#this might be a 2 kil ep

[chanxious]

YOOO SEASON FOUR IS INSANE

[wanderchyld]

More PBIO/IOTNBO Theories

Read my theory on Do Heejae and Head Nurse here

Again, note that if I quote anything, it might be a mix of Netflix’s subs and my translation because I know Korean and Netflix tends to miss nuances sometimes so I sometimes ignore their subs or change it another language.

Is Moonyoung an orphan? Probably.

Moonyoung has mentioned twice that she’s an orphan, and… I think she really might be an actual orphan adopted by Go Daehwan and Do Heejae. (Ahem, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz’s Dorothy is an orphan too.)

In ep 1, she told Juri that she’s an orphan and she knew that. Juri replied, "But your mother is alive," before Moonyoung interrupted that she registered her death a long time ago.

Considering that they were friends and fell out before Moonyoung transferred schools (I assume due to her mother’s death and her father landing in the hospital), Moonyoung definitely didn’t confide in Juri about what happened to her parents. Juri didn’t know Do Heejae died. Then how would Juri know Moonyoung’s an orphan if Moonyoung meant she became an orphan from Do Heejae’s and Go Daehwan’s soul’s deaths? Moonyoung probably told Juri she’s an orphan when they were still friends.

In ep 11, Netflix subbed her words to Sangin as "Family? I’m an orphan," but the original words are actually, "Family? I’m originally an orphan." Dun dun dun~

Someone (I forgot who and when) said Go Daehwan built the house to celebrate Moonyoung’s birth and for his wife to focus on her writing. Only Moonyoung knows the accuracy of this information. In ep 6, when Moonyoung told Sangtae the Bluebeard story, she voiced over a flashback of Go Daehwan showing a woman around the house (which strangely looked already lived in, completely furnished and decorated with full shelves), but her stomach was flat and they were not carrying a baby. She was also wearing heels; no pregnant Asian would wear heels even in the first term.

Now, let’s take a look at Sangtae’s collection of Moonyoung’s books. (He has 2 copies of Moonyoung’s bestsellers or his favourites of her books! 1 for keeping and 1 for his drawings. How cute is that ❤️)

Left to right: "The Boy Who Fed on Nightmares", "The Anglerfish’s Grip", "Even If It’s Money, Oh? Mummy", "The Ugly Dog’s Child", "The Girl Who Rode The Wooden Horse", "The Cheerful Dog"

Technically, 머니머니해도 어? 머니 (Even If It’s Money, Oh? Mummy) translates to Even If It’s Money, Oh? Money but “어? 머니” is a play of words on mother. When you put these 2 words together, it’s 어머니 or mother. The cover also has a mother and child to confirm the word play.

Why isn’t it "Oh! Mummy" and not "Oh? Mummy" like they’re unsure about the mother?

Back to ep 1, Sangtae was playing an ep of Dooly.

The particular scene played was of a conversation between Dooly and his guardian Go Kil Dong, where Dooly said he decided he would love Go Kil Dong.

The point: Dooly’s an orphan and he loves Go Kildong. Moonyoung told Sangtae, in ep 9, that she likes the character Go Kildong too.

There have been some mentions that Moonyoung looked like her mother and that she’s as beautiful as her. But maybe Moonyoung’s birth parents are beautiful too? Lol

Moonyoung’s obedience and abandonment issue

Moonyoung has always known she’s an orphan. When a child is adopted, it is natural they feel insecure and become afraid of being abandoned. Balmain’s creative director Olivier Rousteing mentioned an interview that he was adopted and grew up with a lot of love from his adoptive parents, but he still had that insecurity and was afraid they would send him away so he worked very hard to be good since he was young.

Moonyoung must have felt the same, and I’m betting Do Heejae used abandonment against little Moonyoung so she would be obedient to her.

What else could cause excited little Moonyoung to be mean to Kangtae in a split moment with her mother? By that age, most kids would have felt comfortable talking back to or disobeying their parents even just a little, and the parents would allow it sometimes (even my 4-year-old cousin started at 3). But little Moonyoung couldn’t even assert herself.

There have been hints that Moonyoung has abandonment issues and it is embedded in her brain that children have to be obedient to their parents or they would be abandoned.

1. What she said to Kangtae in ep 3 caused Kangtae to be got offended by her objectification, however, it really reflects on what she thinks about the parent-child relationship.

“Children dump their parents when they pass their expiration date and reek a rotten smell. Parents embrace the children who often behave cutely, and dump the stupid and useless child.”

(These are Moonyoung’s actual words. I know Netflix translated differently but this explains better why Kangtae was so offended he had to get off the car.)

2. In ep 7, Director Oh read Go Daehwan’s files to look into the family’s relationship. In one session, he mentioned that Moonyoung was obedient to her mother.

Had insomnia for 3 days. Said his daughter is so scary he couldn’t sleep. Then he smiled and described his daughter as pretty like her mother. Seems to have ambivalent description of daughter. When asked if his daughter is good-natured, he questioned whether a daughter who is obedient to her mother is good-natured. When I answered I’m not sure, he doesn’t say anything and stared out the window. . . . Session ended as he looked tired.

So obedient that if her mother told her to do bad things, she would do it.

3. She felt abandoned when she learnt Juri didn’t want just one friend.

4. She has a book (The Ugly Dog’s Child) named after The Ugly Duckling which is about a baby swan born into a family of ducks that felt unwanted by practically everyone (ducks, geese, etc.) before a bevy of swans accepted him.

Fun note: The Ugly Dog’s Child is a wordplay. Just remove 1 character and it's The Ugly Son of a Bitch. 😆

Go Daehwan’s deal

Here are some things Go Daehwan has said about Moonyoung and Do Heejae.

To Juri in ep 1:

“If Moonyoung comes… die.”

This could be interpreted in 2 ways:

He would die because Moonyoung would kill him. (Juri’s interpretation)

Moonyoung would die.

This scene comes after the horrible dad tried to kill his daughter thinking it would protect her. This insinuates that Go Daehwan tried to kill little Moonyoung to protect her.

To Head Nurse:

“She’s so pretty, just like an angel. Moonyoung’s mother.”

To Director Oh:

“My wife? She’s very intellectual and elegant. She loved our daughter terribly. Very terribly.”

A conversation with Director Oh:

Go Daehwan: She’s the same as that woman. Everyone’s deceived by that woman. A devil lives under that angelic face.

Director Oh: Every human has good and bad traits.

Go Daehwan: That woman is a monster. She killed someone. I’m telling you, she killed someone. Director Oh: Where is that monster?

Go Daehwan: I killed her. I’m sure I killed her but she came back. She came to kill me. She’s going to kill me.

Go Daehwan’s condition corrupts his memories, so he has been mixing Do Heejae and Moonyoung up. This condition may have caused him a mental breakdown too when Moonyoung was little. 

Earlier, Director Oh suspected Go Daehwan strangled Moonyoung at the hospital because he mistook her for someone else (Do Heejae).

Park Ok Ran told Head Nurse that Othello killed his wife because of a misunderstanding.

I’m guessing…

Do Heejae found out she killed Do Heejae so he killed her.

Moonyoung was seen by the lake with a woman drowning. Maybe he thought Moonyoung was the culprit.

He realised Do Heejae was grooming Moonyoung to be a mini-me, so he tried to kill her to release her from Do Heejae’s clutches and prevent her from becoming worse. (Remember he questioned whether a child is good-natured if she was obedient to her mother.)

The Anglerfish’s Grip might be based on Do Heejae’s obsessive control over Moonyoung.

End.

I have no idea how this links to Head Nurse aka Do Heejae’s sister if it’s true.

I have another theory but let’s see what happens in this weekend’s eps 😅

Random note: The Anglerfish’s Grip was a little hard to translate. 손, 아귀 directly translates to "hand, anglerfish" but when the 2 words are read together, 손아귀 translates to "grip." The book cover has an anglerfish (the book Kangtae picked up in ep 1 in the meeting room) so I translated it as The Anglerfish’s Grip.

[dangermousie]

So, let’s talk about Hwi and Seon Ho, aka my murder boys

First Hwi. I was so glad that his walking by Hui Jae in the market was not some sort of “I must pushed loved ones away” weirdness but just trying not to let everyone know what his vulnerabilities are. I love this drama for not dragging things out. And then he comes into that meeting and she doesn’t say a word or move a muscle but her face, her face!

And then what follows is an incredible scene that made me wish I was a Victorian lady with some smelling salts handy. For a drama which has romance firmly in the background and is very spare with its scenes about them, it knows exactly how to deliver everything for maximum effect so it does more with little than most dramas do with much. Because she is bandaging him, and looking at his multitude of scars (it reminds me of her much earlier line that she thought hell was engraved all over Hwi’s body) and she touches him so tenderly (and that must have been such a nonexistent thing in his past years) and he slowly reaches out his hand and holds her, and it is amazing to see that his capacity for tenderness is still ever present, still there, and they just sit there not moving. When she tells him she cannot tell him to stop or proceed but just wants this to hurt as little as possible for him and puts her cheek against his scarred back, my God!!!! It is all so loving and selfless and super catering to my kinks - I mean, he’s wounded and in pain and she is trying to take some of it away and !!!!

And that is why I was so shaken when Hwi told Seon Ho on that bridge that he plans to die once he kills Nam Jeon (presumably by taking his own life.) WHYYYY! I realize he’s had awful, horrifying losses and that he lives in fairly constant pain (he was a magical wuxia illness but I am surprisngly Ok with it somehow; though this is making me worried he’s gonna die from poison or equally awful medicine he takes to be even barely functional) but he has his friends, he has Hui Jae’s unwavering love, I need him to want to live, to find some happiness at last.

Ah yes, that scene on the bridge. I love that no matter how dark Seon Ho goes, he always always always cares for Hwi. When he tells Hwi that he might die in his present condition if he takes on Nam Jeon, there are literal tears in his voice. When he begs Hwi to let him be the one to get revenge instead (and oooooh, his “that way he will be known as a man killed by his own son” is so messed up) but Hwi won’t budge because he’s finally broken and can only see the path he set for himself...Seeing Seon Ho’s reaction to Hwi saying he himself will die once he kils Nam Jeon, I can tell that in the flashforward, Seon Ho is not fighting to protect his father, he is not fighting for power or even revenge. He is fighting to save Hwi’s life, because he loves Hwi, because Yeon loved Hwi. He must stop him from killing Nam Jeon because Nam Jeon’s death means Hwi’s death. (and OMG that preview shot of Hwi running Seon Ho through. I do not want to hate Hwi for the first time in this drama, but I am afraid I will if that happens. How far has he come from the guy, already damaged but still with a full soul, who cradled Seon Ho’s body screaming.)

I can’t believe I am going to say it, but I think Seon Ho might actually be the more emotionally and mentally healthy one. Seon Ho, who exchanges words like razors with Nam Jeon, Seon Ho who plans to kill his own father, Seon Ho who has fallen into a pit so deep he doesn’t bother to clean the dried blood off his hands as he goes drinking with gisaengs. 

But then! He still cares for Hwi deeply and for Yeon as well, and this will always be his saving grace. When he almost killed the gisaeng for touching Yeon’s ribbon (and look how clean it is; he clearly takes enormous care of it), it was both terrifyingly dysfunctional and swoony at once. (Btw, I love that both our protags like tying ladies’ ribbons to their weapons. So medieval chivalry.) 

Anyway, I am ready for Nam Jeon to be dead but if he is dead in the next ep, what happens in the last four? I suppose he can still make it out but that would be surprising (he is not the type to agree to be Hwi’s dog as Hwi told him in that chilling mirror speech.)

Honestly, if I didn’t know it was 16 eps, with the previews I’d assume tomorrow is the last ep, tbh.

In conclusion - the revenge plans by both our guys remind me of Giant and East of Eden, where protags had complex revenge plans that took years, meanwhile allowing the bad guy to inflict more misery on maximum amount of people. For God’s sake, just chop off his head and be done. Kill him slowly, if you prefer it. Long revenge plans that inflict maximum misery are fine but they are far from certain! But let go, get some Joseon therapy and move on, please! For my heart’s sake if nothing else.

OK, one more thing. I nearly fell off my chair when Bang Gan showed up claiming that he desired Hwi over and over. Dude. There is a long line of potential boyfriend for our screwed up ninja. Get in line!

Bonus 1. Both Hwi and Seon Ho apparently now joined the “we love blood on our faces literally” club. Unhygienic!

Bonus 2. This was everything!

And of course then poor Hwi is super sick and in pain againnnn. I can’t even appreciate the shirtlessness because he’s constantly in agony!

There was also this! Sure, I could slash it. I ship everyone with everyone in this drama.

In conclusion, have a wrecked Bang Won because why not.

I want to say it is weird to have a thing for King Taejo but hey, Six Flying Dragons gave that to me years ago so...

[wouriqueen]

손 : The Guest - The finale

The Guest is now over ! 

On one hand, I’ll miss our trio a lot. On another hand, it’s a bit of a relief to not have to worry about them every week - I was so, so stressed watching the last 2 episodes, I kept pausing...

A few thoughts about this finale under the cut - about the storytelling, the plot twist, and my remaining questions ! (Like for example, what exactly undid PID?)

THE PACING

I overall really, really liked the pacing of this finale ! The dramatic opening, the treacherous lull, the big reveal, the tragic climax and the happy ending - I liked it a lot. 

Especially the lull ! Paradoxically, despite the first half of the finale being full of sweet moments, it was SO stressful ! Because Priest Yang kills himself so early into the episode, you KNOW there’s no way it’s over. But I was so surprised, I felt like every scenario I had imagined had flown out the window ... (not true in the end, since we still got Martyr!HwaPyung and Martyr!Yoon competing for the privilege to die.....) 

More importantly, Yukgwang said that PID might jump out of his dead vessel’s body to possess someone else, so I legit thougt one of the three had gotten possessed. And since Yoon was the only one who didn’t turn his eyes away when Priest Yang hit the ground, and then stayed by his side to mourn ... I thought he might have gotten caught then.

Anyway, that lull was great because you watch them settle back into life, dealing with the aftermath, and you know the other shoe is about to drop any minute, and it made me so stressed ! Kept me on the edge of my seat.

About Park Il Do explaining to Hwa Pyung why everything happened the way it did : I think it was well written but a bit too expository. Nice that it made sense and matched a lot of what we had figured out. But it was too long and detailed imo. The “Show, don’t tell” rule could have been applied to some of the stuff he said.

About who lives and who dies ... they really kept me screaming in fear for each of them almost until the end ! Especially when they were fighting in the sea.

THE BIG REVEAL

I think the show did a good job at giving us only disputable clues about whether or not Grandpa was PID, to confuse us ...

First, the clues that he might have been PID were disputable ... 

“PID is still at your house” said Priest Choi - but he was possessed, and demons lie. 

“Your grandfather is PID” said Hwa Pyung’s dad - but he was the type to run first and check never, like he did to Hwa Pyung, so how reliable could he have been ? 

AT THE SAME TIME, the two main clues that made us think ‘Oh, it’s not him’ were very convincing .... but looking back on it they were disputable too. 

Him suffering from the bus ride - 'proving’ that he was still himself ? Okay, but 20 years would have been a long time posing as Grandpa, he could have been putting a show for his fellow villagers. 

Him getting stabbed ? Okay, but he didn’t die, and we know demons can force even a sick, paralyzed body, to move normally when they inhabit it. So getting his vessel stabbed, to lift the suspicion off him among other things, couldn’t have been a big deal. 

And talking about confusing : when in episode 14 we see Grandpa’s hospital bed empty, I wondered if he’d been kidnapped by Priest Yang, or possessed - or maybe ... ? At the same time, you have Priest Yang telling Hwa Pyung that he fails to protect those in need - so you think ‘oh, he was kidnapped’. But he also says: “You fail to see what’s true”. And I thought, “could it be, he was actually possessed all this time ?” In the end, it was both, haha

... And the show also did a really good job at distracting us from analyzing all that ! 

Demons lie, but what Priest Choi said turned out to be true in some way since Yukgwang found something at Hwa Pyung’s family house. And why would Priest Yang hide anything there ? BUT the show worked SO HARD to distract us from that : I mean, Grandpa does get “kidnapped”, so no reason to doubt him anymore, right ? Not to mention, the suspicion around Hwa Pyung, Yoon’s impending doom,  Priest Yang looking like he was about to strangle Grandpa, and of course, acting like he was the mastermind of it all. Maybe some of you weren’t fooled, but I was !

REMAINING QUESTIONS

I think the writers tied the loose ends quite neatly.  But here are my last questions / musings, in order of importance !

Not to be annoying but ... WHY did PID disappear, exactly ? I mean, Hwa Pyung did not die (not complaining). And Yoon did not complete his exorcism, since he did not die either. (Not complaining). So technically, neither of their plan succeded. Could it mean that Yoon’s desperate prayers to God worked out ? “I can’t defeat my enemy so please save my friend” ? “Please protect my hyung” ? That’s ... very lucky I guess... But again, not complaining !! Just curious lol.

Why did the Holy cross cause pain to Priest Yang and Park Hong Joo even though they weren’t possessed ? And why did Yoon suffer while trying to exorcise Priest Yang - who wasn’t possessed? PHJ had to brace herself before going into the church. Yoon prayed over his rosary before offering it to her, and it caused her serious pain. Same for Priest Yang - when Yoon tried to prove he was possessed to the parish council, and put a cross on his head while praying, his hands clenched in pain. Could it be that when you follow the devil for a long time, your soul becomes so corrupted, that you can’t be in prolonged contact with anything holy ? As if you too, in some way, had turned into a demon ? And is that why Yoon was in pain trying to exorcise Priest Yang - because Priest Yang had become soaked into PID’s evil energy, and Yoon’s curse responded to that ?

Was Priest Yang planning killing PID in the hospital?  Before Hong Joo called him, Priest Yang was in Grandpa’s hospital room, and it looked like he was going to strangle him. If he was, could it be because the trio was after him and threatening his lifestyle, and he didn’t feel like serving PID was a good deal anymore ? I mean, he did say : “I didn’t want to do this, but your grandson keeps following me”.

Why exactly did Priest Yang kill himself ? Learning that he wasn’t possessed made me soooo curious about him. He was clearly tired of living this way, which is why he said : “Now, I’m free”. But does that mean he hadn’t really ever been on board with PID’s beliefs, but was too scared to oppose him? Or is it just being his servant that he hated ? OR did he just kill himself because he was a wanted man, with no way left to live among people ?

Did Priest Yang still have affection for Yoon ? Raising Yoon himself makes much more sense if he wasn’t possessed. Because even if PID did decide to let Yoon live back then, out of arrogance, the thought that he would take care of Yoon himself while he was becoming a powerful exorcist was a bit weird. But then, did Priest Yang love Yoon ? When Yoon keeps on trying to exorcise him on the rooftop, Priest Yang looks mad. I thought it was PID worrying that Yoon might really get rid of him despite his curse, but ... he wasn’t possessed. So was he just in pain because of Yoon’s prayers ? Or was he worried about Yoon ? Could he have killed himself because he decided he didn’t want Yoon to die after all? (Hence him saying “Two people were supposed to die (Yoon and Kil Young, since PID needed Hwa Pyung) but only one will die tonight (Priest Yang himself)”).

Did PID / Grandpa really sneak out of the hospital JUST to possess Sister Kim and PHJ’s driver? Which would be why his bed was empty in ep 14. We know that when Priest Yang ‘kidnapped’ him, he went through proper trasnfer procedures - and I don’t think it’s possible at night. So it had to have been done the next morning, after escaping from Hwa Pyung. Which means Grandpa went out, did the deed, snuck back in, left again with Priest Yang in the morning ... That’s a lot of work for two possessions that didn’t achieve much lmao. Priest Yang could have just killed them ...

Anyway ! This got super long, but I just needed to get it out of my system. Would love to read other people’s thoughts on these =D

[playthatthing]

albums i cared about this year of 2k17

A couple of weeks ago I convinced myself to put together a favourite albums list (something I usually find myself incapable of doing) for a facebook gorup, so I will go ahead and post that here.

But because I almost always feel like top lists are unrepresentative and inauthentic to my feelings, under the cut you will find every damn new record I gave a hoot about this year. I realize this is very audience-unfriendly on its face, and probably better suited for a private post (motto of my entire blog!!) but here is my reasoning: I have discovered a lot of music thanks to recommendations by friends, and if you look through this list, you might pick out some things that you were going to check out anyway, or just things that interest you and might end up bringing you joy.

Top-ish Albums Slowdive - Slowdive (this is my clear #1, the old shoegaze bands went hard this year and no one went harder than Slowdive, this is a perfect, blissful record) Semper Femina - Laura Marling Future Politics - Austra Everything Now - Arcade Fire The Far Field - Future Islands Damage and Joy - The Jesus and Mary Chain Masseduction - St. Vincent Antisocialites - Alvvays Okovi - Zola Jesus Planetarium - Sufjan et al I Tell A Fly - Benjamin Clementine Weather Diaries - Ride Soft Sounds From Another Planet - Japanese Breakfast

Individual songs that I want to highlight

Big Picture - London Grammar Something To Remember Me By - The Horrors Ocean - Goldfrapp The Embers - Vagabon Someone Tell The Boys - SAMIA (@caressyouintodarkness​ <3) Cover Me - Depeche Mode (@thetwoofusagainstthequaternary​ is to blame for all of this, obviously) Új városok épülnek - Felső tízezer

Below are all the new records by month of release, some bolded for emphasis, some thoughts or favourite songs

JANUARY

Macao by Tape Delay ✵ awesome Hungarian stuff, support eeeet

No Plan by David Bowie ✵ Killing A Little Time

Oczy Mlody by the Flaming Lips ✵

I See You by the xx ✵ A Violent Noise

hang by Foxygen ✵

Future Politics by Austra ✵ Utopia ✵ I once pitched Austra as “21st century lesbian Depeche Mode” to Szandra, which... probably not accurate but what the hell.

Life Without Sound by Cloud Nothings ✵

Near to the Wild Heart of Life by Japandroids ✵

Nem Vagyok Itt, Barkóczi Noémi ✵ support Hungarian excellence!!!!

Not Even Happiness by Julie Byrne ✵

FEBRUARY

The Painters EP by Animal Collective ✵

The Chief by Jidenna ✵ 

Focipályákon sétálsz át éjszaka, Szabó Benedek és a Galaxisok ✵ again, same

Sick Scenes by Los Campesions! ✵ 

Commons As Light and Love dfhdfhd by Sun Kil Moon ✵

2016 Atomized by the Raveonettes ✵ PENDEJO

Flying Microtonal Banana by King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard ✵ Rattlesnake (Rattlesnake! Rattlesnake! Rattlesnake!!)

Infinite Worlds by Vagabon ✵

MARCH

Slowdive by Slowdive ✵

Preservation by Nadia Reid ✵

50 Song Memoir by The Magnetic Fields ✵

Last Place by Grandaddy ✵ Evermore

In Mind by Real Estate ✵

Paradise by Anohni ✵

Semper Femina by Laura Marling ✵

Damage and Joy by the Jesus and Mary Chain ✵ All Things Pass

Spirit by Depeche Mode ✵

Silver Eye by Goldfrapp ✵

In the Same Room by Julia Holter ✵

FROM DEEWEE by Soulwax ✵

APRIL

The Far Field by Future Islands ✵ Ran

Something Else by the Cranberries ✵

Pure Comedy by Father John Misty ✵

Humanz by Gorillaz ✵

MAY

Endless Summer by sóley ✵

Occult Architecture vols 1 & 2 by Moon Duo ✵

Diversions, Vol. 4: The Songs and Poems of Molly Drake by the Unthanks ✵

New Thrills by the Primitives ✵

Berdeyminn by Sólstafir ✵

Come On Feel The Misery by The Somersault Boy ✵ bless all this good music by Hungarians hey

JUNE

Is This the Life We Really Want? by Roger Waters ✵

Truth Is a Beautiful Thing by London Grammar ✵

Weather Diaries by Ride ✵

Melodrama by Lorde ✵

Fake Sugar by Beth Ditto ✵

Planetarium by Sufjan et al ✵

Crack-Up by Fleet Foxes ✵

The Underside of Power by Algiers ✵

B-Sides and Rarities by Beach House ✵

Mister Mellow by Washed Out ✵

Somersault by Beach Fossils ✵

JULY

Everything Now by Arcade Fire ✵

Add Violence by Nine Inch Nails ✵

Lust for Life by Lana Del Rey ✵

Soft Sounds From Another Planet by Japanese Breakfast ✵ Diving Woman

AUGUST

A Deeper Understanding by The War on Drugs ✵ Pain

Painted Ruins by Grizzly Bear ✵

SEPTEMBER

American Dream by LCD Soundsystem ✵

Antisocialites by Alvvays ✵

Every Country's Sun by Mogwai ✵ Don’t Believe the Fife

Sleep Well Beast by The National ✵

Okovi by Zola Jesus ✵ Exhumed

Wonderful Wonderful by The Killers ✵ 

Luciferian Towers by Godspeed You! Black Emperor ✵ 

V by The Horrors ✵

Three Futures by Torres ✵

Music From Before the Storm by Daughter ✵

I Tell a Fly by Benjamin Clementine ✵

Unfall by IAMX ✵

Grace by Lizz Wright ✵

OCTOBER

MASSEDUCTION by St. Vincent ✵ 

ken by Destroyer ✵

Plunge by Fever Ray ✵

Carry Fire by Robert Plant ✵

The Kid by Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith ✵

Lotta Sea Lice by Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile ✵

NOVEMBER

Phases by Angel Olsen ✵

Revelations by Shamir ✵

Who Built the Moon? by Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds ✵

Utopia by Björk ✵

Rest by Charlotte Gainsbourg ✵

DECEMBER

Chaka Chaka by Dope Calypso ✵ More HU greatness

Songs of Experience by U2 ✵ oh this album is not good. Songs of Innocence, I thought, was surprisingly good, but this is bleh.

Miscellaneous discoveries:

DIIV

Weyes Blood

Trouble in Paradise - La Roux. I knew La Roux, of course, but this record had flown by me unnoticed and it’s GREAT, see Sexotheque

Roxy Music - finally dug into their discography.

really dug into the Cocteau Twins too, pure perfection

And Also the Trees

Still Corners

also caught up with Mitski and her well-deserved hype

Nadia Reid - she does have a new record out but I discovered her previous (first) album. I can’t put my finger on what’s so great about her because the world is full of moody singer-songwriters but she’s captivating. Track of the Time for a taste.

[sometipsygnostalgic]

JUST FINISHED GRAVITY FALLS

weirdmageddon was amazing! FAR better than most finales tend to be.

i wanted to know what the zodiac thing was all about though... i’d never seen it before but it was obviously important to the fans who had theorised about it.... couldnt we at least see what it would have done???? it didn’t have to be the final conflict!

ANYWAY i dont have as much to say about gravity falls as adventure time for obvious reasons so im going to rank it... Without further ado, it’s time to heavily overthink about cartoons!!!

Animation: 5 out of 5 hats - this is one of the most BRILLIANTLY ANIMATED childrens cartoon shows ive seen. there’s no weird inbetweens, the lighting for each scene is absolutely spot-on, it looks and feels amazing! honestly gravity falls looks like one of the strongest arguments for using script-driven shows instead of storyboard-driven shows, because cartoon network has never in its life produced something that looks this good.  When it used 3D CGI it was implemented smoothly. The characters had no absence of body language and cues either, it was never boring to look at. Disney does it again!!!

Humor: 4 out of 5 hats - While I dont think this show is the literal funniest thing I’ve ever watched, it is consistently entertaining throughout the entire series which is more than I can say for the two cartoons (AT and SU) that i’m unfairly comparing it to. Humor is one of GF’s strongpoints, because the jokes it throws at you out of complete nowhere will always have you on ground. I laughed SO hard during this marathon, and the jokes are obscure enough that I’ll probably do the same thing on a rewatch. The animation helps significantly too. The character designs alone, especially Mabel and her sweaters, allow for plenty of visual humor. Soos is the sort of character that you dont know what hes going to do next. Grunkle Stan conning people got some of the hardest laughs out of me. Wendy is just.... Wendy reminds me so hard of early Marceline, except she will occasionally do something really cool cos shes from a family of lumberjacks. Let’s not forget Waddles, the MVP in the humor department.

Story: 3 out of 5 hats - If I made this post yesterday, I’d have ranked it 2 out of 5 hats. I never felt that there was any “story” to gravity falls, only some kind of ARG that added nothing to the experience because none of the questions were solvable until the answers had been revealed. But the second half of season 2 ups the ante on story by focusing on the Pines family and their relationships to each other, and you can feel tension rise especially when Dipper starts to hang aound Ford a little too much and you sense that poor Mabel is gonna be left in the dust just like Stan before her. Weirdmageddon also was way more entertaining than I expected! And how it ENDED? Oh jesus! The show’s final scenes were heartbreaking, if I’d been following for longer I might have started crying.

Characterisation: 4 out of 5 hats- holy crap, it’s just so much fun seeing the Pines family play off of each other. Each group has an entertaining dynamic, whether it’s playful like Mabel, Soos, and Wendy’s shenanigans, or more serious like Stan and Ford’s conflict. There was barely any time throughout the entire series that I was annoyed by how someone was acting, or thought that it was out of place and agitating. I think I might be giving this point a rather generous score because of how feelgood it was, rather than complex or deep, which in many areas it wasnt. For example earlier in the show the conflicts felt dumb, like the Jurassic Park episode where everyone was acting vaguely out of character to cause a sense of drama? idk. But later on it got more heartfelt, if predictable. Where else do I think it can do better?

Worldbuilding: 2 out of 5 hats - Yep, the area where I think Gravity Falls does the worst is worldbuilding. For 2 big reasons: The wasted potential of Gravity Falls itself, and the way its inhabitants were used. Maybe I’m just spoilt by the AMAZING job Adventure Time and Steven Universe do with this, but the land of Gravity Falls fails to be as interesting as Ooo or as realistic as Beach City. Idk, i think it’s more ENTERTAINING than Beach City but more because I get more laughs out of the show than recent SU. The issue with Gravity Falls’ civilians is that unless you’re a Pines, youre a straight up Cartoon Character. That rules your characterisation and your purpose for existence. This is fine and yes there are some memorable characters but they never have those hilarious moments of humanity, like the episode Root Beer Guy where the title character gets into conflict with his wife cos she thinks hes too involved with his actual realistic mystery novels, or the Graybles ep where Starchy ran away from the candy kingdom to get rid of a tracker in his tooth cos he knows  PB was spying on him, and he runs a little club conspiring against her like some kind of real life political group. His club and Kim Kil Whan having King of Ooo memorabilia lmao. I’m getting too into this but its moments like that which make Adventure Time feel great. 

As for GRAVITY FALLS ITSELF, yeah because the world doesn’t feel as real as it could be I never wanted to see what it had to offer next, and there’s never explanation for all of this. The journals play a much smaller role in the series than Dipper’s reactions over them would have you think. The closest thing to an explanation is the pondering over whether a spaceship caused the weirdness in GF or was drawn to the area because of this weirdness. But is it magic? Is it science? Is it different dimensions? Fuck knows! Is there any hint about the truth? I’m not sure! Yeah, not all things need to have answers, but it helps fire off the thinkpan. In Adventure Time the Land of Ooo’s weirdness is linked to an apocalypse that helped bring magic back to the land. The hint is that the magic potential was always there, because there were magical societies around millenia before humanity. Did magic disappear because of a comet hitting the planet? Is magic actually based on scientific principles? Like GF, not all these questions have direct answers, but unlike GF, you have enough incentive and evidence to construct your own theories. It lets you get absorbed in the lore of Ooo, of the characters inhibiting it. This is my own perspective anyway. 

I think the most amazing mysteries I ever saw unwravel were Simon and Marcy’s adventures, and more relevant to my own experiences, PB’s age. Like there was puzzle pieces and hints around indicating Peebles had been around way longer than 18 years or whatever but we finally got confirmation in Season 5.2 where we saw consecutive episodes showing her in the past. The theory was that she was younger than 1000, but could be any age older than about 50. The Vault was a shock origin story for not just Finn having had a past life as a girl without an arm (THE ARM BEING ANOTHER ADVENTURE TIME THING THAT EVENTUALLY GOT some really back and forth PAYOFF), it was an origin story for peebles and the candy kingdom! but why would she make it?? ? yeah this was all stuff we were able to construct theories for, and accurate theories, because the evidence was there and more significantly the Writers were putting it together at the same time. It almost felt like we were having an INPUT in the story because of this natural way it evolved over time. That’s why AT’s mysteries are far more engaging than those of Gravity Falls, at least for me.... but maybe the same thing happened to GF fans????? Because I wasn’t there to put the pieces together, to study the Pines family or the Bill Zodiac which.... was almost as much a copout as Finn’s arm but its ok cos the stan deleting his memories shit was a decent end anyway. I just dont know why theyd  put a mystery like that IN there if it was always going to be a red herring???

To conclude this description which..... ended up being another reason to talk about Adventure Time again, I want you to know that I REALLY enjoyed Gravity Falls. It reminded me of Over the Garden Wall in how it’s told, the characters it has, but much larger and grander than OtgW ever was. 

My favourite characters were Stan and Mabel. Yeah, Dipper and Ford were very interesting characters too, but while they’re among the top of their trope, they still feel like an overdone trope to me.... especially dipper and his Issues,,, Stan meanwhile I liked that he was a runaway fuckup nobody as a child who became a professional conman after his parents kicked him out. That was an interesting backstory.  

Gravity Falls, all in All, gets 3.5 out of 5 hats. To keep it real. Spend them wisely.

[mixtake]

2018 according to mixtake

A 11ª edição da coletânea do ano tem 120 faixas em 8 horas e 7 minutos de música! Espero que tu te divirta tanto com ela quanto eu me diverti fazendo. lml No fim do post tem os links para download, stream no Spotify e pras edições dos anos passados.

Artist : Song : Album 
Albert Hammond Jr. : Set to Attack : Francis Trouble Alvvays : Echolalia : Pecking Order (Single) Arctic Monkeys : One Point Perspective : Tranquility Base Hotel +Casino Art Brut : Veronica Falls : Wham! Bang! Pow! Let's Rock Out! Ash : All That I Have Left : Islands Baxter Dury, Delilah Holliday, Etienne de Crécy : Only My Honesty Matters : B.E.D Beach House : Girl of the Year : 7 Beach Skulls : Come Undone : Las Dunas Belle & Sebastian : Everything Is Now (Part Two) : How To Solve Our Human Problems Belly : Girl : Dove Bixiga 70 : Quebra Cabeça : Quebra Cabeça Black Rebel Motorcycle Club : Echo : Wrong Creatures The Breeders : All Nerve : All Nerve The Brian Jonestown Massacre : Animal Wisdom : Something Else Brownout : I Don't Wanna Be Called Yo Ni**A : Fear of a Brown Planet Car Seat Headrest : Sober To Death : Twin Fantasy Cat Power : Stay : Wanderer Ceremony : Closer : East Coast The Charlatans : Totally Eclipsing : Totally Eclipsing EP Connan Mockasin : Charlotte's Thong : Jassbusters The Coral : Reaching Out for a Friend : Move Through the Dawn Courtney Barnett : Need A Little Time : Tell Me How You Really Feel The Cure : Shake Dog Shake (New Blood Mix 2018) : Mixed Up (Deluxe Edition) David Duchovny : Half Life : Every Third Thought Dean Wareham & Cheval Sombre : Greensboro Woman : Dean Wareham vs. Cheval Sombre Death Valley Girls : Disaster (Is What We're After) : Darkness Rains The Decemberists : Sucker’s Prayer : I'll Be Your Girl The Decemberists : Traveling On : Traveling On Devon Church : Curses : We Are Inextricable Dorias Baracca : Dean & Dane : Dorias Baracca E A Terra Nunca Me Pareceu Tão Distante : Daiane : Fundação Echo And The Bunnymen : How Far? : The Stars, The Oceans & The Moon Echo Ladies : Apart : Pink Noise Eels : Be Hurt : The Deconstruction Eleanor Friedberger : In Between Stars : Rebound Elli de Mon : Grinnin' In Your Face : Songs Of Mercy Elvis Costello & The Imposters : Dishonor the Stars : Look Now The Essex Green : January Says : Hardly Electronic Firefriend : Afterhours : Sulfur Gaz Coombes : Wounded Egos : World's Strongest Man The Good, The Bad & The Queen : Ribbons : Merrie Land Gorillaz : Magic City : The Now Now Gruff Rhys : Negative Vibes : Babelsberg Guided By Voices : Space Gun : Space Gun Interpol : Flight of Fancy : Marauder J Mascis : See You At The Movies : Elastic Days Jack White : Corporation : Boarding House Reach James : Coming Home (Pt.2) : Living In Extraordinary Times Jeff Tweedy : I Know What It's Like : Warm Jim James : Throwback : Uniform Distortion Jimi Hendrix : Mannish Boy : Both Sides of the Sky Johnny Marr : Rise : Call the Comet King Tuff : The Other : The Other Kristin Hersh : Breathe In : Possible Dust Clouds Kurt Vile : Rollin with the Flow : Bottle It In The KVB : Violet Noon : Only Now Forever L.A. Witch : Sleep : Octubre EP Laura Marling & Mike Lindsay : Rolling Thunder : LUMP The Love-Birds : Gerrit : In the Lover's Corner Luna & Cheval Sombre : Lonesome Cowboy Bill : Lonesome Cowboy Bill M. Ward : Shark : What a Wonderful Industry Malcolm Middleton : Love Is a Momentary Lapse in Self-Loathing : Bananas Manic Street Preachers : People Give In : Resistance Is Futile Marianne Faithfull : No Moon in Paris : Negative Capability Mark Kozelek : Sublime : Mark Kozelek Mark Lanegan And Duke Garwood : Cold Molly : Mescalito Mazzy Star : Quiet, The Winter Harbor : Still EP Melody's Echo Chamber : Breathe in, Breathe Out : Bon Voyage MGMT : Me and Michael : Little Dark Age Miles Kane/Jamie T : Killing The Joke : Coup De Grace Mitski : A Pearl : Be The Cowboy Morcheeba : Sweet L.A. : Blaze Away The National : Guest Room : Boxer: Live in Brussels The National Reserve : Big Bright Light : Motel La Grange Neil Young : The Losing End : Songs for Judy Neil Young + Promise of the Real : Peace Trail : Paradox (Original Music from the Film) Okkervil River : Famous Tracheotomies : In the Rainbow Rain Ovlov : Baby Alligator : Tru Papercuts : Sing to Me Candy : Parallel Universe Blues Parquet Courts : Freebird II : Wide Awaaaaake! Paul McCartney : People Want Peace : Egypt Station Paul Weller : Gravity : True Meanings Peter Bjorn and John : One for the Team : Darker Days Phosphorescent : C'est La Vie No.2 : C'est La Vie A Place to Bury Strangers : Was It Electric : Pinned (Brainwashing Machine Edition) The Prodigy : Light Up The Sky : No Tourists Richard Ashcroft : That's How Strong : Natural Rebel Rogerio Skylab : O Eco da Queda : O Rei do Cu Say Sue Me : Dreaming : It's Just a Short Walk! EP Say Sue Me : Let It Begin : Where We Were Together The Sea and Cake : Any Day : Any Day The Shins : So Now What (Flipped) : The Worms Heart The Sidekicks : Serpent in a Sun Drought : Happiness Hours Simon Love : I Fucking Love You : Sincerely, S. Love X The Smashing Pumpkins : Silvery Sometimes (Ghosts) : Shiny and Oh So Bright, vol. 1 LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun. Spiritualized : Damaged : And Nothing Hurt Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks : Middle America : Sparkle Hard Suede : Life Is Golden : The Blue Hour Sun Kil Moon : David Cassidy : This Is My Dinner Superchunk : Black Thread : What a Time to Be Alive Suuns : Watch You, Watch Me : Felt Tatá Aeroplano : Mil Almas De Gato : Alma de Gato Television Personalities : Have A Nice Day : Beautiful Despair Thalia Zedek Band : Of The Unknown : Fighting Season Thee Oh Sees : Enrique El Cobrador : Smote Reverser They Might Be Giants : I Left My Body : I Like Fun Tim Burgess : Inspired Again : As I Was Now Twin Shadow : Saturdays (feat. HAIM) : Caer Ty Segall : Every 1's a Winner : Freedom's Goblin Ty Segall : Isolation : Fudge Sandwich Unknown Mortal Orchestra : Ministry of Alienation : Sex & Food The Vaccines : Maybe (Luck of the Draw) : Combat Sports The Voidz : Leave It In My Dreams : Virtue Waxahatchee : You're Welcome : Great Thunder Will Oldham : Party with Marty (Abstract Blues) : Songs of Love and Horror William Fitzsimmons : Wait for Me : Mission Bell Wooden Shjips : Staring at the Sun : V. Wye Oak : Lifer : The Louder I Call, the Faster It Runs Wylderness : Broadcast : Wylderness Yo La Tengo : For You Too : There's A Riot Going On

DL ou ouça no spotify. Links para as edições passadas 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016

dez.2018

[workingclassdan]

Big music list 2017

As years go, I think 2017 set a pretty high standard for music. My taste this year  = Middle-aged indie legends, brokenhearted female singer-songwriters, proggy metal and overly ambitious locals.

*Number of 2017 albums listened to:* 260. (Full list in separate post)

*Top 10*

1. Afghan Whigs - In Spades 2. St Vincent - Masseduction 3. King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Flying Microtonal Banana/Murder of the Universe/Sketches of Brunswick East/Polygondwanaland/(unnamed fifth album) 4. Phoebe Bridgers - Stranger in the Alps 5. LCD Soundsystem - American Dream 6. Ryan Adams - Prisoner 7. Broken Social Scene - Hug of Thunder 8. The National - Sleep Well Beast 9. Fountaineer - Greater City, Greater Love 10. Father John Misty - Pure Comedy

Who would have thought a band that seemed to have peaked with SubPop’s mid-90s boom would have my favourite album of 2017. It’s got shades of grunge but Afghan Whigs’ In Spades is no grunge album, they add brass and strings to go with a still emotionally wrought howl.

St Vincent is still putting out twisted pop. She’s picked up grammies but while she enlisted Jack Antonoff to help produce but the result is poppy but it’s more messed up and artful than anything you’ll find in the charts. There’s elements of heartbreak and obsessive compulsion.

King Gizzard deserve special mention again. By December 10 they’ve put out 4 of the 5 albums they promised in 2017 and each has its own concept: Flying Microtonal Banana - microtonal tuned instruments. Murder of the Universe - heavier with spoken word narrative throughout. Sketches of Brunswick East - a collaboration with Mild High Club. Polygondwanaland - back to their psych freakout but the album masters were released for anyone to make their own pressing and profit from it. An incredibly consistent output. Banana and Polygondwnaaland especially keep the standard extra high but many people could have found a way to get into Gizz this year.

I loved Phoebe Bridgers album. Suited my mood a lot. LCD Soundsystem might have been the album I listened to most this year, it just makes me happy. Ryan Adams and Father John Misty had early high points in 2018. The National had another solid album and Bendigo’s Fountaineer might just be Australia’s equivalent of The National.

*Albums that didn’t get their due* Holy Holy - Paint Tim Rogers - An Actor Repairs Depeche Mode - Spirit Ben Wright Smith - The Great Divorce

*Best New Band Name* Tropical Fuck Storm Big Walnuts Yonder

*Best Album Title:* Broken Social Scene - Hug of Thunder

*Best/Worst Album Title* Doug Tuttle - Peace Potato

*Weirdest album I listened to:* Bob’s Burgers soundtrack. 100+ tracks from the TV show.

*Best soundtrack* Baby Driver - I loved the movie and the soundtrack was stellar. Reminded me of what a perfect song Easy by the Commodores is. Hans Zimmer - Blue Planet 2

*Least essential* Ben Gibbard covers Teenage Fanclub’s Bandwagonesque in its entirety Sun Kil Moon shat on his legacy some more with another album filled with songs that sound more like trolling than an album. I’m over that guy.

*Best Re-releases* The Beatles - Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (50th anniversary) Radiohead - OK Computer (OKNOTOK) REM - Automatic for the People (25th anniversary)

*Surprise of the Year* Arcade Fire doesn’t matter any more. Everything Now was nearly ok but its major achievement was making Reflektor sound pretty decent is retrospect. Easily their weakest album. Chastened, I’m prepared for them to abandon irony and return in 2020 with a sincere new album called All That You Can’t Leave Behind.

*Close to the top:* Julien Baker - Turn Out the Lights Spoon - Hot Thoughts Pony Face - Deja Vu Penguin Cafe - NIN - Add Violence ep Smith Street Band - More Afraid fo You Than You Are of Me Thurston Moore - Rock n Roll Consciousness Pond - The Weather Aimee Mann - Mental Illness Perfume Genius - No Shape BNQT - Volume 1 Elder - Reflections on a Floating World London Grammar - Truth is a Beautiful Thing Haim - Something to Tell You Waxahatchee - Vagabon - Infinite Worlds Manchester Orchestra - A Black Mile to the Surface Grizzly Bear - Painted Ruins Gang of Youths - Go Farther in Lightness Rostam - Half-Light Torres - Three Futures Taylor Swift - Reputation Love Migrate - Somewhere, Over the Mangroves Kamasi Washington - Bjork - Utopia Mavis Staples - If All I Was Was Black

[culmaer]

Oa handwriting, experiment n°2

itkaʀ kʀinʍaltの著作： artifaksian  Edgaʀ Gʀunewald’s writing: Artifexian 二十六章。 takar国、 oa字 「ʀao」  chapter 26. Takar-land, Oa script 「ʀao」 takarの円「kil」。 小都市sanao...    Takar’s ‘yen’ 「kil」. small town Sanao... oloʍato山 → kak〜kaka。     Mount Olowhato → kak~kaka

to commemorate the new Oa words revealed in E.G.’s writing for Artifexian ep. 26, I took another look at how handwritten Oa might work. since many of the principles are based on how hangul is written, I’ve used a few hanja to help define the Oa terms. notably, graphemes like ‹ㅁ› tend to be written almost like ‹R›, as in Korean (and Japanese)

► see also : Oa handwriting experiment n°1