one that benefits from getting to experience the reveals yourself, but it's not the only mystery story with clever writing and witty reveals in existence.

[drillnbass]

I should make a character &somehow find a way to mass market it so that it gets really insanely popular & then make an Official Music Playlist for that character, except its all this weird abstract Avant Garde music. all these tiktok kids will listen to it in hopes that they will gain a better more intrinsic understanding of this character & then theyll make videos all about like WTF IS THIS OFFICIAL CHARACTER PLAYLIST DAWG💀💀💀. maybe in the process theyll gain an appreciation for more Unconventional Music.

[mytastessuck]

Fingerprince

Got that out of the way.

The Residents go from avant-garde to minimalist in their first "Let's create what's commonly recognized as music" album. I'll be reviewing the CD version so there will be 18 tracks instead of 14 tracks. Here goes.

You Yesyesyes

Fun intro song. Like something from an artsy Crash Bandicoot game. Seriously, listen. You can hear it.

8/10

2. Home Age Conversation

Nice chanting to an okay beat. Doesn't really stand out but thankfully, doesn't overstay its welcome.

6/10

3. Godsong

Starts off slow and kind of just clunky but builds into something genuinely ominous towards the middle that can fill you with dread. Awesome!

8/10

4. March De La Winni

Hey, it's the song from the beginning of the Third Reich N Roll promotional video! Try not to hear the creepy giggle when it plays.

8/10

5. Bossy

Sounds like creepy muttering coming from a radio with horror stings. Not bad.

7/10

6. Boo Who?

Keeping the spooky theme with this one, the monotone delivery adding to the effect. Nothing particularly special about it though.

7/10

7. Tourniquet of Roses

Sounds like a military march from a dream. The vocals help to keep the beat fun and off-putting.

7/10

8. Death In Barstow

Nice use of the instruments in this one but ultimately forgettable.

6/10

9. Melon Collie Lassie

Very slow and *checks OneLook for symptoms of ominous* baleful, which seems to be a theme for this album.

7/10

10. Flight of the Bumble Roach

Now this is horror soundtrack shit. Really makes you think a roach is flying right at your face.

8/10

11. Walter Westinghouse

Mostly spoken-word...which I love. Hearing weird voices during the music makes it feel like a Residents' song to me. A bit long though.

8/10

12. Six Things To A Cycle Part 1

Back to just outright horror, someone just outright screaming at one point to make sure you don't stupidly relax while listening to a song.

8/10

13. Six Things To A Cycle Part 2

Part 2 continues the instrumentation but the fear is gone...so it loses the point for thay.

7/10

14. Six Things To A Cycle Part 3

Hmm...this one seems more aggressive. Does the album hear me? It's getting the point back.

8/10

15. Six Things To A Cycle Part 4

Now they're chanting. Very good...and it seems like the parts are building to something creepy. Nice!

8/10

16. Six Things To A Cycle Part 5

The horns themselves designate this as a Residents song. Best way to lead into the finale.

8/10

17. Six Things To A Cycle Part 6

Disappointed a bit by how slow it ended, despite being a serviceable theme in its own right. Gotta earn my epithet somehow.

6/10

18. You Youyesyesyes Again

It's like the album is leaving by flipping you off with a bloody finger. I love it.

8/10

Album Score: 70/100

Good album but far from their best work. Clearly a transitional entry. Join me next week if you haven't left out of disgust for Not Available.