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zabrak-show · 4 years ago

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Plant Magick | Maul x Reader

Setting: Dathomir and Zanbar

Summary: Reader is a nightsister from Dathomir sent to Zanbar by Mother Talzin to help Maul and the Shadow Collective. Based on the prompt from @botherbother-blog , “ Can I ask something about a witchy reader (maybe a Nightsister?) teaching Maul magick and Maul teaching her martial arts... and the things start getting steamy? I haven’t ever asked a request and I’m not sure if that’s okay, too much or too little, sorry!”

Warnings: Ok, this was my attempt at writing smut, but it’s really just super poetic and not that graphic, because i am the way that i am. and lots of consent cuz that’s what gets me hot. So very fluffy and soft Maul etc. also, the nightsister/nightbrother thing does not make them brother and sister so no incest here.

Word count: 2.4k

Sweat ran down the middle of your chest and pooled where the fabric of your red sleeveless tunic tightened at your breastbone. It was a hot day for Dathomir standards and you were crouched over picking herbs for magick potions. This was a part of the forest to which you were very acclimated, having come here since you were very small. You had learned from an early age to have an appreciation of all the living things around you, there was magick in everything, it was only a matter of learning how to tap into it all.

Mother Talzin was an exceptional teacher, but sometimes you felt like there must be more to life, at least more to learn than what she taught you and all your sisters. You did your best to never let these feelings show. Mother would not appreciate your wandering thoughts. You wiped the sweat from your brow and packed up all your herbs to head back to your clan, making your way down the meandering wooded path, wisps of mist gently caressing you on your bare skin. These small moments all to yourself brought you clarity and peace of mind.

It did not take long to get back to the clan and at once you went into the temple where a foreboding tall figure clad in all red stood over a cauldron.

“Mother, the herbs you needed.” you held up the bag of herbs to the towering pale woman with an oversized forehead and black tattoos accenting her face. She clutched the bag of herbs from your hand at once, held it to her face and breathed deep.

“Yes, I think this should do nicely. Well done, sister (y/n).” she spoke aphrodisiacal as she exhaled. You smiled slightly and started to turn and leave.

“Wait, Sister (y/n). I have a new mission for you.” You turned back to listen to your new instructions.

“Whatever it is, you know I am at your service, Mother.” you lightly bowed as you declared your subservience.

“Yes, there is someone who is in need of our aid. In need of our magicks. I am sending you as you have proven time and time again your loyalty, dedication to the craft, and independence.” her hoarse voice rang out in your ears like the most beautiful melody you’d ever heard. To get such high praise and honor from Mother was unheard of, and to finally be sent on a mission outside of Dathomir. A real purpose to your life at last.

“I am beyond honored.” your inflection was stoic, but you were brimming with joy inside.

Aboard the transport vessel to Zanbar, you learned that you were sent as a mercenary to help defend an organization called the Shadow Collective. Mother did not give you a great deal of information other than you were to find and meet up with a former nightbrother Lord Maul, once you arrived. Your head swam with the possibilities of this mission. You had never left Dathomir and you had never been without your nightsisters presence for more than a few days. It was exciting and terrifying and you couldn’t be more thrilled.

You recognized the nightbrother Maul almost as soon as your feet hit the pavement of the ships’ hangar in Zanbar. Of course you had never met him, but he stuck out like a sore thumb to you, with his unique crimson skin, intricate black tattoos, and crown of horns. As happy as you were to leave home, it was also nice to know you’d be around someone who understood where you came from and your culture.

The other passengers and crew milled about picking up their baggage, meeting up with old friends or scurrying off to maker knows where. You slung your simple black woven bag containing mostly weapons and Dathomirian herbs, across your back to head straight towards the shirtless nightbrother, Maul. Even from a distance you couldn’t help but admire his tattoos. You had a few tattoos as well, as was your culture, but nowhere near the scope of his.

He walked up to meet you halfway and as soon as you were close enough to see just how handsome and chiseled he was, you felt dizzy with desire. You had never quite felt so attracted to someone, but then you had barely met anyone besides your fellow nightsisters and the occasional nightbrother ritualistic mating encounter. His odour was intoxicating, you could smell the Dathomirian magic in his blood, but there was something else darker and stronger with notes of roasted coffee and cedar. Maker, how could he smell so damn good?!

“Sister (y/n). Mother tells me you are one of her strongest witches.” His voice thick like honeyed wine seeping into your ears. You felt yourself blush and wished your skin was as crimson as his to hide your body’s emotional betrayal.

“Yes, well I am at your service now, Lord Maul.” you declared with full confidence, attempting to brush the lustful feelings aside for now.

The atmosphere of Zanbar was not too different from Dathomir, but it lacked the magick lifeblood you were so used to coursing through everything. There were swamps all around the settlement you were staying in and you had decided to venture around to see if you could find any plants to weaponize for Lord Maul. It was a challenge without the help of Dathomir’s magick at your disposal, but you were still able to identify several helpful plants and you busied yourself plucking them from the swamp, humming a little tune as you worked.

A shadowy figure stole your light and you looked back to see who it was. The sun was beaming around them like a hologram making you squint, but the crimson skin could still be easily seen.

“Lord Maul,” you greeted as you stood to face him, still slightly squinting from the sun in your face. He took note and rotated himself to the side of you so that you would not have to stare into the sun to talk to him.

“Are you finding what you need here?” he questioned with genuine curiosity.

“Yes, well, I am finding some things. It’s harder to feel the magick here, I feel like my senses are dulled.” you admitted to him looking into his dynamic golden eyes.

“Hmm.. yes your power does come from Dathomir, it will be hard for you to be away from that. You must learn other ways of fighting and surviving.” his eyes stared deep into your own, not breaking away for a lifetime it felt.

“Mother taught me how to survive.” you said defensively breaking the gaze to look beyond him and crossing your arms in front of your chest.

“She taught you how to survive in her world, yes. There is much yet for you to learn. I can teach you Teräs Käsi, an invaluable combat skill. As a trade... for you teaching me about your magick.” he cocked his head slightly to the side and raised an eyebrow ridge as he waited for your approval. You found it hard to refuse teaching him your magick and you had desperately wanted to learn new things before coming here after all.

“Oh, alright,” you gave in with a smile, “what could it hurt?” This seemed to please him greatly as a sinister smile spread across his face.

“I promise not to make it hurt too much” he jeered and you both made your way back to the settlement.

The next day you met Maul for your first Teräs Käsi lesson in a small training room. You were no stranger to physical exertion and thank the maker for that, because it was a more physically demanding sport than you were expecting. You were dripping with sweat almost immediately, doing everything from push ups, planks, sit ups, fast feet, jumping jacks, and squats. In between each drill, teaching you a new attack and having you try it out on the punching bags and then him. You felt yourself getting dizzy, but you dare not let him show you were tired or wanting to give up.

“Keep fighting! Keep fighting!” he’d yell prompting you to punch him or the bags. You felt your arms get noodley, but you kept throwing punches as hard as you could, pure grit and determination painted on your face.

At last he brought you some water signifying that today’s lesson was over.

“You did very well. You still have much to learn and much strength to gain, but you are a natural fighter.” he sat down next to your sweaty form as you stretched out your sore muscles.

“I did not realize you were going to work me so hard,” you said, still slightly panting from the workout.

“In a fight, you do not get to decide how tired or well rested you are. You do not get to decide when your attacker will stop. You have to keep fighting through it all. Through all the pain, all the weariness, your mind will tell you you can’t go on, but you must. You must train hard so as to not let that voice creep in and tell you to give up. Your body is stronger than your mind will let on.” he lectured as he stared deep into your eyes and studied your face while you took in everything he said and saved it to your brain’s data bank. Not only for the inspiration and wisdom, but how he said it. His voice was smooth and theatrical, emanating a great power and sensitivity. You wished you could sit there all day and listen to his proclamations.

“What kind of magick do you want me to teach you first?” you finally inquired, now that you had cooled down a bit and your breathing was back to normal. He looked at you thoughtful for a moment before answering,

“Teach me about all the herbs you pick and how to make potions from them.”

You found it hard to hide your excitement at teaching Maul about herbs and potions. You took him out to the edge of the swamp to begin your lesson. It was a cloudy day and the swamp was buzzing with life from bugs and small critters that scampered away as soon as they heard both of you coming. You settled on a small clearing above the swamp’s water level so you could sit without getting wet and go over your lessons.

“How do you know what plants will work for what?” He asked before you could even begin.

“Well it’s harder for me here. On Dathomir I knew all the flora and fauna already so I could feel the kind of magic each life held just being near it. The plants don’t have Dathomirian magick here, but I can still sense different properties they hold.” You explained as you noticed Maul’s skeptical look. You held yourself back from scoffing at him for being a typical dense nightbrother and instead offered, “Here, I’ll show you.”

You grabbed your small knife from your belt and carefully cut a few different small plants near you. You held one plant in one hand and with your other grabbed Maul’s hand. He raised a tattooed eyebrow and you simply nodded and closed your eyes. He followed suit and you bore your energy into the plant, a green mist now surrounding the both of you. You held it for a moment and let go opening your eyes, Maul’s eyes still closed and holding your hand. He looked so peaceful and innocent in that moment. You hesitated before letting him know he could open his eyes you wanted to let him remain so pure.

“Could you feel the power of the plant?” You finally asked him, still holding his hand.

“Hmm yes… I sensed it was poisonous in high doses, but medicinal in very small doses.” He carefully answered, looking down at your hands still clasped together.

“Yes! Could you sense what kinds of things it could treat as a medicine?” Your eyes got big as you looked at him with wonder awaiting his response. He squeezed your hand and replied in his cool deep honeyed voice, “heartache.” You couldn’t help but giggle as you squeezed his hand back.

“Well heartburn, but close!” You reassured him.

You spent the afternoon talking plants and potions and magick with the crimson nightbrother. Your face began to hurt from smiling all day, a happier moment in your life you couldn’t recall. The thick fog began to roll in and you started to pack up your books and herb jars. Maul laid back and stared straight up at the sky watching the fog swirl around as it slowly enveloped you both.

You laid back next to him staring up at the fog as it thickened like gravy around you. A hand grasped yours and you wove your fingers between his and lightly squeezed. Your body ached with desire, but you froze to the ground afraid to make a move. The night brother leaned up and over you placing a hand on your face.

“May I?” He practically whispered.

“Yes,” you closed your eyes and met his lips with your own, kissing him deep and passionate. He crawled on top of you, his metal legs cold and harsh against your soft warm legs. You wrapped your legs around his middle pulling him in closer to you and he continued kissing you with a frenzied gusto. You wanted to touch him everywhere and be touched everywhere by him. Your frantic hands caressed his head around his horns, resulting in a purr emanating from his chest and vibrating into your frame, overwhelming your body with pleasure and desire.

He ran his hands all over your body, his strong hands grasping and massaging your sore body. His intoxicating scent of coffee, cedar, and petrol mixed with the plant and soil odors of the swamp in an orgasmic medley. You moaned in pleasure and he started to reach down to your core, but stopped to ask your consent once again.

“Yes!” you breathed into his ear and wriggled out of your clothes. The moss was soft, cool, and gentle against your bare skin and you laid back and guided him into you. He started off slow and rhythmic both of you moaning and grunting with each thrust. You felt yourself melting into him and into your surroundings, becoming the fog or the fog becoming you. Wrapping yourself around your lover, around yourself and everything in between; becoming the earth, the sky, the galaxy all at once. A perfect moment of ecstasy and bliss, you never wanted it to end.

You both lay on the moss bed, bodies entangled, breathing and moving as one, dozing in and out of sleep. Oh to be with this handsome nightbrother forever in a secluded swamp with no one else to answer to or deal with ever again.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

hey thanks again for reading. it means more to me than you’ll know.

toss a heart to your witcher o’ tumblr of thirst

tag list: @brilliantbutbatty @maulieber @emissarydecksetter

masterlist

#darth maul #darth maul x reader #maul x nightsister #nightsisters #nightbrothers #dathomir #zanbar #shadow collective #lord maul #star wars #star wars x reader #fanfic #star wars fic #prequels era #fluff #soft maul #hand holding #poetic sex #swamp

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sylleboi · 5 years ago

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𝕾𝖊𝖊𝖐𝖊𝖗𝖘 | 25/11/19

When I initially heard of the content for this brief, I couldn’t help but get excited. I have a soft spot for illustration and concept art, as well as world building and writing (especially fantasy). After reading through the brief for “Seekers”, I immediately thought of a short story I have been writing for around a year and a half at this point, the plot and context fitting perfectly with the challenge that the brief sets.

During the morning we briefly went through the good things and the things that “need improvement” from the past two briefs;

Good:

Responding to the workshop and technical skills. This includes how each person within the class have responded to the challenged on a technical level, being really good.

Developing ideas past the workshop activities and building technical skill through repetition and synthesis. This is purely based upon the development each individual have gone through and made thus far and exploring beyond what the brief asks to do, as well as using more primary reseach at a higher rate.

Understanding technical terms and their use within the specific subject. This describes how well we do at resiting all the terms thrown at us.

Need improvement:

Drawing & Repetition Make sure to draw often; ideally every day, but in general just as much as possible.

Drawing from observation- draw from primary research! We do this a little, but we have to keep at it and stick to it.

Evaluate and conclude It’s important to make sure to evaluate and conclude at the end of each blog post; “What have I learnt and what will I do?” Also try and be more conclusive and forward with the evaluations. It’s also important that we make sure to keep reflecting upon everything we go through each day that we work.

Visual language Our research needs to talk more about the visual language; more about what you can see and why this is important to you and the work you have done and will produce.

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𝕾𝖊𝖊𝖐𝖊𝖗𝖘

(2D problem solving)

Aims and objectives

Be able to analyse and research a 2D problem in art & design.

Be able to use an integrated approach to 2D problem-solving in art & design.

Be able to use evaluation to support solutions to problems in 2D in art & design.

Using an integrated approach means to apply what other things we have learnt as well as integrating all the ideas we have, to create a successful concept, story and narrative for this brief.

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What have I learnt, and what will I learn now?

I have learnt:

Rotoscoping

Character turnaround

Model sheet

Frame by Frame = sequence

Illusion of life

Digital programs (photoshop & illustrator)

I will learn:

Character narratives

Fantasy

Frame by Frame animation

Key poses

Primary observation and research

Concept art

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Are there different types of characters?

Protagonist

Antagonist

Sidekick

“Damsel in distress” & “Male hero”- try and subvert to be inclusive and original!

Ice breaker task - Key terms

Find the definition for the following terms (these need to be presented in your production file in your own words to establish the character design part of your project):

Who is the Protagonist?

This is the main character or one of the major characters in a play, film, novel, etc. It is not at all unheard of that the protagonist is a heroic figure for. They make the key decisions and experience the consequences of these decisions and actions. Protagonists usually go through a journey to learn and evolve upon themselves.

Who is the Antagonist?

They are the rival of the protag. A person who actively opposes or is hostile to someone or something; an adversary. They are often portrayed as characters with a dark background; an example of this could be an evil ruler that grew up in an abusive environment or something alike.

What is an Archetype?

This can be defined as a very typical example of a certain person or thing, often very generalising/stereotypes, but this is not how you would define archetypes in storytelling specifically. Archetypes can be defined as for example; the sidekick or comical release character (the jester), the mentor (wise), the innocent, the explorer, the hero, the lover, the ally, the trickster, the guardian, the shadow, the ruler, the friendly beast. Essentially, they are different roles.

The protagonist should:

Be someone the audience can identify with through empathy.

Go through changes/stages during the quest (emotionally or physically)

Break rules and makes mistakes but is always good at heart, putting others before themselves.

Quest:

A quest is a journey that someone takes, in order to achieve a goal or complete an important task. Accordingly, the term comes from the Medieval Latin “Questo”, meaning “search” or “inquire”.

Heroic protagonist (definition given from the brief):

The main character within a story and told a narrative that goes on a dangerous mission against all odds to save a group of people or a society. Sometimes, the hero sets out on a quest to find a symbolic object or person and bring it or them back to his/her/their home. They also have a particularly large presence in Medieval romance, folklore and Greek and Roman mythology, and have been playing an important role in fiction since the earliest examples of English literature.

What does the fantasy hero look like?

Artists to take inspiration from

Good/Hero/Protagonist:

Simon Bisley

Andrew Maclean

Luke Pearson

Bad/Villain/Antagonist:

Frank Frazetta

Pendleton Ward

Jeffrey Alan Love

Task:

Put together 2 similar “slides” in keynote (hero/villain) with 3 visual examples on each. We then printed them out and then answered the following questions in note form around the artists we chose;

Describe the visual language (line, texture, tone, colour, shape, form) using descriptive words & sentences

What does this visual language (the way it looks) communicate about the character/personality?

In your opinion, what visual characteristics of the artwork make the example particularly heroic or villainous?

Good/Hero/Protagonist:

“Hey, you.”

Describe the visual language (line, texture, tone, colour, shape, form) using descriptive words & sentences

Tony Zhou Shuo is a very inspiration artist in my eyes. In the majority of his artwork, he manages to convey shape and readability clearly by using minimal strokes. This is something I have learnt to understand is key for illustrating concept art or general illustrative work for stories. An example, different from the use of shape, is the texture of the brushes he uses. They are rough, creating a feel of sand moving across the rocky desert.

What does this visual language (the way it looks) communicate about the character/personality?

To me, it feels mischievous, but not necessarily in a villainous way; which is what drew me in to this piece in particular when attempting to find some inspiration for my own character/characters. The hooded figure in the foreground is the main subject, looking back towards the sound of the strangers, thinking the hooded person is just the same to them, a stranger. This automatically makes your eyes wander to the figures in the background, that then point back to the hooded figure. It’s a very smart approach for conveying storytelling within a still image. As an illustrator in particular, it is crucial that you can convey the wanted message or meaning without the use of motion or sound; this is much like in film-making or book writing; if you are vague or limited in the way you tell the story, the viewer automatically fills in the blanks.

In your opinion, what visual characteristics of the artwork make the example particularly heroic or villainous?

The fact that the overall mood of the painting is portrayed to be bright and warm gives me a feeling of the character in the foreground not actually being “bad”, just questioned (the title being “Hey, you”) and potentially unwanted. I suppose an example of this could be Assassins Creed. The main characters within this world are feared and unwanted by many since they are assassins sent to kill, yet they are not portrayed as being the villains of the story, but in fact the opposite. It all depends on how you choose to portray the character in a given scenario. It can very easily be altered, which is what I did to prove that this point stands. I did this very quickly by just adding a multiply layer and some stars and highlights (as if the hooded guy now is in the spotlight, caught off guard, now indicating that they are up to nothing good.):

“Viking Boy”

Describe the visual language (line, texture, tone, colour, shape, form) using descriptive words & sentences

I absolutely adore the art style of Tim Mcburnie. It is very stylistic, but it has its own unique flare to it with the use of brushwork and texturing. Primarily this is seen in the landscape. I think he uses different pictures of watercolour and setting the layer mode to something like overlay to create those moody and strong, gritty textures. With the art style being heavily stylised compared to Tony’s work, he uses line very efficiently. Despite the line work being relatively loose and messy, it still manages to make the subject/subjects (the boy and the Viking huts ((village?)) + smoke in the background) stand out without feeling as if they are completely out of place.

What does this visual language (the way it looks) communicate about the character/personality?

The visual language used for this painting in particular, manages to communicate the rough environment that was the Viking age (793–1066 AD). Back then things worked more primitively; death often being brutal and inevitable if either sick or on the wrong side of the border to enemy territory.

In your opinion, what visual characteristics of the artwork make the example particularly heroic or villainous?

The composition I find to be really appealing in this particular piece. The way that the boy feels as if he’s gone from his home in the village behind him to begin a journey. He looks young and his expression resting on his face communicates that he seems nervous and wary of his surroundings. To me, he seems innocent and not a person based upon anything evil; like a hero in the making.

“Night Trip”

Describe the visual language (line, texture, tone, colour, shape, form) using descriptive words & sentences

For context, Night Trip is a short comic story done by the artist Mi Dong. I chose this piece in particular (the cover for the story) for multiple reasons, with the main one being his use of line. The comic itself is only illustrated using line work, which isn’t uncommon in comics, but even the cover itself portrays what you can expect in a very clear way. This is what really drives the interest to this Mi Dong’s work in particular. The use of colour and value for this cover picture has clearly been thought about; For the values, it is easier seen when making the illustration black & white;

When looking at the desaturated version, the values already speak clearly by themselves, even without the aid of colour. The subjects base value is much brighter than the backgrounds base value. This makes sure that the viewer can differentiate the subject from the background without a struggle. It is also worth mentioning that the choice of line has also been used to create texture, which works very well as a stylistic approach since it matches all the other aspect of this illustration that I have gone over previously.

What does this visual language (the way it looks) communicate about the character/personality?

The overall feeling that I get personally is a mix of “overwhelmed”, “daunting” and “fear”. This I believe is based on the fact that the texture of the line work plays such a big role in making the piece come to life. If there were no texture and only flat colour, it wouldn’t portray emotion as strongly and confidently as it does with the texturing applied. The texturing used in this drawing also indicates some kind of “danger”. This is purely because of the way that Mi Dong has chosen not to use any texture on the main subject; in fact, there has only been used flats for the foreground subject- signalling a sense of purity compared to the looming figure in the background.

In your opinion, what visual characteristics of the artwork make the example particularly heroic or villainous?

I think that with everything mentioned about this piece of artwork, It definitely leans toward the feeling of “heroic” if you focus on the main subject, but I also definitely shares traits of “villainous” characteristics if focusing on the background subject. Without knowing the content of the comic itself, the figure seeming to be looming in the dark and behind the subject, the figure might be a distorted version of the main subjects; indicated by their eye colours being the same; infant, they share all the same colours. Weather that’s nothing but a stylistic choice, or of a deeper meaning, it works quite well, because it lets your mind wonder “What does this mean?”, “Why does the person look so afraid?”, “What are they afraid of?- Why are they looking at me? am I the monster?” That is why this cover is successful. It makes the reader want answers, therefore willingly indulging themselves into the story, narrative and plot-line, on their own quest for answers based upon their curiosity.

Bad/Villain/Antagonist:

“Dragon hunters”

Describe the visual language (line, texture, tone, colour, shape, form) using descriptive words & sentences

I chose this piece for several different reasons. The obvious being; the dragon. My entire plot is based upon the lore of dragons and how they are hunted down by men, so this was great inspiration! The other reason is how my “villain” is not actually anyone in particular, but instead, it is the society living in the universe I have created. People are the ones killing what isn’t actually there to cause harm, but everyone believes that the dragons are cold-blooded killers. Loosely, this is the basic premise of which I base the plot in reality; We kill the earth in ignorance with pollution and plastics choking life, even in a literal sense. - In my story, mankind does this, but with the dragons. They are in the way, and the quickest way to get rid of them is by eliminating them. The drawing is highly rendered, which is what initially (alongside the use of perspective and scale) drew me into it. This illustration doesn’t need words to explain what is happening. The storytelling is so clear and loud, which is absolute key when portraying story within a limited amount of frames (or often even just by using a single canvas).

What does this visual language (the way it looks) communicate about the character/personality?

This question can be interpreted in different ways depending on who you refer to; the dragon or the hunters. The dragon seems to be fleeing from the hunters, trying to take it down. For some reason, the overall perspective and scenario reminds me of when you go hunting for the air balloons with your parents in the car to see where they land; it almost in itself feels like a quest. In the painting, it can be argued as to who the bad guy is, the dragon or the hunters? This is where, once again, ones imagination comes into play to fill out the “gaps” and attempt to answer all the questions it sparks. “Why is the forest burnt down?”, “Did the dragon do that?” If so, then why did it do that?”, “Is it evil or did the hunters agitate it or scare it?”.

In your opinion, what visual characteristics of the artwork make the example particularly heroic or villainous?

I think that the fight between whether the dragon or the men are the villain in this is what makes it stand out so much. It tells the scenario clearly, but yet there are so many unanswered questions left to be looked into. You could write an entire story just from this premise alone.

“Dragon Hunter”

Describe the visual language (line, texture, tone, colour, shape, form) using descriptive words & sentences

I chose this piece of artwork done by Julian Calle for several different reasons; one of them being the use of colour and a potential underlying meaning hiding. The colours used in this illustration are all very desaturated, which works well when referring to the content and scenario of what's happening. It gives off a strong and moody feel without the use of a wide arrange of colours. The other reason to why I chose this piece of artwork in particular, is to do with the fact that it most definitely is based on the Viking age (Which my concept is as well). You can tell by the types of weapons, tattoos and the shield in the background, all being very typical for this time period; Even the shoes are common for this time period.

What does this visual language (the way it looks) communicate about the character/personality?

Because it feels so messy despite the fact that it’s highly rendered, it gives off the feeling of the aftermath of a long battle. You can almost imagine the characters chest rising and falling to even out their breathing, with the sound of the crows’ flapping wings, settling around the dead bodies of the battlefield. - What I found to be particularly interesting is how a deeper meaning of “a new beginning” after an “end” might be lurking within the sky; behind all the fog and the dark clouds is a blue sky slightly peaking through. In old folk lore, it is not at all unheard of to have used the idea of death being a new beginning, so I thought this was a really smart detail.

In your opinion, what visual characteristics of the artwork make the example particularly heroic or villainous?

I put this in the “villain” section due to the fact that I personally really like how the hunter almost looks barbaric; fearless and bloodthirsty in battle. This is definitely something I will be considering for the design aspect of a specific army in my concept, thought it could also be interesting to try and translate this very “barbaric” design into something that leans more towards the role of a blacksmith or craftsman.

“Swords”

Describe the visual language (line, texture, tone, colour, shape, form) using descriptive words & sentences

“Swords” by the talented concept artist Max Steksov is a small collection of illustrations that focus on a heated battlefield. I have known this guys work for a while, and I really enjoy looking at his work. His eye for doing composition and making every aspect of a drawing move, despite it actually being still, is impeccable. Each detail has a meaning to it. He uses texture, but compared to the other artists mentioned in this list, the texture he uses is very fine and less saturated. I find this to be a great way of levelling out the clean feel of his style, while still conveying the gritty and harsh reality that battles that shed blood are.

What does this visual language (the way it looks) communicate about the character/personality?

To me, I find it to be very successful in conveying a lot of aspects related to war; how morbid humanity can be over things that, in the bigger picture, seems pointless at times. Since I myself have a war integrated into the plot of my story, I found this incredibly inspiring.

In your opinion, what visual characteristics of the artwork make the example particularly heroic or villainous?

As mentioned: war. Even if it’s portrayed as a heroic thing to do (fight for your pride, land, country or/and freedom), there are also some more villainous underlying factors hidden within this; at the end of the day, all these men battling and killing each other are just like one another; normal men. There are countless stories from WWI and WWII that talk about how soldiers from the enemy have become friends when holding some captive for a little while, to then be forced to murder them a few days later. It’s a dark concept, but that is also just the reality of it.

✄┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈

Once we had finished the task given, we went over all the different types of creatures and character roles that we could think of, dividing them up into the stereotypical “Good” and “Bad” and “Unsure”, as well as “Accessories” and “Historical inspiration”, all for the benefit of letting ourselves get inspired by the words listed below for our own concept;

𝕸𝖞𝖙𝖍𝖎𝖈𝖆𝖑 𝖈𝖗𝖊𝖆𝖙𝖚𝖗𝖊𝖘:

Good:

Fairies Unicorn Pegasus Dwarf

Sage (wise/medical) Cleric Paladin

Fawn/Faun Genie Gnomes Knight

Blacksmith Druid Monk

Griffin Hyppogriff Mermaid

Berserker Phoenix Whisp

✄┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈

Bad:

Goblin Kelpie Boggart Minotaur Hydra

Pixie Krampus Medusa Banshee

The headless horseman Orges Orcs Nymph

Cyclops Triclops Cerberus Orthrus

Warlock Kraken Succubus Direwolf

Imp Manticore Cocotrice Gorgon

Basilisk Cthulhu Syrens Zombie

Ghoul Skeleton Wraith Gargoyle

Reaper Chimaera

✄┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈

Unsure:

Dragon Familiar Witch Demons

Yokai Trolls Yeti Giants

Centaur Kings and Queens Elf Samurai

Gladiator Rogue Prince and princesses

Kaijo Werewolf Vampire/Vampyr

Elemental Jörmungandr

✄┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈

Accessories:

Sword Dagger Katana Axe Wand

Shield Potion Spellbook

Crystal Cauldron Spear Broomstick

Crystal ball Scroll Flask Crossbow

Bow and arrow Hammer Witches hat/hats

Armour Helmet Jewellery Flail

Bottle Lantern Knife Torch

Cloak Sickle Sai Whip Pick

Scythe Nunchucks Chakram

✄┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈

Historical research:

Greek mythology Nordic/Norse mythology

Local witch trials Irish folktales

Scandinavian folklore Japanese folklore

Egyptian mythology Biblical references

Roman mythology

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shadowtongued · 6 years ago

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DISCLAIMER; THIS HAS BEEN IN THE MAKING SINCE DEC 2017, I was just too shy to post it. Keep in mind that I'm not in any way, shape, or form trying to put my headcanons or interpretation of lore over anyone else's and this is pretty much just a general long-form run down for my roleplay blog to help people who aren't familiar with RS, so for my non-RS friends it's more of an explanation of how this 'tall ancient magic alien man' is and works. Physiology and some other cultural blurbs with the occasional emphasis on Sliske, because, well, that's what my roleplay blog is for. This is also mostly a passion project since I'm pretty fixated on this, if you read this at all, kudos to you and ily, ty for coming to my Ted Talk about this. Special thanks to people/friends who put up with me ranting abt this obscure fandom and helped me flesh out headcanons, and @theresiidentdevil the artwork that i commissioned that i use way too much bc devil really... really did my version of snek man nice. Other imgs used are scrounged from ja.gex’s concept arts and etc. ONCE AGAIN THIS IS NOT CANON, AND JUST MY PERSONAL HYPOTHESIS, feel free to reblog but please don’t like... edit or try to give me heavy crit or come @ me with some lore bit from so-and-sos tweet that I am wrong and am a doodoo head or something. This was just a spot o’ fun and please don’t try to drag my interpretation or expunge this for laughs on the official lore discord. I’ve seen it done before and it’s not cool. individual creative interpretation is beautiful, mob bullying is not.

To kick things off, the Mahjarrat are one of a few ancient tribes that live on the ash, lava, and stone wasteland that makes up the dead planet of Freneskae. They are highly skilled in magic and intellect by nature, as well as living by a firm form of kratocracy; a government by those who are strong enough to seize power through coercive power, social persuasion, or deceptive cunning. Along with this, their survival revolves around two rituals, one of death and sacrifice, the other of life and breeding. That right there should tell you a LOT about them, socially.

HEIGHT.

Height varies from Mahjarrat to Mahjarrat, they are always going to be towering over most species, and most humans, as lore states that they generally are 1.5x the average human height. Sans that one wild ass gene of hyper height that makes gargantuan Mahjarrat like Lucien and Zemoregal, who tower over even Azzanadra's spike pope hat. Sliske himself stands at an 8′4 height, but that's just my headcanon for this blog's sake.

SKULLS / BONES.

The Mahjarrat have thick skulls, if this wasn't pretty obvious with the additions of dual lines of bony ridges running parallel from the brow to back of the skull, and lower. Some, but not all individuals have rather, short horns as their 'first ridge' before normal ridges. They also seem to have a subtle browbone ridge above each eye. Sliske, as well as some of the canon Mahjarrat we know, have these short horns and I like to exaggerate them a bit as sharp and more obvious, because who doesn't love horns? I'd imagine there are also ridges across other parts of their bodies such as the shoulders, elbows, knees, smaller ones on the knuckles, and perhaps down the back and along the hips. Go wild. Anyways, their skulls are thick and heavy, as in if it comes down to having to head-butt someone at the sacrificial ritual as a last resort physical conflict when magic is exhausted, someone is going to be using every exploit they can to survive. Anything counts when your life is on the line.

*above concept art is of their lich-like forms. good for seeing skull shapes.

Most also have rather large jawbones and powerful jaw muscles, and have a decent bite force to clamp down; like above, can and will use the force of their jaws if they have to with a good 1,069 psi (pounds per square inch), a little less than a hyena, meaning they can break bones with enough force. The main reasoning for this is their powerful mandible adductor muscles and the leverage needed to keep their jaw closed in their lich-like forms with the loss of skin and some atrophy, when they begin to run low on energy before every 500 years ( more on this later ), otherwise their toothy jaws would be hanging open and they'd look quite silly. It's quite rare for a Mahjarrat to bite unless as a last resort attack, out of spite when healthy ( almost as if saying 'you are weak and aren't worth the waste of magical energy' ), or for other minute reasons. Males tend to have very pronounced 'spikes' on their chins and larger skull ridges, but it's not completely unheard of a female having a 'spiked' chin and larger ridges. Sexual dimorphism isn’t too well explained or solidified by Jagex, we haven’t really seen much due to the few living Mahjarrat we see.

TEETH / CONSUMPTION.

personal interpretation of sliske’s teeth here.

Speaking of teeth, Mahjarrat have exceedingly sharp teeth for being part of a race that is not carnivorous or needing any sustenance at all. They have more teeth than humans (not really canon, just my personal interpretation, I prefer them being very Alien over ‘grey human reskin’); while almost every tooth has a sharpness to it, be it incisors or tines in the molars. Their front teeth seem to be ridged with smaller points, you probably don't want to get nipped by them, even if it's just playful or affectionate (uh, whatever they deem as affection). It's a real shame that Sliske seems to enjoy this, in the few moments he puts on a faux air of affection to scratch an itch or when deciding to use seduction as a ploy to further his manipulation or intel gathering, among other rare, convoluted feelings towards someone he's 'affectionate' with. Teeth shape and sizes can vary due to the Mahjarrat way of breeding and eugenics to create survivability through offspring on what traits work. Basic Darwinism, tbh. Following my ever favorite serpent motif for Sliske, you can expect his teeth to be pretty ophidian/snake-like. Due to my headcanon to their dark blood color, Mahjarrats may have dark or black gums. Small addition: babs do have sharp defensive baby teeth that fall out into hellish adult ones. Nice.

Mahjarrat do not need to eat or drink, as they are fueled fully by an arcane energy that they receive from rituals, and slowly deplete this over several centuries. Their power can last even longer if an individual is stingy with their power, or unaware of their power like Kharshai, who spent several centuries in a human guise hardly using any energy while unaware he was even a Mahjarrat. Despite not needing sustenance, it's not unheard of for Mahjarrat to attempt eating or drinking for whatever reason, be it pleasure or to emulate others. Hazeel's memories almost adorably describe some Mahjarrat attempting to sit and politely eat with humans to 'bond with them', despite them later having to regurgitate what they had eaten and Hazeel's repulsion at any creature eating at all. Several lore snippets include Zamorak enjoying wine and in Kindred Spirits, Sliske making the comment he may be drunk after downing the contents of a bottle. Whether or not they actually can become inebriated or have any sort of digestive system to even mildly uptake anything is debatable. For headcanon's sake, I like to think Sliske has no issue with pleasure eating and for taste, especially chocolate, fully knowing he'll have to bring it back up later. Most Mahjarrat have tongues that can be dark in color to only slightly brighter due to their dark blood color. Like horns, some end up with a slightly bifurcated tongue tip, some do not and have a single, sharp tip. Sliske is an extreme mutated case and has a very obvious black, snake-like, forked tongue. Just don’t ask him to do the thip thip because he won’t.

(WHERE’D YA GET THOSE) EYES / SENSES.

Usually, A Mahjarrat's eyes correspond to the color of the jewel embedded in their crown, but not always. They have very, keen eyes and their eyesight is exceptional to suit the darkness of Freneskae due to the constant ashfall and cloud cover. They can see short distances, but farther into heavy smoke and ash than most species, and can indeed see in the dark with excellent night vision and have a structure similar to an animal's tapetum lucidem, which is what reflects light and makes that eerie glare you see from animals in the dark. Due to spending a lot of time on Freneskae and being well adapted to that environment, it was quite a jolt for them to get accustomed to sunlight on Gielinor when brought during the Menaphite War, as they were used to heavy 'cloudy' weather due to ash blocking out what light they did get, and being used to the constant lightning strikes and the glow of volcanic rifts and lava pools. But they adapt quite well and while they still prefer muted lights, they have no problem in the sunlight after adjusting a bit. Think of when it’s a sunny summer day and you leave your dark house and how for a few minutes you have to acclimate. Sliske has the most trouble with this, seeing as he still spends quite some time in the darkness of the Shadow Realm which is hazy and muted in light. He's quite prone to straining and headaches/migraines from bright lights on Gielinor ( and Earth since a lot of my writing takes place on Modern Earth ).

Mahjarrat have fairly acute senses and sharp ears, and while most concept art shows them similar to human ears, why not lorge, sharp, and pointy ( as not to be so human )? Plus, imagine a few with larger, pointed ones that flick when irritated. That's cute, but deadly. They can hear fairly well and can hear you talking shit. Not exactly up to par with a bat or a moth, but quite up there with horses or cats. I'd imagine the rest of their senses are pretty keen despite not using taste or smell as much as a human, but most senses are still fairly above a human’s.

I'm not exactly sure how they'd fare in the aspect of touch, but it is known that they are very, very strong and can break bones with their bare hands. They have exceptional strength in their bodies and despite teleporting some ways, I'll bet most of them are decently muscular or lean under those robes due to their solidity and a bad example perhaps, but, uh, have you seen Zamorak's exposed chest? I'm sure 'godhood' didn't change that much, albeit some. Who wouldn't love a decently built Enahkra who will hand your ass to you? A babe. Sliske himself, while being one of the leanest of the Mahjarrat, probably has core strength and broad shoulders under those pauldrons. I'd like to imagine he'd also ( as some other of his kin) would be pretty flexible and train his Praetorians to be similar and absolutely strong in the event of having to resort to physical combat or maneuvering out of capture. Most of them were born on Freneskae, a planet made of plenty of solid rock/crystal cliffs and caves, they made pilgrimages pretty often to the ritual site, so some rock climbing was probably involved as they grew. Plus, image small, child Mahjarrat, not able to teleport or be proficient in magic, just out on a day with less lightning, climbing around, chucking rocks into lava for fun. I'm getting off-topic and we'll talk about babbies some other post.

SKIN / STRIPES / SCARRATIONS.

personal interpretation body/stripe of sliske here. (mildly nsfw)

Skin colorations are usually running the gamut of dark grey, pale grey, and dull color such as a grey-green, grey yellow and more. It's also notable that Mahjarrat are shapeshifters and are known to slowly take on the appearances of the conditions they are in for extended amounts of time; Kharshai becoming more 'viking-esque' like the Fremennik people who took him in when he was unaware he was human, and also Bilrach's warped appearance from spending god knows how long in Daemonheim with larger ridges, scarring, and some more demonic-looking features. Sliske himself has a very deep, dark slate grey skin tone from the amount of time he spends in the dark of the Shadow Realm, beginning to mimic its dusk.

Mahjarrat have thick skin, built initially to withstand the heat and abrasion of their home world’s rocky and dangerous climate and environment, but also notably protective against icy and snow-fraught climates, as they have little to no issue or complaint at heading far North of the Fremennik Providence, near the icy fortress of Ghorrock where their ritual stone lays on Gielinor ( it's also notable that Jhallan asks the adventurer to re-seal him within a fuggin’ block of ice to rest again, proving they do not mind the cold at all ). Their skin can scar if proper regeneration is not taken to heal wounds, as Mahjarrat are known for almost instantaneously healing themselves of most wounds on the battlefield to their own volition, but this is quite rarely seen on them, sans Bilrach. For all we know, they could be quite scarred from lack of regeneration fueled by magical energy or quite severe wounds under those robes that cover most of their body, I personally headcanon that some may have some scarring on their hands and forearms due to the might of some of the spells they use. I also personally headcanon Sliske having a pretty nasty burn across his shoulder and ribs trailing to the hip on the left side from Tumeken's explosive self-sacrifice detonation that wiped out the entirety of his army and at least 3/4ths of the Mahjarrat present, sans the ones spared by Azzanadra's quick shielding. I would think that some of them also may have suffered from similar scars due to Kharshai admitting they were tired and wounded after the event.

Striping and markings can litter their forms in sparse or rather heavy. Most Mahjarrat have at least some facial striping that can be a monochrome pale grey or darker, or a bright color such as Wahisietel's bright red trailing across his ridges to his chin spikes, Enakhra's vivid pink colorations, and Khazard's orange striping. While stripes may look similar from individual to individual you are hard-pressed to find two Mahjarrat with identical markings, and we have never heard of any twins being born from their tribe in canon ( Not saying it's not possible! But that would be a lot of strain seeing as once child is hard enough for a pair to conceive ). It's unknown if the stripes are across the rest of their bodies, but I say to hell with it. Why the hell not? Let the stripes go as angular or curvy as they please across their skin. Why limit the imagination. They are aliens. For the sake of me writing Sliske; he's a very pale silvery, parallel stripy thing under those robes with handsome slate skin. Go figure, that's jus' me though. ( Whatddya mean I made a personal ref of that?? s w e a t s?? slight warning for some not safies. )

CLAWS / FEET.

personal interpretation of sliske’s rock climbin’ sharp feets here.

Mahjarrat probably do have clawed hands and feet, and they are thick and sharp, along with strong ( most likely calloused for some ) palms and heels for climbing ( possibly before they were so proficient with teleporting ) They are also prime last resort weapons if need be and constantly need filing down on Gielinor and other terrains since they aren't around the rocky outcrops of Freneskae and using them there as much, most Mahjarrat seem to opt to wear gloves anyway. Their legs and arms are also pretty sturdy for climbing despite not needing to do so as much. I’d imagine they might just have longer toe and finger bones for mild gripping abilities when it comes to climbing. I’ve also kinda headcanoned often that they probably might have wrapped parts of their feet in bindings, just to keep things like soft arches or tendon areas save when climbing or walking. Ancient hellplanet fashion, baby.

GEMS.

Just about all Mahjarrat ( and Dreams of Mah in general ) have at least one 'crystal' or 'gemstone' in their brows or crowns ( whoever in the wiki said Sliske doesn't have one is a fraud, just because we don't see it due his V tapered hood doesn't mean it's not there, as it has been shown in several concept arts that he does have two yellow-green or 'peridotite' colored diamonds, like his half-brother’s four of the same color ). When asked about it in the Children of Mah quest, Wahisietel states that even they are not sure as to why they have them but believe it to be a direct connection to Mah. It's also implied that a dead Mahjarrat's 'crystal' often records their last thoughts or actions. Most Mahjarrat have the exact same bright iris color as their stones ( the concept art with Sliske having gold eyes throws me off, but I'd imagine there could be some minor color differences ). It seems that gemstones look-alike from siblings and offspring, as Sliske and his half-brother Wahisietel have almost the same colored crystal and shape despite Wahisietel having four diamonds to Sliske's two.

ORGANS? OR LACK THEREOF?

personal interpretation of nasty snake man blood here.

It's truly unknown as to just how many organs Mahjarrat have and if there is any comparison to be made to humans. It can be hypothesized they do have at least a heart ( With more chambers than a humans? Or two! Who knows! ) and lungs. If they do have lungs, it could be stated that they are very strong and made to filter out the heavy ash and debris of Freneskae's poor air quality, our adventurer had enough trouble breathing on Freneskae if you didn't take face gear. They do not seem to have a digestive tract as they do not need sustenance or hydration and perhaps have a makeshift stomach that leads nowhere as if they do eat anything, they just have to regurgitate it. Onto blood, they possibly do have a circulatory system and blood, as Lucien states he didn't 'want to spill any more Mahjarrat blood'. Normal human blood would be a bit boring so I like to imagine they have thick, dark-colored blood that has some iridescent properties to it ( not glittery, but if you have ever seen what the ink in a ballpoint pen looks like when dumped out, it has a particular shine to it. ) and never seems to be just one color, like an oil slick. Probably because it's so rich in arcane properties which would also make it pretty toxic, bitter, or awfully sickly sweet. This also means that they would blush pretty dark in color and have dark-colored tongues and etc. rather than red like humans, that's.... kinda cute. Also, if we are talking about organs and parts, a small blurb, no, female Mahjarrat do not have boobs. There's no need since they probably do not feed their young at all. So breaking canon for the sake of biology, hi, Mahjarrat probably don't have boobs or nips. Kinda doesn’t make sense. SHRUG. But they do have belly buttons, so maybe they are gestated with umbilical cords.

THE BANE OF THE JMOD’S EXISTENCE: MAHJARRAT REPRODUCTION

Y'all wanted it Jmods yell when we ask for it, here it is: my reproduction hypothesis. We have little to no real canon lore for Mahjarrat other than that they do(?) reproduce sexually, it takes a lot of energy to do so (abt 50% physical effort, 50% the pair pooling their life energy into the event, kinda dangerous), and that they are culturally fond of breeding during earthquakes ( this was just a cultural tradition and it's probably possible to breed outside of this tradition, the jokes say it’s almost Pavlovian ). They have a specific ritual for breeding, The Ritual of Enervation. The Enervation is the foil of a Ritual of Rejuvenation where one of their kind is sacrificed to provide all others with energy and return them from their lich-like states to fleshy filled out ones, the Enervation is a pilgrimage to select a mate and breed to create a new Mahjarrat between a pair. It's slightly hinted that the pair chooses their mate based upon battle prowess or cunningness ( Zemouregal Senior chose his mate based on her skills in battle ) . Much like real animals today, they want only the strongest genetics and mutations to continue on. All of them fight each other for their pick of a mate. Very rarely do the pairs have any emotional attachment, this is rare. And the ritual still isn't pretty; I'll say it, they are rough lovers. Expect biting, scratching, bruising, and more. Kinky. Let me tell you, human genitalia are boring as hell when you are describing aliens. Phallic genitalia differs a lot from individual to individual, it's a slight 'grab bag to see what part works best for future genetics'. Mahjarrat bits are pretty internal until aroused since it makes no sense for them to be external seeing as all Mahjarrat lose a lot of skin and muscle to atrophy as they age and lose energy, so they'd do better internally and tucked away. Vaginal genitalia differs heavily as well, anything goes. Barbs? Sure. Flowery looking bits? Sure. It's aliens, guys. Go wild. Same thing with sexualities and genders, other than what they want to present themselves as, we don't know shit, so go for it. I'm fairly sure Mahjarrat really don't mind gender identity and anything goes, they see power, survival, and fighting over everything else. Sliske, of course, is male presenting and yes, has his own unique bits. Uh, ridges, bifurcated tip, fan-like appendage for preventing backflow. I'd describe more but I'm already pRETTY FUCKING SHY RIGHT NOW BC I DON'T KNOW HOW TO talk much abt this. I'm a beginner alien fucker. Give me a break. UPDATE: I went there, I no longer have shame. bc I roughly drew it.

I’m not sure what the good estimate would be when it comes to how long a Mahjarrat gestates, is it longer than a human? Quicker due to magic? We just don’t know. The birth rate is exceedingly low due to the dangers and strain of Freneskae, it's not unheard of for miscarriages or mothers to pass away from lack of energy or during the fray of the constant other tribes attacking each other. Generally, it's a duty to protect a gravid mother of the sake of population, mate or not. Putting aside your disdain for your nemesis was hard but needed if you wanted to keep your tribe thriving. Fathers don't tend to stick around after the ritual other than to check in to protect their child and future genetics as insurance. Mothers rear children and if they could get along and not spat at one another, often looked after each other's children. Maternal groups were pretty common and one could leave another to watch their kids while they went off on their duties of making lightning rods, scouting, and more.

MISC?

Mahjarrats don't exactly have the same bonds as humans and familial life was harsh, mainly due to the stress of knowing your own blood one day might betray you and vote you off to be the sacrifice at a ritual. They are not affectionate as much as humans and care in their own backwards way about each other if they are family, but it's an arm's length approach. Sliske and Wahisietel seem to get along and still probably have their ferocious verbal quarrels and have possibly even physically scuffled a bit over things, but managed to have concern for one another, as do Mahjarrat who are as best a definition of 'friends' can be to them. Remember that they are very paranoid of one another and usually only see eye to eye if in the same political faction or having to make a deal or coerce one another to stand up for you if you are challenged at a ritual ( later on this became a huge political agenda between the two main sides; Zamorakian or Zarosian and fighting intensified at dislike for each other ). As they evolved from their creation, they just generally became more and more mistrustful of each other to point of paranoia. So affection is incredibly weird to them and the first thought that comes from it is 'what do you want and why?' and it's expected to be a deceitful notion. Hence, Sliske is incredibly good at persuading others and using deceitful action to lure people but the moment it's done to him, he'll play along but consider it warily as false notions. Sorry not sorry, that's pretty habitual to him and will stay with him, as well as his kin. You're never going to have a 'stable relationship' with any Mahjarrat. Well, not 100% at least. You can try, they might even appreciate it if they aren’t offended.

That’s about all I wanted to say and anything left out of this word spew can be covered in other posts. Like culture.... or babbies. I have a lot to say about Babjarrats but no place right now to keep up this long shit. UPDATE: i talked abt my thoughts on babjarrats. it was the best of my life.

#✦ │ 𝙾𝙾𝙲 ––– that's a lot of fuckin' tea.#✦ │ 𝙷𝙴𝙰𝙳𝙲𝙰𝙽𝙾𝙽𝚂 & 𝚃𝙷𝙴𝙾𝚁𝙸𝙴𝚂 ––– i do hate parting with information.

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opinionatedspectator-blog · 6 years ago

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Art, Feminism, & The Distribution of The Sensible

It has taken me quite a while to actually write anything on this blog, not really due to a lack of ideas or a lack of inspiring and transpiring events, but I guess mostly I wanted to take the time and be able to define the dimensions of what I aim for this blog to be. Define its boundaries and scope of focus. Perhaps its also because I did not want anything I post here to be of an academic nature, but where I can successfully export my perspectives without really sounding like I’m submitting a paper to a professor. However, in terms of defining the focus of this blog, which might simply be transmitting my perspective to you, the reader, this blog cannot be but an extension of myself. So here, I’m going to write from the first person perspective. I hope that to you this seems valid enough as reliable information, but the self as a vehicle of experience, for me at least, is anything but negligible.

Also, shoutout to Naeem Inayatullah of Ithica University for importing the narrative approach to political science.

As a precursor however, I would like you to take the time and look at a paper entitled “Neoliberalism As Creative Destruction” by David Harvey. This should really help you understand where I am coming from as an individual. But do keep in mind that despite me in the future or the past sounding like a left-wing marxist geographer, I am not. I am in fact neither a supporter of the capitalist way of life, nor the socio-economic, post-capitalistic arrangement that Marx has presented in his Manifesto. I am simply myself, perhaps in terms of background a Humanist... but aren’t we all?

A point to stress here is the current cultural phenomena of extremes. For some reason, the polarization of thought and ideology seems to be the status-quo of our times and generation. I am someone who would like to belong to the middle path.

Now to get to the point behind this post and why I have asked you to read Harvey’s paper. Neoliberal capitalism is best described as the shift from an industrial based economy, to one that is mostly characterized by the service sector industries. Therefor this calls for a shift in the nature and qualifications of the workforces required to run such economies, and ultimately to populate their cities. To make a long story short, major cities across the globe compete amongst each other to attract as many members of the “creative class” as possible to empower their industries. The creative class is the term used to describe the modern service sector workforce, mainly graphic designer, app developers, architects, writers, photographers, lawyers, gig industry execs, and overall modern service providers. This activity automatically changes the layout of a city. Gentrified neighborhoods, galleries, art spaces, installations, film exhibitions, speciality coffee shops, and artsy food concepts come in to fill the urban geography. This has previously been described by Sharon Zukin as “pacification by cappuccino”.

The point I try to make here however is not to describe this shift, nor the socio-economic gaps that are produced through the need of low-wage service sector cohorts and middle to upper class entrepreneurs. Basically baristas and CEO’s. I’m writing this to describe a slight crisis that arises with art and culture being owned or introduced into the realm of state-led enterprises. Some have described this to be the death of art with regards to the traditional function and definition of the role art has played in the social and cultural sphere.

Art, whether visual or theoretical, be it a book, a sculpture, a painting, a photograph, or a film, has always participated in shaping what is described generally as “The Distribution of The Sensible”. Lets just call it the realm of the ‘taken for granted’, or socially and culturally accepted notions and activities as, well as modes of thought of a certain society. Art has always navigated on the boundaries of this realm, challenging its norms and its taboos, presenting the internal unheard struggles of the unheard, and representing an outlet for the expression of their experiences. This was not simply limited to the excluded or the impoverished, but the right of each and every single individual. Art was a valid way to say what could not be said, to contest and to reconsider, to hold up a mirror and allow everyone to take a closer look at their blemishes and open pores. Yet with a state owning art, validating it, empowering, and ultimately, utilizing it as a capitalization opportunity, art is automatically stripped of all of its characteristics as well as its power. Art looses its voice and influence by simply gaining the recognition and normality from that which considered it novelty and abnormal.

Today we have art biennials curated by cities through their local authorities. They specify spaces for galleries, times and dates for events, as well as showcase certain artists to be celebrated and presented as the trend setters and pioneers. This applicable to all fields of artistic format; fashion, film, tangible and intangible. The problematic that arises from this dialectic is the control of the expression of art itself, and what is brought to light and left in the shadows is then decided by the hegemony. This could very easily be influenced by agendas, approval and disapproval bestowed by unknown committees. Yet art is not allowed to speak out upon it, resistance becomes illegitimate because art is recognized and now operates within the distribution of the sensible as to previously operating outside of it. You have been recognized, therefore you are not allowed to complain. We have heard your voice and provided you a platform. Thats basically what this procurement entails.

Another issue that comes to hand under this light is the over saturation of artistic expression on display everywhere, in every nook and cranny, in every alley and street.. all commissioned.. all artificial.. that really neutralizes the viewer to the impact and meaning of art. I find myself being less interested and less amazed... let alone less curious when I look at art these days. Have I always been this way? no.. not really.. I have noticed myself change however..it was exciting in 2011 up to 2014 when things were really gearing up towards the cultural turn.. but its 2019 now and not much has changed... and in 2019 I find myself incapable and indifferent.

If you wish to understand this better, the work of professor Jenny Edkins on protests and governmental expansion could be of aid. I have personally had the pleasure and honor to be taught by her under a few modules. What Edkins basically states is the following; if a certain faction of the population who feels oppressed or excluded decided to demonstrate or protest their struggles to the state, the state itself, by recognizing their protests and answering their requests automatically expands its control over the different cohorts of a said population. This faction now can no longer use its voice to demand a certain right, but another representative may do so, yet only once. I have theorized something close to this which I call The Morbid Loop of Misconduct that I might discuss in the following posts.

This ownership and capitalization of such fields to be utilized as bait for branding cities and determining their respective levels of ‘coolness’ has reached its limits with testing my tolerance when feminist initiatives got introduced into the mix. We have recently celebrated the International Women’s Day... congratulations by the way... yet many businesses have gone to utilize this day as an opportunity to brand themselves as understanding and co-operative, as good listeners.. as celebrators of feminism.. in order to increase sales and foster public attention. I can pull out so many examples from my instagram feed but there is one photo that I deem appropriate in explaining what I try to describe, a post entitled: Man Visibly Upset After International Women’s Day Post Doesn’t Get The Likes He Banked On. (https://www.instagram.com/p/BuwFxPEFmBQ/) It was intended for a meme.. yet to me it described anything but a laughing matter.... perhaps memes might be art’s last frontier.. who knows.. we’ll let neoliberalism decide. The ownership of feminism by the socio-economic hegemony, and currently in the pipeline LGBT discourse, is going to bring about a new frontier of markets. The market of civil right attraction.

On a second thought though, this is nothing new. The ownership of the state of feminist discourse has been used throughout history for not so human-centered nor humane reasons. If for instance we take Marx’s following statement, “the executive of the modern state is but a committee for managing the common affairs of the bourgeoisie” .. the truth of which I will deal with in a later post, we come to understand that feminism has been used to further service the machine of capitalism and lubricate its gears and cogs for more efficient outcomes since its ownership by state policy. Take for instance the insane push for women in the workforce. Now I am in no way against women having jobs or earning their own living, running businesses, or running countries even, however what we need to address is the socio-economic frameworks within which these ideas were introduced and the outcome that results from this push. The popularization of careerist orientations has many negative impacts on the social fabric itself. This is not simply in the sense of conservatism and maintaining tradition, but disabling cultures when resisting epistemological occupation. Sadly, women have been utilized by this new mode of radical feminism and made to think that they are the patrons of such movements when they are indeed the victims.

Another example is Edward Bernays’ 1929 “Torches of Freedom” movement. The man was a PR freak and put the natural instinct of social impact and cultural roles that all humans have to service a monstrosity of an industry. You know the story, it was culturally frowned upon, and considered a taboo, for women to smoke in public spaces. It was this whole discourse on a cigarette being another phallic symbol and a symbol of men’s power... but basically as far as tobacco companies were concerned, half of the population were a potential market they weren’t tapping into. Along comes Freud’s grandson, and rebrands cigarettes as the torches of freedom, asking women who were posing as suffragettes to march in a protest with lit cigarettes as a move to display the power of the feminine.

Everything that the state has done after obtaining ownership of feminism towards this “cause” has been of the same nature. But what needs to be kept in mind here is that the state in this sense is the collective of corporate. After all what is the purpose of a city? What is the current modern purpose of having an economy? It is to circulate capital through it as efficiently as possible with the largest market share that a state can muster. Read Saskia Sassen’s The Global City for a better perspective.

Anyways... im tired of writing this.. I hope you get the point.

Neoliberal capitalism never fails to surprise me with its creative capacity for destruction.

This post might seem to be of no use.. but it was just me letting off some steam. This is what this is all about... letting off some steam.

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ratherhavetheblues · 3 years ago

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MICHELANGELO ANTONIONI and TONINO GUERRA’S ‘LA NOTTE’ “I lacked the courage to go all the way”

Having finally, in the preceding essay, L’Avventura, ventured upon the cues of poet-film writer, Tonino Guerra, one might proceed with gusto upon the second campaign, namely, La Notte (The Night), 1961.

However, before thrilling to a rare lucidity from Guerra, I must describe how wrong my first impressions of this film were. (Not that it matters what I did; but there is a lapse which everyone involved has missed, a crucial mistake.) In those days, Antonioni could do no wrong in my eyes. But an anonymous note which I stumbled upon back in 2013 for a blog , in Wonders in the Dark, concerning La Notte, and promptly forgot, might have wakened me up a bit. The preamble of the “behind the scenes,” involved another fan, shoring up the Antonioni line. “I’ve become fascinated in gradually realizing that almost the full complement of this indie—yes—but also guerrilla art, had been met with censure. It was something of a jolt to learn that the film on tap here, La Notte, hinged upon two great performers (and specialists to boots) concerning problematic incitement, namely, Marcello Mastroianni and Jeanne Moreau, who hated this assignment and did not take seriously the roles they were to sustain. Mastroianni, in particular, spent quite a bit of time on the set quarrelling with one of the writers, Tonino Guerra. And that rancor, with its behind the scenes clutter, cues our special concern here, regarding the precise nature of Antonioni’s pristine closures within complex and even Byzantine involvement by associates, though contrarian with regard to conventional filmmaking, unlikely to have absorbed the unique physicality of his inspiration.”

One more time: “… unlikely to have absorbed the unique physicality? ” The unique physicality was entirely the initiative of that trouble-maker!

Let’s see if I can make amends. Guerra, the necessary “nuisance,” would have constructed for the Antonioni appellation, a seeming hot intellectual subject, namely, “alienation,” wherein to place a far more comprehensive and far more profound demand. Right from the opening credits, with a steep, steady drop of an empty glass elevator, there is an oblique indication that human authority has stepped back a move. We’re in Milano, with its heady schemes, but that steady fall steals the show. Very soon a moving car with a man and a woman on board, nearly becomes crushed by a wreckless heavy- construction worker. The escapees use an elevator to reach a friend in a hospital. As they approach their destination, we notice that each of them conveys a remarkably vivid shadow. We imagine that the anxiety here (terminal cancer) has been given a graphic form. That form, with its mundane, shadow aspect, can stand as a promise that another force has to be reckoned with, despite being lost to the “realists.” During this event, we notice varying intensity (including that of the victim and the victim’s mother); and, sometimes, also no shadow at all. This forum of potential mystery and potential power consists by way of an agency unseen per se. But when one has an inkling to be fully alive, that constituent will see what one’s made of. The elevator was an entrée. The rest of the saga is out of this world.

Therefore, when the host of the occasion, Tommas, asks, “What’s new?” he’s really hoping for a moment of courage, not another diversion. Not that it’s another humdrum moment, but Tommas, providing his own expected response, “Your book comes out today!” has other matters on his mind. Intensity, but missing the boat. Giovanni, the novelist in the room, tells him, “Let’s not talk about that.”/ “Why not?” Tommas asks. Giovanni shrugs off that news with, “One has to do these things…” (launching a supposed important book). If we take the writer to be not simply being polite in his good fortune, we’ve encountered a gigantic lack of gusto. (No serious lift, here, from the strongest of helpers.) Right here, we are face-to face with eliciting the elements from our own courage and from what love collaborates. Tommas, also a writer, exhorts, “And your books, the only thing that really matters.” Grossly lost perspective. But on the other hand, there is his most recent essay in an obscure journal. And though all but a dead man, Tommas feels the wonderfulness of the moment. He makes a distinct shadow of his upper body. He has made a statement of understanding. He’ll, unfortunately, declare, “I see things more clearly now… So many things become clear when you’re all alone.” (He had just blurted out that he strongly felt at home with them. Could he be both?!) “I feel like I’m watching from the sidelines, when I should have been more involved.” (Easier said than done.) “I lacked the courage to go all the way.”

“All the way…” Giovanni praises Tommas’ powers. “You, a quitter? Then I should give up writing!” (Before the film ends, he does just that.) The flood of dynamics moving into solidity. The dying man slips into self-pity. “I wasn’t smart enough, anyway.” Smart is not the matter. Tommas had well disclosed the dilemma: courage. Our saga, with its black graphics freefall, was only one of many vigorous gifts of disinterestedness. While those two dig into careers, and perhaps slip a bit (or slip a lot), the full gift may be just around the corner. It also may be elsewhere. The latter does not mean that reflections can’t rally. All the actions to come pertain to perseverance. So while the brave patient, the brave mother and the very questionable couple move apace, those shadows of promise need to be understood. Giovanni has only one moment of wit that makes perfect sense. He tells Tommas, “You give success the slip.” (Guerra, the true genius, gave “success” [fame and fortune] the slip, while embracing the depths of art.) But that room of irony, a bit of magic in full body, flourishes. Tommas’ mother, we learn from the patient, had had a regular seven hour train ride; and was now struggling without sleep. More little moments to ponder.

Instead of Antonioni’s easy and fashionable alienation (being a picture, in fact of Giovanni and Lidia [his wife]), Guerra, the adult, opens his eyes to a portal of maturity, vastly more exciting and penetrating. Lidia bails out early from Giovanni’s opening. She embarks upon a long afternoon in the city, beginning with jay-walking across a very hectic and dangerous street, which she manages with remarkable panache, pivoting like a matador. An Olympian there. But hardly, in other matters. (We’re reminded of the non-athletes in the film, L’Avventura [1960], capering over deadly rockfaces.) If she can do that, she can be brave in other matters. It’s all in the culture. A culture destroying itself.

Lidia’s afternoon voyage has a destination. Soon she has entered a slum, with a crying toddler. She does not linger long. She sees fit to tell the child, “What’s the matter?” Then she looks for a moment to a blackened burned wall. A jet roars over. She takes a taxi to an industrial area. She tells the driver to wait. Then a series of events, pertaining to physical power, occurs. Along with that, there is the recognition that she has had much to do with the area, though their car, as we’ll see, is a very expensive one, and their apparel is affluent. But we shouldn’t conclude that she was born there. She was, in fact, as much a patrician as he. (Bergman on the job.) But she has unfinished business to ponder here. In the hospital, Tommas remarks, “I regret spoiling many of your evenings with my presence in your lovely apartment.”/ Giovanni responds, crazily, with, “It’s your home too. You know that…” (A cliché, to measure how far they are apart.)

Though classically patrician at heart, there had, it seems, a spate of rebellion based in this precinct. The rebellion, with a safety net, would have been short lived. But here, Lidia, when the odds seem frighteningly wrong, there was a fantasy to cling to, a sensibility of earthiness. She wanders in the familiar range, and soon she’s upon a familiar event, a brawl involving young boys , with one of the fighters smashing the other to a pulp. Too real, she finds, and with her sense of authority she ends that savagery. On she continues, to a large field where young boys (once again) look for a silver lining. There we see a group of boys shooting off rockets. More implacable dynamics, their elevation involving—along with the violent noise and speed—keening for something unheard of (while what is heard of, continues to make them sick, an uncanny sickness). She phones up the reluctant novelist to come out there with her, to hopefully, once again cross that dangerous road. “They go up really high. It’s beautiful!” Giovanni proves to be in no mood for neither something new nor nostalgia. His patrician sense of advantage does not budge; but that has left him with nothing. On reaching the place of the former experiment, all he has to say is, “These tracks used to be in service when we used to come here.” The cantina where Lidia was on the phone, pipes out from a radio, “Our program continues with more easy listening.”

Back at home in their killer digs, Lidia, not easily to be squelched, tells him, “I don’t feel like staying in.” Her first choice was a party at a villa. But on realizing the host would want to take up again the question of Giovanni’s being hopefully compromised in his writing, she thinks of something much better. (She signs off from that cloud with, “Every millionaire wants his own intellectual. You must be his choice.”) Feeble shadows. She looks at him and glares. The subject of ditching the hardness. “What’s wrong?” he asks. In response she mocks, “Would you fasten me?” Dead gestures, and the shadow being lost. “I’d rather we went out by ourselves,” the minor matador decides. As things go by, she likes the show; but she should have liked it much better. A statuesque, black dancer and her retinue, does something even more amazing with her sensibility, her body, and her heart than the climbers and the jay-walker. Giovanni tells her, “Look at her. She’s not bad at all.” Not bad!? Then he looks away to check a woman server. The performer holds an empty wine glass in her hand. She slowly, very gracefully, performs a forward roll, ending by placing the glass being filled on her forehead. A dimension of incredible grace. Then many awe-inspiring twists and turns follow. There is a close-up of Lidia. She touches Giovanni’s cufflink. “You remember?” she urges, when sexy was more than that. His response is, “You’re really trying to distract me.” She smiles but it’s light-years away. This night has the beginning of a watershed. Her subsequent move, “I can have thoughts of my own,” promises what she can’t deliver. She feebly backs off, “I don’t have any at this moment, but I’m expecting one. I can feel it coming.” The sax easing the dancer’s magic. Though having recently frowned upon the world of patricians, Lidia now thinks her best hope could be an infiltration of irony. Silence as virtue. There is no kick-start of a jaunty elevator, here.

It’s an all-night party, but no one gets out alive. This last hurrah in Lidia’s reflections needs close attention amidst scheming and waste. Confronted with the usual crowd, which she had failed to comprehend and master (an almost hopeless task), she was quite unique in largely evading the patrician bonhomie. Her evasive stalk in the darkness of the grounds (far more pedestrian than her ways of taming hot-blooded racers) leaves her ordinary. And yet, what your patrician can’t appreciate, is seeing someone in the grip of a toil which can’t be bought off. On the other hand, Giovanni has a busy ream of business, easily about the normal. However, one of his businesses brushes, concerning the young, Valentine, the boss’ daughter, and her questioning (also questionable) elicits alertness. Before that, she is found, ironically, in Lidia’s solitary meandering within the mansion—seen from a distance—reading the avant-garde novel, The Sleepwalker, by Hermann Broch (and its resemblance to the work of Ingmar Bergman and Andrei Tarkovsky). And then, aptly, Giovanni, brought into the connection as a playmate for the girl’s version of roulette, with jewels for the counter.

One other player we haven’t mentioned here, is a man who has attempted a few times, during the evening, to speak with Lidia. He is definitely not a stranger. He perseveres, and manages to escort her to the dance floor. To her surprise, he cannot dance. (Not a close liaison.) Passion interrupted. Passion never happening. A heavy rain occurs, and they run to his car. While plunging into the downpour, another world announces itself. The windshield has become nearly opaque, a rushing quaisi-black oil with curious flashes from the streetlights. Both of them laugh, feeling definitely a highlight of the festivities of the party. He parks; a slight moment of sense. There her visage on the window had become like a monster. Deep shadow with no room to grow. To them it’s only unusually dark, like a tunnel of love. Lidia comes across with, “Where are you taking me?” Ambiguity running amok. The gutter along the top of the sportscar becomes a little river. The real show, however, is as if it never happened. At a deserted stop light, they caress. She snubs his invitation. “I can’t. “I’m sorry…”

An all-night band at the gala. Another sax player, but how to match what we’ve already seen and heard? As it happens, there is mastery to spare. Where is the door to touch that polyglot integrity?

During Giovanni’s hopes to improve on Lidia by way of Valentine (the sort of ruthlessness which Antonioni would find to be trenchant), she plays a tape for him. “Promise not to make fun of me,” she insists./ “I promise,” he vows./ “From the living room today you could hear dialogue from a TV: ‘If I were you, Jim, I wouldn’t do that.’ After that, the howling of a dog, slow and sure, rising in a perfect arc and tailing off in an great sadness. Then I thought I heard an airplane, but there was silence, made up of sounds. If you press your ear to a tree and listen, after a while you’ll hear a sound. Perhaps it comes from us, but I prefer to think it’s the tree. Within that silence were strange noises that disturbed the soundscape around me. I closed the window, but the noises persisted. I’d thought I’d gone crazy. I don’t want to hear useless sounds. I want to manage… So many words, I’d rather not hear, but you can’t escape them. You must resign yourself to them.” She erases the tape. Unfinished business. (Try not to use the word, “soundscape.” Try not to make a fetish from a vegetable. Try to grow up.)

It’s dawn, and Lidia, on quitting the damaged monarchy, suggests to Giovanni lingering on the plutocrat’s golf course abutting that heaven. She admits that years of generosity from Tommas’ insights could never elicit serious thought from her. “I wasn’t interested in the least,” she tells him. “His persistence nearly drove me mad. I began to hate him for it. And never once did he talk about himself; he talked about me.” (This preamble is not about disparate personalities. It’s about patricians: those having been expected for many generations to hold riches and powers, even if valuing ludicrous, slack and superficial understanding, even if lacking vision, even if gutless, even as cherishing violence to see themselves as alphas—the way of life, right?) It is Lidia’s pleasure (not struggle) to picture that carelessness pertaining to the young Lidia, as, “I never realized what was happening. How foolish we are in our youth. It seems like nothing will ever end. But you talked to me only about yourself. That was new for me.” (Had you ever heard your relatives speaking?) “I was so pleased! Nothing in the world felt sweeter. Maybe because I loved you.” Then again, could it be that that connection is about a billion dollars; and the generous one had lived in one room? (That, however, she had kept in touch with the thinker for a long time, cannot be entirely ignored.) “I loved you, not him. That’s why his adoration wore on me… Whereas you were flattered by it. Isn’t that true?”/ “Yes, but not much.”/ “He was so vulnerable.” In her reminiscence, she walks to a table, feeling sad. “The reason I feel like dying is I don’t love you anymore. That’s why I feel so miserable. I wish I were already old, so I’d were already dedicated my life to you. I wish I didn’t exist anymore because I can’t love you anymore. There it is. That’s the thought that came to me at that nightclub, you were so bored.”/ Giovanni says, “But if you say all this, if you wish you were already dead, it means you still love me.” (That being an encore of sorts, of the father, whistling in the dark, in L’Avventura.) / Lidia argues, “No, it’s just pity.”

Giovanni stalks away. She follows. He sits down at the lip of a bunker. (A shot, way beyond his skills.) Soon both of them are at the lip. Soon both of them admit they lacked adult resolve. Lidia has brought in her purse a sheet of paper she might have carried for many days. This was the day: “When I awoke this morning you were still asleep. As I slowly emerged from my slumber, I heard your gentle breathing, and through the wisps of hair over your face I saw your closed eyes and I was certain of my emotion. I wanted to cry out, to wake you up, because you slept so deeply, you almost seemed lifeless. [Ironies abounding.] In the half-life, the skin of your arms and throat, so vivid, so warm that I long to press my lips against it, but the thought of disturbing your sleep, of having you awake in my arms held me back…” There is more, unfortunately. But we don’t need the full doggerel. One more time!: “At that moment I understood how much I loved you. Lidia, and the eternity of the emotion was such… etcetera.”

About mid-disaster, the supposed novelist became stern. By the end, he was ready to condemn the enterprise in the strongest language. “Who wrote that?” he sneered./ “You did…” And yet, Guerra has much more in store. Lidia kisses his hand. There is a weak caress; and the embarrassed writer (having, during the night, quit the work he never came close to what Thomas did), somewhat pounced upon Lidia, in a form, much more than dominance than affection. While being manhandled in the sands, she calls out, “No… I don’t love you anymore! And you don’t love me either!” This elicits from him, “Be quiet.” / “Say it!” she demands. / “No, I won’t say it!”

The camera draws back in stages. Then it pans away from them altogether. What it doesn’t show is that there is a modest withdrawal from the heavily tainted story and the heavily tainted discoveries which Lidia, the patrician softy, had done her, not all so bad, best. Here she becomes a potpourri. She becomes a figure of pathos, while also maintaining a figure of bathos. Keep trying. You’re not alone.

#Tonino Guerra

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richardhowardqut · 6 years ago

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KNB226-Assessment 2-Production Bible: “The Ravin’ Raven”

Re-Uploading a basic version of my production Bible here to this blog, because the first one took over an hour to upload.

To view and download the pdf version, follow this link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/13tEs_jHyxiIPObQNyqdMb0UNooXSG8cE/view?usp=sharing

Contents

Synopsis. 2

Limerick/story. 2

Script 2

Concept Art/Design. 4

Storyboard. 6

Moodboard. 12

Beatboard. 12

Shot List 13

Schedule. 14

Budget 14

Contacts. 15

Synopsis

“The Ravin’ Raven” is an adaptation of a limerick by Edward Lear, intended for use in a short 2-minute, 2D animation. The story revolves around Mr Oldman, who resides in the very quiet countryside town of Whitehaven. One day, while returning from purchasing his groceries, he happens upon a dancing Raven and his loud boombox. Intrigued by the strange occurrence and enthralled with the energetic music and dance, usually unheard of in the remarkably quiet town, Mr Oldman joins in the dancing. Upon his participation the music gets louder and disturbs the absolute quietness of the town and its residents, who descend in a mob upon Mr Oldman and proceed to beat him. Despite this, Mr Oldman and the Raven start dancing once more when the mob leaves.

The Moral of the story is; that you should follow your heart and interests, no matter what others may think of you.

Limerick/story

The short animation will be based on a limerick by Edward Lear. Specifically, the 74th limerick from Lear’s “A Book of Nonsense” originally published 1846. Although untitled, it goes as follows:

There was an Old Man of Whitehaven,

Who danced a quadrille with a Raven;

But they said-”It’s absurd,

To encourage this bird!”

So they smashed that Old Man of Whitehaven.

Script

The Ravin’ Raven

By Richard Howard

Based on a limerick in Edward Lear’s “A Book of Nonsense”

1. INT. WHITEHAVEN STORE. DAY 1

Open on a close up of a well-used wooden bench with a cash register and a small stand of assorted chocolates. The only sounds are that of a clock ticking somewhere else in the store.

From screen right, the OLD WOMAN’S arms raise a bag of groceries onto the bench as an OLD MAN fumbles through his pockets (OS) looking for money he then places on the bench.

The Old Man takes the bag of groceries and proceeds to leave the store, until the relative silence of the scene is disrupted by a creaky floor board. While the man looks down in surprise, the Old Woman crankily ‘shushes’ the Old Man, as he turns around to wave goodbye.

2. EXT. WHITEHAVEN STORE. DAY 2

A wide shot showing the WHITEHAVEN STORE and the Old Man’s TRUCK. The doors of the store open and close behind the Old Man as he walks to his truck, unlocks the door and gets in, driving off soon after.

3. INT. OLD MAN’S TRUCK. DAY 3

As the Old Man is driving, he begins to hear faint music and proceeds to inspect his radio, adjusting his glasses, only to discover that the radio is turned off. The Old Man looks up noticing something up ahead and begins to start veering off the road.

4. EXT. ROAD SIDE. DAY 4

The Old Man walks up to the source of the music to discover a RAVEN dancing beside a boom box, blaring loudly. In amusement, the Old Man begins to tap his foot along with the beat, progressively beginning to dance more in line with the Raven.

5. EXT. TOWNSHIP OF WHITEHAVEN. DAY 5

Cut to several members of the township of Whitehaven now able to hear the loud music looking up from their gardening, tea and stores, grunting in disgust

6. EXT. ROADSIDE. DAY 6

The Old Man and Raven are still dancing along to the music as the shadows of the townspeople begin to encompass them, consuming the screen.

The music scratches to a halt as the Old Man and Raven look up to see the group of townspeople looking angrily at them.

As the Old Man starts to gesture pleadingly with the townspeople their shadows cast over him.

Cut to mid shot of the Raven reacting as the Old Man is beaten of screen.

After the Old Man is beaten cut back to a wide shot showing the Old man in a beaten pile beside the boombox and Raven. With the townspeople gone, the Raven begins to dance again as the music starts up again. After a few moments the Old Man begins to wag his finger along with the beat as the shot pulls back and fades to white.

End

Concept Art/Design

Ravin’ Raven

Despite his simple, drab exterior appearance, Ravin’ Raven is energetic and ready to go at a moments notice. He loves to dance and listen to music.

Mr Oldman

Mr Oldman is a resident of the quiet town of Whitehaven, however he doesn’t necessarily prescribe to the towns stance on noise, hence why he drives an old loud truck. Though content with his everyday life, he wishes for more interesting things to happen in his quiet town.

Shop Hag

The old hag is one of the town’s many octogenarians who prefer the quietness of the town and look down on any significant noise.

Storyboard

Moodboard

“The Ravin’ Raven” draws inspiration in terms of style from late 90’s – early 2000’s Television 2D animation and caricature, making use of heavily exaggerated facial features, like squashed up faces, small beady eyes and large chins.

Beatboard

Shot List

Schedule

“the Ravin’ Raven” is currently intended as Term Project for university and as such is planned to be completed within 13 weeks

Budget

As the project is planned to be undertaken as a term project, carried out by university students, the costs for the production have been kept to a minimum. If undertaken in such a manner, utilising as many already acquired assets such a s personal or university owned, the expected budget is around $3000 including $400 for possible elevations of cost for outside talent, such as voice actors.

Contacts

Richard Howard – director, producer, storyboard & concept artist

Richard is an aspiring animator and filmmaker who has put together this project as part of assessment, with hopes of turning it into an actual production. He has worked in putting together the preproduction materials, such as the adapted story, character and prop designs and providing the storyboards.

Email: [email protected]

Tumblr: https://richardhowardqut.tumblr.com/

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abstractpoet22 · 7 years ago

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I promised to do a couple of catch up blog entries from the publication of my book, the birth of my nephew, and everything in between. I will not lie; I was hesitant to share this part of my journey. But it’s important. Later, I will explain why.

December 8th was the day I scheduled my book signing. It was at Yazoo City’s public library, Ricks Memorial. The book signing would be from 9 a.m. to 1 pm. However, that morning, Mississippi got snow! That rarely happens down here. Even if it snows, it never sticks. Anyways, I was a little late because I had to drive carefully and all. (I’ve never driven in the snow before, so I had to be more cautious driving than usual). I got there, set up the table, and waited for people to come. Yazoo City is a very small town, so I wasn’t expecting a big crowd. If three or four were to come, I would’ve still been grateful.

The reporter from the Yazoo Herald arrived; Ms. Cathryn was her name. She interviewed me; then, I found out something interesting about Ms. Cathryn. She is currently writing a book, and she asked if I would be interested in reading it. I told her, “Sure, I would.” It made her smile. After the interview, she took a couple of pictures and posted them on Facebook to help get the word out and around about the book signing.

Time was passing by so quickly, and I realized that no one was coming. I was sorely disappointed and hurt. I kept beating myself up like, “Did I do something wrong?” “I did the flyers, hanged the flyers myself in community markets and local business owners, and I talked to the newspaper.” ” Did I miss something?” My first book signing to me was a failure. No one came. There were patrons in the library, but no one showed interest. When 1 o’clock came, I packed up in shame.

Just before I left, a miracle happened while at the library. I saw a lot of creative art pieces on display by a local artist. I connected with her, Ms. Melodie Patterson. Days after the book signing, she asked where she could purchase a copy of my book. I told her where. Next thing, she took a picture holding my book. I just wanted to cry. I couldn’t believe it!

Shortly, she personally invited me to come to her private school and speak to their students. I just froze and thoughts began to swallow me whole. But I prayed, and I let God use me as an example to encourage, inspire, and motivate the next generation.

I spoke on a lot of things; I will name 5 highlights I mentioned:

Keep God first in everything that you do. Let him lead and guide you.

It’s a process. Once you start the process, you have to go through and endure the process. Don’t rush it.

There is no age limit on growing up! As long as you are living, you are going to keep learning things and growing from them.

Find and walk your own path. Nobody can walk yours for you, and you can’t walk theirs.

Be yourself. You will be miserable trying to “people please” everyone. Pursue your passion. Make yourself happy.

One of the students wanted to talk to me about publishing a book similar to the format of Anne Frank’s diary. I was amazed; she’s 14. The student talked, laughed, and giggled. She even invited me to her graduation in 3 years. As she was leaving, she muttered, “It just feels good to talk to someone who is just like you. Someone who really gets you, and you’re able to be yourself.” I just sat there. I couldn’t believe that I had that kind of an impact on someone especially a teen. I’m so used to being in the student’s seat. It felt weird being on the other side of the table.

Ms. Melodie was just as shocked as me. She revealed that the student never talked to anyone, and she, herself, didn’t know that the student could write. She smiled at me at me and said, “You made quite an impact.” I was humbled. Those students at the Thomas Christian Academy are full of creative talent and life. Just being around them breathed life into me.

Let me back up a little.

Again, I was not going to share this, the result of the book signing. But a friend of mine reminded me how it’s important to share successes as well as failures. Most people will share the successes and not mention the rejections or failures that they encountered along the way.

In this case, people need to be able to relate to someone who is not just succeeding but failing. Yet, within failure, there is growth, perseverance, and strength of will/character. You never know who’s looking at you from the shadows, behind the curtain, or out among the crowd.

I never knew anyone was looking at me or even noticed me. I’m so used to being invisible, voiceless, unheard. Being a published author has blessed me to connect with other creative individuals like myself.

So yes, my book signing was not what I wanted. However, it became a blessing in disguise. There was something I missed: the schools, the churches, and a few more. I didn’t get to them in time. I will relaunch another book signing. I won’t miss anyone this time. If I have to visit the schools and churches myself, that’s what I’m going to do. I don’t want to just touch lives, I want to change them too.

All I have to do is plant a seed…

But I’m making sure it’s a positive one. So many people invested in me over the years, and most are not here to see what their wisdom and guidance has helped shape the woman I am today.

This is a journey; it’s my journey. I’ve spent my whole life running from it. I’m not running anymore. It’s not about me. There’s a bigger picture now (always have been). What I do, what I say ripples to other people. It affects them some way. I want to make sure it’s a positive way. We have enough negativity in this world.

That ladies and gentlemen…

That’s how a seed is planted.

*My goal was to have all my ends tied up with the backdrops. But I won’t make it before the new year, 2018. That’s ok though. Pt. 2 to the backdrop blog entry will be the next entry at the beginning of the year. A reflection of the journey I’ve started.*

Backdrop Pt. 1: Results of the Book Signing I promised to do a couple of catch up blog entries from the publication of my book, the birth of my nephew, and everything in between.

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porlockstompf · 7 years ago

Text

ALL BOMBS 2017

FAVOURITE PLATTERSTOMPF OF THE YEAR

~ BURN THE AMPLIFAYA! ~

01 doronco gumo "man star" [k7 & dl] (+ doronco gumo "our bloody valentine live [140207] [first show]" [dl])

02 france "live à metamórfosi 2019" [lp] (+ france "untitled [live @ vilnius 2017]" [cdr] )

03 bardo pond "under the pines" [lp] (+ curanderos "curanderos" [lp])

04 the bug vs earth "concrete desert" [lp]

05 deep frosty "blues band" [k7]

06 ulaan passerine "the landscape of memory" [12"] 07 miminokoto "koenji 07-02-2016" [cd] 08 worst "MMXVII aka in/out" [k7] 09 swans "deliquescence" [cdx2] 10 keiji haino megapack volume I - nazoranai "beginning to fall in line befor me, so decorously the nature of all that must be transformed” [lp] - keiji haino & fushitsusha "unheard pieces of the late XXth & early XXIst centuries" [cd] - oren ambarchi, jim o'rourke & keiji haino "this dazzling, genuine ''difference'' now where shall it go?" [lpx2]

11 blown out "superior venus" [lp & cdr] (+ blown out "live @ the windmill brixton 160317" [dl]) (+ blown out "live @ stag & hounds bristol 180317" [dl]) (+ blown out "live @ desertfest [dl]") 12 babils "ji ameeto" [lp] 13 junko & michel henritzi "live at asaga ya ten, tokyo 01.11.16" [k7] 14 matt lajoie [aka herb] "the accidental eye" [k7] + ash & herb "northern lights" [cdr] 15 dread "in dub" [cd]

16 otto lindholm "alter" [lp] 17 suzuki junzo "shizuka na heya de ashioto wa" [cd] 18 oren ambarchi "stacte karaoke II" [12"] 19 sun kil moon "common as light & love are red valleys of blood" [cdx2] + jesu & sun kil moon "30 seconds to the decline of planet earth" [cd] + mark kozelek with ben boye, & jim white "mark kozelek with ben boye, & jim white" [cdx2] + mark kozelek "night talks [ep]" [cd] (+ mark kozelek & sean yeaton "yellow kitchen" [cd]) 20 duke garwood "garden of ashes" [cd]

21 object collection "it's all true" [cd] 22 leda "gitarrmusik III-X" [lp] 23 aaron dilloway & tom smith "the dutch viruses" [dl] 24 ecstatic vision "raw rock fury" [lp] 25 ian william craig "durbē" [cd]

26 burial "subtemple bw beachfires" [10"] + burial "rodent bw rodent kode9 remix" [10"] + burial "pre dawb bw indoors" [12"] 27 giulio aldinucci "borders & ruins" [lp] 28 10 000 russos "distress distress" [lp] + 10 000 russos "fuzz club session" [lp] 29 the telescopes "as light return" [cd] + the telescopes "stone tape" [12"] 30 hibushibire "freak out orgasm!" [lp]

31 kikagaku "moyo stone garden" 32 robedoor "new age sewage" [k7] 33 bill seaman "erasures & displacements" [cdx2] + bill seaman "the epiphanies" [cd] 34 bonnie 'prince' billy "wolf of the cosmos" [lp] + bonnie 'prince' billy "troubadour" [cd] + bonnie 'prince' billy "mama tried" [dl] + bonnie 'prince' billy & nathan salsburg "untitled" [7"] + bitchin bajas & bonnie 'prince' billy "live: cafe oto residency 22-24 march 2016" [dl] + bitchin bajas & bonnie 'prince' billy "live at 7th floor tokyo" [dl] 35 william basinski "a shadow in time" [lp]

36 olan mill "orient" [cd] 37 norman westberg "the chance to" [cd] + norman westberg "somewhere else" [cdr] + magic crystal dirt "moon star" [dl] (norman westberg & daughter ) 38 behind the shadowdrops "h a r m o n i c" [cd] + takaakira 'taka' goto "suliyaki - inori" [dl] 39 françois couturier & tarkovsky quartet "nuit blanche" [cd] 40 godspeed you! black emperor "luciferian towers" [cd]

41 lo carmen "lovers dreamers fighters" [lp] --- “sometimes it’s hard” single of the year !--- 42 hugo race & michelangelo russo "john lee hooker's world today" [cd] + catherine graindorge & hugo race "long distance operators" [cd] 43 lydia lunch & cypress grove "under the covers" [cd] 44 boris "dear" [cdx2] + boris "live at third man records" [12"] 45 totensonnen "winter solstice" [dl]

46 gravetemple "impassable fears" [lp] 47 aseethe "hopes of failure" [lp] 48 dhidalah "no water" [10"] 49 eola "hamamatsu" [k7] 50 giegue "psychedelic noise art" [dl] + giegue "les rallizes denudes flames of ice remix" [dl] + giegue "記憶は遠い/Memory is Far [hadaka no rallizes / 裸のラリーズ]" [dl]

... and hors série volume I: THE ANNUAL BOWERY ECLECTIC SELECTION

01 skullflower "the spirals of great harm" [cdx2] --- “yuggoth within” ! --- 02 skullflower "the black iron that fell from the stars..." [lp] 03 skullflower "wisdom of venom" [dl] 04 skullflower "dragons lair abyss" [dl] 05 skullflower "autumn cannibals" [dl] 06 skullflower "cicada domino effect [honeysuckle rose]" [dl] 07 skullflower "bayou perfume advert" [dl] 08 skullflower "penguin fringed abyss" [dl] 09 the yllustrous forger of dreams/skullflower "the 108" [dl] 10 the yllustrous forger of dreams "sweet little skunks" [dl] 11 the yllustrous forger of dreams "aries wolf" [dl] 12 the yllustrous forger of dreams "utter the weapons" [dl] 13 the yllustrous forger of dreams "clear seer" [dl] 14 the yllustrous forger of dreams "all my buttons" [dl] 15 the yllustrous forger of dreams "solstice" [dl] 16 the yllustrous forger of dreams "blues for algol" [dl] 17 the yllustrous forger of dreams "fireside angels" [dl] 18 the yllustrous forger of dreams "a bao a qu" [dl] 19 the yllustrous forger of dreams "burning swamp of pitch" [dl] 20 gyr [aka samantha davies] "fdhuafhusa" [dl]

(2017 long list continued after the break)

favourite gigs of the year:

01 up-tight @ les atelies claus "zennestraat 88 bxl" 20-11-2017

02 france @ les atelier claus “zennestraat 88 bxl” 20-11-2017

03 grand jojo "palce jeux des balles" 21-07-2017

most pleasing purchase of 2017:

finally managed to replace my battered copy of alien (frans lelieveld) “celebrating your victory” [12″] (1983)

belgian waffles continued their pioneering belgian punk archive series with:

and always a hit at our household:

most anticipated release of 2018-2019-20??:

still hoping that the good folk at http://blackmassrising.bigcartel.com can convince stephen o'malley to release sunn o)))’s “the moog ceremony live” tape from 06/04/06 @ the ab bxl … if anyone can it’s them. fingers crossed!

the many many reissues short list:

01 "tokyo flashback p.s.f. - psychedelic speed freaks" [cdx2] --- hideo ikeezumi gewidmet ---

02 witcyst "real folk- lathe cut singles 1993-1997" [cdx4] 03 "bingo! french punk exploitation 1978-1981" [lp] 04 "musica futurista nell'italia e nel mondo" [lpx2] 05 gate "hate" [1990 k7] [dl]

06 "paul major feel the music volume I" [lp/cd] 07 "even a tree can shed tears japanese folk & rock '69-'73" [cd] 08 pierre henry "polyphonies" [cdx12] 09 y pants "y pants" [1980] [12"] + y pants "beat it down" [1982] [lp] 10 "like nashville in naija" [lpx2] ex aequo "habibi funk: an eclectic selection of music from the arab world" [lpx2]

dop's preferred sex music of the year: "funky chimes belgian grooves from the 70's" [cdx2] ...

yeah, too much information, i know !

favourite bootlegs:

01 bardo pond "live @ knockdown center maspeth ny 010417" [dl] --- thanks to nyctaper ! ---

02 einstürzende neubauten "greatest hits tour 2017: live @ patronaat harlem 190117" [usb] + einstürzende neubauten "live @ elbphilharmonie hamburg 210117" [dl] + einstürzende neubauten "live @ boiler shop newcastle 050517" [usb] 03 nick cave & the bad seeds "live @ myer music bowl melbourne 270117" [dl] 04 doronko, rari wa, yoshino & kosugi "live @ earthdom '16-'17" [dl] 05 henry flynt "solo electric boogie @ issue 070417" [dl]

2017 summer hit:

mountain bike “good for nothing” from “too sorry for any sorrow” [lp]

and - of course ! - youpi youpi yeah “youpi youpi yeah” (2010)

favourite record sleeve:

. the dream dates “the mess etc” … STILL ! favourite radio:

brian turner on wfmu... unmatched !

favourite podcast:

01 baconface "global globules" @ resonance fm [dl]

http://www.baconfacecanada.com/global-globules/

02 global psychedelia "the suzuki junzo tribute" 231117 03 soma "acid quarry paris: the man in black" ex aequo the bug "killing sound chapter VII ambient riff" + the bug "killing sound chapter VI blue" 04 don letts & turtle bay "reggae 45" [x4] 05 david keenan "exemplars of regional madmenism the first 10" + david keenan related “bruce russell take over 240317″

favourite comedy of the year:

01a hans teeuwen “real rancour” (netflix) & 01b bridget christie “stand up for her” (netflix)

02a daniel kitson "the impotent fury of the privileged" [bandcamp] 02b tim fransen “het failliet van de moderne tijd” (vara) 03 taskmaster “series V” (dave) 04 richard herring “aiotm” (go faster stripe) 05 sofie hagen “shimmer shatter” (self-published)

still kudos to nextup comedy ! https://nextupcomedy.vhx.tv/browse

... plus the world needs way more lou sanders !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

favourite bilderstompf:

01 berlin babylon “staffel einz und zwei” [sky]

02 12 monkeys “season 3″ [syfy] & the expanse “season 2″ [syfy] 03 montalbano “season 11″ [rai] 04 giro d’italia [rai] & vuelta a espana [rtve] 05 het filosofisch kwintet “democratie” [omroephuman]

06 no offence “season 2 (& 1)” [4] 07 twin peaks “the return” [showtime] 08a queen of the south “season 2″ [usa network] 08b fortitude “season 2” [sky] 09 the end of the fucking world “season 1″ [4] 10 dark matter “season 3″ & killjoys “season 3″ [space]

& - with regards - nick cave “one more time with feeling [dvd]

and jcvd in “jean claude van johnson” (season I) of course!

favourite blog:

http://exileonmoanstreet.blogspot.com

and

http://noise-admiration.blogspot.com

particularly the jonty tiplady interview cf:

https://noise-admiration.blogspot.be/2017/10/the-interview-42017-jonty-tiplady.html

best interwebs:

www.ubuweb.com... a rare beacon of hope

. may your home be safe from tigers, x leroy

HNY & stay hungry!

16 late 2016 releases:

still to add (29-12-2017)

some late non 2016 releases:

01 anne la berge & joe williamson "the hum" (2014) [lp] 02 falling man "shine on" (2015) [10"] 03 ecstatic vision "sonic praise" (2015) [lp] 04 baron saturday baron saturday (2015) [dl] 05 hardworking families "happy days" (2015) [cdr]

... and hors série volume II: THE ANNUAL AIDEN BAKER BATCH

aidan baker "aberrations" [cdr] aidan baker "silent world" [k7] aidan baker & claire brentnall "delirious things" [cd] aidan baker & karen willems "landlos" [k7] aidan baker & karen willems "nonland" [lp] aidan baker "bsp live series 2017-10-21 paris" [dl] aidan baker "bsp live series 2017-10-25 [dl] aidan baker "bsp live series 2017-04-02 spektrum berlin" [dl] aidan baker x lärmschutz "heteroticisms volume IV" [k7] aidan baker, simon goff & thor harris "noplace"[dl] whisper room "ravvpovver" [k7] adoran "egregore [drone compendium six]" [dl] orchard "serendipity" [cd] werl hh 2016-09-08" [dl] baker, bloor & baker "terza rima II [drone compendium four]" [dl] caudal "live at 79sound" [dl] caudal "slope/land" [k7] nadja "stripped" [dl] whisper room "longjing [drone compendium five]" [dl]

the 2017 long list:

a sun amissa "the gatherer" [lp] aaron dilloway "switches" [lp] + aaron dilloway "the gag file" [lp] acid mothers temple & the melting paraiso ufo ft pika "astro infinity discothèque" [cd] + amt & melting paraiso ufo "those who came before" [cd] + amt & melting paraiso ufo "wandering the outerspace" [cd] aesop rock & homeboy sandman "triple fat lice" [12"] + aesop rock "hot dogs" [7"] + aesop rock "bushwick [ost]" [cd] af ursin “itinera” [lp] --- introducing once again an impressive batch of timo van luijk releases --- aging "suitable for the night" [k7] amenra "mass VI" [cd] + amenra & raketkanon "nachtschade bw bohr" [10"] antony milton "off/white" [lp] atv "negative, primitive b/w rebel proof glass" [7"] babe roots "babe roots" [lp] + babe roots ft ixm "dub sessions 1" [7"] "babylon berlin original movie soundtrack" [cd] ball "ball" [cd] baron saturday "concrete poetry" [k7] big blood "the daughters union" [cdr]

big/brave "ardor" [cd] brötzmann / leigh "sex tape" [cd] bruce russell "metallic ok" [cdx2] carlton melton "hidden lights" [12"] centralstödet / the myrrors "ljudkamrater" [lp] chino amobi "paradiso" [lpx2] + chino amobi "minor matter" [lp] chromesthetic "goldsound" [k7] + colin stetson "all this i do for glory" [cd] dan melchior "road not driving" [12"] david kirkland garner "dark holler" [dl] dead sea apes "central nervous system" [7"] + adam stone & dead sea apes "in the year 2039" [single-sided 12"] + dead sea apes "sixth side of the pentagon" [cd] demdike stare "cosmogony" [k7] + + demdike stare "circulation" [k7] diamanda galás "at saint thomas the apostle harlem" [cd] + diamanda galás "all the way" [cd] dino spiluttini "to be a beast" [lp] dodge meteor "real soon now" [k7] dope knife "nineteeneightyfour" [cd]

earth "live at third man records" [12"] elodie "balayes de la main du hasard" [lp] + elodie "vieux silence" [lp] evan caminiti "toxic city music" [lp] exploded view "summer came early" [12"] fabio orsi "il ricordo improvviso dell'assoluto stupore" [s-sided lp] félicia atkinson "hand in hand" [lpx2] föllakzoid ft j spaceman "london sessions" [12"] gad whip "in a room" [single-sided 12"] + gad whip "cartoon head" [ep/dl] + gad whip "trapped in a pinhole camera" [k7] ghostpoet "dark days & canapés" [cd] gnod "live at roadburn 2012" [lp & cd] + gnod "just say no to the psycho right-wing capitalist fascist industrial death machine" [lp] gunn - truscinski duo "bay head" [lp] hayley thompson-king "psychotic melancholia" [cd] henning christiansen "opus 67 strategygetarts: a symphony, hommage à richard demarco" [lp] hiiragi fukuda "happy birfday fuyusoubi" [dl & cdr] hills "alive at roadburn" [cd] ian william craig "slow vessels" [12"] + ian william craig & olivier alary "remixes" [dl] irma vep "no handshake blues" [cd]

irreversible entanglements "irreversible entanglements" [lp] jac berrocal, david fenech & vincent epplay "why" [7"] jo meares "lost gun" [ep] john zorn "the interpretation of dreams" [cd] + john zorn "the garden of earthly delights" [cd] + john zorn "here's no more firmament" [cd] + john zorn "midsummer moons" [cd] junko "junkoo)))" aka "junko/bergegas mati split" [k7] keiji haino megapack vol II - keiji haino & sumac "american dollar bill..." [lpx2] - keiji haino & john butcher "light never bright enough" [lp] - keiji haino, dumoulin & verbruggen "the miracles of only one thing" [cd] - konstrukt & keiji haino "a philosophy warping, little by little..." [lp] kiku ft blixa bargeld & black cracker "eng, düster und bang" [cd] korto "korto" [lp] krause "2am thoughts" [cdr] kungens män "bränna tid" [cdr] + kungens män "tomhetens furste" [k7] + kungens män "dag & natt" [cdx2] lee 'scratch' perry & subatomic sound system "super ape returns to conquer" [cd] leif ove andsnes "sibelius" [cd] leyland kirby "we, so tired of all the darkness in our lives" [dl] loren connors "angels that fall" [s-sided lp] luke & wendy "tony conrad" [7"] lumine "all the unnamed" [lp] --- timo van luijk ---

lure, burke, stinson & kramer "l.a.m.f. live at the bowery electric" [lp] marcia bassett & samara lubelski "live nyc" [lp] -mark lanegan band "gargoyle" [cd] + mark lanegan band "still life with roses: gargoyle remixes" [12"] + mark lanegan band "teatro kapital: live in madrid april 1 2012" [cd] + mark lanegan band "live at the abc glasgow april 21 2016" [cd] me and that man "songs of love and death" [cd] melting hand "live in europe 2016" [k7] moon duo "occult architecture vol I" [cd] + moon duo "occult architecture vol II" [cd] mountain bike "too sorry for any sorrow" [lp] mystery hearsay "where the latex meets the asphalt" [dl] obnox "niggative approach" [lp] oxbow "thin black duke" [cd] peter kris "dutch flat" [k7] --- “four-walled mural” !--- + peter kris "jacumba" [cdr] pigs pigs pigs pigs pigs pigs pigs "feed the rats" [lp] post-materialists ft electro-haram "secret eye dub" [dl] prettiest eyes "pools" [lp] private sorrow "fake lions" [k7] prurient "rainbow mirror" [cdx4] ramleh "procreation bw religion" [12"] --- ramleh's "discipline" ;) --- ray wylie hubbard "tell the devil i'm getting there as fast as i can" [cd] razorlegs "bloodshot" [k7]

richard skelton "towards a frontier" [cd] sammartano "rompighiaccio destiny" [s-sided k7] scanner "nomadic concrete" [dl] scott wollschleger "soft aberration" [cd] simon joyner "step into the earthquake" [cd] + simon joyner & david nance "last stand blues: live @ the barn deluxxe" [k7] sleaford mods "english tapas" [cd] sodastream "little by little" [lp] sophia "bad man (v2.0)" [dl] --- includes the armenia-like sample --- "sounds & pressure volume VII" [cd] spaceslug "mountains & reminiscence" [cd] + spaceslug "time travel dilemma" [cd] steve jansen "the extinct suite" [cd] strange broue "seance: the satanic sounds of strange broue" [lp] sundays & cybele "enter the time mirror" [k7] sunken "slab/floors" [lp & dl] sutcliffe jugend "nude and full of wounds" [cd] teho teardo & blixa bargeld "fall" [12"] --- blixa does neil young... hey hey my my ... --- tex, don, & charlie "you don't know lonely" [cd] the caretaker "everywhere at the end of time stage II" [lp] + the caretaker "everywhere at the end of time stage III" [lp] + the caretaker "take care, it's a desert out there" [cd] --- dedicated to mark fisher ! ---

the cosmic dead "psych is dead" [cd] + the cosmic dead "psych is live" [cdr] the fall "new facts emerge" [cd] the frightnrs "more to say versions" [lp] the liminanas "istanbul is sleepy" [12"] -the sonic shamen "tribute to lemmy" [lpx2] + the sonic shamen "jam with dave #1" [cd] the space spectrum "the dark side of the red eyed queen" [dl] + the space spectrum "drone jams vol II" [lp] those who walk away "the infected mass" [cd] thurston moore "rock n roll consciousness" [cd] tonstartssbandht "sorcerer" [lp] träd, gräs och stenar "tack för kaffet / so long" [cd] trouble "snake eyes bw mother's gone" [7"] --- son of twin peaks --- waylon jennings "new stuff" [lp] --- “a few decembers ago” --- white manna "bleeding eyes" [cd] william ryan fritch "behind the pale" [cd] wolf eyes "undertow" [cd] zaïmph "transverse presence" [k7] zbigniew karkowski "the last man in europe" [lp]

... lasciate ogni speranza ...

the even longer list (with added moments of brilliance):

a.r.c. soundtracks "dereliction/mirror" [cd] adderall canyonly & ak'chamel, the giver of illness "adderall canyonly & ak'chamel" [k7] alan vega "it" [lpx2] (2017) alexander hacke "irrlicht" [rio reiser] [dl] algiers "the underside of power" [cd] all them witches "sleeping through the war" [cd] alvarius b "with a beaker on the burner & an otter in the oven" [cdx2] + alvarius b & sir richard bishop "strange fruit" [10"] andrea porcu "schorre" [dl] angel dust "excavatum" [k7] appalachian yard art "total trash" [dl] + appalachian yard art "spacehelmethead" [dl] arbouretum "song of the rose" [cd] astrïd & rachel grimes "through the sparkle" [cd] aude romary & jérôme noetinger "discordes" [cd]

beaches "second of spring" [cd] ben bertrand "era/area live @ ateliers claus" [dl] ben frost "treshhold of faith" [12"] + ben frost "music from fortitude" [cd] betty bonifassi "lomax" [cd] bill orcutt "bill orcutt" [cd] billy woods "known unknowns" [cd] bison "you are not the ocean you are the patient" [cd] black thumb "you know it's true" [dl] + black thumb "therapeutic levels" [dl] bnnt "multiverse" [cd] body count "bloodlust" [cd] brian eno "reflection" [cd] brian reitzell "american gods [ost] [cd] brother ali "all the beauty in this world" [cd]

campbell kneale & thaniel ion lee "wormhole fallen sephira" [lathe 7"] + campbell kneale & uton "ravens of dispersion" [lathe 7"] cannibal "cannibal" [lp] career crooks "good luck with that" [k7] -celer "alcoves" [cd] + celer "in the end you'll just disappear" [cd] + celer "fragile that eventually breaks" [dl] causa sui "vibraciones doradas" [lp] + causa sui "live in copenhagen" [cdx3] chris forsyth & the solar band "dreaming in the non-dream" [lp] clarinette "the now of then" [lp] corky siegel's chamber blues "different voices" [cd] courtney marie andrews & bonnie 'prince' billy "i wish i knew how it would feel to be free" [dl] crème de hassan "technique & rite" [lp] crys cle & oren ambarchi "hotel record" [lpx2]

damo suzuki network "the swiftsure session" [lp] daniel lentz "river of 1000 streams" [cd] david keenan's this is memorial device related "sufferage tapes" [cdr] demian castellanos" ether" [lp & dl] dirt & space "ten million ways to die" [k7] dj caesar presents hus the kingpin "16 waves" [dl] + hus kingpin "cocaine beach" [lp] do make say think "stubborn persistent illusions" [cd] dog lady island "chopin" [lp] earthling society "zen bastard" [cdr] + earthling society "ascent to godhead/crooked under moonlight" [lp & cdr] eat lights become lights "nature reserve" [lp] electric moon "stardust rituals" [cd] emptyset "borders" [cd] + emptyset "skin" [12"] --- très remko scha !!! --- endless boogie "vibe killer" [cd] evan parker e.a. "reunion live from cafe oto" [cd] ex eye "ex eye" [cd] --- colin stetson related ---

falling man "ghost" [cd] --- dommage no more sam louwyck on vocals [vega] --- farflung "unwound cellular frown" [12"] --- you will kill for me --- faust "fresh air" [cd] firefriend "the black hole" [12"] flat worms "red hot sand" [7"] fred jannin "un bal" [dl] freek & de jonges "koffers" [cd] fret "over depth" [lpx2] gareth sager "88 tuned dreams" [lp] --- oblong malfunctions --- gates "viscera" [k7] + gates "deliverer/redeemer" [k7] gee tee "thugs in cars" [7"] + gee tee "death race" [dl] + gee tee "live 'n dangerous" [dl] gianni giublena rosacroce "crepusculo bw declino" [7"] girls pissing on girls pissing "songs of sodomy & the compost of aethyr" [cd] goat "goatfuzz bw goatfizz" [7"] + goat "fuzzed in europe (live)" [lp] goldfrapp "silver eye" --- because of systemagic --- grant evans "and the body beneath" [cdr] greg malcolm & stefan neville "a nuance" [dl] growing "disorder" [lp] gutter knife "demo" [k7]

hamsters "basically johnny moped bw freudian ships" [7"] heaters "fuzz club session" [lp] "hendrix in the spirit of jazz" [cd] hisato higuchi "kietsuzukeru echo" [lp] hope sandoval & the warm inventions "son of a lady" [10"] hotel wrecking city traders "passage to agartha" [lpx2] i-lp-o in dub "capital dub chapter 1" [lp] ignatz "coffee, no cigarettes" [k7] isis "live VII - 02.25.10" [lpx2] jah wobble "the usual suspects" [cdx2] +/- + jah wobble "get carer pressure sounds mixes" [dl] jarboe / father murphy "jarboe / father murphy" [10"] jefre cantu-ledesma "on the echoing green" [cd] + jefre cantu-ledesma "hermeneutics" [dl] jenny & jade "day release" [12"] jlin "black origami" [cd] john mcbain "accidental soundtracks vol I the alpha particle" [lp] + elk army "elk army" [dl] john mellencamp ft carlene carter "sad clowns & hillbillies" [cd] john murry "a short history of decay" [cd] john wiese "escaped language" [s-sided lp] jonwayne "rap album two" [cd] julien baker "funeral pyre bw distant solar systems" [7"]

kevin morby "city music" [cd] king krule "the ooz" [cd] kleistwahr "music for zeitgeist fighters" [lp] krautwerk "computerrock" [dl] kronos quartet "folk songs" [cd] laibach "also sprach zarathustra" [cd] langham research centre "tape works vol I" [cd] leandro fresco & rafael anton irisarri "la equidistancia" [lp] + leandro fresco & rafael anton irisarri "la espera" [10"] les filles de illighadad eghass malan" [lp] lichen gumbo "boilin'" [lp] lisa mezzacappa "avantnoir" [cd] little axe "london blues" [cd] lords of altamont "the wild sounds of lords of altamont" [cd]

manni dee "throbs of discontent" [12"] + manni dee "your public image" [12"] map 71 "gloriosa" [k7] mario batkovic "mario batkovic" [cd] marvin pontiac "the asylum tapes" [dl] --- aka john lurie --- mastodon "emperor of sand" [cd] + mastodon "cold dark place" [cd] melanie de biasio "lilies" [cd] melvins "a walk with love & death" [cdx2] mésange "heliotrope" [12"] michael morley "memorial gardens" [dl] michael vincent waller "trajectories" [cd] midnight mines "we are the primitives of a new era" [k7] milo "who told you to think ??!!?!?!?!" [cd] mojo presents murder ballads that inspired nick cave & the bad seeds (2017)° mono "live in melbourne" [cd] moses sumney "aromanticism" [cd] moths & locusts "intro / outro" [lp] motörhead "under cöver" [cd] mount eerie "a crow looked at me" [cd] mt. mountain "dust" [lp] myra davies w beate bartel & gudrun gut "sirens" [cd]

neil campbell & richard youngs "six scores" [lp] neville staple "return of judge roughneck" [cd] nick cave & warren ellis "war machine [ost]" [cd] + nick cave & warren ellis "wind river [ost]" [cd] + nick cave & warren ellis "mars [ost]" [cd] + warren ellis "gauguin [ost]" [cd] night loner "night loner I" [dl] + night loner "night loner II" [dl] no ufo's "nu lp for rs" [lp] noel akchoté "i shot the sheriff" [dl] noveller "a pink sunset for no one" [cd] øjerum "when birds fly, the eyes of heaven can rest" [lp] + øjerum "needle shaped silence" [cd] + øjerum "skygge" [cd] obnox "murder radio" [lp] oiseaux-tempête "al-'an الآن (and your night is your shadow - a fairy-tale piece...)" [cd] olan mill, leniad "cavade morlem leniad remodeled" [dl] oneida "live at secret project robot" [lpx2] + oneida "town crier bw golden age of the pariah" [7"] oulu space jam collective "holes of the universe" [dl]

our love will destroy the world "temptress factory chapels" [dl] + our love will destroy the world "second temptress factory chapels" [dl] + our love will destroy the world "thick dark number" [cdr] + our love will destroy the world "thinkpower" [k7] + our love will destroy the world & guilty c. "split" [k7] paul rooney "lucy over lancashire" [single-sided 12"] pauline paris [feat die kammer] "au lit" from "carousel" [cd] pere ubu "20 years in a montana missile silo" [cd] peter broderick "all together again" [cd] phurpa "gyud" [cd] pierre & bastien "musique grecque" [lp] pig//control "vor den mauern" [12"] pikacyu & makoto "galaxilympics" [cd] pistol disco "assault 2" [s-sided 7"] pool people "it's all any non rnglish language to me" [k7] porest "flimsy tombs" [k7] + porest & people like us "optimized!" [lp] pucker up "i live in your mouth" [k7]

radar men from the moon "subversive III de spelende mens" [dl] + radar men from the moon "fuzz club session" [12"] rafael anton irisarri "the shameless years" [dl] rakta "rakta at kexp" [k7] + rakta "oculto pelos seros" [7"] richard h kirk "dasein" [cd] richard pinhas "reverse" [cd] richard youngs "this is not a lament" [cdx2] + richard youngs "foot guitar vol I-IV" [dlx4] + richard youngs "brief walk outside" [dl] + richard youngs & simon wickham-smith "pulse of the rooster" [dl] robert turman "veiling reflections" [cd] roll the dice "born to ruin" [lp] run the jewels "mean demeanor" [cds] + run the jewels "down (z dot uk remix)" [dl] + run the jewels "panther like a panther (original demo version)" [dl] + danger mousse ft run the jewels & boi "the chase" [12"]

sachiko "jangala flamed with deep red" [cdr] scattered purgatory "sua-hiam-zun" [lp] sherwood & pinch "man vs sofa" [cd] six organs of admittance "burning the treshold" sophia "as we make our way the live recordings" [cdx3] sqürl "ep #260" [cd] + sqürl "paterson [ost]" [lp] stavesacre "mcmxcv" [dl] sundays & cybele "chaos & systems" [cd] superorganism "something for your m.i.n.d." [s-sided 7"] + superorgansm "it's all good bw nobody cares" [7"] sutcliffe jugend "shame" [cd] taiwan housing project "veblen death mask" [lp] tape loop orchestra "solar light emissions" [cdx2] + tape loop orchestra "held against the light" [cd] + tape loop orchestra "the 1915-16 panama pacific expo" [10"] temple ov bbv "temple ov bbv" [lp] tenhornedbeast "death has no companion" [cd]

the anarchy arias "the anarchy arias [deluxe]" [cdx2] the cult of dom keller "paradiso is on fire" [k7] the focus group "stop-motion happening with the focus groop" [cd] the lovely eggs "i shouldn't have said that bw melody for meathead" [7"] the myrrors "hasta la victoria" [cd] + the myrrors "archives vol I lunar halo" [k7] the necks "unfold" [lpx2] the tiger lillies "cold night in soho" [cd] + the tiger lillies "edgar allan poe's haunted palace" [cd] thisquietarmy "métamorphose" [cdx2] + "thisquietarmy "democracy of dust" [lp] + thisquietarmy & thank u for smoking "subsound split series #7" [12" & dl] timber timbre "sincerely, future pollution" [cd] timmy's organism "eating colors" [lp] + timmy's organism "lick up your town" [7"] + timmy's organism "revolution eyes" [7"] tom carter & robert horton "lonesome bootleg" [lp] touts "sickening & deplorable" [cdr] + touts "lit" [ep] + touts "sold out" [dl] "twin peaks music from the limited event series" [cd] - nin "she's gone away"! -

vatican shadow "luxor necropolitics" [10"x2] + vatican shadow "rubbish of the floodwaters" [10"] + vatican shadow & ancient methods "bunkerterror" [10"] vibracathedral orchestra "live at total inertia" [10"] video nasties "video nasties" [lp] + vintage cucumber "schnecke" [dl] + vintage cucumber "liebesbried" [dl] + vintage cucumber "abflug" [dl] violinbwoy ft junior dread "soundsystem" [10"] walker harris english "walker harris english" [k7] warm bodies "eat snot & rot!" [k7] weasel walter " a ound of flesh" [cdx4] william ryan fritch "birkitshi eagle hunters in a new world" [cd] + william ryan fritch & matt finey "a history in boxes" [dl] willy billy childish & ctmf "brand new cage" [cd] + willy billy childish & ctmf "in the devil's focus" [10"] + ctmf ft dear watson sound "brand new cadillac" [7"] wim mertens "nature's largess" [cdx2 & dvd] winter family "south from here" [cd] wolf eyes "no hate" [dl] youngs & meek "lullaby for lubieniecki" [k7] zahnfleisch "am bergen" [k7] zone six "forever hugo" [lp] zu "jhator" [lp]

... and - finally - the longest list:

"23 bangers! the casual lurkers guide to emotional response" [dl] a savage "thawing dawn" [lp] adult. "detroit house guests" [cd] akatombo "short fuse" [lp] alvarius b alvarius b vs abdel baqy byro in cairo [lp] amazone "amazone" [k7] anahita tourmaline [lp] andromeda space ritual "satellite" [dl] arrington de dionyso & ted byrnes "the ballot or the bullet" [k7] ash ra tempel experience "live in melbourne" [cd] ashtray navigations "insert genre gere" [cdr] + ashtray navigations "epson's bladder salts" [dl] avenir "nous ne sommes plus vierges et nous avons raté nos examens" [lp] --- noir --- b dolan ft jasiri x & bambu depistola "bannon" [dl] benedict drew crawling through tory slime [lp] beyt al tapes "you are now entering zimbabwe" [cd] bitchin bajas "bajas fresh" [lpx2] black cab "empire states" [dl] black merlin "proto world" [12"] "blade runner 2049 [ost]" [cd] blonde redhead "3 o'clock" [12"] blues pills "lady in gold live in paris" [cdx2] bob dylan "triplicate" [cdx3] + bob dylan "live in san diego" [cdx2] + bob dylan "under the covers" [cd] bobby bare "things change" [cd] böse "son of the connoisseur" [dl] + böse "knauben schnaucer" [dl] boss hog "brood x" [cd] brain damage & harrison stafford "liberation time" [cd] brix & the extricated "part 2" [cd] buck gooter "100 bells" [lp] c spencer yeh "the rca mark II" [lp] c.i.a. debutante "moly's cabinet" [k7] carla bruni "french touch" [cd] casey daniels band "bible on the dash" [cd] cavalier song "a deep well" [lp] + cavalier song & agathe max "cessna bw pagan" [7"] celer "plays liberace" [dl] + celer "ecco" [dl] + celer "vapour" [dl] chelsea wolfe "hiss spun" [cd] cheval rétréci, will guthrie & junko "cheval rétréci" [lp] chief keefe "thot breaker" [dl] + chief keef "two zero one seven" [dl] chiyoko szlavnics "during a lifetime" [cd] chris dooks "alpenoo" [dl] + chris dooks "long piece" [dl] circle "terminal" [cd] circuit des yeux "reaching for indigo" [cd] cleared "serpens" [cd] coldcut x on-u sound "outside the echochamber" [cd] colin vallon trio "danse" [cd] --- ook tinguely --- colour haze "in her garden" [cd] common eider, king eider "shrines for the unwanted, respite for the cast aside" [cd] conway "rejects on steroids" [cd] cosmic ground "cosmic ground live" [cd] courtney barnett & kurt vile "lotta sea lice" [lp] curvs "hauntropics" [cd] cyanide pills "sliced and diced" [cd] dalia raudonikyté with "solitarius" [dl] daniele luppi & parquet courts "milano" [cd] danielle de picciotto & sonae "leise fäden" [cd] david greenberger, glenn jones & chris corsano "an idea in everything" [10"x2] dead boys "still snotty: young, loud & snotty at 40" [cd] dead fucking serious "squalor" [dl] dead neanderthals "womb of god" [lp] + dead neanderthals "the depths" [cd] + dead neanderthals "craters" [cd] deutsch nepal & mama baer "klinik der praktischen vernunft" [lp] dire wolves "drumbar & basspear" [k7] dirk serries & martina verhoeven "innocent as virgin wood" [cd] + dirk serries & martina verhoeven "citadelic" [dl] dirty songs "play dirty songs" [lp] dodge meteor "real soon now" [k7] dreamdecay "yu" [lp] --- bass jam --- dub engine "psychosteppa" [dl] --- burn the amplifaya --- dustrider "event horizon" [cd] eberhard kranemann & harald grosskopf "krautwerk" [lp & cd] edgar wappenhalter "het spuit de oorgaten uit" [dl] electric wizard "wizard bloody wizard" [cd] eleh "home age" [lp] elko b "i bambini di basilisco" [cd] --- if only for cochon torrero" --- endless melancholy "the vacation" [cd] entrance "book of changes" [cd] erika stucky "papito" [cd] eriksson delcroix & sun sun sun orchestra "magic marker love" [cd] f ingers "awkwardly blissing out" [lp] feature "banishing ritual" [lp] feral ohms "feral ohms" [cd] fever ray "plunge" [dl] flat worms "flat worms" [cd] floris vanhoof "talking gongs" [cd] flowers must die 'kompost" [lp] foudre! "earth original soundtrack live at the church of saint-merri paris" [lp] four candles "killing the image" [dl] free dust "names for wind" [dl] --- [aka matthew sage] --- frozen planet... 1969 "electric smokehouse" [lp] + frozen planet... 1969 "from the centre of a parallel universe" [cd] fucked up "year of the snake" [s-sided 12"] full dub "the full tape" [dl] gabi losoncy "security besides love" [lp] + gabi losoncy "nobody's pushing you" [cdr] gary business "zero to clean" [dl] --- penderecki my ass!" gate "highway ghost" [12"] + gate "freedom ghosts" [dl] + gate "btylcs" [dl] gaute granli "animalskt" [lp] gewalt "tier bw so geht die geschichte" [7"] ghetto priest "every man for every man" [lp] gl harlev organ "bare spil noget orgel [the orgel sessions]" [lp] gnod "live at concrète" [k7] + gnod related dwellings & proximity sensor "ecc_bcn" [k7] + gnod related "famous moon king "light travels in straight lines" [k7] gnoomes "tschak!" [cd] godflesh "post self" [cd] grails "chalice hymnal" [cd] guerilla dub system "pound of dub" [dl] guerilla toss "gt ultra" [cd] gunwale "ceasing" [k7] hackedepicciotto "menetekel" [lpx2] havania whaal "elaborate minor crisis" [k7] heavy metal "smash criticism smash optimism smash arachnophobia" [dl] heaters "matterhorn" [lp] hecker "a script for machine synthesis" [cd] hersencellen "we ploeteren voort" [k7] hisko detria "mal du sciècle" [lp] hiss golden messenger "hallelujah anyhow" [cd] holy fuck "bird brains" [10"] holy monitor "holy monitor" [lp] honey "new moody judy" [lp] house & land "house & land" [cd] hypochristmutreefuzz "hypopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia" [cd] ilk "glitterfish" [dl] --- richard youngs --- illiminine "#2" [cd] "illuminations [the new year 2017 free compilation]" [dl] impotentie "demonstratieve opnamens" [s-sided k7] in zaire "visions of the age to come" [lp] institute "subordination" [cd] irie nanara & raggattack "full of vibes" + irie nanara meets variedub "showcase" [dl] james holden & the animal spirits "the animal spirits" [cd] jamie saft, steve swallow, bob previte ft iggy pop "loneliness road" [cd] japan blues "sells his record collection" [lp] jarboe "as mind dissolves as song" [cd] jarvis cocker & chilly gonzales "room 29" [cd] jason isbell & the 400 unit "the nashville sound" [cd] jay glass dubs "endless-nameless" [k7] + jay glass dubs / guerilla toss "jay glass dubs vs guerilla toss" [k7] jeb loy nichols "country hustle" [cd] jessi colter "the psalms" [cd] jim o'rourke "steamroom 31" + jim o'rourke "steamroom 32" + jim o'rourke "steamroom 33" + jim o'rourke "steamroom 37" jim white "waffles, triangles & jesus" [cd] johnny moped "catatonic bw hard lovin' man" [7"] jon langford "four lost souls" [cd] josy & the pony vs the poneymen "hippodrone club" [cd] julian cope "drunken songs" [cd] julianna barwick & rafael anton irisarri "thesis 10" [10"] junior natural and sly & robbie "miltant" [cd] kairon; irse! "ruination" [cd] kaitlyn aurelia smith "the kid" [cd] kara-lis coverdale "grafts" [s-sided 12"] kassel jaeger, jim o'rourke "wakes on cerulean" [lp] kate carr "the story surrounds us" [k7] kaz mirblouk "sidesteps bw paint stains" [7"] khaki blazer "heaven is tacky" [dl] + khaki blazer "didn't have to cut" [k7] king chubby "demo" [k7] king gizzard & the lizard wizard "polygondwanaland" [cd] klein "tommy" [12"] kohn "kreis plön" [cd] konrad sprenger "stack music" [lp] kraus "grip the moon" [k7] l'amour est un os" [dl] --- la nòviarlt "tu m'as encore crevé un cheval" --- l'ira del baccano "paradox hourglass" [cd] la chasse "noir plus noir que le noir" [lp] la tène "tardive / issime" [lp] lärmschutz & sietse singers "requiems" [k7] larkin grimm "chasing an illusion" [lp] lawrence english "cruel optimism" [cd] leaaves "first sickness" [k7] leather jacuzzi "slander, lies & soda" [k7] lee ranaldo "electric trim" [cd] left lane cruiser "claw machine wizard" [cd] les chants du hasard "les chants du hasard" [cd] les discrets "prédateurs" [cd] life stinks "hanging from the ceiling" [7"] linda catlin smith - apartment house & quatuor bozzini "drifter" [cdx2] linecraft "the man who was plugged in" [k7] [2008] lorette meets the obsolete "the sound of all things" [7"] luna "a sentimental education" [cd] + luna "a place of greater safety" [10"] + luna & cheval sombre "play the vu's lonesome cowboy bill" [7"] lustmord "maschinenfest" [cd] mach hommy "dump gawd hommy edition" [cd] + mach hommy machinefabriek "snoepgoed" [7"] mad professor meets jah9 "in the midst of the storm" [lp] magnet "feel your fire" [cd] make-overs "learning curve bw time warp" [7"] male gaze "miss taken" [cd] mark mcguire "ideas of beginnings" [lp] mark so "and suddenly from all this there came some horrid music" [cdr] martin rev "demolition 9" [cd] mary ocher "faust studio sessions & other recordings" [10"] matthew edwards & the unfortunates "folklore" [cdr] maurizio bianchi "the second death" [cdr] + maurizio bianchi & abul mogard "nervous hydra bw all this has passed forever" [dl] michael begg/mélenchon brève "one true vine" [cd] michel banabila, eric vloeimans, mehmet polat "new land" [dl] mike "may god bless your hustle" [dl] mikey young "your move vol I" [lp] + mikey young "you feelin' me?" [k7] moebius "musik für metropolis" [cd] mogwai "every country's sun" [cd] monkey marc "post traumatic dub bw deception dub" [7"] mozart "nasty" [7"] mr zèbre & sensi t "travelling on the riddim" [7"] mutation III "dark black" [cd] mythic sunship "land between the rivers" [cd] naaahhh "themes" [12"] nhung nguyen "an ordinary narrative" [dl] + nhung nguyen & sleep orchestra "disparate (piano day 2017)" [dl] nik turner "life in space" [cd] novi_sad "wound burner" [cd] nurse with wound "kafka's parachute" [3"cd] øjerum "træerne & intetheden I-II" [lathe 7"] + øjerum "træerne & intetheden III-IV" [lathe 7"] + øjerum "træerne & intetheden V-VI" [lathe 7"] + øjerum "træerne & intetheden VII-VIII" [lathe 7"] + øjerum "træerne & intetheden IX-X" [lathe 7"] + øjerum "træerne & intetheden XI-XII" [lathe 7"] old 97's "graveyard whistling" [cd] omit "negative pulse logic" [k7] oneohtrix point never "good time [ost]" [cd] shiri pen penz "crystal body" [cd] oulu space jam collective "deep harpalonia" [dl] + oulu space jam collective "strike of the death anvil" [dl] p.o.s. "chill, dummy" [cd] paul kelly "life is fine" [cd] "pauline oliveros tribute the last sense to leave us" [cdr] pelt + mike & care gangloff with matt payton "split" [10"] penguin cafe "the imperfect sea" [lp] "penny rimbaud's kernschmelze II cantata for improvised voice" [cd] peter fengler "vegetarians" [single sided 7"] peter perrett "how the west was won" [cd] phew "light sleep" [lp] pia fraus "field ceremony" [cd] piano magic "closure" [cd] pickin' on nirvana [lp] pierre bastien "the mecanocentric worlds of pierre bastien (live)" [lp] + pierre bastien & eddie ladoire "phantoms" [lp] pink void "pink void" [k7] pool people "i should have said swearwords" [k7] + pool people "show 07 - show 12" [dl's] poulainjar "cabaret sous mondain en public" [lp] prayer "prayer I & II" [k7] + prayer "seeing" [dl] prostitutes "dance tracksz" [lp] protomartyr "relatives in descent" [cd] public enemy "nothing is quick in the desert" [dl] public psyche "no new violence" [lp] purling hiss "breeze [ep]" [dl] quindar "hip mobility" [lp] r.l. boyce "roll and tumble" [cd] raxola "guts out" [lp] razen "the xvoto reels" [cd] "resistance radio the man in the high castle [ost]" [cd] richard chartier "removed" [cd] richard youngs "cavalcades" [cdr] + richard youngs "lovey uou 343 virtual box" [dl] richie wohlfeil "east bound and down bw along the cosmic wheel" [dl] + richie wohlfeil "belle island demos [dl] ricky koole with ocobar "ricky koole with ocobar" [lp] riddim research lab "research program #1" [lp] ride "weather diaries" [cd] rimjob texas "proljev" [dl] rkss "brostep in the style of florian hecker" [dl] robert plant "carry fire" [cd] robyn hitchcock "robyn hitchcock" [cd] robyn ludwick "this tall to ride" [lp] roll the dice "born to ruin" [lp] roméo elvis et le motel "morale 2" [cd] salad boys "giving compliments to strangers" [k7] scanner "the great crater" [cd] schakalens bror "truck cabin fever" [k7] sex scheme "live 11-01-2017" [dl] + sex scheme "show at the glove 18-03-2017" [dl] shit & shine "total shit" [lp] + shit & shine "some people really know how to live" [lp] + shit & shine "musica lavapiatta" [k7] + shit & shine "that's enough" [dl] + shit & shine "hamburger" [12"] simon fisher turner "picture from darkness" [cd] + simon fisher turner "giraffe" [lp] slowdive "slowdive" [cd] sly & the family drone + the dead neanderthals "molar wrench" [lp] sneaks "it's a myth" [cd] snowdrops "live at the archaelogical crypt paris" [dl] songs: ohia "live at wobc oct 12, 1994" [lp] sophie cooper & julie bradley "the blow volume III3 [K7] soul sugar "chase the light" [cd] space debris "behind the gate" [cdx2] spain "live at the love song" [cd] + spain "spider room los angeles 24-11-1996" [dl] + spain "live at love song 07-02-2017" [dl] + spain "love song one year anniversary show 25-05-2017" [dl] spray paint & ben mackie "get legless" [7"] + spray paint "live at third man" [7"] steeden mustik "steeden mustik" [dl] stefan neville & the doll "1974" [8" lathe cut] + hermione johnson, ben holmes & stefan neville "02.10.16" [ep] sterile garden "live at the apohadion 11/27/17" [dl] stratocastors "autre regard" [k7] stupid cosmonaut "algol" [lp] + stupid cosmonaut "state of the universe" [dl] + stupid cosmonaut / boobs of doom "signals from a dying star / vibrations from a dying soul" [dl] sula bassana "organ accumulator" [cd] + sula bassana "the ape regards his tail" [cd] talweg "est in chemin, loin en sombre" [lp] tamino "tamino" [10"] tarotplane "358 oblique" [lp] tengger cavalry "die on my ride" [cd] the afghan whigs "in spades" [cd] the belligerents "science fiction" [lp] the black angels "death song" [cd] the black seeds "fabric" [cd] the bug "bad bw get out the way" [12"] the comet is coming "death to the planet" [12"] the contributors "the contributors" [lp] --- dan melchior & spray paint --- the duke spirit "sky is mine" [cd] the galileo 7 "tear your minds wide open!" [cd] the guru guru "p chew" [cd] the hacker "le théâtre des opérations" [12"x2] the janitors "horn ur marken" [cd] the master musicians of jajouka ft material "apocalypse live" [dl] the oscillation "evil in the tree" [7"] + the oscillation "dissorted tracks [dl]" + the oscillation "from tomorrow [blue sun ambient mix]" [dl] the professionals "what in the world" [cd] the spunks "trips into a tray of plaster & arises as a ghost" [dl] the stroppies "the stroppies" [k7] the tenses & bren't lewiis ensemble "daughter of the boot" [cdr] "there is no music in china" [k7] thomas dimuzio & alan courtis "monk style or scream" [lp] thor & friends "the subversive nature of kindness" [cd] thor harris & friends and woven skull "triangles bw the cracking of the limbs" [7"] tindersticks w thomas belhom & christine ott minute bodies the intimate world of f percy smith" [cd/dvd] tom russell "folk hotel" [cd] tomaga "greetings from the bitter end" [12"] tony bevan & richard youngs "the two monarchs live at the hairdressers" [dl] trio da kali & kronos quartet "ladilikan" [cd] trust "live hellfest 2017" [cd & dvd] "turn on, tune in [lullabies for insomniacs]" [lp] ty segall "ty segall" [lp] ubek "ubek" [k7] umberto echo "oneness in dub" [dl] unearthly trance "stalking the ghost" [cd] uniform "wake in fright" [cd] united waters "the narrows" [lp] unsane "fix it bw wrung" [7"] upper wilds "guitar module 2017" [lp] urarv "aurum" [cd] usa-mexico "laredo" [lp] --- shit & shine related --- uuuu "uuuu" [lpx2] vandoliers "the native" [lp] varg "nordic flora seies pt III gore-tex city" [lpx2] + varg "i'll hold you till we die" [12"] venom "100 miles to hell [ep]" [dl] verbraak van bijnen "2nd line city" [cd] vintage cucumber "abu abu" [dl] + vintage cucumber "arabische nächte" [dl] violinbwoy "død" [12"x3] warm digits "wireless world" [lp] whit dickey, mat maneri, matthew shipp "vessel in orbit" [cd] white hills "stop mute defeat" [cd] wiegedood "de doden hebben het goed II" [cd] will guthrie "people pleaser" [cd] wire "silver/lead" [cd] wolf alice "visions of a life" [cd] wooden wand "clipper ship" [cd] + wooden wand "toth's law" [dl] + wooden wand "toth's law volume II" [dl] + wooden wand "toth's law volume III" [dl] woopheadclrms "meeting room + rare plants" [dl] wrongtom meets the ragga twins "in dub" [dl] wu-tang clan "the saga continues" [cd] xiu xiu "forget" [cd] xordox neospection" [cd] yabby you "mighty counselor" [12"] zwangere guy "zwangerschapsverlof vol III" [cd] zeitkratzer "duft" [lp] +/- + zeitkratzer "performs songs from kraftwerk & kraftwerk II" [cd] + zeitkratzer & elliott sharp "oneirika live at berghain berlin" [cd] zeroh "kurost.blqlordtesla" [dl]

#platterstompf #bilderstompf #rewind #2017

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reviverradio · 7 years ago

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Exotic Songs: Celebrating the Visionary Music of Alice Coltrane

An industrial area at Maspeth, Queens which was formerly a door and glass factory was turned to a mesmerizing temple complete with marigolds, meditation cushions, and a golden multifunctional installation of a sunlight for a one of a type stellar concert celebrating a newly released, and mostly unheard body of work from pioneering artist and spiritual leader, Alice Coltrane.

“Gospel, soul, funk, and chanting, all in a single, it was amazing,” said Johanna Gielbehous a Brooklyn-based filmmaker after listening to The Sai Anantham Singers sing Coltrane’s exquisite devotional songs.

Alice, the wife of this legendary jazz saxophonist John Coltrane, has been a classically trained pianist, harpist, and a visionary musician regarded as one of the greatest composers of the 20th century. Her cosmic jazz and spiritual compositions are described as “prayers for humanity.”

For decades she has had a powerful underground cult following among music lovers, DJ’s from across the planet, and yogis. However, the bigger world doesn’t understand Ms. Coltrane’s greatness and this despite the fact that she left an exquisite musical catalog and also led to a remarkable life — she founded and was the spiritual leader of an ashram at California with countless devotees.

The Sai Anantam Singers play in The Ecstatic World of Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda, a part of Red Bull Music Academy Festival, in Knockdown Center, 52-19 Flushing Ave. at Maspeth, NY, US on 21 May 2017. Ysa Perez

“I am so very happy,” explained Michelle Coltrane, Alice’s eldest child and only daughter who sang with the ensemble and wore her mother’s orange sari. “It felt wonderful to have the ability to celebrate my mom in such a special way.”

Even the six-hour musical extravaganza which transformed the The Knockown Center to Coltrane’s mandir complete with an altar, blue rug, and eight hundred yellow cushions imported from India on Sunday evening was the final night of this Red Bull Academy Music Festival.

Saxophonist Ravi Coltrane, John and Alice’s son, accompanied the ashram singers using a highly effective performance of his mommy’s ancient jazz compositions at the outside event.

The concert celebrated the one-hour compilation entitled, “The Ecstatic Music of Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda,” that premiered earlier this month from David Byrne’s music label Luaka Bop.

Alice Coltrane alongside her spiritual shrine, together with the portrait of her “genius” Satya Sai Baba at 2004. J. Emilio Flores / Corbis through Getty Images

The album rocketed to number one on Billboard’s New Age and World music graphs. Luaka Bop agents said that the album would have topped jazz charts too but Billboard didn’t accept the album under the group, an unfortunate conclusion they said since Alice Coltrane’s jazz influence has been suspended in her devotional music.

These ten sacred songs were selected from four cassettes which Alice, also known by her Sanskrit title Turiya Sangitananda, softly recorded between 1982 and 1995 and released through her firm, Avatar Books, placed at Sai Anantam Ashram, the vedantic centre she founded in 1983. It is a body of work and also a chapter in Coltrane’ musical lifestyle that is mostly unknown out yogi circles and spiritual music aficionados.

The recent recognition of this masterful musician is long overdue. By all accounts Alice Coltrane was extraordinary.

Born Alice McLeod, Coltrane’s musical career began when she was a child from the dinosaurs of Detroit in which she was raised and born. She was a musical prodigy schooled in older time spirituals, blues and rhythm, and classically trained on the piano.

“There’s a picture of mother when she was like seven to the piano,” recalls Michelle. “Mom used to play at church and make a little cash and she’d give it to grandma.”

“Sometimes it strikes me how was she able to do this much, raise four kids, function as spiritual leader to so lots of men and women, teach, compose, perfect her art– it blows my mind when I feel all that she managed to do,” explained Michelle. “There’s certainly a genius to her and certainly her music.”

Moses Sumney plays in The Ecstatic World of Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda, a part of Red Bull Music Academy Festival, in Knockdown Center, 52-19 Flushing Ave. at Maspeth, NY, US on 21 May 2017. Ysa Perez

The brand new compilation has been created by jazz superstar Baker Bigsby who worked with Ornette Coleman, Sun Ra, and John Coltrane and has been the first recording engineer on all of Alice’s devotional records.

The compilation is still luminous. You find Alice chanting, singing, playing her harp, and resulting in a choir of all 24-celestial voices. There are eastern percussions, synthesizers, strings, and organs leading to a tasty mélange of sacred and soothing music.

“There’s certainly a genius to her and certainly her music.”

The audio is a reflection of Alice Turiyasangitananda ‘s spiritual devotion in the past four decades of her life and contain the musical world inside of this exceptional instrumentalist–from Igor Stravinsky to Bud Powell, from Detroit into India, from Africa to California, from Jesus into Rama, from older time spirituals and blues into ancient Sanskrit chanting. Words alone cannot behold the songs’s transcendental beauty and healing power–her music is a spiritual experience.

One reviewer wrote this, “listening to ‘Om Shanti,’ the very first tune in the compilation, is nothing less than an act of self-care.”

Yale Evelev, who co-owns Luaka Bop, has been blown away when he noticed Alice Turiyasangitananda’s devotional music one year ago at the suggestion of DJ Prince Language.

Globe Spirituality Classics 1: The Ecstatic Songs Of Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda Sri Hari Moss / Luaka Bop

“Mine has been a visceral musical answer, Indian rapping, gospel,soulful this was music she devised, very revolutionary, and very sophisticated,” explained Evelev. The answer to the music, he says, continues to be astonishing. “There has been already appreciation for Alice’s music but with this launch we’ve observed something extraordinary.”

For several years nevertheless her musical function was lost inside her husband’s giant shadow.

“My mom was always pleased to talk about John’s music, it gave her pleasure; it’s the way she was. Sometimes it requires time and I only think this is the correct time politically and socially. After many years of bootlegged electronic variations, it’s wonderful to find a beautifully packaged and tangible collection of her work.”

In the summer of 1963, when Alice was 25, she was a part of a group led by vibrationist Terry Gibbs that started for The John Coltrane Quartet in the famed new york jazz temple, Birdland. It was there where she met John and two fell in love. They married in 1965, had three kids.

By 1967 John died of cancer departing Alice a widow with four young kids. Alice, who was on a spiritual quest with John researching Eastern music and spirituality, delved deeper to spiritual studies after his departure. She returned in India having a desire to leave secular life, and moved to Los Angeles from the 1970’s devoting her life and music to religious consciousness.

In 1975 she found the Vedantic Center within her home in Woodland Hills. Back in 1983 with a growing flock, she purchased nearly 50-acres of rolling mountains in Agoura Hills, California, just outside of Los Angeles and opened her ashram.

A lot of blogs to combine the celebration of Alice Coltrane.

In 2017, no one would bat an eye since wellness, yoga, and meditation are ubiquitous. But in the 1970’s, maybe not so much. Alice was a black girl, a devoted yogi, a single mother of four, and also a masterful musician.

“Yes, my mom has been way ahead of her period,” noted Michelle. “She was a home-girl out of Detroit who founded an ashram from the west. Meditation is now a part of normal conversation, but back then, it was considered strange, and yoga has been viewed as only a bunch of folks who laid along with mats on the floor. But mother was always different.”

With a resurgence of function which uplifts and fuses musical influences from all over the world, it’s almost as though the spiritual teacher who expired in 2007 in age sixty-nine is reaching from beyond the cosmos to provide the world a much needed hug.

“Alice had a message of oneness, of inclusion, positivity, and admiration for one another,” says Evelev.

“She left this movie for us to love, because of our healing, and our expansion,” said her daughter Coltrane.

A new fan, Giebelhous agreed: “The extraordinary music welcomed and soothed us into a spiritual celebration of beauty and joy.”

from reviverradio http://www.reviverradio.net/exotic-songs-celebrating-the-visionary-music-of-alice-coltrane/

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sunnydawn444 · 7 years ago

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New Post has been published on Sunny Dawn Johnston

New Post has been published on http://sunnydawnjohnston.com/blog/numerology-report-june-2017-show-yourself-some-love/

Numerology Report - June 2017 --- Show Yourself Some Love

Show Yourself Some Love – The Gift of the 6 Vibration

I know you will love this Numerology report all about the month of June.. It’s self love time.. my favorite and also one of the hardest things to do – Enjoy, SDJ♥

Ahhh, it’s June and the essence of love is in the air. Perhaps it’s because June is a 6 vibration month and all about LOVE. Not only romantic love or love for a partner… but also love in a broader sense: family, circle of friends, community, the world.

And boy could we all use some extra doses of love! Everywhere you look people are trying to knock other people down… or so the news (and Facebook feeds) would have you believe. What if that is only a small segment of the world though? If you see or hear a negative story, this month I suggest starting a new habit… sending love into it (instead of buying into the fear). Not just for the person or animal you perceive to be the victim, but also for everyone else involved.

What if every act of hate, bullying or disruptive behavior was really a cry (or scream) for love. A desperate need for love to be shown them, given to them. A need for someone to see past the darkness and see the person in pain. Send them love. If you fall into judgement, then send yourself some love too!

In my own practice and among family, friends and people I come in contact with, I see a profound lack of self-love at the heart of many of their issues. So this month, instead of fixating on receiving love from someone else or showering others with love, start with you. Show Yourself Some Love!

We’re in a 1 – year, the start of a new 9-year cycle. The 1 vibration, in part, is about individuality – you, owning your unique identity, being true to you. The best place to start is with self-love and honoring yourself. This is being self-focused in a healthy way. Be there for you, show up for you, and be supportive of you… instead of beating yourself up or knocking yourself down. Respond to those mean voices in your head with a dose of self-love.

The love message of June’s 6 vibration working with the 1 vibration of 2017 is urging you to focus that love light on you. When you give love to yourself, you have so much more you can give to others. But first give love to yourself.

What can you do each day to show yourself some love?

According to numerology, June is a 6 vibration. In addition to Love, the 6 vibration is also about Creativity, Harmony, Peace, Money, Beauty, Responsibility, Acceptance, Family, Community, and Service.

For 2017, we are working with the 1-vibration of new beginnings, creation, individuality, ideas, leadership, innovation and organization all year long. In May the 5-vibration was urging you to make some changes to support who you want to be and what you really want in your life. Now June brings in more mojo in the love, peace and creativity departments.

If your life feels lopsided and your plans and dreams capsized due to unforeseen turbulence, this is the month to love yourself in spite of whatever is going on in your world. Then look at creative and practical ways to restore balance and harmony in your life… within yourself.

Remember, you can’t restore peace and harmony to someone else’s world. Only they can do that. You can send them love however and hold space for them as they sit in the churn.

Some ways the 6 (June) and 1 (2017) vibrations may show up for you this month are:

Love: Love who you are where you are. This is huge! Love who you are and where you are. This requires that you accept who you are and where you are, instead of resisting it, fighting it, or wishing you were someone else, better somehow or in a better place. It also requires that you let go of any judgements over who you are and where you are. So simple, not so easy. Yep. I know. I, too, struggle with this from time to time.

Partner/Romance: If you are yearning for love or a soul-mate, the first place to look is in the mirror. Start by giving that love to yourself first. Really take a good look at how you treat yourself.

Are you treating yourself with love? Or are you being unkind and harsh with yourself?

Are you doing things for others in the hope that they will like or love you in return?

Are you over-giving to the point of depletion and then resentment?

Are you eating well, getting enough sleep, allowing yourself time to relax and dream?

Community/Tribe/Family: You may feel a call to connect with likeminded people, to feel part of a tribe or community. Last year (the 9 vibration of re-evaluating what works and letting go of what doesn’t) may have shown you that your community/tribe no longer fits you or that your family can no longer give you the emotional support you need.

What kind of people would inspire you? Where might you find people like this? Go there!

If you are searching for a tribe to belong to, maybe the message is for you to create your own tribe! The 1 vibration supports you in this.

What simple creative measures can you take to improve your experiences at home and with others?

Creativity: Both the 6 (June and the 1 (2017) support and promote creativity across the board. Create with fun and passion… without judgment or comparison.

Your creative expression is a way to connect to your true self, reconnect with your inner child and your innocence, tap into joy and channel some love energy into your work.

Creativity also opens the money flow. Allowing yourself to joyfully create makes you more magnetically attractive to the energy of money.

So go create something… and yes it’s ok to make bad art or make a mess! The important thing is you expressing you in a way that you enjoy, is fun, and promotes moments of unrestrained delight.

Boundaries: Self-love requires strong boundaries.

Notice where your boundaries are weak or non-existent and start making some changes there.

Boundaries are an act of self-love and self-respect.

By enforcing your boundaries you not only show yourself love, but you also help others begin to pay attention to their own boundary issues.

Receiving: Many of my readers are life-long givers. They just love to give. Feel weird about the whole receiving bit though. Are you one of those super-givers, over-givers, give at all costs kind of person? If so, please stop it. There is no gold star for giving and refusing (consciously or unconsciously) to receive. Giving is one half of the equation: giving and receiving. The 6 holds the giving and receiving in balance. When it is out of balance the system stumbles and may grind to a halt.

This month the 1 vibration helps you in the receiving department. While the 6 vibration helps you become aware of your patterns around giving and receiving… and the need for love that is behind it.

Where are you over-giving? Why? What do you hope to gain by this?

Where do reject receiving? Why do you feel you do this?

If you are a terrible receiver, this month practice receiving. Let someone else treat. Ask for help (and accept it graciously!).

If you love to receive but don’t give freely, practice giving with no strings attached. Volunteer your time for a cause you support, invite a friend for lunch or coffee.

And yes, the 6 vibration also has a Shadow Side!

Shadow aspects of the 6 vibration that will be amplified by the shadow aspects of the 1 are:

Jealousy, self-centeredness, vanity, selfishness (in an egotistical way), extravagance, self-righteousness, picky/critical, condescending, wastefulness, manipulation

Other shadow aspects that might pop up for you this month:

Over-giving to depletion, being the martyr, self-pity, meddling/rescuing/fixing (because you believe you know better), nagging, feeling unfulfilled or going to extremes, creatively blocked

Many of these are really a call for love and acceptance.

If you slip into the shadow of the 6, take the opportunity to pause and check in with yourself. Place you hand on your heart, to remind you to drop back into heart-space and be present. (We are often in living in the past or projecting into the future when we fall into the shadow.)

Next take 3 slow, deep breaths and ask one or more of these questions:

“What is really going on here?”

“What is the pain or lack or fear that is causing me to feel this way?”

“Where am ignoring my boundaries?”

“Where do I feel unloved, unseen, unheard, misunderstood, or judged?”

“What do I really need in this moment?”

“What does my inner child need right now to feel safe and loved?”

Listen to what message or thoughts pop in with these questions. They may contain true answers or show you a negative line of thinking that is causing the issue. Sometimes just asking the question begins to shift things. Your answers can come later in a sign or symbol or song or other message delivery system.

Angelic Helpers:

You can call on your angels and guides to help you with this as well.

I call on Archangel Gabriel for clarity and courage

I call on Archangel Uriel to help me see the underlying reason; “illuminate what I don’t see yet”

I call on Archangel Chamuel whenever the issues of love and acceptance show up. Ask him to surround you in his pink light of unconditional love to help you to learn to love and accept yourself in a gentle way and to give and receive more love and acceptance in your life.

June’s energy is helping you allow more love and acceptance into your life. Show yourself some love, in whatever way you need. Leave yourself love notes. Say nice things to yourself. Give yourself time for self-care and R&R.

Show the world some love too while you are at it!

Much love and blessings, Karen

Spiritual Teacher, Intuitive Numerologist, Past Life Therapist, Speaker, Writer Karen works “guided by Spirit” — blending intuition, wisdom and metaphysical and spiritual teachings with practical guidance, compassion and a wickedly playful sense of humor. She empowers healers, holistic practitioners, creatives and heart-centered professionals to get unstuck, take back their power, own their gifts and learn to love and accept themselves… exactly how they are… right here, right now. She is available for private sessions. Connect with Karen at www.TheLifeCraftingGuide.com and https://www.facebook.com/karen.m.winkelman.lifecrafting

#affirmations #angels #appreciation #energy #healing #intuition #love #numerology #psychic #psychic medium #spirit #spirits #spiritual #sunny dawn johnston

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