#the rabbit and moon are correlated in my culture

[topnotchquark]

Uhhhh you guys want some Bezz x Cele fluff? Because I wrote 1800+ words of Bezz x Cele fluff. Yes it's Boarding School au man wtf we live in a society of course I wrote the Boarding school au.

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Bezz pokes at the scab just above his knee. It's freshly formed, he had absorbed impact from Pecco running into him on the field during practice yesterday. His kneepads had mostly protected him but caused the skin to rub off at that particular spot.

Bezz had always had the habit of picking at his wounds, more out of boredom than anything else. When Cele was around, he would simply ask him to stop torturing his own body like a little moth in the hands of a rambunctious toddler, but Cele had been away for three days from school for a family thing. The wedding of some distant cousin combined with some medical check that Cele needed in the city. His dad had come to pick him up and Bezz had walked with him to drop him off and to say hello to Cele's dad.

3 days shouldn't feel like a lot and Bezz had a thousand different things to do, what with the upcoming national level games season and schoolwork dictating his every minute, but he still thought about Cele. He missed sitting next to him for all meals, he missed Cele coming upstairs to see him after lights out, he missed how he would agree without much resistance when Bezz wanted to sneak out at night, he missed Cele foraging for fruits in the woods and bringing them back for everyone to eat, he missed running into him in the corridors during classes, and of course he missed him on the field because Jaume was too young to be a good practice session replacement for the team. 

Bezz is about to wreck carnage absent mindedly on his wound when Luca comes out of the phone room and pats Bezz on the shoulder.

The boys get to call home twice a week from a room divided into little booths, the attendant in the room sat there to note your name down and tell you to put the phone down when your time was up.

Bezz makes his way to the booth in the far left corner that Luca just left, he nods to Pecco in the other corner who is on call and dials his dad's number that he knows by heart. They talk about his preparation for the upcoming season and his dad tells him about things in the garage, next he calls his mum and she asks him about school and classes and practice and his little sister screams a quick hello to him and when he keeps the phone down with quick exchanges of "work hard" and "miss you" and "I love you" his heart feels a bit wonky. It's been years away from home but he still hasn't fully learnt how to squash that feeling.

Before keeping the phone down he makes a split second decision and calls Cele's mom, another number he knows by heart for some reason.

"Oi Bezzechi, you've been hogging that phone forever, put it down!!" The attendant shouts at him, his brows furrowed.

"Yes sorry please please please just one moment" Bezz quickly pleads as he waits for the line to connect. The attendant tells him to make it quick as Cele's mom answers. She sweetly asks Bezz how he's been doing as she calls Cele over to hand him the phone.

"Marco, is everything okay?" Cele's newly matured voice implores. 

"Uhh yes why wouldn't it be?"

"You're calling from school."

"Ah. Yes yes. Just wanted to tell you to, uhhh, yeah come back soon cele practice isn't great"

"Is Jaume not good"

"No no he's fine. Just. You know......"

"Hmmm. I get it. Listen Bezz, I need you to help me okay I have some stuff with me when I get back okay"

"Yeah sure. Listen I gotta go okay this man will cancel all my calls for the next month okay. I miss you, bye."

"I, uhh, I miss you too Marco, bye"

Bezz doesn't spend too much time thinking about Cele's request. He's probably sneaking some food into the dormitory which isn't allowed and the weird luggage checking procedure makes it so that you just have to be extra careful with the contraband.

The next day when Bezz comes down to dinner after practice and evening study he finds Cele already in the dining hall. He hurries over to him and immediately wraps him into a hug, slapping his back and ruffling his curls.

"I thought you wouldn't be here till tomorrow! Who dropped you off?"

"My cousin, he was on his way back to University so I came back early. Listen, Marco......"

Whatever it is that Cele wanted to tell Bezz is cut off by Pecco, Luca, and Franco gathering around him and asking him how was home and he better be up to speed for the morning practice tomorrow and what did the doctor say and if he found any cute girls at the wedding.

All throughout dinner Bezz notices Cele fidgeting nervously, pushing his food around as Luca talks about the rival regional teams they will be facing and the specific characteristics of every player he can recall.

Post dinner, the boys walk back to their house building in a group, Cele quickly dipping into the dormitory on the first floor as the rest make their way up to the rooms.

Before Bezz can go back downstairs to ask Cele what's up, Pecco reminds him to finish his trig homework lest he be skinned alive by the teacher and Bezz enlists the help of both Luca and Pecco to get through the exercises.

It's an hour past lights out when Bezz is finally done and before he has a moment to lie down Cele comes into the room. His eyes look a bit crazy and the pockets of his jacket are puffed up weirdly but before Bezz can ask any questions Cele starts yanking at his arm to get up.

"hurry up Marco!!!" Cele hisses, straining to keep his voice low

"Okay okay damn let me put on my shoes"

"Take the torch please" cele whines.

Bezz raises his brows but doesn't protest much. Torches are reserved for the big expedition sneak outs, the ones you have to plan for, the ones away from their usual haunts, torches are a liability, they draw the attention of the school guards. Bezz still takes his and hides it in his pocket.

They silently get out through the windows on the ground floor, holding their breath and watching their step so as not to alert the guards. Bezz has been sneaking out since pretty much his first year in school, so much so that he can navigate most paths in pitch black darkness. When Cele and Bezz became friends he started bringing him along, gently teaching him to be mindful of his arms and head and stepping around in a way that makes less noise. Cele wasn't the most graceful when it came to slinking around, but Bezz was okay with that as long as they were together.

The moon was shining above their heads, almost fluorescent in its brightness.  Bezz glances over at Cele's determined face, his lashes casting spider leg shadows on his cheeks. Cele's pale skin and dark hair seem almost ghostly and Bezz's heart feels so funny. He swallows to keep his wits intact and focus on the path.

"Wait Cele are we walking towards the lake?" Bezz realises that he's been straining a bit to keep up with Cele.

"Mhmmm"

"Wait wait wait no you have to tell me what's up you've been acting too weird."

"No Marco we can't talk here we will get caught please we have to go" Cele pleads with him and suddenly takes Bezz's hand in his to rush him along. Bezz feels too shocked at Cele's sudden gesture and simply can't find the words to protest. They walk for a few minutes where all Bezz can think about is the warmth of Cele's soft hand in his. Bezz thinks self consciously about the calluses on his palm and whether they feel weird for Cele to touch. Cele's plam, soft and smooth and warm and alive and real to the touch and somehow Bezz feels that whatever is real in him is emanating from that part of his body that is holding on to Cele.

"Here. Come." Cele lets go of Bezz's hand Bezz feels a little deflated. Cele walks near a tree and picks up a cardboard box and brings it to Bezz.

"I have rabbits."

"......you...what" Bezz thinks he hasn't heard him right. 

"There were rabbits at the wedding venue but I don't think they were being treated right so I picked them up"

"Cele what even.... how did you even steal them and oh my god is this area even safe"

"I didn't steal them Marco!!!!! They are young, kind of, I think they are almost babies, it was just three of them"

"Diobono three is a lot! Have they eaten?"

"I had left some lettuce, and I have more, I need your help feeding them"

"Okay okay fine, let's find a place to sit"

Bezz finds that inside the cardboard box there is a little pet carrier covered with a blanket. Cele pushes in some food through the metal gate grills but the bunnies seem to be asleep for now. 

"What's the plan cele?"

"There archery lawns have a place for rabbits. I will leave them there. I trust the school gardener, we used to have rabbits in my first year at school, he's good with them."

"You think nobody will notice three rabbits appearing out of nowhere."

"They will but they won't know it's us"

Bezz can't help smiling at the response. Cele trusts it will all be good so intently that Bezz can't help be infected by the same disposition.

"Do you want to hold them?" Cele offers.

"Uhh yeah okay yeah."

"Just be relaxed, okay"

Cele opens the metal grate a little and ushers Bezz to put his hand inside.

A warm delight runs through Bezz when he touches the soft fur. He feels them moving with their breath and gently gently strokes the fur. A smile breaks out on his face, wide and luminous under the moonlight.

"It's nice, no" Cele says as he watches Bezz's face.

"Yes, I didn't expect them to be this soft"

They sit a bit longer, trying to feed the bunnies, talking, trying to come up with stories about these rabbits that will convince people to keep them. 

Bezz asks Cele to hold on to the box and make no noise as he navigates a path to the Archery Lawns. Cele takes a minute to leave them in the enclosure, worrying about them. Bezz's reassurance a little ineffective as he says his goodbyes, leaving more lettuce and some broccoli in the carrier.

When they finally start walking back towards the Dorms, Bezz takes Cele's hand in his, his confident decisive gesture in sharp contrast with the nerves he feels inside. Cele offers no protest and holds on. Bezz feels breathless thinking about how similar Cele's beautiful hand feels to the soft rabbits he just held a while ago. 

[demi-shoggoth]

COVID-19 Reading Log

No idea if there’s any interest in this, but putting this out here.

With my vastly increased amount of time stuck at home (that is to say, all of it), it’s given me the opportunity to read more. And although I’m probably never going to catch up completely on my “To Read” pile, I have put a decent dent in it. So I will be periodically chronicling the books I have read. So far, in the last two and a half weeks, I have read...

1. Moths: A complete Guide to Biology and Behavior by David C. Lees and Alberto Zilli. Published by the Smithsonian, this book is lavishly illustrated with color photos depicting moth structures and behaviors. A good overview of the biology of Lepidoptera that aren’t butterflies (which are most of them). The copy came from the library with a neat little insert of errata, mostly for image captions and missing citations. Which suggests that the editorial process wasn’t as tidy as it could have been. The writing style is fluid and light for some decent technical detail. Some types of moths serve as possible inspiration for future monster—moths with tusks, caterpillars that stack their severed head capsules on their heads and use them as bludgeons, giant puss moth caterpillars with venomous hairs.

2. Hackmaster: Hacklopedia: Rustlers of the Night by Jolly R. Blackburn, et. al. A Hackmaster monster book I didn’t know existed until I found it used in a Half Price Books. It is a print on demand product only, and is a compilation of monsters from the back matter of the Knights of the Dinner Table comic book and a few modules. Size more like a trade paperback for a comic than it is for an RPG supplement. Creatures are the usual mix for Hackmaster—some conversions from AD&D, some gag monsters, some original creatures. Some toxic misogyny (the “gargirls”, or female gargoyles, are particularly bad). Lots of fire themed monsters—apparently from a City of Brass themed adventure. High concentration of good critters, especially in the back half. I will be converting plenty of these to Pathfinder.

3. When the Earth Had Two Moons by Erik Asphang. This one was a bit of a chore to get through. It’s about the early history of the solar system and how we know what we know. Some cool concepts and science are here. There are models of collisions between massive (planet sized) objects showing how they can warp, fuse or shear apart. The ideas of what conditions are like on the surface and below the surface of planets (both in our own solar system and outside of it) are captivating and weird. But the writing style is disorganized. Concepts are jumped back and forth between, and there’s no logical flow of ideas from one to the next. There are better books about astrophysics for lay readers out there, but it wasn’t exactly bad. Just not great.

4. What’s Eating You? by Eugene H. Kaplan. I honestly am not sure if I’ve already read this book and just forgotten about it, or if this is the first time. Books about parasites do tend to repeat the same anecdotes (Jewish grandmothers contracting fish tapeworm while preparing gefilte fish, the cycle of infection for Guinea worm, a personal connection to the ubiquitous pinworm). The most striking thing about the book are the illustrations—they are stippled and depict parasites, life history stages, and people infected with parasites. Many of the people are in homage to or parodies of classical art. The author’s attitude towards people living in developing countries seems paternalistic, which is an unpleasant running theme in the background of this book. Maybe skip this one—seek out Parasite Rex or People, Parasites and Plowshares for similar, better books.

5. The Wonders by John Woolf. The topic of the book is on the Victorian era and freak show performers. The main focus on the book is Charles Stratton, who performed under the name General Tom Thumb with PT Barnum. I suspect that the project started as a biography of Stratton, and then changed focus when the author realized he couldn’t find enough verifiable material for a full length book. Other performers who receive biographical information are Chang and Eng Bunker, who are the reason conjoined twins are still referred to as “Siamese Twins” to this day; Daniel Lambert, who influenced the depiction of John Bull as fat; Joice Heth, who was advertised by Barnum as the world’s oldest woman (and cruelly exploited—her chapters are difficult reading); and Julia Pastrana (whose manager was even crueler, and weirder, than Barnum). The writing flows well, and is highly empathetic to the performers. Parts of these stories are ones I’ve read before in other books, but Woolf has a good eye for detail and for connecting the people he writes about to the events of the era. The sexualization of non-normal bodies is covered extensively in the book. The sexualization of “Tom Thumb” when he was a child performer was especially alarming and troubling. Highly recommended—best book I’ve read so far in quarantine.

6. Life in the Dark by Danté Fenolio. This was a pleasant surprise. Specifically, that the book didn’t focus solely on abyssal life, which is what I expected going in. Other creatures adapted to low light environments, such as cave dwelling species, burrowers and even parasites are covered as well. It’s mostly a photo book, with captions describing the animals and their adaptations, but each chapter has a few pages of text introducing it. The photography is uniformly excellent, and the book sent me down a few rabbit holes looking up the interrelatedness of different groups of fish. My only complaint is the final chapter—chapters on the need for conservation work are de rigueur in books about the natural world these days, but the text in this one is somewhat overwrought (and the last photograph, of a sunset over the ocean, doesn’t help matters).

7. Skeleton Keys by Riley Black, writing as Brian Switek. This is a book I’ve been meaning to read for some time. The book is about skeletons—the evolution of the vertebrate skeleton, the structure of the human skeleton and the cultural significance of it. It is heavily informed by the real world events surrounding it. As the header implies, Black came out as trans shortly after writing the book (the second, paperback edition calls Brian Switek her “pen name”). The idea of “osteological sex” correlated with pelvis shape is strongly stressed in the text as not the same thing as either sex or gender, and references exist to gender identity and personal perception when referring to people both ancient and modern. Black is a good writer—I’ve enjoyed all of her books. I would have preferred the book be illustrated, though. The only illustrations in the book are chapter plates borrowed from public domain osteology texts. I understand the practical considerations, but it’s slightly disappointing. Still, definitely recommended.

8. Monster, She Wrote by Lisa Kröger and Melanie R. Anderson. This is not exactly the book I was expecting. The subtitle is “the women who pioneered horror and speculative fiction”. I was expecting a series of short biographical sketches of a dozen or so earlier writers in those genres; something more like the approach to the various performers in The Wonders. Instead, it covers a few dozen women, from Margaret Cavendish to the modern day. And while it does give some biographical information, it is much more a recommended reading list than anything else. Fun, but I was hoping for something more substantive.

9. Invasive Plants by Sylvan Ramsey Kaufman and Wallace Kaufman. It’s a field guide. The photographs are nice, but it’s a field guide, so not exactly gripping reading. What struck me the most was how many of the plants covered I recognized from my backyard growing up. The authors are on the East Coast (in Maryland), and the East and South get a bit more attention than other parts of the country. As someone who is intimately familiar with some of the invasive plants of California, some that weren’t in the book (Sahara mustard and ice plant especially) struck me as notable omissions. It was cool to see references to plants I’ve worked on and scientists I’ve worked with in the sources.

10. Life through the Ages II by Mark Witton. This is a loose sequel to Charles Knight’s Life through the Ages; it’s designed to be a look at the state of paleoart and paleontology in the early 21th century, the way Knight’s book was a look at the ideas of the mid-20th century. The paintings in the book are gorgeous and well-informed, as Witton’s work generally is. About half of them have appeared on his blog in various forms previously, but some of the best are debuting here. Some of the paintings that stand out the most to me are a very grand stromatolite; an Atropodenatus howling at a suggestively shaped rock that strikes me as being influenced by Bradbury’s “The Fog Horn” and Harryhausen’s The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms; an Opthamalosaurus swimming by a coastline studded with dead trees that look much like the decaying columns of an ancient civilization; a Georgiacetus mother watching over her calf rolling around on a rocky shore; and a Neanderthal family protecting their curious child from getting too close to a wooly mammoth.  

[huachenyu-news]

2019 Mars Concerts Postponed, New Single About to Drop, and More

This just in: On October 22, Hua Chenyu Studio posted on Weibo that the 2019 Mars Concerts had been postponed due to force majeure. Efforts are being made to ensure that Martians (as Hua Chenyu fans are called) will still get to "come home (aka. attend the concerts)" this year. More information will be released within the next seven days. I was just about to post the following article when I got the news. But I don't really know how to pivot from the shocking turn of events to normal everyday Martians news... and it's way past my bed time and I'm too lazy to rewrite it, so I might as well post it as is... Pop artists have been obsessed with hiding clues and callbacks in their works for fans to find lately. From Taylor Swift’s months-long bread crumb trail of clues and cryptic foreshadowing prior to the release of her new single, to Vampire Weekend’s latest album sprinkled with all sorts of references and homage both obvious and obscure, not to mention the new releases of every Marvel and DC movie, plus video games like “Fortnite” and “Mortal Kombat”, it seems that Easter egg hunting might become the new favorite sport for pop culture fans. Though on Mars this has always been the case, since its eccentric prince has a childlike fondness for puzzles and brain teasers, and forging interconnectivity among seemingly disparate events through the thread of a central theme. In as early as 2016, Hua Chenyu’s Mars Concert Tour, intriguingly taglined “Puzzle” that year, was preceded by a series of promo videos filled with riddles, and a “Finding Hua Chenyu” livestream reminiscent of a scavenger hunt that led a group of Martians down many a rabbit hole around Beijing. Hua is also prone to posting obscure clues to his upcoming works on Weibo, such as a blurry picture of a rose, intended as a reference to the French novella The Little Prince, to allude to his participation in SMG’s celebrity travel show Flowers on Trip, or a photo of his flute-playing self obscured by underbrush, cryptically announcing that he would play the flute in his 2017 Mars Concert, or a hotel selfie coupled with the seeming non sequitur “Spring had not ended; the moon was shining”, a hint at his then-new single “Heaven’s Equal”. By either necessity or predilection, Martians have all become hardened sleuths, over-analyzing everything Hua posted, finding meaning where there is none, using advanced photo-processing technologies to zoom and enhance all Hua Chenyu-related photos, from which many major discoveries were made, like that one time Hua posted a selfie on a train, and got off to throngs of Martians waiting for him at the station, because during the short train ride, Martians had already deduced his precise location and train schedule just from the background of his potato-quality selfie (scary, I know). Or that time when Martians zoomed in on his make-up artist Vincent’s Weibo photo and discovered Hua in the reflection of Vincent’s sunglasses. Or that time when Hua posted a photo of himself watching good friend Zhang Xinyi’s new movie in the theatre, and Martians adjusted the contrast and lighting of the photo to show that Hua was the only one in the theatre – he bought all the tickets. Though Hua himself has been laying low and writing songs for his new album these past two months, Martians have been pampered with a constant drip-feed of information about his new songs and upcoming concerts, mostly through interviews, articles and short videos. On October 21, Hua Chenyu studio released a video prelude to Hua’s new song “Conversations with the Martian Child”. Video & translation by 華晨宇 HuaChenYu (official channel) Speculations about Hua’s new album have already veered towards the whimsical and absurd, with theories about the number of chairs in the above video signifying the number of songs in the album, and correlating that with the stage design in a similar Hua Chenyu video featuring an inexplicable surplus of chairs on Super Boy 2013, and then some Martians started adding, subtracting or multiplying various numbers derived from the video and creating new numbers with new mysterious meanings… It’s all going bananas. At this rate, if Hua didn’t release a new single soon, Martians would all be wearing tin-foil hats and hovering over John Nash pinboards plastered full of screencaps, maps, and newspaper clippings connected with strings and arrows by the end of the month. I was originally planning to post an article when the single actually drops, but all this suspense and tin-foil hatting is killing me. Here's Hua's new commercial for Hair Recipe to soothe your pre-new-single jitters. Video & translation by Hua Chenyu English Subs In other news, Hua will be featured in the October 31, 2019 issue of SoFigaro magazine. Click here to buy it on Taobao. Here's a video clip from the magazine. Read the full article

[tipsycad147]

Why the Full Moon Increases Paranormal Activity (A Pagan’s Perspective)The Full Moon Increases Paranormal Activity

For as long as humans have been on the planet, we have gazed into the night sky in awe of the moon. The moon’s phases are such a part of human history, evidenced by the fact that our ancestors built their calendars on the cycles of the moon. There was once thirteen months, as there are thirteen moon cycles in a year. This has changed in modern history, but nothing can change the effects of the full moon on us. Nothing can change the full moon’s effects on the spirit world, either. If the full moon increases human activity, giving way sometimes to chaos, the full moon increases paranormal activity, as well. The full moon and spirits go together like milk and cookies, and in this post, I’ll explain why.

The Full Moon’s Effects on Humans

Do you notice yourself getting antsy or emotional at certain times a month? Have you ever noticed if these erratic behaviours and emotions correlate to the full moon? Throughout the ages, the full moon has affected human beings in positive and negative ways. If you are in the medical or criminal correction fields, or know someone who is, you’ll often hear about how the “crazies” come out on the full moon. This isn’t some old superstition, in fact, the term “lunatic” originally meant someone who went crazy on the full moon (hence the syllable luna – as in lunar = moon). But why does the full moon affect humans? Human beings are made up of at least sixty percent water. The moon pulls at the ocean tides, so why wouldn’t it also pull at us? Because the moon governs our emotions, it’s no wonder when she’s round and full our emotions (whether happy, sad, angry, erratic) are sent into over-drive. And if humans die and release their spirits, it’s no wonder spirits are affected by the moon too!

The Full Moon in Folklore

In ancient times, the moon was the closest planet to earth and so it was revered by the people. It was associated with certain gods and goddesses from various cultures including Selene, Sophia, Thoth, Diana, Hecate, Isis, Osiris, Artemis, Luna, Phoebe, and Ix Chel. Let’s not forget the man in the moon and the moon rabbit as folkloric moon figures. Of course we all know the stories of how the full moon affects people and the tides, but what does folklore say about the full moon and paranormal activity?

Howl at the Moon: Spirits of Shamans

Hollywood pushes the image of the snarling, beastly werewolf howling at the full moon. In fact, they say the man who is to become the wolf doesn’t shapeshift until the moon is at its fullest. This concept lies behind deeply hidden shamanic practices from ancient times. Werewolves were originally the spirits of shamans who shapeshifted to move through this realm and the next. Over time we’ve forgotten these shamanic practices and now use werewolves to scare ourselves in the movies or to romanticise us in cheesy books. In Konstantinos’ book Werewolves: The Occult Truth, he details this theory. The shaman required the light of the full moon to move through the woods at night in order to perform his shapeshifting ritual. When there have been modern day werewolf or “large dog-man” sightings, it is typically on the night of a full moon.

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Old American Moon Superstitions

Depending on the color and size of the full moon, an omen would foretell the future in Colonial and Old America. A ring around the moon meant snow was coming. In the Ozark Mountains, people believed if the moonlight fell on your bed while you were asleep, you were sure to wake up and be completely insane. It was also unlucky for a newborn baby to be bathed in the moonlight. Surely these superstitions echo old beliefs about the full moon and its link to pagan shamans and witches. On the opposite end of the spectrum, farmers governed the time to till, plant, and harvest by the moon’s phases. Whether this had anything to do with superstition or just an old practice of farming is beyond me.

The Full Moon and Ghost Hunting

Talk to any respectable ghost hunters and they will confirm the full moon increases paranormal activity. It’s not just the shapeshifting werewolves that come out on a full moon, it’s also ghosts, demons, and elementals. It’s as if the moon stirs up the quieter ones and throws them into a tailspin. What might be a quiet house on any other night of the month turns into a paranormal hotbed on the full moon. People with no psychic abilities confess to hearing voices and seeing spirits on full moon nights.

Water and the Spirit World

Every article I’ve found concerning the full moon and spirits discusses how the moon increases paranormal activity but they don’t say why. This is because they’re not looking at it from a spiritual point of view (which seems ironic). My pagan theory is based on our ancient ancestors’ beliefs in the Celtic Otherworld. There were different names for the Otherworld depending on the region, including: Avalon, Tir Na Nog, Mag Mell, Tech Duinn and Annwn. The Otherworld was the land of the dead and, in Celtic mythology, could be accessed via caves or under hills. BUT Irish mythology also talks of the Otherworld being under the sea or over the sea. Tir fo Thuinn is one of the names for the Otherworld which translates to “Land Under the Wave”. If the spirit world is under the sea, the high tides and low tides may cause a disturbance between the realms. Water acts as a vehicle for spirits from this world to the next, so if the tides are extremely high on a full moon, spirits come “to shore” or cross the barrier, so to speak. Alternatively, if the tides are very low on a full moon, the Otherworld is more exposed to our world than at any other time of the lunar month.

We Project Our Emotions and Energy

A second part to my pagan theory on why the full moon increases paranormal activity centres on the astrological properties of the moon. The moon governs our emotions – which is why we have a moon sign (as a secondary sign to our sun sign). Our moon signs tell us how we feel and express our emotions. When the moon is full, we are more likely to feel emotional in one way or another. Emotion is energy from within being expressed without. Look at the syllables in the word e-motion. It is possible our emotions generate enough energy on the full moon that we project our emotions into the universe and cause the paranormal activity ourselves! The mind and emotions are powerful things. What do you think? Do you believe the Otherworld is closer to us on the Full Moon causing ghosts and spirits to haunt us? Or could it be our minds and emotions creating a disturbance on the physical plane making it seem like spirits?

otherworldlyoracle.com/full-moon-increases-paranormal-activity/

[garp19-tommontrose-blog]

Proposal

Ideation

One of the main reasons for choosing this topic is because of my love for music and my love for art in general, so I decided to marry those two things and concentrate on the art on album covers. I also find it interesting how the album art is the first thing people see and judge, even though an album is mainly all about the music. I also find interesting how the more iconic album covers over the years came to be so iconic, for example the cover for The Velvet Underground & Nico. Or the iconic yellow banana painted by Andy Warhol, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles, Nevermind by Nirvana, or the many iconic album covers by Pink Floyd such as The Dark Side of the Moon, The Wall, Wish You Were Here and many more. The reason why I find this so important is that the album art is the first thing you see when you buy an album - and although we do not like to admit it, most of us do in fact judge books by their covers. A possible focus for this field could be ‘the importance of album covers’ or similarly, ‘what makes a good album cover?’. One of these topics or something similar I think would be quite interesting and significant to research further, because most people love music, and album covers are the first thing people see and concentrate on before they listen to the actual music in the album. The kinds of things I think I will go into are: the importance of having a clear marriage of themes between the album art and the music, the significance of any typography on the cover, the significance of colour, and especially how that colour relates to the themes of the album, and many more. I think this subject will be of significance to others because even though most music is accessed through digital means nowadays, I think album art is still as important as it was 50 years ago. ‘The artwork is a way of representing an album in short form; it is like a shorthand vocabulary for musical history. When others see the artwork, they are more likely to recognise it, talk about it, interact more’ (Gravell 2014). This quote sums up why I think it is imperative for everyone that album cover design stays important, and a significant part of creating an album.

Research and development

The main subject for my research is ‘what makes a good/effective album cover?’ and will be concentrating on what elements make an album cover an effective way of conveying the albums themes and overall feel, for example, a black metal album cover would have to be effective at portraying the themes of black metal. For example if there was a picture of a light-hearted little rabbit in a field of flowers, it would not be effectively conveying the themes of the album. A more effective cover would be something like a person in a frightening mask at night time, because the best album covers you could recognise what kind of music they were without even reading anything on them - they carry the themes of the album through the cover, which is the first thing the listener sees. 

One of the first articles I stumbled across I thought was quite effective at trying to describe the importance of album artwork, the article was titled. “It’s what’s on the outside that counts: the importance of album artwork”(Dotiyal 2017). Straight away, I thought the title alone was exactly the kind of thing I was thinking, that it is what’s on the outside that counts (certainly to an extent). Dotiyal goes into what things make album art good in portraying its theme, he even interviews someone from the band Radar who said a very interesting point, “Unless an album has a really strong theme or concept, I don’t think cover art needs to be related to the music whatsoever.” I thought this point was very interesting because previously I thought album art had to have a clear correlation to the themes of the music, but if no clear themes are present, the cover does not need to relate to anything. This could be true for more avant garde music where a clear theme is not present. 

‘Does cover art matter in the digital age?’ (Fernandes 2017) is a good take on the importance of album cover design, as she goes into a lot of detail into the importance of album cover design throughout history, which I think, is a very interesting and relevant topic. Especially today, when the digitalisation of music has potentially reduced the importance of album cover design. 

Another good article I found on the internet titled ‘How to make an impact with your album artwork’ (Jackson 2014). The reason I liked this article is that it lists specific examples of album art, and firstly explains ‘why it works’ which goes into the elements that make it an effective album cover, and ‘how to make it your own’. Which goes into what kind of elements to choose if you were to make a similar looking album cover which I think is a great idea. For example, one of the albums she lists is ‘Are We There’ by Sharon Van Etten and she explains - “Heart-wrenching wistfulness is a much-used motif in Sharon Van Etten’s material, and the artwork for her latest LP channels that. Who hasn’t bent their head out of a car window hoping the fresh air will relieve you, at least briefly, of emotional hopelessness?” Jackson also does another interesting analysis that I like of another album cover, “This trippy artwork is mystical, wondrously pretty, and incredibly detailed. Plus, it’s a spot-on reflection of the bands chaotic-yet-melodic brand of garage-psych. Both are instantly mesmerizing.”(Jackson 2014)

‘The importance of having good album artwork’ (Melina 2015) is also a very good example of explaining the importance of having good album artwork, although it doesn’t go into as much detail into specific album covers and what makes them effective like Jackson, however it does explain what makes a good cover generally. She does this by first explaining ‘The purpose’ for album artwork, which according to Melina is ‘to attract listeners to your music’, which I do fully agree with, however I do think there is more to it than that. Melina does go into more depth, and explains the ‘two secondary purposes for having good album artwork’ which are first to ‘exemplify your songs on the album’ and secondly ‘to express yourself as an artist’. I like these ‘secondary’ purposes too because like any kind of art, I think it does need to express yourself as an artist, and of course the importance of exemplifying your songs through the album art. 

The next article I found is probably my favourite so far, as it goes into a lot of detail into what makes a good album cover, and lists specific examples. It is titled, ‘The importance of album artwork’ (Shah 2016). As Shah states, “The artwork serves as a portal into what the listener can expect from an album, and even what kind of musician lies behind the creativity. Strong album covers make a statement, because after all, this imagery is an opportunity to make the right first impression.” I think this is a perfect description of why album covers are important and is described in a succinct, descriptive and informative way. Shah also goes into the specifics of what makes a good album cover, like the colours, compositions, themes, and explains how one specific example is effective. 

 “The shift from the vibrant illustrations and shapes found in Steinweiss’ and Flora’s covers to the high-contrast photographs on these albums hints at a possible cultural shift starting to focus more on personal image.” (Maria 2018) in this article, Maria explains the different cultural factors that went into the design of album art in the 20th century, like the rise of psychedelia in the 1960s for example - and how that changed artwork on album covers. I think this is an interesting concept and Maria goes into a lot of detail when explaining the different cultural changes in each decade since album covers were first invented in 1938 to the present day. 

Critique & explanation

A lot of interesting concepts and theories have come up since I started research on this broad topic, I could go many different ways from here. I think a good concept to start with is also a very relevant concept today, and is the digitalisation of the music industry, and how album art still plays an important role in the albums overall themes and subjects, ‘fast forward to now, when everything is streamed online, and album art is often reduced to a small digital square. However, that does not mean that album art is any less important. In fact, it is more important than ever when it comes to music promotion and music distribution.’ (Seydel 2016) Seydel makes a good point here, that even though the actual size of the way people view album art, from a 12 x 12 inch physical thing - to a very small space on an already small screen, albums are still fundamentally reliant on their art to actually advertise and distribute the album. Another concept I think would be interesting to look into further is the differences in album artwork between the many genres of music, and what kind of album cover you would expect from a specific genre like punk, rap, or metal. As well as this, the reasons/stories/motifs behind the album artwork of some specific examples. Barker does this to a few specific artists in his article on the importance of album artwork – for example, ‘Rage Against The Machine's seminal self-titled record features a Buddhist monk undergoing self-immolation in religious protest. It's a harrowing image made iconic, and it ties in with the politically motivated content of the album.’ (Barker 2017). There are definitely many questions emerging from my research, some more specific and unambiguous than others, but I think all have interesting concepts and ideas. I think it will be hard to narrow in on one specific question, but on the plus side, I have lots to choose from. 

Action plan

Firstly and most importantly, I still need to hone in on what my specific question is for the essay because I have been researching a rather broad topic and have lots of potential contenders. I also still need to find out how I am going to structure the essay, but that would first depend on the question/topic I choose of course. Some particular methods of research will include what I’ve been doing so far mostly, which is using google and google scholar searching for blogs and websites that have some varying and interesting points about album cover art. Whether it be why they are important, their history, what makes an effective album cover design, or what types of designs would be on specific genres of music – as long as it fits under my overall theme of album cover design. The relevant ones I have saved in my Tumblr blog, along with some interesting images of album designs I found for visual aid. As for any ethical issues I may need to consider, I don’t think there will be any with this subject, so I don’t feel it’s necessary to complete an ethics form. Over the summer, I will need to generally read more and do more research on this broad topic to try to hone in on a specific question for my essay. While doing this I will also update and edit my Tumblr blog with new content and even more images to go along with it. 

Bibliography

Barker, C. (2017). "On The Importance Of Album Artwork: Visual Hooks In An Auditory Medium." Retrieved 14/04/2019, 2019, from http://www.bulletmusic.net/features-1/album-artwork-in-the-digital-age.

Dotiyal, M. (2017). "It’s What’s On the Outside That Counts: The Importance of Album Artwork." Retrieved 10/04/2019, 2019, from https://acrn.com/2017/08/31/its-whats-on-the-outside-that-counts-the-importance-of-album-artwork/.

Fernandes, V. (2017). "Does Cover Art Matter in the Digital Age?". Retrieved 20/04/2019, 2019, from https://www.baeblemusic.com/musicblog/8-16-2017/does-cover-art-matter-in-the-digital-age.html.

Gravell, D. (2014). "Three reasons album artwork remains important." Retrieved 12/04/2019, 2019, from https://www.blisshq.com/music-library-management-blog/2014/12/02/three-reasons-album-artwork-remains-important/.

Jackson, J. (2014). "How to Make an Impact With Your Album Artwork." Retrieved 16/04/2019, 2019, from http://blog.sonicbids.com/how-to-make-an-impact-with-your-album-artwork.

Maria (2018). "The Evolution of Album Covers." Retrieved 14/04/2019, 2019, from https://wp.nyu.edu/fogdv2/2018/09/18/the-evolution-of-album-covers/.

Melina, V. (2015). "The Importance of Having Good Album Artwork." Retrieved 11/04/2019, 2019, from http://blog.symphonicdistribution.com/2015/08/the-importance-of-having-good-album-artwork/.

Seydel, R. (2016). "Why Album Cover Art Will Always Be Crucial For Success." Retrieved 25/04/2019, 2019, from https://blog.landr.com/album-art-absolutely-crucial-success-2016/.

Shah, D. (2016). "The Importance of Album Artwork." Retrieved 12/04/2019, 2019, from https://humanhuman.com/articles/the-importance-of-album-artwork.