#thats what those contradicting statements come together to mean

[visforvii]

.

[gunmetal-ring]

I'm so sad you left Caryl fandom. You've got to do you and self-care is important, and you've been on your way out the door for a while now, so it's hardly a surprise. Still, the loss of your voice and presence in our fandom leaves an empty space.

You were one of very few people whose fics struck the right note between the heaviness and the playfulness that encompass Caryl, while still keeping them in character, so that will be missed too.

I wish you happiness, in life and your new fandom.

Aww anon 😥 you are so sweet and kind and your words uplift my spirit wow. This is one of the nicest compliments ive ever gotten

Granted i did mean all of that when i said it - i knew i was being dramatic lol but it definitely still hurts too much. Also makes me too angry. So its still how i feel now.

But...

BUT...

BUT....!!!!!!

Putting it under a read more bc holy fuck its SUCH a long fucking unnecessary response lmao sorry in advance

If - IF - the rumors are true, that caryl will be in daryl does paris, TOGETHER, with ACTUAL SCENES TOGETHER, not this whole a story/b story, trying-to-find-each-other-and-making-amis-along-the-way bullshit (amis is french for friends bc i think im funny) that lasts until the last scene of the last episode of the last season that twd loves to do...

IF we see caryl ON SCREEN, TOGETHER, doing whatever THEYRE doing, TOGETHER, on THEIR spinoff, AND they are UNAMBIGUOUSLY CANON - for those of you at amc fervently reading my blog (lol) that means a kiss on the lips with romantic intent, i.e. FRENCHING (how appropriate) and confessions of being IN LOVE WITH EACH OTHER FOR YEARS AND WISHING THEY DIDNT WASTE SO MUCH TIME WHEN THEY COULD HAVE BEEN HAPPY TOGETHER, and then FOLLOWED WITH AN UNAMBIGUOUS SEX SCENE WITH EACH OTHER, bc if we can have french zombie strippers we can have a fucking sex scene...

If we get that - if we get caryl together, both in physical proximity and romantically - then i might return. If we get proof (which, apparently, can no longer be a greenlit show or pilot script or location scouting or contracts or YEARS of press or fucking talking about it IN THE MAIN SHOW) - proof such as melissa and norman posting pictures of themselves on set, bts photos released by amc, interviews with melissa and norman talking about theyre filming the spinoff and theyre having fun and how its nice to be filming together again after having collectively 1 hour of screentime together in 24 episodes, hype from amc both in print and on sm about the spinoff, promo art with them together, officially naming the spinoff as something to do with CARYL, not just daryl dixon, a table read of the pilot script (where caryl is actually, yknow, holding a conversation, not just carol talking to some french dude and daryl talking to fleur delacour), positive statements straight from mels mouth/her agents (rather than jdm tweeting angrily at 2am and norman parroting the tweet for six months that deliberately and directly contradicts mel's statement along with amc's statement), sneak peeks of CARYL TOGETHER on THEIR spinoff, things that are unambiguously proof that a) mel is back on HER show, b) carol actually has screentime, c) caryl actually has screentime, d) that theyre actually filming with the intent of releasing the show, e) that its not just daryl does paris with a carol cameo at the last scene of the last episode...

IF we get this kind of proof... not only will i resubscribe to amc+ like amc so desperately needs, but i will watch and rewatch until les vaches (french for "the cows" lol) come home.

And then you know what will happen? The caryl fandom, as always, will do the heavy lifting for amc. They will create gifs, fanart, praise the show on sm, spread the word, buy tickets to conventions, buy merchandise FROM AMC, PAY FOR AMC+, tune in to the talking dead (if thats even going to happen? I hope chris hardwick is far far away ugh), write fanfic, create fanvids, post and repost and repost this content all over sm, which will entice carylers who left the fandom due to constant ship trolling and baiting and refusal of amc to do what theyve been implying theyll do for like 8 years - including carylers who left the fandom fucking YEARS ago, as well as carylers like myself who have given the fuck up due to s11 and the spinoff fuckery - and all of this will hype up the spinoff for the general audience too. Even if GA viewers arent specifically carylers, carol is a fan favorite. Carol and daryl is a fan favorite dynamic. People want to see them together.

Amc is finally realizing that they have nailed the coffin shut with this bullshit and thats why theyre scrambling to dangle the possibility of melissa/carol in every single press release and interview they can. They are aware now of the massive fuckup that is daryl does paris. Far too late to make amends, but if they pull this off, they can save the sinking ship (lol) that is amc. Theyre losing money left and right and laying off staff bc they cant keep their fucking heads on straight, and they are well aware its bc the money they were banking on - daryl does paris - is a complete and utter shitshow and will ultimately cost them far more money than it will bring in.

The only way to salvage this is to bring back caryl. Thats it. Bring them back in the 1st episode - together - and in every single episode following that - TOGETHER. No separation, not ambiguous will they wont they, no ship baiting, no cameos.

Actually the exception to the cameo can be the last scene of the 1st episode. Ill allow it.

Wow i went off on a tangent lol. But the point remains: if they do the CARYL SPINOFF right, they will get me back in the fandom as well as everyone else who bailed.

So who knows? Maybe we have a chance. I know @weaintashescltv has been loud and proud on Twitter about what we need to see. Maybe ill even join them lol. Even tho Twitter is an absolute hellscape full of bottom feeding goblins lol

All in all... maybe ill be back.

As for the new fandom its probably a hyperfixation lol considering the main ship i have is 2 dead teenagers that would make literally no sense to ever bring back to life - altho i have to say its refreshing that both of the actors (and even other tertiary actors on the show whose characters interacted w/ had a dynamic involved in the ship!!!) have so much respect for the ship and the fans and the shippers and have spoken at length abt how they also absolutely intended for the ship to be canonically romantic. A couple ships on that show do that, actually - no trolling or baiting or inciting fandom wars or whatever.

Theres something to be said about an obsession w a literally dead ship lmao. Esp when the rest of the show is like GENUINELY good and interesting (like how s1-s5, and then s9-s10 of twd was) and not just the shop.

Goddammit another tanget. This is why all my fics are like 30,000 words longer than i intend them to be. Sorry for the word vomit lmao. But thanks again for popping in anon ilu and wish you happiness and i hope you will continue to find love and fulfillment in one of the greatest ships in television history (and in case its unclear, im talking about caryl)

💗💗💗

[erenenthusiast]

Regarding Mikasa’s ending I’ve pretty much just accepted it. I can understand that her husband (I guess, especially if it’s Jean) would visit the grave with her. I can understand that now maybe the scarf is just something she holds for memory. I can get how the ‘my most beloved’ makes sense because at the time he was buried that was true but that can change now that he’s gone.

The one thing I don’t get is why Mikasa said, ‘see you later.’ I know the Japanese version is ‘itterasshai, Eren.’

Itterasshai (行ってらっしゃい) is the proper phrase to say to the person leaving, often after they announce their departure. It could be directly translated as “go and come back,” but has more of a meaning of: “see you later!”

The nuance of this statement is that the Japanese use this to express their desire that the person leaving will come back home safely, that is why parents/spouses say it to their children/spouse when they leave for the school or work.

Isayama seemed to pick this intentionally over goodbye, I thought, to express Mikasa’s desire to one day be with him at home even if he was leaving now. Now I don’t really think he deserves an afterlife with her (I head cannon they reincarnated into the HS AU so his sins don’t play into it), but it’s her intention that counts.

So I just wonder was that just an elaborate way to say goodbye? But surely Isayama picked that for a reason? It doesn’t make sense to me, considering the extra pages show her married. Now looking back on it with the added pages, do you think maybe it had a different meaning?

Scarf is not something she holds for memories only, but thats something that symbolizes her bond with eren. If it was so silly, then eren wouldn't ever tell her to take it off in the first place. I also wanna say while making these extra pages, isayama says it doesn't change anything we have seen so far so no, eren is still her most beloved the extra pages was focused on them itself. In fact isayama who didn't even bother drawing the man beside her properly, didn't miss the details of his grave in the next panels, that pretty much shows what was his priority and what he intended to mean. Erens significance to mikasa is much greater than just a husband or love interest what so ever, it isn't bound by limits like that. To be the most beloved, you dont need to be a husband, in fact you are underestimating it by saying it because it doesn't work like that, it takes something more. These Feelings, emotions, are not something that comes from fulfilling conditions like being husband or having babies but solely from your heart. It comes naturally. I’m surprised that people to approve of what they have seen in the extra pages, without even context, is ready to change mind on what they were shown so far, for it to make sense. Dont bother. And dont make it contradict what you have seen so far just for the contextless pages to make sense for you when isayama himself said it doesn't change anything. Not all this for a back panel which wasn't even there in the next one. Its you all who are giving it importance, not isayama. But of course anyone is allowed to disappointed or not like the extras but what am saying is, dont twist the whole series for the sake of those extras.

And the "see you later" is pretty evident, that mikasa and erens relationship resolved around home. No matter what they'll return to each other in the end so mikasa doesn't say farewell. Because even if its not possible in the world, it will be in some other realm, they'll reunite. And do you notice you're pretty much trying to twist to many things just for those one panel back man to make sense. Dont lol. Its not that important, in fact that guy was used for em moment. And her relationship with eren isnt as simple as being ber husband, they share more that than and overcame battles together. You remember who you were with during a battle and who gave you the strength and motivation to fight in a battle, who you fought for, not the person who you enjoyed the aftermath of a battle with

[sadsongsandwaltzes]

I'm scared to ask but how did the kid from high school try to 'John Green' you?

So I have to explain a couple things first about me in high school: I’m a naturally introverted person. But I mean I had friends and stuff in high school. It’s just that when I wasn’t around them, because I’m introverted, I’d just chill by myself and read a book or something. Just sit in the back of class alone reading. Not cuz I was sad or lonely, but because I wanted to be left alone and I was happy like that. I was also a cheerleader in high school and sometimes we’d wear our uniforms to school on game days. So it wasn’t like I was a closed off person or anything like that. Anyway. Onto the story.

So this new kid comes to school and he’s in my homeroom. Homeroom was one of those classes where I didn’t have any of my friends in, so I’d hang back by myself and just read or text my friends or something. But this kid comes and a couple days later he comes over to me and tries to strike up a conversation. It started normal. He made a comment about the book I was reading and started talking about that because he had read it before. But things went downhill fast. See, the thing is that the book I was reading was Paper Towns by John Green. And in this book, the main character has an infatuation with a girl named Margo. And whenever he was pondering about her, he’d say something like “that’s so Margo of her.” (Or something like that. I can’t remember the specifics cuz it’s been years since I read it)

WELL this kid started trying to talk about how I was a cheerleader and all that. The fact he knew that about me wasn’t what was creepy — it’s not like it was a secret lol. Even if he never went to game yet, he probably saw me in my uniform. What made it creepy was his approach. You see, a normal chat up line would be something like “oh hey I saw you were cheerleading. How is that going? You like it?” Which is NOT what he did. He sat there trying to psychoanalyze me and make a deep statement about my contradictions with being shy but also being a cheerleader or something like that. And I was like… dude!! You don’t!!! Know !!! Me !!!! It was just really weird. It’s like yeah I’m introverted but I’m still a person and I have friends and personal interests and activities I’m involved in. It ain’t that deep. And then over time he’d keep trying to talk to me, and every time he’d add more observations (and some were normal, and some were in fact kinda creepy) and try to make it all deep and poetic, and he’d often add a statement like “but that’s very *my name* of you to do that” just like in the book!!! And he was deadass serious!!!! And mind you, I didn’t even really ever wanna talk to this kid in the first place. It was clear we weren’t clicking and I just wanted to read my book, but he wouldn’t leave me alone!! And over time I got less patient and less responsive to him cuz I just wanted him to go away.

I guess he eventually got the hint.

One day after leaving lunch, me and my best friend were walking back to our lockers together, when this kid comes up next to us outta nowhere, leans over to me and says “ya know, if you didn’t want to talk to me, you coulda just told me to fuck off” and then walked away into the moving crowd of kids before I could even respond. And me and my friend basically just went speechless for a second, and then we just had to laugh about it. Cuz like WHO DOES THAT?!?! That kinda crap only happens in movies (and John green novels!!!!) people don’t just walk up to people in the hallway and say something confrontational in a low voice to get the last word and walk away. Thats not how normal people interact with each other!! Like ever!!!!! But idk I guess he got the Oscar winning shot in his head for the scene.

Man it was just weird. But he left me alone after that for the rest of the year.

[netbug009]

thanks for taking it seriously. tbh you talked about how you cared more about the final product even if the creator had questionable morals than who participated in it which made me suspicious. later you talked about how we should hold ben schwartz accountable for music and it felt like you only cared about stopping the support of people or content that only affected yourself. im glad thats not true and that your change is not superficial and am happy for you.

TBH you kinda read my mind of late. The whole situation with Music has been making me think a lot about that kind of thing. On one hand, I’m not sure that’s a 1:1 comparison, because even if you separate Music from its creator, Music itself remains a deeply ableist and bigoted work. I don’t think Music counts as a death-of-the-author issue the way reblogging a benign work from someone without benign views does. On the other hand, for me personally, Sia being ableist definitely ruined all of Sia’s work for me. I will not be able to enjoy her contributions to things I like, such as MLP and Finding Dory, the same way I used to. I’ll probably roll my eyes when her songs come up when I rewatch those films. I won’t pretend it didn’t impact my view and enjoyment of the work she’s in, and it would indeed make me a hypocrite to claim nobody else has the right to feel that way when they find out someone who created or contributed to a work is spreading harmful views.  That said, the way people interact with work is complex. I remain a fan of Danny Phantom despite Butch Hartman’s myriad of concerning views, including the classic “mental illness can be prayed away and is a sign of lack of faith” nonsense that has hurt me personally. I likewise see a lot of LGBT fans taking DP back, because those characters still mean a lot to them and they enjoy the work outside of what Hartman has to say about it. I also see trans Harry Potter fans choosing to distance that work from its creator as well as opposed to shunning it all together, and I don’t think it’s my place to shame them for that. That said, I ALSO don’t think it’s my place to tell people who go “Oh, I can’t enjoy this thing anymore, because of the views of its creator” that they’re overreacting.  Does acknowledging all of that make me a hypocrite for going so hard on Sia? Maybe. I try not to be. That’s kinda why I stressed that I’m upset with people supporting the film and its album specifically, despite the fact that I personally have no intention of supporting ANYTHING Sia makes in the future unless she backs up her recent apologies with actions (so far, it seems she lied about the actions she claimed she was going to take, so... keep digging that hole, Sia.) I’m also in the spot of formerly being a pretty bigoted person, and having people who chose to support my benign work despite it, and... while I can’t say this will always be the case, that gave me the opportunity to interact with a lot of people who made me question and ultimately change my views. I firmly believe that kindness when I might have not deserved it helped set me on the right path better than any amount of anger towards me did. So that’s another element that leaves me a bit conflicted on how to handle things like this. Maybe I was treated with more kindness than I deserved, and I certainly don’t blame anybody who chose to distance themselves from me completely, but I don’t think I would have ever broken out of the harmful mindset I was raised around without that, either. What one person may see as rewarding a bigot, another may see as rewarding someone for keeping bigotry out of what they create, creating a stark contrast between the success of something wholesome and something harmful. Sometimes I flip flop between those solutions myself.  I’m still learning, still trying to understand, still working to be accountable to my own feelings and the feelings of others. I’m still thinking about a lot of these things - I think online, we’re expected to be able to pull a very final and firm statement about what we believe out of a hat at any moment, and I’m not sure that’s always a good thing? Especially on something like this, which I think has more nuance than most people give it credit for, and most people make exceptions to their own rules about?  But I guess the one thing I’m sure of is I’m not going to assume that someone enjoying a work means they agree with its creator's views, and I hope people will give me that same understanding. I think the way a person connects to a work is deeply personal and may not always be consistent. Even if I can personally no longer enjoy anything Sia puts out because it’ll be attached to memories of “The Music Incident” I’m not going to assume anybody who streams Chandelier is an ableist bigot who doesn’t care about autistic people, even if in my anger and hurt that’s an easy kneejerk reaction to feel like jumping to. TBH, maybe saying Ben shouldn’t be allowed to work on other, benign things until he apologizes was a hurt, hypocritical kneejerk on my part. Maybe what I’m really upset about is the general lack of outrage about this film, because it’s just another sign of how little people tend to care about autistic people, and I’m desperately trying to find someone to “pay” for it. Maybe I just want that sweet, sweet validation of someone with a large platform standing up and saying “this is wrong, actually.” It’s a complex issue and one I’m very emotional about, which clouds my judgement, but... My goal when talking about Death of the Author isn’t to dismiss the hurt of people who feel a creator’s views have harmed them - it’s to help fans take back the good things in a work they love. I hope people get that and assume the best of me, even if I seem to be contradicting myself, even if I flat out DO contradict myself in anger and hurt. I’m far from a perfect person. Fandom is deeply important to me, it’s a major part of my life and often something I find beautiful, and at the end of the day I want what’s best for the people in it.  I wish I had a simpler answer for you, anon. 

[intergalacticsuperstar]

tea time

Okay I’m going to spill the tea a little here. I would like to start off with saying that I am a fan of Tom Holland. I’m also 18, about to dive into college, the work field, and I’m trying to maintain professionalism on my other social accounts. Given that, I’m a closet fan girl who only posts on Tumblr.

And thank god.

Just because I only post on Tumblr, doesn’t mean I don’t see the craziness that is the other platforms (Instagram and Twitter). I don’t know what it is... maybe I just follow the right people on tumblr or maybe just all of the people I’m going to be generalizing just flock to Instagram and Twitter.

Last note before I get started. I know probably not alllll people on Insta and Twitter are crazy Tomdaya stans, but it’s the only place I see it. And quite frankly, that’s disturbing considering those are the platforms Tom, Zendaya, and their families would be looking at. Not Tumblr.

Now, to begin...

Yesterday this video was released. Most of us have already seen it already, but just Incase you haven’t here’s a quick recap:

The interviewer asks Tom and Zendaya about what it’s like for people to want their relationship to be real in real life.

Tom says it’s annoying.

Zendaya agreed with Tom but she more is like “aye it’s gonna happen, I try not to worry about it”

Now today, I’m on Instagram on the explore page and I see a story of some Zendaya account. It’s a note, so interested what it says, I click on it. Low and behold, it’s about Tomdaya.

Because like everything on Instagram is about Tomdaya.

So this person has multiple screenshots of notes on their story detailing about how they are all upset about this video.

The first one I see is this:

Alright so let’s break this down yeah. (Under the cut because this is getting long)

Okay, well firstly, if you have to block Z from seeing your opinion about something, that should be immediate red flags.

Now, they are getting confusing. So you know that it’s not your business but you still are commenting on this and continue to force their relationship? It’s a slap in the face to you? No offense, but you kind of put yourself in this position. Lastly, I love that it’s “they have a right to whatever opinion they do because their friendship/relationship.”

What?

What?

What?

It’s not an “opinion” Tom and Z have that may be different than yours. What they say is what you get. If someone says “I’m not in a relationship with X person.” You don’t get to reply with “Hm, well in my opinion you are.”

Would you do that to people you know in real life? No? Okay, then don’t do it to Tom and Z.

Moving on...

Okay, not bad. You see that you are making them uncomfortable, and now you are going to stop. Good.

Except... wait for it.

Okay. So, you are only mad because Tom called it “annoying.” Hm... maybe should that, I don’t know, maybe, possibly, BE A SIGN THAT IT’S ANNOYING?!

“Especially considering all we deal with when it comes to the Antis”

The antis? This isn’t Peter Parker and MJ. This isn’t a fandom. There should be no “antis” because they are not characters. They are human beings.

BUT THEN

WHAT

ARE YOU SERIOUS?!?!?

Tom and Zendaya: We are not dating

This person: Of course, they’re still dating.

WHAT?

Okay listen, if you want think they’d be cute together, cool. I get that. There’s a lot of public figures where I think, oh hey, these two people have really good chemistry. I think they would be a good couple. But unless I know FOR SURE they are dating.... I would never just be like “oh lol they are just lying nah they dating” like what?

Shall we continue?

Yes? Okay.

So, the next story on this person’s account was a screenshot from someone else’s account.

Here it is:

So I start reading this going through different emotions.

Point 1: the first part of the sentence was good, but the second part not so much. Yes keep it to yourself, but like??? Don’t post at all. Also, you guys call yourselves “crackies”? Red flag.

Point 2: You are probably right. Also probably because accounts like yours and the one before post it all over social media so not only does he have to deal with it during press, but also all the time online. Good job :)

Point 3: HOW CAN YOU DO THAT. HOW CAN YOU SAY THEY ARE STILL DATING WITHOUT ANY REMORSE. LIKE WHAT.

idek know what to think. So I click on this new users profile.

It gets worse. Their story has more about this situation.

First there’s this:

Hm, interesting. You’ve “never gotten the impression that the shipping annoys them THAT much.”

Well, what about all of the other times they denied their relationship???

“Especially as we pretty much all know that they are together”

Did you... did you ever consider... that maybe... THEY ARENT TOGETHER? BECAUSE THATS WHAT THEY SAID?

“My impression has always been that they don’t care if their fans know but they hate the media.”

Um what no. Fans aren’t entitled to “know” ANYTHING. Literally nothing. And since Tom and Z have never confirmed that they are together, you don’t “know” shit.

Then there’s this:

So, let me get this straight, you think Tom was “genuinely pissed” but that doesn’t make you not believe in Tomdaya at all? Really? For real?

This is really funny now because now they are the victim. Just because you’ve been “noticed” by Tom, Z, or their friends or family doesn’t validate anything. Plus I looked through their “notices” highlight and all the posts that were getting noticed were not about Tom and Z dating lol. 

“What Tom said today and especially Jacob just flat out made us feel like we are the bad guys- and we’re not.”

Literally again, if the PEOPLE YOU ARE LITERALLY SHIPPING AND THEIR FRIENDS ARE CALLING YOU OUT ON THIS CRAP THEN YOU LITERALLY ARE THE BAD GUYS. Also, that statement totally contradicts the last one because despite your “notices” they still make public statements that they don’t like it.

Then there’s this. Like wtf?? You just said your “faves” were lying. Like maybe... you could... just back off and believe them? Strange concept I know. Also, pretty sure they were laughing because Tomdaya stans are literally crazies.

They also posted this and like??? what. Tom is “extra” because he’s trying to clear out rumors that probably damage his friendship with Z? Like this has happened with so many other celebs before. The fact that this person can just so blatantly ignore what Tom says, and say that he’s lying is mind boggling.

Lastly, I went back to the original user and this is what they had on their story:

So now, they just back tracked on literally everything they said before. It doesn’t matter what Tom or Z says, they have a fan page and they are going to post what they want even if Tom finds it annoying. Such great fans :))

Just because Z follows you, doesn’t mean anything.

I can’t. I literally can’t.

I would just like to add that the first user has 28 Thousand Followers and the second user has 55 Thousand followers. Which is just... that many people agree with what they’re posting. That’s wild to me.

Okay, I’m gonna wrap this up because this is long and I have work to do, but listen. When it comes down to it, just because two actors (human beings) are in a movie together where their characters have a romantic interest, DOES NOT MEAN YOU GET TO SHIP THE ACTORS. Think they’d be cute? Great. Keep that to yourself. It’s none of your business. The fact that some people can just refuse to listen to the very people they pretend to “love” is very very telling. Especially when those two actors/human beings have actually said that they find the shipping behavior “annoying” or are uncomfortable or have publicly announced that they are just friends.

End rant. Please feel free to add or comment

[theorynexus]

Double Fives are first, today-- or two together-arranged, 55, I should say.

Also, we’re at Meat 30.   It would seem Jake, Karkat, and Dave are spending time together, this time.

Oh gosh...   I hope Karkat wasn’t made to endure that, considering he supposedly only ever left his house once per year, even if that might be a hyperbole. @w@            His interests and Jake’s are strongly opposed on that from, it would seem.   Thus, it might have been bad for deal-making, for reasons of souring Karkat’s mood; regardless, let’s see whether their other interests might align, or some non-detrimental arrangement (for Karkat, but hopefully for Jake too) might be found between them.

Ouch.    On the other hand, at least Karkat seems to have (likely) become more comfortable with outward signs of his blood’s color.   I doubt he would have failed to realize that it likely gives that impression, even if he originally intended it to be a sign of his closeness with Dave. He almost certainly would have semi-paranoid-ly weighed the pros and cons for his emotional well-being and/or all other consequences involved, and only come to the decision that the suit was acceptable for him to wear after deciding both connotations were acceptable.

Honestly, all things considered, Jake is very much correct. Considering the boost from all his rungs on the escheladder, there’s no way his physical capabilities should be that bad.  ... Though Jake’s estimates probably would be wrong for any other sort of being that was traveling with him. I don’t think his expectations are probably all that well gauged to the individuals in his company. It’s not that I think poorly of his intelligence, mind you. It’s just that Jake can be... rather oblivious, sometimes, if memory serves.

Yeah, his judgment is totally based on his own experience. Still, though, even coated in like 5 layers of fur, Karkat shouldn’t be that worn out. At least, from a world-building perspective, this doesn’t contradict the established rule that-- oh, wait, that was ghosts changing to fit the person’s perceptions, not God Tier players’ appearances, wasn’t it?  Hmmm.

Yes. Karkat’s diplomatic skills are impeccable.  There is absolutely nobody that can beat this guy when it comes to maintaining good relationships and reputations among the important powers of the world--- nobody!

I would suspect that Alt!Calliope is being petty, here, but I think it’s just Karkat being so tired that his coordination has dropped a bit.   (Also, this is honestly rather cute, and I appreciate the opportunity to giggle at it.)

Frack, Dave is good at bringing things up in the most awkward way possible. Also, that Karkat only estimates himself as being able to beat 99% of all humans in a “threshecution threshing match” is both quite comical and somewhat sad. ._. One Percent is a whole lot of people.

***facepalms with the greatest of groans***    SHE REALLY SHOULD FRICKING NOT!!!                        (Internet freedom for all!)   That said:  GAH, Dave, are you trying to sabotage Karkat’s chances, here? On the other hand: Maybe this propensity for blunt, careless words is one of the reasons that he decided he didn’t want to run for President, himself.   If so, good on him, I guess, for knowing himself that well.

( I will say, though, that that was honestly a nice segue, despite the fact that he sortof botched the lead-up to this via his rudeness.    Karkat gets a pass, though, because everyone knows he’s crude, and that’s part of the appeal.)

The real question is:  Are these campaign dollars as in a certain allocated amount that is allowed for each candidate, or money which was donated to the campaign by those who support them and/or Dave/Karkat?  That is a pretty important distinction, politically.  Not that either will likely be addressed and/or matter directly to the outcome of the race, probably. Oh, and those adds sound incredibly silly. I am not 100% sure that they will actually in all likelihood be effective, but they sure do sound comic-(sans)-ical. On the other hand:  Jake seems to be trying to mentally suppress what’s happening to him, probably due to his feelings toward Jane.   Welp.   :|

This is a very complicated issue, and for the sake of not offending either side, I shall choose to remain silent on the real world matter at hand, here.  On the other hand, I love the way that Karkat is just like, “SHUT UP, ALREADY.”   XD

Reminds me of Caliborn.     Indeed, that is definitely the reason why such committees are actually put into place (other than the compelling economic reasons incentives).    Doesn’t mean that they actually succeed in doing so perfectly, however.    It just makes it a grey “I guess maybe they were involved,” regardless of whether the person actually suggested such adds ought go into effect or not. Buuuuut... I’m going to refrain from pushing my promised non-commentary further than that-- and only did comment with this because of its relevance to Jake’s thought process.

It seems that Karkat agrees with my assessment of this matter.  Also, Alt!Calliope sure is quite sassy, compared to the grim and highly reserved person I thought she was. I wonder if it’s because she’s been watching essentially television for eons in order to properly understand humanity+maybe the trolls or whatever, or if it’s because she’s doing it on accident, as was my initial guess/impression, as related earlier in my liveblogs.

That’s not the point, Dave. The point is that, for one, it probably makes the audience think of you as irresponsible; secondly, it wastes the most precious resource in politics: the citizens’ limited attention spans; finally, it may actually make the two of you come off as being condescending and/or not having any actual idea what you’re talking about, which would be absolutely horrible for your chances, come election time.    While campaigns can indeed turn around in the latter months of election season, first impressions are also very important!

That is a very interesting point/question. And very ironic for him to ask; not that Dave actually can’t be properly understood through his layers of irony-- but rather, while he does indeed have a talent for that, his other qualities obscure it so badly as to make it seem quite unremarkable and hidden. And there Dave goes again, saying “thats basically true [sic.]”.   Magnificent. ***will not touch the matter of how straight-forward Dirk is***

...     Man.  Hopefully, this will serve as a lesson to the both of them.    Jake’s reaction is so bloody on the point, though. @w@

I do honestly appreciate that too.  Wow, though, he is being surprisingly civil and respectful as a result of this.  It shouldn’t honestly be a surprise, considering who Jake is.  It’s just... wow. I really appreciate the breath of fresh air.

Yeeeeesss!!!~    <3       I love everything about this that follows!    While he can be quite oblivious at times, I have always thought that Jake’s intelligence was top-notch, and I quite appreciate his flexing it, as well as that wonderfully noted breath of FREEDOM whizzing into his sails!

Boooooo!!!~     I really quite appreciate the correct and excellent display of entomological knowledge, here, but DANG, if Dirk isn’t a slimy piece of garbage, sometimes!     I mean, my gosh, the sociopathic logic, here.  It’s horrific! As for Jake:  I am very proud of him, and appreciate his very appropriate question. Everyone should ask the qualities that politicians bring to the table, policy-wise, and their (+ dis-)advantages--- not just how charismatic they are. Of course, such a statement is stating the obvious. ‘s still good to see it in practice. ... Wow, I really love Alt!Calliope’s sass. So much.

HECK YES! :’D

***grooooaaan***    

FINALLY, CERTAINTY!!!

Aside from his lack of attraction for her, which says nothing of importance, I do in fact agree with Karkat, here.  This is essentially the equivalent of the moment when the United States switched to the Constitution, and the country absolutely needed a Washington.  If Adams had actually been elected, instead of getting the second-highest sum of votes, then both the contry and the entire world could have turned out quite differently.  I, too, do  believe that Crocker could be reasonably said to have a fair chance at acting as a President who doesn’t really shake things up too terribly, and actually manages to set a perfectly fine, perhaps above average standard for Presidents to come.   There are, however, certain points in history which require great leaders if things are going to pan out well in the long-term. Crocker just presents far too many potential problems while not offering enough in the way of positives for me to give a strong endorsement of her, despite my desire to see a female president eventually take office in the United States’ equivalent of the station she and Karkat are competing over.

(SUPPORT KARKAT FOR HIS BETTER APPRECIATION OF FUNDAMENTAL PHILOSOPHICAL ORDERS OF IMPORTANCE.)

Yeeeeaaaahhh...   She was already quite twisted up (read: pained) inside during the session as a result of her concern for maintaining appearances and manipulating peoples’ perceptions of her, unless my memory is horrible in this particular act of dredging up long-ago readings’ implications, so I could certainly see that growing to be a problem as she grew up.    I’d sortof hoped that that would cease to be so much of an issue, after their session was won, considering the rewards involved/gained as a result of that.    :/

...    Yeah, that is a good deal of whiplash. I am honestly pained.

Dangit, I was so swept up in my spiel about the direct political consequences of that decision/strategy that I forgot to emphasize the very obvious danger of it actually alienating Jake from her!

***sobs***   I am so proud of him!    (Though this is not exactly the best reason for choosing one’s political decisions, I can definitely get behind the idea of him striving for independence from that manipulative cur.) 

What Dave said, but less profanity-laced! Also:   Am I incorrect in remembering that God Tier players past a certain Tier are able to wield any weapon they desire, regardless of whether they have a       Kind Abstratus of the appropriate sort in their strife specibus?  That could become relevant, some time in the near future.

[ghoulstars]

im only posting this bc i desperately need to exorcise this thought somewhere bc it wont fucking leave me alone

those of you who know me personally or follow my instagram know about this but for those of you who dont: in a horrible turn of events, our plan to put down our geriatric yellow labrador retriever dixie was unfortunately and unexpectedly doubled today to having to put down our 3 year old engam bulldog, bean, as well

when we got him in mid december, 2015 he was barely out of puppyhood, we found him wandering around near the highway at our local gas station with a collar and no tag, trying to jump into two out-of-towner girls’ car. my stepdad intervened bc they couldnt take bean with them obviously, and brought him home instead.

we put up lost dog flyers everywhere all over our very small city, in an attempt to maybe see if someone would indeed come forward for their dog. we knew he wasnt just a stray because of his collar.

almost right off the bat, we were told by a woman who worked at the gas station that there was a man who lived in the trailer park just across the road, located behind the pancake diner. you can see it from the gas station parking lot. she told us that he had a lot of dogs that he typically kept chained up outside in poor conditions, and beat them regularly. to us? it seemed totally reasonable that that must’ve been where bean came from, given the fact he was a dog and we found him literally less than 50 feet away from where this fucking man lived.

no one came forward to claim bean. we kept those flyers up for months, we only put them up to begin with knowing he may have been thrown out by (or escaped from) this disgusting man just because there was the possibility that it wasn’t his dog, but someone else’s. as well as the potential for legal intervention if this fabled abuser found out we had technically stolen his dog (and full disclosure, fuck him for what he does, i hope all his dogs get stolen like they need to be, i myself was not fond of the idea of just giving the dog back to this creep if he was indeed the owner but i was only 16 at the time so there wasnt much i could do)

with no one claiming bean, after those months passed, we decided that he was ours now. flyers were taken down, we gave him his collar and nametag, to be real he’d already been named by us in the first few days we had him. he was going to be ours no matter what; my mother always told me its a rule that if you name a stray, and do it quick before anyone can object to keeping it, it’s yours now. that’s your pet, with it’s new name.

so we carried on with our lives, now having not just one dog, but two. it was a bit iffy with my stepfather keeping bean since we didnt technically need to manage two dogs at the time, but we still did it anyways because we loved him, the little bean man.

but here’s where my problem lies and this is why im writing this now: as time went on and we continued to have bean as our pet, some stuff about the original suggestion that he belonged to an abusive older man who lived in close proximity to where we found bean wasnt adding up

due to dixie’s failing body, she would sometimes lose control of her bowels inside the house, which was becoming unacceptable when she stayed in overnight. so, she stayed outside. she and bean bonded, so they stayed outside together too. (and for clarity here, i know what some of you might want to say, but we knew very early on that bulldogs do not do well with heat or isolation. we also know that dixie probably shouldve been put down years ago, but here’s the trouble: my stepfather would not let us euthanize her. she is his dog technically, and the thought hurt him so much that he would not agree to it for YEARS. dixie and bean were too attached to separate them for long periods of time like they would be if we kept bean inside mostly and her outside mostly; that would’ve been cruel in its own special way. we put pools out for bean and visited with both dogs for as much as we could outside, bathed them, put fans out for them in the summer. our only option to give bean the main love and care he needed was, and of course we had other reasons to do this, to put dixie down, which was where we thought we were finally going to be by tomorrow, but thats not what happened, as you can tell)

as to be expected, bean sometimes found his way inside, mostly by applying his american bulldog traits to memorizing when unfamiliar guests would come over and bolt in the house. he did this enough times and very recently we were letting him stay inside instead of taking him back out, and all of these experiences combined, we noticed something: bean was housebroken. he was out of practice with it, and did not know very well how to communicate that he needed to go outside to use the bathroom, but he did know what to do. he would run to the door if he had to go, not always making it, but still, he was housebroken. he only marked furniture once while inside, in his entire lifespan thus far. that was a red flag to us, but especially my mother, who realized this skill of beans directly contradicted the statement that he was probably kept outside, chained up, starved, and beaten by the trailer park guy. not to mention, bean came to us in nearly perfect condition to begin with, just skinny. no patches of fur gone, he was the opposite of skittish and aggressive, no bruises, nothing. just a loving, bouncy, stupid bulldog mix

this, im not sure if im correct about this, but it stands out enough to me that i feel its worth mentioning: bean is not a mutt of any kind, and his breed contradicts those types of breeds most people who abuse animals come to own; usually large breeds, breeds inaccurately known for aggression, and breeds used by abusers to make aggressive bc they know the fighting power of these dogs (pitbulls, american bulldogs, etc). bean is an engam bulldog (english/american mix), which is a very obscure mixed breed dog to begin with and especially obscure where i live, and as we all know english bulldogs are short, stout, fat little things that can basically do no harm whatsoever. they also have a history of inbreeding to look how they do. i know this man may have just seen ‘bulldog’ and snagged him thinking he’d be aggressive, but that does not sit right with me for two other reasons: bean’s conformation (body structure) and coloration. there is nothing about bean that suggests he was bred to be used for fighting, or that he’s a true mutt, or anything of the sort. his body type literally resembles that of show dogs, and his fur coloration is highly unusual because he’s blue. obviously not literally blue but the type of blue-grey you can find in animals, typically seen in cats. bean’s coloration is almost NEVER found in ANY breed of bulldog, it is INCREDIBLY rare that he looks like this. his condition in which we found him, his housebrokenness, his color and his body formation lead, in me and my family’s opinion, to an alternative opinion: he belonged to someone that got him because they wanted a dog as a pet, not to beat, and they either bred him themselves or bought him (probably from a pet store or breeder) for his color and conformation. 

but why would they dump a dog this valuable? my mom said this to me earlier, sobbing after she returned from the vet today, and this is my whole reason for writing this insane fucking novel of a post: whoever dumped bean threw out a sick puppy, and on purpose.

bean hasnt been injured or contracted an unvaccinated illness or anything like that. he had been experiencing extreme stomach distension for the past month, whereas he was losing weight everywhere else on his body. he had also been vomiting. but he wasnt depressed, or lethargic. maybe his personality was a little off but not so much it was horribly noticeable, and at that, he was still eating regularly everyday. we came to the conclusion he had parasites, though ive always been terrified something more serious was going on (i dont get listened to though).

as it turns out, i was right. mom took him in today, the day before dixie was set to be put down, for his deworming pills. what she got instead was a diagnosis of possible lung cancer. his blood work was normal, which is unusual in animals with cancer, but he still had nodules on his lungs that highly resembled cancer. his heart was also severely enlarged due to heartworms, and his stomach was so distended because it was full of fluid and blood. they did send his blood off for labs, but even if his lungs were fine, he was going to die anyway (they got a second opinion from another practice and they also agree it was probably cancerous). he has a 15% survival rate for only the very first heartworm treatment, which will cost $500. nothing lives very long with an enlarged heart to begin with. we don’t have that money, and for a treatment that will definitely kill him? i dont even know why he has so much blood and fluid in his digestive tract. bean, a dog who is only 3 or 4 years old, has an enlarged heart, lung tumors and fluid/blood all in his abdomen. the vet was apparently stunned that a dog this young could have this many potentially (and one definitely) fatal health problem(s).

i now fully believe that whoever owned him before knew he had all these issues, or that he was going to develop them. i think it makes sense. i also think they’re cheap, cruel fucks who didnt want to shell out that much money to take care of him, or pay to take him to a shelter/sanctuary, and so what did they do? they did what many people these days very regularly do when their new pet has become undesirable: they fucking dumped him on the side of the road and booked it. took his nametag off and everything, to make him look like a stray. they left him for some well meaning, animal loving family like mine to find him, not know anything about these preexisting health issues, and assume he’s healthy enough; maybe just needs a few more vaccinations and a worm and flea treatment. he showed no signs of lung cancer or heart problems in all his life up until this past month, and he’s still so young. i will even go as far as to say that he himself may be severely inbred, which could be the cause of these health issues. given his specific posture and color, and that he’s a bulldog, it’d make sense. it seems like he came from some kind of breeder to begin with anyway.

so now that ive said that and got it all out of the way, i want to leave an open letter to the hypothetical cunt that did this to us and bean:

i hope god fucking strikes you down where you stand. i hope every single day of your miserable fucking life, you think about where he ended up, if he’s still alive, if anyone found him, if he ever got hit by a car or died alone of cancer and heart failure in a field somewhere. i hope you feel guilt for leaving him knowing he’d develop cancer and that he had heart worms, and knowing you did it BECAUSE of that. i hope you never fucking forget about the fact that you threw an INNOCENT LITTLE PUPPY out on the highway because you just didnt want to have anything to do with his illnesses, and i hope one day you find out what you did to us and this innocent little boy. he’s such a good fucking dog, he is so patient, kind, loving and gentle, and when he has bursts of energy to play he fucking goes, and now he has to die barely halfway through his lifespan because of your fucking negligence. he is laying outside on the porch right now, uncomfortable with fluids and blood backing up his intestines, coughing and huffing just to try and breathe. at the very least, if he were taken to the right shelter, he couldve been fucking cared for and given treatments to extend his life as much as possible, or at least given hospice care for however long he could live, which has now been shortened to 3 or 4 years. if you yourself knew this dog was inbred or you inbred him yourself, fuck you. i hope you get run over by a fucking truck. this breed can live from 12-16 years, that’s a LONG time for a dog like him, and you had to fucking ruin it all because of your own fucking preferences; you wanted the perfect dog. and you could’ve had him if you’d grown a fucking heart and actually gave a shit about animals beyond how they look aesthetically; as well, if you fucking actually gave a shit about your animals HEALTH and wanted to maintain it instead of apparently assuming he’d just be fine and healthy with all his vaccinations and that’d be the end of it. you do not deserve to own an animal if you dont even want to acknowledge it will sometimes need medical care, how fucking heartless are you? we never had enough money to take care of dixie’s failing health, and we always knew it’d be better to put her down, but my stepdad kept refusing. you had enough money to fucking breed or buy a blue show-quality engam bulldog and you still wouldnt fucking care for him after you found out what problems he had. fuck you. eat shit and die. i hope you never find peace from the guilt of knowing you fucking killed what became our dog because you’re selfish. my mother is physically sick with grief. i am physically sick with grief. i feel so bad that it’s as if i have the fucking flu. i was trying to talk with my mother about this situation earlier and i had to rush to leave because i felt like i was about to throw up if i didnt. everyone in this house has cried so much today it’s disgusting. 

the only thing good about this is that bean came along for dixie when she needed him most, and became her helper and provider, giving her company and being a literal post to lean on for when she couldnt see where she was going. they’re going over the rainbow bridge tomorrow morning together, and in a way, this is probably the best outcome. at least bean wont have to grieve. dixie can see her old companion again (who died from a ruptured tumor in 2014) and bean can meet him, and they can all play and be together in that field in the sky. 

my family will never have another dog again because of this pain this has caused us.

[3ternaln0w]

Journalist Jaroslaw Kowal interviewed Luton for Dni Muzyki Nowej Festival, Jan 2019.

Jaroslaw Kowal: Is that correct that “Black Box Animals” were written and recorded in various places across the Europe? How long did it take to make a whole album?

Rob: Yes, That’s correct. The whole thing took about 7 months, If I remember well.

Attilio: I think we had a clear vision from the beginning, it’s been a delicate and complex process but at same time everything was quite instinctive and so, step by step, we ended up at the crucial part of the album and for what I remember the last month was something really intense.

J: Was it initially planned to record music in several places or did You made that decision spontaneously?

R: It wasn’t initially planned, but since I was traveling quite a lot in Europe at that time, at some point I just realized it was way more enjoyable and spontaneous writing/composing on the road, getting ideas whilst hiking in the wilderness instead of being isolated in a studio like we normally do, so I personally tried to keep that way as much as possible. It was like a back and forth nature/studio.

A: Being all the time in a studio could be extremely boring and unproductive, sometimes. The fact the Black Box Animals was recorded in several different places is in my opinion what makes this music authentic and possibly with a so called wild character. So even without planning that much, that happened eventually.

J: “Black Box Animals” is a very dark album, with field recordings included and many different instruments, yet I wouldn’t call it a 100% experimental music - there’s a lot of melody in it. What is a perfect balance between those two worlds that for many musicians are opposite and can’t be combined?

R: Melody was already part of the intuition when Luton thing started, but at the same time nothing was really planned as we were open to the different explorations and sonic practices. I remember when I initially spoke about the idea to Attilio, I was probably way more into the orchestral part of the package but the bigger picture eventually came to us ended up in this sort of collision between those two worlds, strings and abstract electronics.  We weren’t interested in being stuck in a single genre or label, though. In this terms we probably see Luton like a sort of open laboratory.

A: Neither do I consider Black Box Animals as a 100% experimental album and even  the use of field-recordings is something marginal in my opinion. Creating compositions for classical instruments, sometimes even really ancient ones like russian zithers for example, and blend them with their opposite in terms of nature of sound, that was the main effort in this case. The contrast between a certain dark atmosphere that permeates the whole work and melody is just the natural consequence of the process in itself.

J: Is experimental or improvised music actually evolving? Do You see it changing across last five-six decades or is it more or less the same? On the other hand pop music - which is often seen as music without a soul - is clearly changing year after year. That makes me wonder, which of those is actually more progressive?

R: That’s a tricky question. I’ve never considered pop music a thing without soul, anyway. Music is music but also it is much more than that. We could discuss about that for a long while now and I’m pretty sure that would be very exciting to find out where every word could lead us at some point, the language-like stuff would come out, but at end of the day, I don’t really believe separateness is a great idea, so if you relate the word “experimental” in a John Cage way, thats perfectly fine by me then. We experiment with sounds. That’s what we do and lots of musicians in every genre do, after all. Everything else changes all the time and nothing really ends. It’s not like the world’s gone to shit now and stuff like that, almost the opposite I’d say. It’s a feedback loop, we -as human beings- don’t really need to put some language on it.  

A. I personally think that experimental music is always in a never ending evolution. There are several artists keep going in really interesting directions, and this for me means looking for a personal expressive code, basically. But, in my opinion, there’s an annoying downside in contemporary music which is in the difficulty to perceive distinctly the artistic value from the marketing side. Marketing has nothing to do with quality in music or in art in general. Everybody knows that but unfortunately is really frequent that poor and soulless music are sold as sensational hype in really closed circuits, which is something we don’t really like or support honestly. About pop music, well, my preferences are often limited to what I used to listen to when I was younger, so for me it has an almost exclusively emotional value.

J: You are both from Italy, but at Your facebook page Stockholm is set as a home town. Are You located there at the moment and why did You decided to leave Italy?

R: We’ve been to Stockholm a couple of times. We were involved in a sound residency in electronic music at Ems Studios, a truly magical place with an extraordinary vibe and amazing staff. We recorded massive amounts of raw sounds and crazy “bleep booops shshshs trtrrtrtr” (…) from this incredible Buchla modular synthesizer but nothing from those sessions really ended up Luton, eventually. Sad story. But a couple of tracks in the album were recorded there and especially “Sodermalm Phantom Cab” is something really influenced by our Swedish adventures at EMS studios and good times spent together in Sweden. Said that, I’ve been living in Manchester (UK) for a couple of years now and Attilio lives in Southern Italy. There’s not a really specific reason why I have decided to leave Italy I’m afraid, I guess I was interested in leaving my comfort zone for a while at that time.

A: The connection between Black Box Animals and Stockholm is something really strong and without our time spent together in Sweden, our music would not be made in this way, I’m pretty sure. I personally have always lived in Catanzaro, a small windy city in the deepest south of Italy. But generally speaking, traveling is always a great inspiration for the musical composition. However, I tend to always come back to my hometown. I’m going to spend at least three months in Madrid in Spain in the next few months and I am curious to see what this will bring to my music.

J: Stereotypically Italy - or even whole southern Europe - is seen as a sunny place with parties from dusk till dawn, but Your compositions are very far from that. Is it actually that rare to hear Italian band playing so dark and melancholic music?

R: It seems we’re definitely far from that then ahah, but yeah lots of music from Italy it is indeed. It’s not that rare at all. And If you have the chance to check out some experimental music from ‘60-70s too, Archivio Rai or early minimalism, Luciano Cilio, and many others, well, that’s not sunny music at all. Speaking about melancholia, well could be probably because of a sort of mediterranean DNA, couldn’t be? It’s a cultural thing or something like that I guess. But yeah, sun is good. FACT!

A: What Roberto said is true, I believe that the melancholic connotation of music reflects a character, but it is something really difficult to explain with words indeed. Søren Kierkegaard said: “if you ask a melancholic what reason he has for his condition, what do you know what is it, I can not explain it? “Therein lies melancholy’s infinitude.”

J: I’ve seen Your rider and it seems that You have a very clear idea of how Your live shows should look like - no front lights, just monochromatic light behind You or completely dark room with the smoke. I can see how it fits music from “Black Box Animals”, but do You need that only for visual aspect or does it help You get into right mood? Is it somehow helping You on stage?

R: Something truly interesting happens when you listen, performing or doing things in the darkness and/or in self-imposed situations/conditions. I mean, it doesn’t have to be complete darkness, but we try to avoid any interference from music, like visuals, heavy lighting or too many things going together at the same time. Maybe in the future could be different, we are open to explore different ways actually.

A: Darkness is something really helpful to stay focused, but also for meditation and contemplation in general, and I believe it can facilitate people joining any kind of experience. In regard to the live show we would like not having any kind of aesthetic or sensory impulse to interfere the sound. This is also really helpful for us to play in the right condition in order to enter in our dimension. A black box.

J: First sentence in Your bio states that “Luton is an anti modernist duo” - is that because modernism is mostly about realism and it seems that Your music is more about “magic”?

R: That was a statement by Attilio so I would like to ask him if he could explain to us. But yes, about magic, what could I really say? I really do like the idea about that, if you ask me. Music or I would say sound primarily is magic indeed to me, like a primitive force or an invisible spirit world that I pretend to comprehend, and in my mind disturbing a system that I can’t understand and see what happens, well that’s what I call an experiment. At the same time the nature of sound is really similar to botanic or biology. With sounds you can say these big abstract things, something you can’t express with the alphabet. When the word fails the magic happens. Paying attention, contemplation, contradiction, moving all things back where there is nothing is probably my subconscious purpose. And -in this purpose- nature of sounds is my white light, my teaching voice.

A: You should add something really crucial to what you said, Rob. Capitalist Realism, the book by Mark Fisher was a great inspiration for the making of the album. We both are into Fisher vision of the modern life, and we are sadly observing that the widespread feeling of resignation and unhappiness that permeates our lives in general really depends on the capitalistic system and the neoliberalism that has changed any aspect of the social sphere. So work and life, social and real life became inseparable, capital follows us when we sleep, and unfortunately as you can imagine music and arts are included in the symptoms of our current cultural malaise too. Luton is anti-modernist in the sense that we try to reject our frustration of dealing with a so called entrepreneurial fantasy society, by trying to support ourselves to the ritual, the shamanic, the primitive, but also the anarchist side of the music, possibly without being attached too much to something in particular in terms of genre or hype.

J: It’s a bit of a cliché to call an album a soundtrack to non-existing movie, but “Black Box Animals” sounds very cinematic.  Did You draw any inspirations from cinema art?

R: I personally studied cinema and wrote about that quite a lot when I was younger, so most probably thats still a big influence to me, but yeah we are both inspired by movies for sure. In terms of sounds, I think the way I worked with the orchestral part in this album is what makes the whole thing very cinematic, stuff like 4d sounds, spatialization, timbres etc. We are now interested in a different approach for the new material which is slightly more like painting or drawing abstract lines but with sound dynamics. You have to capture the right thing, but you don’t know what the right thing means exactly. Most of the times, I have not any clue about what’s going on, I’m just one of those dots between all these abstractions around me like a string extending from the top of my head to a distant cloud or star. It’s really odd.

A: Ours is a cinematic music for sure. Rob and I often discuss ourselves a lot about cinema and we constantly share different point of views about that. This in fact has played an important role in our friendship, I must say. For a song of the album, “Sodermalm Phantom Cab”, we asked Ion Indolean, a young Romanian filmmaker, to direct a videoclip. His style is in some ways similar to new Greek neorealism. We would also like to experiment with other forms of cinema and filmmakers in the near future.

J: What I’m quite sure is that dance and theatre are inspiration for You - both of You have experience in that field. How different is that to writing music without a script You need to fit to?

R: They are, indeed, especially contemporary dance personally. Writing music for commissions is challenging, sometimes frustrating, not always rewarding but you generally learn a lot from it which is good.

A: Experience I had with dance and theatre helped me to develop the ability to adapt my sounds to a context that was almost completely unknown to me. I find it much easier to express myself with self-defined limits. The work I did for Luton was facilitated by the complexities of previous experiences.

J: There are lots of the instruments on “Black Box Animals”, but I guess it’s not possible to bring them all on a live show? How different is this material live to what can be heard on album?

R: Thats considerably different. I would say the album is more like a sort of slow journey whilst the live version maybe a bit more like a black vortex, and consequently more physical, droney and abstract, but also we’re trying to get the job done with some reiterative piano moments in between and we’ll see how it goes. Does it make sense? I don’t know, everything is a process indeed.

A: At this stage we should prepare ourselves to the darkest side of Luton. However, there will be the presence of the piano which is something we’re really into at the moment.

J: What struck me the most is that You’ve started Luton just recently, but it feels like You understands each other perfectly. Were You a friends before starting Luton?

R: Well, I think we impersonate each other in a way, as we actually met each other only twice in the real life and we also live in different countries. But -you know- in Luton we’re just two guys swapping these sort of messy lines on a white canvas, making a lot room for fuckery if you know what I mean. For me that makes sense and it’s way more interesting and flexible that being in the same room jamming on ideas or having strict roles. There’s a kind of mix between mistery, alchemy and playfulness between us and I think we really enjoy.  

A: We live in different countries, that’s a fact, but that doesn’t make much difference. Sometimes our level of interaction might be really intense and so our conversations. This is one of the positive sides of the internet age, after all. We’ve known each other for several years but in my opinion he’s like a childhood friend of mine. Connections between people have something mysterious and impossible to understand on a deep level, sometimes.

J: In January You’ll perform in Poland for the first time. Do You have any favorite artists that comes from here?

R: Penderecki and Eugeniusz Rudnik.

A: Apart from Penderecki, I enjoyed the music of contemporary ambient-experimental musicians like Gregg Kowalsky and Jacaszek.

A mention for my friend Nicholas Szczepanik too, American but with Polish origins.

J: Thanks for Your time.

R: Thanks so much, guys

A: Dziękuję, do widzenia.   

[rdlogo]

Link Location: http://ift.tt/2qQEpNa That has been so brilliantly put. Yes, you certainly do believe in the Messiah but our contention is "which" messiah - the messiah of christianity or the messiah of islam or the messiah that is still to come - which one. I agree with this and thanks for the clarifications once more.

I do see how very much of a doubtful ordeal it can be for you that the early church historical contentions that led to factions with split canons could create confusion in the minds of outside-lookers. But just because the issue of division among Judaism is reducing does not mean that they do not still exist. Just wanted to throw that in, in a chessy way haha :) But this still comes back down to the simple logical postulates - either all are wrong or - 1 is right

And you have asked me which denominations I go with. What I believe you should be asking me is "which cannon" I go with. This is because many differnt denominations believe the same canons. Surely, I could easily provide you with an essay on all of these but, I might be wrong so please correct me, but that would be drifting away from the main topic regarding "HISTORICAL RELAIABLITY" of the claim of Jesus being the Messiah that has already come. That is to say, we have a set of valid list of mere historical documents believed to coherently all suggest that Jesus is the messiah. Let us scrap the fact that HE is God for now and just stick to messiah. This is to appreciate that yes, there are differences in theologies and heresies but that does not destroy the underlying denominator common factor.

Canonised or not by who's faction/ denomination, heretical or not, I am not making a fuss over mere valid historicity; I am claiming that ALL these ANCIENT books (old testament included) point to Jesus being the Messiah and in no way do they incoherently contradict that fact. So I can escape their differences such as the Gnostic Christians or Muslims (who are another heretical christian group) and just say that we all believe that this one man, JESUS is the Messiah.

Yes, you have brought up a wonderful, exciting and intellectually stimulating sandwich point.

Now to address the inside of the sandwich point you made was 1. The issue of abrogation 2. The issue of Elohim being a man

1. The Issue of abrogation: I certainly do understand the angst of thinking that Elohim's words can be abrogated. Surely, one would think that Elohim does not change HIS mind. I mean, HIS words are supposed to be eternal and immutable. Both of us would agree to that on ground of coherent theology. However, I can only speak for the Christian Faith that I believe in on my own personal level (regardless of islam or other denominations that agree with me or I think are heretical).

You have mentioned abrogation. However, this is to conflate islam with christianity. Islam teaches a doctrine of abrogation, Christianity doesnt. What Christianity teaching is a doctrine of the old becoming obselete and the enactment of the NEW TESTAMENT PROMISED IN THE OLD TESTAMENT.

Jeremiah 31:31-34 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

There is a misunderstanding-equivocation you may be eluding to, correct me if I'm wrong. In the Christian Doctrine (at least, the one I subscribe to), the word "Old Testament" could mean two things - the law of Moses (LoM) - the set of books of the bible

The Law of Moses is obselete (Old Testament) not the set of books. So when I real Genesis and places in the bible that occured before the LoM, those are not obselete. Stories are not obselete, only the judicial LoM on the OT books ... not abrogated according to the christian doctrine. This is to make sure that you're not conflating "obselete" and "abrogation" together. But this means that the Law of Moses (OT) still exists as a viable way to relate to God if one chooses to. Nobody is saying that it is evil or impotent in giving you what it promises ... we (christians) are just saying that we rather prefer Jesus because we have broken the OT and incurred unto ourselves and our several generations to come "cursees upon curses upon curses" (Deuteronomy 28:15-68). Even David in the Pslam, by the Spirit of Elohim said,

Psalm 32:1-2 1{A Psalm of David, Maschil.} Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. 2Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.

David looked to a time where a Perfectly Just Elohim will not imput iniquity to a man - well, Christians believe that, that can only happen if a Perfectly Just Elohim has perfectly and judicially satisfied all the conditions for doing that. This, I believe, can only be seen in Jesus the Messiah. This way, I believe I have satisfied your arguement regarding 1 Samuel 15:29 to show you that Christians do not believe that Elohim has taken "back what HE says" (abbrogated- its still there for the taking)  and neither has HE changed HIS mind. The OT/ LoM is still there for you to observe, it has not gone away. You are free to die the death that the LoM actually commands and pay the price for your sins eternally in hell (thats what the OT says - i'm saying this with a straight face because the law doesnt have emotions. The law is the law and bends for no one). You will die eternally in hell because the LoM is nothing in summary but a choice between Blessings and Curses which, according to the OT are synonymous to Life and Death (Deuteronmy 30:19).

Psalm 49:7-9 7No man can by any means redeem his brother             Or give to God a ransom for him—

      8For the redemption of his soul is costly,             And he should cease trying forever—

      9That he should live on eternally,             That he should not undergo decay.

Isaiah 64:6 We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind.

2. The Issue of Elohim being Man Surely, you and I both know that an Omniscient Elohim CAN become a man. If not, we would both be heretics. That's just the logic. So, thank Elohim that HE has made us wiser than that - Hallelujah. But the issue is we're facing is if Elohim is a man by virtue of ESSENCE. To which I disagree. And you too do. Elohim is wholly and necessarily "Other" - Holy (Kadosh), not just in all creation but in all of existent - HE is not contingent on any other for HIS existent but HIMSELF - The Self-Existing. HE is the Ultimate reality and without HIM, nothing can exist. I do not believe that you want to debate that Omnipotent Elohim CANNOT become man because that is rationally undermining the intelligence of a man of your calibr; however, I will have to clarify to you regarding the linguistic hermeneutics of the proper exegesis of the bible passages you have given me about Elohim not ESSENTIALLY being man or having ESSENTIAL attributes of being man.

Numbers 23:19 is a subjuctive conditional that does not exempt Omnipotent Elohim on being man. The context is CONDITIONAL on Elohim telling lies or changing HIS mind like man. If I say, "I am not a husband that I should beat my wife". Nothing in that statement stops me from being a husband. It just says that I am not the kind of husband that beats his wife. So, yes, Omnipotent Elohim can be man, but HE is not going to be the kind of man that lies or the kind of human being that changes HIS mind regarding what HE has spoken to do or promised to fulfil.

Another of my exegesis, which you are free to critically analyse is Malachi 3:6. Surely, you and I don't think that Elohim is like an unchanging-static statue ... if not, HE would be able to move HIS lips to say those words. Rather, the context is referring to Omnipotent Elohim's Character/ Attitude. Pertaining to the introduction of the NT. Nothing here stops Elohim from introducing the NT. You see, the OT has not been changed - it's still there for the taking and yes, the OT will destroy you with many many many curses. If anything be the point, its that the LoM stands in direct contradiction to Malachi 3:6 if God meant that the HE would not change from taking the LoM to be the Law for Everyone, Everywhere, Everytime (according to your own interpretaion/ exegesis) - it is, but you can judicially migrate to letting El the Son(Jesus) Satisfy the LoM and stay in the Blessings that Sinless Jesus Provides. Let HIM be under the LoM and you stay under the benefits that HE provides. That's the christian way.

Lastly, I really love your fire and passioin for the Word of God. I really respect that in a human being. This is because what I see you doing is taking Ecclesiastes 1:9 and 'universalising' to produce the necessary spiritual authority of consistency and coherence into every aspect of life. This is wonderful and not wrong on a poetic level. However, on a mere context review, your exegesis stands in direct contradiction to Jeremiah who prophesied about a new covenant/ testament. But if you take the context as I would interpret it, that it is talking about daily activities "under the sun" and not merely "divine testaments/ covenants between man and God", then you will notice that the covenant beteween man and God EXTRUDES "beyond the sun" (symbolic representation of the physical world), "above the sun" and into the spiritual world. So, I could further argue if basing my evidence on this verse alone that God's Testament could change, but I'm not. I am rather saying that it does not apply as you suggest it does. I believe that God's Testaments are eternal and unchanging... but that does not mean that it is impossible to trustfully let Infinitely Omnipotent and Holy El th Son fulfil the LoM and take the consequences on your behalf in the flesh.

Looking forward to your valued thoughts. Take you time, I know ive written a lot :)

#ComeToJesus