#interrobangs are just the beginning

[findmeabowlofundertale]

PART 4

FINALLY

I got stuck about a third of the way through. This one is also very long. I’m just straight up writing a fic or something now ig ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ But I figure, if no one’s reading these, why feel self-conscious?? Galaxy brain moment. Besides I’ll probably edit this when it isn’t almost midnight, anyway.

Here is the previous part, and here is the next part

- - - -

The last thing she had expected was to receive a call from the Royal Scientist.

Had she considered contacting him in the weeks since their long conversation at the coffee shop? Sure. Not seriously considered it… but it had crossed her mind. At no point, however, had it crossed her mind that he might actually call her.

She was nervous to pick up the phone.

She almost didn’t, actually, but then two thoughts occurred to her: I probably shouldn’t ignore a call from one of the most important people in the underground, and, Wait, how is he even going to talk to me over the phone if he signs?

Curiosity got the better of her.

She put on her best professional voice.

“Hello, this is Asteri. How can I help you?”

Nailed it.

“U-Um, hi!”

That was not the same voice that had laughed and, just once, said “ah,” while sitting across a box of donuts from her six weeks ago. This voice was decidedly more feminine.

“S-Sorry to bother you! He can’t— I-I mean, the doctor, he can’t really, um, talk on the phone? So I’m, um. H-He asked me? And I-I really don’t think this is necessary, I-I’m so sorry, I’m sure y-you’re really busy—”

“I’m sorry, who is this?”

“O-Oh, my god, right, I’m sorry! I-I’m Alphys, D-Dr. Gaster’s int— um. A-Assistant.”

Ah. No wonder he had been so patient with her own stammering and nervousness back at the coffee shop, if this was what his assistant was like.

“Hello, Alphys. Why don’t you take a deep breath and start over?”

The person at the other end did so. “Okay. R-Right. Dr. Gaster wanted to call you, b— No, I am saying it like that, you did!”

Asteri raised an eyebrow as the voice on the phone seemed to address someone else for a moment.

S-Sorry about that. So, he wanted to call you, but he only really y-you know… signs? So I’m, um! Calling i-instead.”

“Right. I understand that part. Why did he want to call me?”

Alphys’ voice seemed to get quieter, like she was holding a hand over the phone. Asteri only caught parts of what she said. “No, i-it isn’t a—! …ot really need to…. and bother her about…” Finally, there was sound on the other end, presumably of Alphys holding the phone back up to her head, and a sigh. “W-We… found some human stuff, and th-the writing isn’t in English at all— S-Sorry, it’s possibly not in English. Dr. Gaster is, um, r-really interested in it, and said he knew a l-linguist wh-who might also be interested?”

It sounded like she was relaying this, as if she were reading it… or someone were signing to her as she spoke.

“Tell her wh—? Oh…” Alphys sounded more hesitant than before. “H-He says he thinks it m-might be a… new. C-Cipher.”

Asteri’s eye widened. She just went from mildly interested but hesitant, to invested. Too invested to hear the way Dr. Gaster’s assistant sounded strangely guilty. How kind of the doctor to think of her! “Where?”

“W-We’re at the, um, th-the dump in—“

Yep, she knew where that was. “Got it. I’ll be right there!”

Oh, okay! B—”

Asteri was too excited to feel bad for hanging up like that. The dump was a great place to find records of written language, both old and modern. There were sometimes other languages, too, but she didn’t have enough of any of them to even begin to translate. There were enough monster languages to keep her busy anyway. But a skeleton finding something and saying it was a cipher font? That warranted her attention. He had seemed hesitant to speak at length about ciphers, but there was definitely more than what he had told her. She hadn’t been about to pry, just grateful for what he had been willing to share, but now? An opportunity to discover something new related to that, alongside someone with that kind of knowledge? There was no way she would pass that up. Especially not since Dr. Gaster had remembered her work and interest in the subject, and was considerate enough as another scholar to call her and let her know about this discovery.

She pulled her boots on, grabbed her bag, and took off. The dump wasn’t too far from where she lived, only about a 15 minute walk. Or an eight minute run, apparently. Skidding around the corner, her tail flicked out automatically to balance her. Up ahead, standing near one of the larger waterfalls, was Dr. Gaster, whose eyes somehow looked even more sunken than before, alongside a yellow lizard monster who looked almost comically short beside him. The skeleton perked up upon catching sight of her and waved. The lizard monster, Alphys presumably, waved awkwardly from behind him. Asteri suddenly remembered the extremely awkward way she and the doctor had parted ways last time and found herself dreading what it would take to recover from that.

“Dr. Gaster,” she greeted as she approached. “It’s good to see you again. I—”

She had looked up at him then, ready to construct whatever apology was appropriate for someone of his standing, but found herself cut short by the sheer warmth of the way he was looking at her. Like he was genuinely happy to see her again, instead of just sharing a discovery with a fellow academic. His eyelights even had that pale green glow again. It threw her off enough for her to completely lose her train of thought.

He didn’t miss a beat. “Ms. Asteri! I am so relieved you could join us. My assistant, she found the most fascinating thing!” He turned to address the monster beside him. “Ah!” There was that verbal sound again. “Introductions, of course. Ms. Asteri, this is my assistant, Alphys. Alphys, this is Ms. Asteri.”

“Pleasure to meet you,” Asteri said, nodding her head in a slight bow, her habit since her wings tended to be a bit large for handshakes, and summoning hands for a quick gesture like that was often more trouble than it was worth.

To her surprise however, Alphys mirrored the gesture without seeming to give it a second thought. “Hajim— UH! Y-Yeah, y-you too!”The poor monster’s face went red. Asteri figured it was from mixing up her words, and paid it no mind. “I’m r-really just an intern, though… I’m still in college.”

Looking at her again, Asteri realized she did seem rather young. Poor thing.

“Nonsense, Alphys!” Dr. Gaster signed emphatically. “You are my brilliant and trusted assistant! If I were in charge, you would have graduated already.”

Alphys looked flustered and covered her face. Asteri smiled. That was sweet. He clearly cared about the people he worked with. One more thing she hadn’t expected from someone of both his position and his age. But she needed to focus; she was sure he wasn’t here to socialize.

“So, what did you find?”

The doctor somehow grinned even wider and pulled a piece of plastic out of his bag to hand to Asteri. “Look!”

She took the plastic— a case of some kind— and looked it over. On the front was clearly writing, but not in any language— or font— that she was familiar with. On the back was more of the same writing, but it was smaller and less colorful. That already gave her a bad feeling that this wasn’t a font of its own. She looked up in time to see Dr. Gaster finish signing something to Alphys about showing something else. The shorter monster approached her nervously, face still red, and handed over a fairly thick book. On the cover, two humans(?) with short-ish hair and huge eyes held each other in an embrace that, frankly, didn’t seem sustainable without falling over. She flipped through it. It was filled mostly with drawings, but the text that was there looked similar to the text on the back of the plastic case. It seemed to represent what was being spoken by the characters, so dialogue, which certainly lent itself to the idea of a cipher.

“What do you think?”

Asteri looked up at the man before her. He may as well have been bouncing from foot to foot with all the excited energy coming off of him. “Well, it’s hard to say. I would have assumed a different language, but with what you shared with me previously… you may be right.”

“Some of these symbols remind me of Runes of the Dragon,” he informed her, stepping closer to point to one of the more complex looking symbols. “But they look much more complicated than other parts of the text. Perhaps it is two different ciphers? I wonder why humans would write a book in such code though. Unless— No, no, that would be ridiculous. Never mind.”

She had a bad feeling about getting his hopes up. “W-Well, remember,” she said carefully, “it might not be a cipher.”

He deflated slightly, but kept his poise. “Right. Yes, of course. In either case, I… thought you would be interested.”

“Oh, well, I appreciate it, but I don’t usually work with other human languages—”

If his face had fallen any further, any faster, it might have slid right off his skull. Asteri found herself scrambling to backpedal.

“—Sssssince I don’t usually have enough material! But th-this is a lot to work with! So it will be a lot of fun to work on, whether or not it’s a cipher.”

That seemed to help bring his smile back. (Why was she so concerned about it anyway?) But he seemed much less at ease than that first time they had spoken. Well, that was none of her business. “I’m glad to hear that!” He glanced over his shoulder, then back. “I am going to see if I can find any other items with this text. They may help in deciphering this. Why don’t you speak to Alphys? She seems familiar with these items, perhaps she has some insights.”

“I’ll do that, thank you.”

He seemed to linger with her just a moment longer than necessary, like he was expecting her to say more, but she didn’t. She made her way over to where Alphys had wandered, and Dr. Gaster meandered elsewhere, seeming distracted. Strange, Asteri thought, but then corrected herself. She could hardly call it strange, she didn’t even know the man, really. Whatever odd behaviors he had, those were his business. And surely any monster would have a few idiosyncrasies after at least two centuries. Gah, she needed to focus on her work.

“Alphys—” She had barely spoken the other monster’s name, and Alphys about had a heart attack.

“M-Ms. Asteri! Haha… You scared me. S-Sorry.”

Jumpy, this one. Poor girl. Maybe she could put her more at ease somehow. “Please, just Asteri is fine. I’m hardly more deserving of an honorific than you are. Though, if you’d prefer “Ms. Alphys…””

“N-No! Uh. No, thank you. Just A-Alphys is fine.”

Several long seconds passed before Asteri decided she ought to give the scientist a bit of a nudge. “Dr. Gaster said you’re familiar with these human books and items? Is there anything you’ve noticed, any patterns? Anything that might help us decipher the text?”

Alphys fidgeted anxiously for a moment, eyes flickering between the ground, her hands, and Asteri. At last, she took a deep breath, glanced over to check where Dr. Gaster was, and then shuffled closer. “O-Okay, I-I-I have to admit s-something.”

Asteri raised an eyebrow.

“This is-isn’t a cipher. It’s… It’s a human language,” she sighed, sounding far too guilty. “It’s called Japanese. O-Or, um, nihongo. I-I, um, like to collect this kind of stuff, that’s how I know. There’s these um, these sh-shows, called anime, a-and actually they’re really interesting b-because they deal with a lot of u-uncommon tropes compared to most human media? Like there’s this one, and th-there’s these clothes that are actually aliens—“

“Alphys…”

The lizard monster’s mouth clicked shut. “I-I’m sorry,” she squeaked.

Asteri sighed softly, and not unkindly. “It’s fine. Really. It sounds… sort of interesting. I’d be happy to listen later. But I need you to focus right now.”

“R-Right. Right! Okay! S-So, anime. The audio, it’s in Japanese. It’s its own language. I’ve heard it, a-and it’s nothing like a cipher. B-But, um, Dr. Gaster saw one of my DVD cases a-and I guess it really, um, threw him off? That he wasn’t familiar with the text? B-Because the first thing he did w-was ask where I found it, so I told him the dump in Waterfall, of course. The next thing I know, we’re headed here a-and he’s talking about you again, and I’m thinking oh gosh, this isn’t even a f-font thing, but I can’t tell him that—”

“Hold on, hold on. Back up.” Asteri paused. “Actually, first, I’m sorry for interrupting you a second time. That was rude. But what do you mean, talking about me again?”

Alphys went pale. “Did- Did I say that?” She laughed nervously. “N-Nooo, um, it’s not like, uh! Eheh… N-Not like in a- in a creepy way!” Asteri just stared at her, waiting for an explanation. Alphys sighed. “L-Look, um, ever since he got back to the lab a few weeks ago, all he’s talked about is ‘the n-nice monster he met who asked him about fonts,’ and what- what a nice time he had. And, y-y’know, w-we asked him about it, because gosh, it’s not like he really, um, gets out much? At. At all. Even the people who have worked with him way longer could tell you, h-he pretty much lives at the lab. So it’s, um, nice to know he actually had a, um, a-a conversation. Not about engineering. W-With like, a real person, who doesn’t work with us.”

At this, she started to blush a little. “O-Okay, and you- you know how it is at work! Y-You like, kinda tease each other? Right? S-So, um! We, you know. K-Kinda. Gave him a hard time. M-Mostly the others! Not me! I-I mean I did a little, but like not very much, I didn’t get weird about it!”

Where was this going?

“A-And so finally, he tried to get us— th-them!— to stop by saying that y-you guys um, exchanged numbers. S-So you were going to. Call him? A-And then when your schedules lined up, y-you’d go, um. Talk. Again.” Alphys smiled nervously. “B-But, um. You… didn’t. W-Which is fine! I-I’m sure you’re busy! B-But he was just, really sure you would. S-So he kept making me check that his phone was working. And it was, of course. But, well, um. He. Got… anxious? I think? So everyone kept telling him to just call if he was that worried, b-but he wouldn’t, he kept saying you were p-probably really busy. P-Plus, like, I mean, I get it, I hate making calls too. S-So all of this has been going on for- for a couple weeks. And then he saw m-my anime DVD, a-and… yeah.”

Asteri blinked several times, a pit forming in her stomach. So used to dealing with the niceties (like exchanging contact information) of her peers and seniors in academia, and the transparently false but necessary pleasantries (like saying that you really should meet up again soon), it had never occurred to her that it was entirely sincere when he said those things. All this time he had actually been waiting for her to call. He genuinely wanted to talk again, but assumed she was too busy to call, so as soon as he saw something that might possibly be relevant to her work or interest her…

“Oh my god,” she whispered, mostly to herself. “I messed up.”

And now she had to break the news to him that it wasn’t a cipher at all. Or even remotely related to her work. She wasn’t going to make Alphys do that, this wasn’t her fault. Asteri wouldn’t have wanted to correct her boss over that kind of misunderstanding either, were she in Alphys’ position.

“N-No, no, it’s not you!” Alphys hurried to reassure her, not having been privy to her thoughts. “I-I should have told him, I, um…!”

“No, it was definitely me,” Asteri sighed, dragging the edge of her wing down her face. She shuffled forward a bit more, looking to make sure that Dr. Gaster was still preoccupied, then lowered her voice and addressed Alphys again. “I- Okay, I’m not used to dealing with anyone particularly genuine. Most of the other scholars I talk to either don’t especially care about my work, or aren’t interested enough to seek me out on their own. Which is fine, it kind of goes both ways. We meet up in groups every year or so, sometimes a few times a year, exchange or update contact information, refer each other to researchers in related fields, and so on. Occasionally we’ll send some emails back and forth about something relevant to our work. But nobody really makes friends, okay?”

She knew she sounded frustrated, and hoped Alphys understood that it was directed inwardly, not at her.

“So I happen to run into the man I’ve been debating emailing for weeks, manage to not only get him to answer a few questions, but sit down and have an hours-long conversation with me! It was great! Way more than I hoped. It wraps up, he offers his phone number, and to me it’s—“ She groaned. “It was the same song and dance. That’s what I thought, anyway! I didn’t realize he actually expected me to contact him! I haven’t been busy, I assumed there was no chance in hell that the ROYAL SCIENTIST was going to want me to call him up for a chat!”

By now her tail was flicking back and forth in agitation, the magic of her wings flickering slightly and fraying at the edges for the same reason. She summoned hands just to rake them through her hair and then bury her face in them.

“Alphys. Be honest. How badly did I screw over my chances of being on good terms with the Royal Scientist?”

The lizard monster had been doing her very best to hold in a slight smile. Knowing Dr. Gaster made Asteri’s worries seem far less serious, but obviously the older woman was distressed. “N-Not at all, I don’t think! He- He’s really understanding. Um, I’ve made a lot— a lot— of mistakes, but he’s really patient! I-I’m sure he’ll understand if you explain.”

Asteri peeked through her fingers. “You really think so?”

“Yeah! You seem like- like a really kind person, Asteri! Don’t worry about it! Dr. Gaster is r-really nice. H-He won’t be mad, I promise.”

“I won’t be mad about what?”

They both yelped at the blue hands that suddenly manifested near them. A few yards away, Dr. Gaster was sloshing through the water toward them, a troubled expression on his face. Asteri wanted to melt into the water and slither away. It wasn’t ideal since it would mean abandoning her clothes, but it also wouldn’t be the first time she’d used that exact method to escape an uncomfortable situation. Unfortunately, this just wasn’t one she could justify escaping from.

“What happened? Is something wrong?”

Asteri tried not to hunch in on herself, and refused to let her magic shift her into something better at hiding. “N-No, nothing is wrong. I just, um…” Meet his eyes, Asteri. She let out a heavy breath. “There’s just a misunderstanding I’d like to clear up. Maybe…” She glanced at Alphys, then back to the doctor. “Maybe we could sit at my house, and I could explain over some sea tea. I don’t live far.”

Dr. Gaster and Alphys exchanged looks (worried and reassuring, respectively), before he agreed with a nod. “Alright… If it isn’t any trouble.”

“None at all. Follow me.”

The walk was uncomfortable. Asteri weighed down by the misunderstanding and the fact that the text had nothing to do with fonts, Gaster troubled by whatever no one was telling him, and Alphys stuck in the middle.

“Alphys,” Gaster signed anxiously as they followed Asteri from behind, a few minutes into the trip. “Have I done something to upset her?”

“N-No, no!” Alphys whispered back, trying to sound reassuring. “I-It’s nothing.”

“Are you certain? She seems… different than before. Perhaps it was a bad time.” He strangled a noise of dismay in his throat. “She was probably busy! I knew I should not have called!”

“S-Sir, with all due respect, calling her w-was absolutely the right decision.”

He didn’t seem convinced, and let himself slouch forward with a despondent sigh. “Oh Alphys, you don’t have to side with me just because I’m your boss. Be honest. She looked very upset.”

“W-Well, she… she was, but—“

“I knew it!”

“Sir, that wasn’t—“

“This is why I have no social life, Alphys! I’m too overbearing!”

“Doctor, p-please.”

He swiveled his head to her, looking far more forlorn than a skeleton with a mostly-fixed smile ought to be able to. It was the big glassy eyes, Alphys decided. How did he even do that? He didn’t even have actual eyes. She sighed.

“Sir, she’s not upset at you.”

He paused, standing a little straighter. “She… isn’t?”

Alphys sighed. “No.”

“Almost there,” came Asteri’s voice as they rounded a corner. “If you go into the kitchen, we can use fire magic to dry off. Then, uh. Just sit wherever is comfortable. Kitchen table, living room…”

It wasn’t like she hadn’t heard Alphys whispering. She hadn’t caught what was being said, but Alphys and Dr. Gaster were clearly talking about something. Oh well. It couldn’t get much more awkward than it already was anyway.

After they got to her home, dried off, and sat down at the kitchen table, she heated the kettle for tea and sat down with them to wait for it. This was going to be so, so uncomfortable. Might as well get it over with. She took a deep breath and looked first to Alphys, who gave a nervous but reassuring smile and thumbs-up. Then she turned to the skeleton across from her and took a deep breath.

“Dr. Gaster. About… the text.”

His eyes widened and he bent over to reach into his bag, blue hands blinking into existence in the air to sign for him as he did so. “Oh, yes! I found a few more instances! Here, I’m sure that more examples will help with deciphering it.”

He sat back up and set another two DVD cases and half of a now dry but previously waterlogged manga onto the table. He looked far too hopeful. Asteri’s tail twitched guiltily. She shifted her wings to let the magic rub together, not unlike someone wringing their hands. Better to just tell him and get him over with.

“Look, this—” Another sigh. She just couldn’t bring herself to crush him like that. She tried again, tone softer. “Doctor. I really appreciate you going through the trouble to find these.”

He brightened. That was worse.

“It was… so kind of you to think of my work and call me.”

His smile faltered a little.

“But this text, it… Well, it isn’t…”

It faltered a lot.

Asteri mustered the courage to look him in the eye again. “It… It isn’t a cipher. It’s some other human language.”

He wasn’t smiling at all anymore. Not genuinely.

“Here, on this case—“ She pointed with her tail to part of the title on the DVD case he had first handed her. “These symbols right here, on the front, are the same as the ones here—“ She flipped it over to point to a specific place. “—on the back. The ones on the front are just written with a rounder, more colorful… font.”

She winced at that, knowing it was probably a slap in the face to point out the fonts like that, but there was really no way around it. Sure enough, he looked even more crestfallen than earlier. She wanted to say something more, but the kettle whistling forced her out of her seat.

“You said she wasn’t upset with me,” Gaster signed hollowly, once Asteri’s back was turned.

Alphys was much better at understanding sign language than using it, but she could sign, albeit much more slowly than her superior. But this was in too close of quarters for her to whisper. “She’s not!”

Gaster turned his head sharply to look at her. “She just told me I wasted her time, and pointed out that this is clearly written in two different fonts!”

Alphys gave him an exasperated look and tried to remember how to sign what she wanted to get across. “She thanked… you… for thinking … of her—“

“To be polite!”

“She… isn’t upset… with… you.”

“No, I’m sure she thinks me a fool. How in the underground did I miss that it’s two different fonts?! I’m a skeleton!”

“You… haven’t… slept… in days.”

Gaster scoffed silently. “I took a nap…”

“Yesterday.”

“Sorry for the wait.”

Both scientists looked up in time to see Asteri turn around with a cup in each of… her now three tails. No, it was still one tail, but she had split it into three prehensile ends.

“It won’t be cold, since I just made it, but I put ice cubes in there…”

Alphys was quick to latch onto literally anything other than comforting her boss. “Th-That’s fine, thank you!” She took a sip once it was set in front of her.

“Yes, thank you.”

Asteri returned to her seat and sipped her own tea, if only to escape the discomfort of continuing the conversation for a few more seconds. Dr. Gaster had to be disappointed he had wasted his time. And now she was about to make it worse.

“Um. There’s one other thing.”

Dr. Gaster’s eyelights flitted over to Alphys for a split second, surrounded by just the faintest glow of violet.

Asteri rubbed the back of her neck— it was attached to her head for the time being— and looked away. “I… feel like you’re going to be upset, even though Alphys said otherwise, and it would be completely understandable. But you deserve to know the truth.”

He looked to Alphys again, panicked. She quickly signed, “It’s okay!” Then, after a beat, “I think.”

He wasn’t reassured.

“The last month and a half… I have not been particularly busy. Not too busy to make a phone call, anyway.”

Silence. Stillness.

“I… ugh, where do I begin? When I meet with other scholars…”

“I’ll save you the trouble, Ms. Asteri.”

She looked up as soon as she saw hand movement. “I’m sorry?”

“I’ll save you the trouble of explaining.” Dr. Gaster’s smile was forced, maintained only so as not to make his host feel guiltier than she clearly already did. Somehow, the shadows under his eye sockets looked even darker. “You do not need to cushion it. I apologize for troubling you. You need not spend any more time on this. Thank you for being honest with me.” He stood, then, and gestured for Alphys to do the same. “You do not need to apologize for not wanting to call, I understand. Please forgive this old skeleton for overstepping the boundary you meant to set. Thank you for the tea. We will take our leave, now. You have a sharp mind; I wish you well on your future endeavors.” He turned. “Alphys?”

“W-Wait,” the lizard monster protested weakly. “I-I-I don’t think…”

Asteri, who had only grown increasingly mortified at the misunderstanding as he had gone on, finally snapped out of her frozen horror and rushed to clarify. “Wait, no! No, no, no, hold on! That’s- That’s not what I meant at all!”

Dr. Gaster turned back to her, unsure, but waited for her to continue.

“I’m absolutely interested in talking more with you!” she blurted, thinking it best to be clear now, then try to save face later. His eyes widened. “I didn’t call because when I talk to my colleagues, the- the unspoken understanding when we say that we’ll be in contact is that we won’t actually contact each other unless something important enough to share is discovered, and even that’s just with peers! Senior researchers?? Y-You don’t contact them unless it’s something BIG! When you said to call you, I didn’t think… you actually… meant… it.“

Her voice grew smaller and smaller as she trailed off. It sounded so stupid to actually say to him. He frowned. Her chest clenched. She couldn’t keep looking at his face, so she just looked at his hands.

“I said I wanted to hear more about your work.”

“I-I know.”

“I asked that you call me.”

“I know.”

“…Multiple times.”

She winced. “I… Yeah. I know.”

A pause. Then: “Ms. Asteri, please look at me.”

She looked up. He… wasn’t mad. If anything, he just looked confused, and a little sad. Her stomach settled slightly.

“I’m not angry with you,” he clarified, just in case. “I just… don’t understand how what I said could have been misunderstood…”

“That’s entirely my fault,” Asteri sighed. “I’m not used to people being genuine. Especially about their interest in my work. And with your… your position, I thought…”

“My position?” The man looked genuinely puzzled. She actually laughed a little.

“Well, yeah. I wasn’t about to just, call up the Royal Scientist to ask if he wants to chitchat! With me of all people!”

Dr. Gaster frowned, still confused. “Why not?”

Her mouth opened, then clicked shut. There wasn’t exactly a good answer to that, was there? “You’re like, super important,” she offered weakly, eyes flicking away again. “You run the CORE, and maintain the phone and internet networks, and… probably a bunch of other important things. Why would you make time to talk to me? I happened to catch you at a good time, before, but I don’t actually have anything helpful to offer. Everyone knows you keep to yourself, so—“

“That is because I have no social skills,” he interrupted.

She almost snorted at the doctor’s deadpan self-awareness. Alphys actually did snort.

“And is companionship, is pleasant conversation not something important to offer?”

Asteri smiled a little, for a second, but it slipped away with a regretful sigh. “I’m sorry, Dr. Gaster.”

He picked up the smile that had fallen from her face. The one he offered her was hopeful, reassuring— and it stuck this time. “I am not upset, Ms. Asteri.”

She looked back up. “No?”

“No.”

“I-I told you!” Alphys whispered to Asteri, who smiled.

Dr. Gaster hesitated, looking almost bashful, before signing again “Am I correct in understanding that you… did enjoy my company, then?”

She blew an almost-laugh through her nose, relieved the tension had mostly passed. “Yes, you’re correct.”

The next question was even more tentative. “And you didn’t call because the current culture in your branch of academia is… no contact unless necessary?”

Bluish green magic collected into a slight blush across her cheeks. “Y-Yes, but I would have called if- if I’d realized you were being sincere.”

“That is… a weight off my mind, I must admit.”

“I‘m sorry for the whole misunderstanding.”

“Really, it’s alright. I am just glad I did not overstep any boundaries.”

Alphys breathed a sigh of relief as Dr. Gaster returned to his seat. “Oh th-thank god. I-If this hadn’t gotten cleared up, it w-would’ve been so awkward all the way back to the lab.”

Asteri slumped back into her chair as the tension bled out of her and wrapped her wings around herself, grabbing her tea with her tail— now back to one single appendage. “I would have had to leave the world’s most anxious voicemail.”

“Heh.” That got a chuckle out of Dr. Gaster, apparently.

“S-So are you guys going to, um, h-hang out now?” Alphys asked, a bit too eager. She had her phone out, Asteri noticed with both amusement and concern, like she was waiting to text someone.

Asteri turned back to the man across from her. “Well, Doctor? Are we?”

Apparently skeletons blushed pink. “If you are not opposed to the idea… I would certainly enjoy hearing more about your work.”

She grinned. “I believe we just established that I’m not opposed.”

“Right, yes. Sorry. I have not slept… well. Lately.”

“You haven’t slept at all, sir,” Alphys chimed in without looking up from where she was rapidly typing on her phone. Dr. Gaster made a noise of mild offense and raised his hands to respond, but she cut him off. “The nap from yesterday doesn’t count.”

Asteri jerked forward. “You haven’t slept? In that long‽”

“Oh…” He smiled crookedly, eyes beginning to droop. “You use interrobangs. How delightful. I haven’t seen one of those in ages…”

Alphys looked up from her phone. The two women exchanged a look.

“Is this a common occurrence?”

“O-Oh, yeah. If he doesn’t, um, have coffee, he starts to crash after a while.”

“Is he even going to make it back to New Home?”

The hand wiggle from Alphys wasn’t particularly reassuring. “We, uh, might have to get him some coffee. B-But I’m sure he’d be fine!”

With a sigh, Asteri stood and addressed each of them individually. “Alphys, I’m going to need your help. Dr. Gaster… consider this the first step in our friendship.”

His eyes opened slightly. “Hmm…?”

“You’re sleeping on my couch.”

- - - -

NOTES

Yeah so this was actually going to be longer but it was so long already. But the good news is that I’m working on part 5 already.

As you can see I’m a “sea tea is cold” truther. Also, hopefully I managed to get across some things about signing, which are that being able to move your hands that quickly can be hard if you’re out of practice (or didn’t practice much to begin with), even if you know the signs; and facial expression is super important. Asteri interpreting Gaster’s comments about her not calling him as flat and judgmental has a lot to do with the fact that she’s avoiding his face, only looking at his hands. Some things don’t translate directly back and forth in sign language, so some of Gaster’s speech patterns are the result of context and how he’s signing. I’m gonna do more research too.

#nothing better for fiction than poor communication skills #I seriously considered making them even worse but ultimately I couldn’t commit to writing that much drama #and ultimately who cares this is for my own enjoyment first and foremost #So my pacing is horrendous sue me. #so the tone shifts too abruptly #what are you gonna do about it? #anyway #interrobangs are just the beginning #Asteri backstory #⁂ fic #seeker oc #asteri #gaster #⁂ gaster #alphys #long post #seeker writes #⁂

[mini-games]

-BEGINNING LORE/SUN SAGA-

In the beginning, most everyone lived in Item’s (@item-shoppe) basement, eventually escaping one way or another to Nefarious’s (@nefarious-exclam) tower or to set up their own place.

I, Mini, came along through anon. An anon (a different one) had supposedly been quoting the lyrics to a song, but none of us knew the song and took it seriously. So we killed the sun. How? Well Nef tried (and failed) to shoot it with a water gun, and one of his gimmick posts was shrinking someone down to the size of an ant. So, if they’re able to do both of those things, I figured “Why can’t he do both on the sun?”

I sent in an ask, on anon (before I had become a gimmick blog. I was wanting to be one at this point but didn’t know what my gimmick would be) telling him to shrink the sun down to the size of an ant and shoot it with a water gun. It worked, the sun was extinguished, and it all went dark in the universe. And cold.

After figuring out what gimmick I wanted to be, I quickly made a profile picture for the blog and made the blog itself, now being able to interact with everything easily. The first interaction I had was with Vance (@advancement-made), and they asked me why I would do that. I didn’t think it would actually work, but it did and I have been advised to not underestimate Nef again. I was also forgiven.

Meanwhile, the Ice People had come out of the ice caves (looking at you, @solidwater05. I know what you did. /silly) and were attacking Nefarious, trying to get him to become an Ice Person as well. Nefarious uses a lot of mana during this period of time, trying to fight them off. Also Vance and Glitches (@glitches-and-bugs) can glow, we found out.

Boss (@bossfight-messages) ends up making a deal with the Ice People, telling them that they’ll be an Ice Person if they are given blankets. This deal was never completed, however, as Boss never turned into an Ice Person. Guess it’s too late for that now, though.

In the meantime, Vance and I forged a plan to relight the sun by making a large bonfire and throwing the sun in it, since Nef still had the sun in their hands. Small fires went out pretty quickly, but we figured a large bonfire would take a while to go out. Vance ended up leaving to get some wood, whilst I left to get something to light the wood with. I found some matches, before the Ice People found me.

The Ice People tried convincing me to join them, eventually telling me about how they are lonely and just want a friend. I ended up breaking, and they infected me, turning me into an Ice Person with them.

Before I could do anything as an Ice Person (infecting others, hiding away in the Ice Caves, etc.), the sun returned to the sky, having been re-lit. Normally, I would’ve melted since I was ice, but it was night-time. So I still had time.

Status (@status-updates) ended up watching as everyone panicked about me being an Ice Person, as he sat on a thawing machine. Nefarious ended up making a bargain with Status for the thawing machine, and when Status agreed on the price, he took 50 extra gold from Nefarious for renting the thawing machine. Nef used the thawing machine on me, thawing away the ice. I was back to normal, and everything was right and good in Exclamania once more. Well, except for Nef. Especially since he was angry at Status for swindling them.

Nef also gave me one of his cloaks, since I was still quite cold after having been frozen for about an hour. They also revealed that he knew the Ice People once. This seems to be a pretty big part of both Nefarious and Select (@character-selecton) lore.

If anyone else has anything to add to the Beginning Lore/Sun Saga lore, feel free to add to it!

If needed, I can also post a plaintext version. If you need a plaintext version, just ask and I can post it!

#not a mini-game #sun blackout #sun saga #ooc speaking #this is entirely from my perspective of the sun saga so please please please tell me if theres something to be added or changed. #i also wasnt planning on using color but i did anyways? because theres a bit of pronoun soup in some places #so i figured it would make it easier for some people to have the colors #which is why im offering a plaintext version just in case ^^" #i also wasnt there in the beginning lore which is why its so short but i dont think there was much in the beginning anyways #documenting the beginning #part 1/3 #im gonna be documenting the sun saga (complete) the interrobang war and the gnome armada! 3 separate posts for this lmao

[punctuation-completionist]

okay! percontation point/rhetorical question mark investigation has been done! i am putting this under a read-more because it's super long but if this causes accessibility issues please tell me lol (i don't remember if it does but i am trying to make my original posts more accessible so...)

tl;dr for anyone who doesn't read the whole thing, i basically just looked through some really old scans to prove the origins of the percontation point (and that sounds really boring but maybe it's interesting? it would be more interesting if progressive punctuation would email me back lol)

. ? ! , : ; ' " – — - · ... [ ] { } ( ) / < >

22/22

bonus:

⁂ * † ‡ ⁓ ~ & ⸺ ❦ ⸮ ‽

11/20

so basically, this is related to this post* i reblogged a bit ago because something about the graphic on it was bothering me... here's the graphic in question btw

[image id: a picture with nine punctuation marks in three rows of three. the first row has (from left to right) the acclamation point which looks like an exclamation mark with two stems pointing in sort of a v shape from the dot, an exclamation comma which looks like an exclamation mark with a comma instead of a dot, and an interrobang which is a question mark with an exclamation mark laid over it. the second row has the love point which looks like a question mark with two of the top parts put together to form a heart, a friendly period which looks like a period with a curved line underneath it, and an authority point which looks like an exclamation mark with a curved line perched atop it. the third line contains a rhetorical question mark which is a backwards inverted question mark, a doubt point which looks like a question mark with the top part shaped more like a cursive z, and a question comma which is a question mark with the dot replaced with a comma. end id.]

so, i've done a lot of research on irony punctuation throughout my days—whether it be to argue with a reddit comment or just for punctuation day reasons—and i would say i know a lot about irony punctuation (of which rhetorical questions fall under i guess? according to wikipedia at least)

so, that post was bothering me because the rhetorical punctuation mark i know is the percontation point (⸮) invented by henry denham in the 1580s & the mark used on the post was an inverted form of this

now, here was the easy investigation on who made this graphic. i already said so in the tags of the post, it was by progressive punctuation; they even have a specific page on their website with this information. now when i saw the rhetorical question mark they used, my first thought was, "maybe they're talking about a different rhetorical question mark" but then...

[image id: a screenshot from the progressive punctuation webpage on the rhetorical question mark. it says that the inventor is henry denham, it was invented in the 1580s, and it was invented in london. end id.]

see, so here's the real problem. they're citing it from henry denham when his mark doesn't look like that. so then i did the logical thing and tried to find where henry denham even printed this thing in the first place. and that's where the fun(?) part begins.

❦

so, i have a range in the time periods i'm looking for (⁓1580–1589) and i have a name (henry denham). first question: who's henry denham?

the answer isn't that interesting but it's contextually helpful. henry denham was, suprise suprise, a printer from england. allegedly he's iconic but the most i can find about him is that he's a printer and he invented the percontation point. one website (link) claims the use of the point to be from around 1575–1625 which is kinda not 1580s but. i don't know what the deal with that is. (if i figure it out, i'll explain it) and attributes it to either henry denham OR the translator anthonie gilbie (and denham was apparently his printer?? idk man this is a whole web of shit)

so, who's anthonie gilbie? firstly, the only things i could find were for anthony gilby and not some guy with a weird -ie but that's not really relevant because the guy is also a translator from 16th century england so like. i don't think that's likely they were two separate people. so, anthony gilby is a radical puritan who translated the geneva bible into english. the geneva bible is one of the oldest english language bibles, predating the king james bible by around 51 years so i guess that makes anthony gilby pretty important. shakespeare used it, cromwell used it, milton used it, it's a big deal. gilby only translated the old testament, another guy called william whittingham translated the new testament so that does narrow down the thing slightly

but also, i'm not reading the fucking bible again especially not in old english so. i want to narrow it down more.

and that means we're going back to henry denham ! yay! since the source i was using was the only one that provided anything at all on the origins of the percontation point, i went back to it to see what else it had to say. and what it had to say was that there were two examples, one was the psalms of david† (in roman font) and the other was a book called tragicall tales (in blackletter font). so with those being our only two leads, we have to follow them.

⁂

so i search up "psalms of david 1581" to see if i can find a scan. and the first thing i find is a 1581 enchiridion on the psalms of david (1st edition) that's 795$. yikes. luckily i don't think that's the one but that certainly did freak me out since it was from the same year and shit. anyways. the online geneva bible has 150 chapters of psalms so we'll just talk about tragicall tales first

now what the absolute f⸺ is tragicall tales? and to that i say. well. i don't really know.

except, jk i do apparently know now! tragicall tales was a novel written by a man called george tuberville‡ and published in 1587, and while i can't find any direct statements that it was denham that invented it, it is in blackletter font and printed the same year as the article said so... i think it's a safe assumption to make that this was denham's work. the next thing to do would be to find tragicall tales which i wasn't too excited for given the last time i tried to find a book for this it was almost $800 dollars.

but i struck gold. not only did i find a copy on archive.org (link), i also found a typed out version (link) but the punctuation there is badly transcribed in my opinion so. take what you will from it but. idk man i think i found the right stuff. so without further ado:

and while this is probably the oldest crustiest scan ever and also 400 pages long, i did find something! yay!

[image id: five screenshots from the internet archive scan of tragicall tales, each containing a backwards question mark aka a percontation point. end id.]

now, i know looking at this, it's kinda hard to tell what's going on due to the quality of the scan, typeface, and other stuff, but i'll break it down real quick. the percontation points here are after the words wife, fame/same (it's probably a long s but it looks more like fame if that helps), about, will, and wife again. i tried to get a few that have normal question marks in them to prove what i'm talking about (they're in the second, fourth, and fifth screenshots) you see em? cool, because my eyes might fall out of my face with how long i had to look for these. good lird.

but what about the inverted one? now, i did scour this as hard as i could and the closest one i could find was this

[image id: a screenshot from tragicall tales reading "la mia donna bella è buona". end id.]

but at the same time, the typed version has that as an è and not punctuation of any kind and while i don't agree with the typed version 100% i do think that makes more sense. so there. that's all we got out of tragicall tales. back to psalms!

❦

i was very excited to read this.~ (that's a snark mark btw. i was not) i already had to read the bible once recently for ... reasons? (i'm not super religious) and that was the new american bible not a fucking bible in middle english. so. this is somehow worse. and yet. i ended up trying my best to find it

now seemingly it slipped my mind that unless there was a scanned copy of an original it would likely not have the mark i was looking for because i looked for ages. it was a fucking nightmare. psalms sucks especially geneva psalms. but, archive.org came to my rescue yet again. and let me tell you. it still didn't help

firstly, the geneva bible looks like this.

[image id: a screenshot of a scan of the geneva bible. it has two columns of text along with notes off to the side and footnotes. it is written in middle english. end id.]

if you're lucky (?) the geneva bible looks like this

[image id: another screenshot of a different scan of the geneva bible with a similar layout but it is more yellowed and fancier. end id.]

yes, i looked at two different scans of the same book sue me. or don't preferably. but this did give me one clarifying idea of what i was doing wrong. the article i had referenced said that the question mark was in roman font. the main text of the geneva bible seems to be in blackletter. so i had to look in the side columns. and look in the side columns i did. and yet, that didn't seem to help any either (if anyone wants to look the first one is linked here and the second is linked here; i don't think they're in there though in hindsight)

and yet, there was one last place to search. the psalms of david truly opened and explained by theodore beza. a completely different text by anthony gilby (and his name has the -ies in it in the scans i can find of this so that's also a good omen) and it's still david psalms so i hunted it down. and great news

[image id: a picture of the first page of the psalms of david truly opened and explained by theodore beza. it has the translator listed as anthonie gilbie and printers listed as richard yardley and peter short. it is extremely brown and looks very old. end id.]

it's an even older looking book! (though to be fair, the geneva bible was older they probably just reprinted it more often) (i found it here if that's anything)

quick intro to people: theodore beza was a french calvinist who lived in geneva. he's not really important to this story. peter short and richard yardley were printers who worked for the stationers' company (aka the worshippers company of stationers aka the worshipful company of stationers and newspaper makers) and i will get back to that.

so now we're getting... somewhere? i mean, this book does have cool wood cuttings right?

[image id: a picture of a wood cutting of a man kneeling in front of a book, with light and a fancy frame. end id.]

but does it have percontation points?

[image id: a picture from the psalms of david truly opened and explained by theodore beza. it has two percontation points in it. end id.]

oh hell the fuck yes it has them. look at that! two of em right there! that solves that mystery. and i didn't even have to look at the geneva bible. but it's fineee <- didn't want to look at the geneva bible but whatever

but where's henry denham?

like first of all, the article i was using said "1581" for the psalms thing so either that's a different psalms with percontation points in it or something got screwed up because also... the printers are names on here and neither of them are denham, especially considering the book came out in 1590 and denham quit publishing in 1589 (or maybe 1591? it's unclear). they also confusingly say he was succeeded by short and yardley and while i can't find anything about yardley, i do know that denham also worked for the stationers' company so they were at least colleagues in the printing business . so this isn't denham is seems but also... he did make the percontation point in 1587 in the tragicall tales so i don't think it's a question of inventing it, that was probably still denham. there might be another psalms out there with percontation points in it but who knows? i really don't think we need more proof when we say that this -> ⸮ is the percontation point :}

⁂

so where the fuck did this other one come from‽ because if i know one thing it's that progressive punctuation has generally been right... so what's the deal with that?

of course i did the only logical thing and emailed them. i hate emails but i did it anyways. for you (if people don't reblog this just for the sheer effort i will be mildly saddened. here's a secret interpunct for you for reading all this shit. -> ·)

and of course, i didn't get an email back immediately which was disappointing. in fact, as i post this, i still haven't gotten an email from them (i waited like a week but if they do email me back i'll update you)

so anyways, then what did we learn if i never got an email back? how to do dumb research for a day and learn absolutely nothing new? i mean i actually kinda don't know how to conclude this now that i think about it. i guess we learned that henry denham probably invented the percontation point and that maybe we should start using it more often. and that you should check infographics you see online, i guess? maybe don't check them this intensely though because. that was a lot. :{

* don't you dare go harass the op i swear i will kill you if you do

† apparently these aren't by david according to most scholars but whatever

‡ unrelated as far as i am aware to tommy tuberville, a u.s. senator from arkansas. he seems to be kind of an asshole but i'm not from arkansas so i don't really have an opinion

#original posts #punctuation #okay i finally waited the seven days i promised hope this is interesting to anyone but me lol

[basilsbestpainting]

I was listening to 'Interrobang' by Bayside this morning before class when I had to do a double take right?

They made a fucking Richard III reference. Nobody makes Richard III references. Straight up, the lyrics are

"I am on a mission

To lose this sorry disposition

I know there's truth in lies

But I'm so tired of nursing mine

I've always had more pride than sense

A little expletiving prince

The winter of my discontent begins

Oh, how I've longed for this"

Which is a straight reference to the opening monologue by Richard?

Not gonna lie, at further glance the entire song seems to call to it. I don't know if its just because I've been studying the damn play for 13 weeks or if this is a genuine connection

#Bayside #Interrobang #richard iii #Shakespeare #Shakespeare Richard III #as i tell all my friends #its time for my weekly breakdown over shakespeare

[unremarkablechap]

💊 -- ; top 5 song associations, share the top songs in your playlist that most inspire / represent your muses the most. bonus points if you include lyrics to go along with it. 

TAGGED BY : stolen from @penniesfortheferryman !

TAGGING : @shinestxr , @badmusejail ( gaster ) , and anyone else can steal this from me !

1 ) INTERROBANG - BAYSIDE .

if confidence is in the chest i'd never take a single breath; i keep my secrets up my sleeve and cut my arms off just to sleep. // oh happy days are here again, but i've spent them all in bed. // i am on a mission to lose this sorry disposition and i know there's truth in lies but i'm so tired of nursing mine. i've always had more pride than sense; a little expletiving prince. a winter of my discontent begins, oh how i've longed for this.

2 ) BURY ME - BAYSIDE .

don't lean on me cause these bones are weak -- they're held up by friction and force and i'm not sure it's in me to be so mean. // can people change in any meaningful way? we cover up, we renovate; can you really fool the world with a fresh coat of paint? // you can't believe what you hear and see. history is calling me but i was up all night, and i just wanna sleep. // guilty by association i gotta work real hard to change some minds. i want your respect but not your praise; don't think of me on your dying day.

3 ) BLAME IT ON BAD LUCK - BAYSIDE .

assume it's just not worth getting back up. so i'll blame it on bad luck, and i'll shake responsibility. // do you ever wake up to realize that your life is meaningless? does it give you strength or lead you to your grave at a young age? // it seems that when i ran away from my past all my faith, my dignity, my pride got left back. and now i think it's time that i realize that self pity's meaningless, though i'm ten feet deep, i'll claw my way back out from my own grave!! // now i realize i'd give anything i had to spend a day in my old shoes.

4 ) YOU REMIND ME OF HOME - BENJAMIN GIBBARD .

you remind me of home: a broken bed with dirty sheets that creaks when i am shifting in my sleep. // you remind me of home: in a suburban town with nothing to do, patiently waiting for something to happen. but the foundation is crumbling and becoming one with the ground. while you lay there in slumber, you're wasting your life. wasting your life.

5 ) LIGHTNING BOLT - JAKE BUGG .

met her, as the angels parted for her, but she only brought me torture. but that's what happens when it's you who's standing in the path of a lightning bolt. // chances, people tell you not to take chances when they tell you there aren't any answers. and i was starting to agree but i awoke suddenly in the path of a lightning bolt. // it was silent -- i was lying back gazing skyward, when the moment got shattered; i remembered what she said. and then she fled in a path of a lightning bolt.

#; [ 💊 memes . #; [ 💊 musings . #( most of these are bayside but that's okay ) #( shhh ) #( it's fine dw ) #( i love this meme so fucking much i had to do it again )

[dapurinthos]

writing isekai star wars fic is like leaving a single kudzu seed pod, going 'it'll be fine', and then coming back to find a skyscraper covered in it. it has taken over my youtube homepage. at least one in every six videos is star wars-related. i have seen seven different 'definitive' order 66 cuts advertised.

and do things like:

I thumb a discreet message to Master Lene on my dual-phase comm: archives compromised. send help. or weapons. Master Lene’s reply of weapons ARE helps is quickly followed by second line. This one is entirely of question marks. She wants to know more, ASAP. I start to type and get a: keep it short, about to go into hyperspace. discovered dooku deleted data. jo murderous is what she receives. I get a reply back of a half-dozen interrobangs before the warning of The user you are trying to reach is now out of range pops up in a different coloured bubble. “Unfortunately, Master Lene’s in hyperspace and can’t give you the best advice on weaponry,” I say. “Just as well. I’ll have a better idea of what’s going on when you get back.” “Get back?” She gives me a withering look. It’s not as withering as the look she gave Obi-Wan before, but it’s still withering enough that I’m sure I’ve missed some inference that I shouldn’t have. “You.” Master Jo points at me. I point at me in concordance. She nods, and continues. “You are going to this ‘Kamino’,” she says the name with such a disgusted voice that I’m going to need the ability to imitate immediately, “with Master Kenobi so that I can begin to fix the data despoiled by Dooku—” “Nice alliteration.”

#star wars fanfiction

[madison-the-geek]

Fluorescent: Unstable Knowledge

Ultimately, fluorescent centers around the illusion. Something that seems wanted because of how it seems, until it is obtained and the illusion falls. This illusion could represent a wide variety of things, but after listening to the song on repeat, I realized that it plays off the idea of knowledge a lot like INYTBW. Jon says for INYTBW, "Maybe our enemy is not ignorance, but the illusion of knowledge." And fluorescent portrays this perfectly.

The song begins with "i am the moth beating his wings against your dusty window." This first brings to mind something small, less than the others, but trying very hard to be fulfilled. Then comes the line "outside of your dull fluorescent light." This is a significant line for several reasons. First, it uses the title, which automatically calls to its importance. Second, it uses cognitive dissonance. Cognitive dissonance comes from a psychological term, but people use it when addressing poetry, too (please note: I have no idea what it means in physiology. I think it's really similar, though). Anyway, without getting into it too deeply, it uses inconsistency and opposites to draw attention to certain words to bring tension. Here, dull and fluorescent and contrasted as the same thing, drawing us to understand this importance despite its contradiction. It also often notes the main piece of tension the piece is addressing and trying to resolve. So, from the third line, fluorescent makes sure to note that the problem is the flaw of the fluorescent light.

The word dull is also fascinating because it has several meanings. I played around with these different meanings and was sure one definition it certainly didn't mean was "stupid." But, after thinking it over, I began to think maybe it does. After all, light can represent enlightenment, finding knowledge, or finding the truth. Dullness can represent not knowing. So maybe this is what the song is about, a false knowledge.

The moth is small but determined to find light; however, what they are drawn to is an illusion and not even something they can fully reach. The next line, "youth was dark with the simple things," actually made me think maybe the moth represents youth as well, maybe not actual youth in physical terms, but youth as in inexperience in general. So now, after being duped by this falsity, the speaker wishes for the simplicity of ignorance, of youth. But now that they have seen the light, they can no longer go back to the simplicity of ignorance. They are too small without the illusion of some knowledge.

Through the first chorus, the speaker makes it clear they want the light. They want truth. It feels good to have some direction, even if it's false. The second verse reminds us that the blind following will lead us into oblivion, yet even when we understand the falsities, we go blindly because we are lost, and at least the fake light brings something.

"our outcome looks exceedingly clear," this stood out to me because exceedingly is an interesting choice of words because it doesn't exactly fit in the rhythm, so it stands out. Clear is also interesting because it's the opposite of the dusty window. So here, the speaker notes that one thing stands out above all else: the only thing to actually understand is that we are breaking apart while trying to hold ourselves together.

The second chorus is quite aware the facts that they are being told by the fluorescent light are wrong, so the speaker is biding their time, waiting for something better and waiting for the light that thinks of itself so highly to run out because they know it will. In the end, the song is trying to balance the want with the understanding that it is nothing, the illusion is so perfect they need it, but it is not everything.

Now, again, this illusion, this knowledge, could be anything. We tell ourselves lies a lot. We follow things blindly a lot. Paired with INYTBW and, I think beloved (from what we've heard), it seems most likely that this is a testament to our culture nowadays, where we often pretend you know it all, especially on the internet. Maybe the fluorescent light is our electronics, our phones. A window the screen, separate and near through every word we can transmit miles away, but never actually be close. We are blinded by all the knowledge at our fingertips that we are constantly obsessed with, but it's still not life. There is more to life.

From this point of view, I don't see the song as saying these devices are bad or that listening to other's ideas and knowledge is bad, but a warning that not everyone knows everything. In fact, most of us are just guessing. The internet often heightens these ideas where we must defend ourselves as worthwhile and everyone else as being wrong. We're basically trying to sell ourselves as someone people should listen to, but to do that, we just spew nonsense that gets people's attention. But it doesn't have to be like this, ever, on the internet or in real life. I don't think SF is saying the internet is bad, just that it's a weird place to exist, especially when, like the past year, this was the main place to exist. The theme is more of: be aware, so you don't follow blindly and listen to nonsensical facts. Stand for something so others don't trick you. There's more than just what one person says.

This is one interpretation that I felt. I could probably write three other interpretations of this song because Jon (and Tim? The internet says only Jon wrote it, but I don't know how much I believe that) is an excellent writer. Switchfoot's music is meant to be seen from several different perspectives at once, and that is amazing. In the spirit of interrobang, I AM NOT RIGHT! It is important to take in others' knowledge to form one's own opinions, but no one knows the perfect truth in the end. Certainly not me.

#switchfoot #fluorescent #fluorescent analysis #interrobang

[wordsandsound14]

Switchfoot albums ranked (not including interrobang)

I've been thinking about this a lot too recently. Ik I'm late to the party on this one but I don't get on reddit often. Only got on since the band did the ama. I won't include interrobang since it's so new and ranking it seems difficult. (worst to best)

11. Learning to Breathe - While this record has some of the best written songs (Learning to Breathe, The Loser, Love is the Movement), it also has some of my least favorites (Poparazzi, Innocence Again, Living is Simple). I often just find myself bored with this album and disappointed. There are plenty of dipping of toes in ideas and then abandoning them. For instance, the beginning of Erosion is such a cool unique sound and then it's abandoned for the rest of the song. The themes of this album are also really boring to me, even when I was a christian. I just found it wasn't taking a unique perspective or doing anything different with its themes when they have done so before.

10. Where the Light Shines Through - I feel this was the band when they were the most uninspired. It feels like it was trying to sell itself to the CCM crowd and make some waves there since it's been the most consistent place of making waves and it still didn't do that. Don't get me wrong, there are great songs here (If the House Burns Down Tonight, Float, Holy Water). The first half of this album is super good. It's that back half that feels like an axe to the first half. Every song on the back half has something that disappoints me. And I'm fine with christian themes and all but it felt like this album had more just praise songs vs the questioning of faith. Would've been a great EP and it kinda made sense that they went into hiatus after this album. I also feel that the themes of the album didn't really make it to it. Jon talked about how he was in a some struggle and storm before the album and then by the time they got recording it more so became an album after the storm. And I just wonder what was going on. Cause there's only small hints. I can only feel that an album that actually talked about that or coming out of the storm would've worked but we got way after the storm and leaving a lot of good inspiration behind in a ball of mystery that we still don't know about. I don't need to know every information that he went through but the songs got effected by it.

9. New Way to be Human - I think what holds this album down the most is it's lack of direction. I can feel them trying to tackle all of their ideas from folk to pop to indie while maintaining their identity. I just don't feel these ideas get fully fleshed out. But these songs are really well written and the philosophy bleeding into these tracks and ending up being a basis of many future songs can all be tracked back to this album. This album is just a very specific listen so I don't often turn to this album. I do think Something More is the most overlooked song, with Amy's song being a close second. I also think Incomplete is a just a better version of I Turn Everything Over so it feels like a repeat track. But I really appreciate what this record represents in their career and see it as a stepping stone of sorts. (Company Car is one of their best earlier works)

8. Native Tongue - Seems a lot of people have very different feelings about this work. I think the biggest thing that makes Native Tongue feel distinct is that it feels like a Jon Foreman project with Switchfoot. Like Jon was the only one who couldn't stay away from the studio and was calling the other members. They came and were happy to but it was Jon with the initiative. At least, it's how it sounds to me. A lot of these ideas are incomplete. But when they aren't, they hit really well (Native Tongue, Dig New Streams, Oxygen). And the amount of trying different things! Granted a lot of ideas of modern production ideas but I'm glad they happened. But some I'm not too fond of (Joy Invisible, Wonderful Feeling, The Strength To Let Go). I feel this album also really fell short without a good producer. It's not the production value that doesn't work but Switchfoot works best when there is a producer there that works with them and pushes them. I fell they could have been better but it also has some solid songs in here.

7. Legend of Chin - This is one of the most fun Switchfoot records but has such a distinct sound and charm to it. I understand that a lot of songs are about girls that Jon doesn't even know any more but there isn't a bad song on here. It's all just fun from 3 guys jamming in a room. I used to not like the closing track but it's grown on me and I crave that sound more and more. Some standout tracks are Home, Chem 6A, You. With Underwater being a super creative song. I don't have a ton to say other than this is root Switchfoot and their cores are on display here.

6. Fading West - I feel this is their most misunderstood record. The struggle this album went through is tremendous. Take the two best things Switchfoot is known for and strip them away and they still make a record worth listening too imo. It's not their best but it's really ambitious, even if accidental. Originally, they were going to only strip the guitars away but when you listen to the story of Fading West, going on a journey to feel inspired. There are plenty of lines hinting that Jon was having writer's block (blood clot pen). It does mean the lyrics suffered some here but I don't think they suffered a ton. They achieved the california surf music. However, I do think they missed a huge part that I feel the fans were wanting. It's the sound that's on the ep. It's the one we were advertised and didn't receive on the album. I would loved if the album had the sound of Edge of the Earth (the song). But I really appreciate the risk cause it's a huge one. (stand out tracks: Love Alone Is Worth the Fight, BA55, Slipping Away).

5. Vice Verses - This was the best they have ever been as musicians (you could argue this for Oh Gravity too tho). But the amount of pushing their musical talent is very apparent on this album. The bass lines and drum rhythms are amazing. The only songs I'm kinda eh about are Rise Above It (still has great production and energy) and The Original (still has amazing bass and guitar parts). This album does have a weird issue with the lyrics either hitting really deep parts of your heart or being a very vague or simple line. The production is also the best imo and everything is layered super well. The only production that I disagree on is on Where I Belong (the digital claps for why and some parts sounding a little inconsistent with the rest of the album). But the choices in the sounds of the guitars and genre jumps and the grunge. Still lacking in some areas but still a solid record. (Holds my favorite Switchfoot song Thrive)

4. Oh! Gravity. - Oh yes, the golden era as I call it. I pin this album as the core Switchfoot sound. If you want to hear what Switchfoot sounds like, this album nails it. Guitars, fun, great lyrics, and musical variety. I don't have much words like I did for Chin. It's a pretty simple album to digest and it's the quickest made one (from what i'm aware of) and it shows but in the best way possible. It's also only made better by the podcast series they made. The only things that hold this album down a bit is American Dream and Burn Out Bright being repeat tracks of another (American Dream being the better one) and the double edged sword of it being simple when surrounded by high effort long works that are beyond exceptional.

3. The Beautiful Letdown - The Classic Foot album that defined their careers. It's not a joke tho that everything went up a whole level with this album. Something clicked in Jon's head that turned out some of his best lyrics and the song formats and sound just grew a ton. Jerome being an essential new member. And only one song that's a little meh (Redemption) and even the meh song is still catchy. Overexposure might be why it's not higher but I feel I have more reasons being that it does sound dated. Most of the time for better but a little for worse. I also feel that if Drew was a part of this album, it would be up a another level also. There's just a slight amount of incompleteness to this record. Not sure exactly but regardless the songwriting on this album is amazing and the questions and the way they are asked remain timeless.

2. Nothing is Sound - Grunge at its best here. I'm still not certain what Jon was going through here other than what the lyrics mention but whatever he was feeling hits hard. It resonates so much. To this day, these songs hold my throat. Not a bad song on here. It's a really good album that only gets beat by it's production value. Some songs could've been produced better (ironically Jon mentioned that recently too lol). Golden, The Setting Sun, and We Are Young Tonight are the forefront of those. And it's not like they are terribly produced but they are missing a little from what they could be. But literally it. Front to back, this record just rocks while wallowing in despair from the fallen world and the loneliness and helplessness it brings. It also represents a huge decision on what to do after a breakout record and is one of the best records after a band reached public success.

1. Hello Hurricane - The whole sound of this record is the most complete the band has ever sounded to me. The writing on this album is so great. Not one song is a waste and process this album went through is amazing. I get that they can't (prob shouldn't) do this process but damn was it worth it. This project sounds so complete and so organically made, even with two songs that I feel could have been switched out. (Always isn't my favorite but I may having it be a song for a past relationship. But it also does still have a lot of raw emotion in it that I appreciate and can get past my own perceptions. It's the lesser of the offense. Free is the other one only cause it kinda is booty in studio. It's live version makes ya wish it was that way on the record). But i adore these lyrics and I love the sounds they used without washing it up with production but still using production (Sing it Out) as a tool. It's so good and I love this album so much

quick review of interrobang is that it’s a very solid record and I love the sound of it so far. It doesn’t take my top record but it’s an insanely catchy album with a lot of listens in the future. I’d probably rank it as 2 or 3. Not sure if it’s above or below nothing is sound. but really give it a listen. It’s exactly what i’ve been wanting from the band for so long

#switchfoot #music #ranked #list #rock music #alternative music #pop rock #Interrobang

[septembercfawkes]

The Easiest Explanation of Semicolons ;)

Semicolons are probably the most misused and misunderstood form of punctuation. Which is ironic. Because they are actually one of the easiest.

Easier than dashes, easier than commas, easier than ellipses, quotation marks, colons, and even the interrobang (?!)

Here is all you really need to know:

Semicolons replace a period between complete sentences.

That's it.

If you know how to use a period, you know how to use a semicolon.

They make the complete sentences into one sentence.  

The problem isn't that they are actually that difficult. The problem is most of us weren't taught about them consistently in school and therefore they seem like this rare, elusive, convoluted punctuation symbol.

So when you are wondering if you can use a semicolon, do this simple test:

Can you put a period there?

If no, then you shouldn't use a semicolon.

If yes, then you can use a semicolon.

Got it?

Let's do a simple quiz. Below, some of the sentences use a semicolon properly and others improperly. Can you tell which are right and which are wrong?

1. I went to the store; she went to bed.

2. He hated turtle soup; because he found it barbaric.

3. Lucy closed her eyes; crying until she had no tears left.

4. Although Bart didn't usually like action movies, this one was great; he could have watched it all night, eyes glued to the screen, popcorn halfway to his mouth.

5. The last thing she wanted to do; was go for a job interview.

6. Spring was almost here; the buds of blossoms were beginning to unfurl.

Now do the test by replacing the semicolons with periods.

1. I went to the store. She went to bed. (correct)

2. He hated turtle soup. Because he found it barbaric. (incorrect)

3. Lucy closed her eyes. Crying until she had no tears left. (incorrect)

4. Although Bart didn't usually like action movies, this one was great. He could have watched it all night, eyes glued to the screen, popcorn halfway to his mouth. (correct)

5. The last thing she wanted to do. Was go for a job interview. (incorrect)

6. Spring was almost here. The buds of blossoms were beginning to unfurl. (correct)

You might be wondering, then what's the point? Why not just use a period?

Valid question.

Two reasons:

1. A semicolon conveys that the content of these two sentences are related and connected in some way. Sure, you can convey that without a semicolon, but for that extra bit of visual emphasis, a semicolon can be nice to use. (Just don't over use them. That's annoying.)

"I went to the store; she went to bed" conveys that these two things are related in some way. We'd need the context of what came before, but perhaps these two characters got in an argument, and this sentence is conveying they each went their separate ways after. The two actions are related.

2. Semicolons have quicker pauses than periods. In the writing industry, we often don't talk enough about beat and rhythm in sentences. Periods have longer pauses. Semicolons are shorter. When you are focused on beat, rhythm, or even pacing, a semicolon may be just what you need.

You can break this all down and get more technical, talking about independent clauses, but remember, the headline of this article is the easiest explanation. And the easiest explanation is that each side of the semicolon needs to be able to stand as a complete sentence. A semicolon implies they relate. That's it.

. . . Okay, there actually is one other way you can use a semicolon in punctuation, but it's less exciting and less used, so if you want to stop reading this article at this point, you probably can. There are also some opinions on whether or not a semicolon should be used in fiction at all, which I'm going to address after.

Still with me?

Great.

So the other time you can use a semicolon is when you are writing out lists in a sentence and one or more of the items in the list already includes a comma.

For example:

It's my dream to go to Paris, France; Rome, Italy; Athens, Greece; and Tokyo, Japan.

Or

During the summer, they hiked down canyons, over fields, and up mountains; fished in lakes, ponds, and even the sea; and shared secrets.

Or

We were going to go swimming; watch the sunset, which was beautiful this time of year; and roast marshmallows.

This can help with clarity.

Should Semicolons be Axed from Fiction Completely?

Some people in the industry argue that you should never use semicolons in fiction because they draw attention to themselves and therefore pull the reader a little out of the story (as a distraction). Semicolons signal to the audience they are reading a story, not experiencing it.

However, I argue that the only reason semicolons do this is because we as a society don't teach and use them correctly or regularly. If we did, they wouldn't attract attention. I think it's silly to completely ax a punctuation mark because other people are failing at it. Wouldn't it be better to instead educate people? Because semicolons do have a function and purpose in writing. Obviously, it's possible to overuse them, but ax them completely? Come on.

I'm already sad that the interrobang (?!) gets the red pen.

#writing tips #writing tip #writing tips and tricks #writeblr #punctuation #fanfic #fanfiction #writing advice #writing help #writing helps #writing lesson #writing lessons #writing reference

[thejdw81]

There Are Words Words In German That Make Me Ponder & Question Whether Or Not There Is True “Elegance In Simplicity.”

The accredidation of the coining of the phrase and even the phrasing itself varies throughout the years since I first heard it, but at somepoint, within the beginning twixing and twaining years of this millenium I encounterd the phrase “there is elegance in simplicty” this was, back then known to have been said by Leonardo Da Vinci, who now apparently never said that and has via some form of the whispering or telephone game come to have actually said that “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” 

Be that as it may, the validity of the source of said coined terminology and it’s ever evolving annunciation are a moot point in German.

Germans have a saying that goes something along the lines of “why easy when hard/complicated works” or “warum einfach wann schwer/kompliziert gehts?!” Pronounced in an interrobang Satzmelodie or sentence melody because why not.

The reason the interrobang is so popular in German is you can be a complete and total idiot aka #vollidiot making a declaration (ending with an exclamation point), and before anyone can react adversly and call you out on your nonsense you can ask of yourself and all other parties involved the word or? pronounced “oder?” 

The oder eaters, swallow the question or that naturally follows their exclamation and pronounce a statement said like it is gospel truth with a question lingering to it in true interrobang fashion, this way no German can be accused of being wrong or having a “kompetenz minderung” or a moderate competence. 

To insult one’s intellectual capacites or thought processes is probably one of the highest insults or slurs a German on German verbally abusive toungelashing can achieve, it doesn’t really bother the foreigners, expats, migrants, immigrants, or $&%ß Outlanders the Fremde of the stranger or foreign or unknown as in unbekannt unacquainted kind in the least. 

It is a distinctly German thing to take offense to/at the accusation of not fully having one’s wits about them, even if for just a moment or on one specific/fach thing.

These German on German slurs of the highest order, still sound to me like preadolescents attempting to mock one another, but within Germans interacting with one another in the German language uni- and multiverses...

“Waschlappen!...” (unsaid fur ein hirn, as in gehirn) That’s right, Germans go around calling each other washcloths or cleaning rags and rarely if ever follow through with the whole thought or labe of “Wash rags for brains.”

“Noodle!...” as in “Was fur ein Noodle...” Even that which goes unsaid is further mystified by having a third verse go more often than not unsaid “ist diese/es/er Mensch/Person” It goes unsaid because the word “Noodle” is the primary insult, if you follow all the way through to calling the same person a Mensch, it might ruin the mood or feel of the insult becaus saying “ach du Mensch” in informal German “auf du” is a back handed yet endearing compliment for the word Person or Human.

There are distinctions between Fachidiot, Vollidiot, and your run of the mill idiot. The latter is literally everyone that is not idiotic or more realistically “on the same page” as you as in you “have common ground” or “something in common” you can focus on, wich brings me to the Fachidiot or easily idot / specialised idiot, ususally a Besserwisser, or what English speaker would call a Know It All rather  than a Better Knower, but Geman and it’s verbs... Especially auf Sie or in the formal version. A Vollidiot doesn’t really have varients or room for interpretation they, unfortunately are fully an idiot and that usually is bound or sealed with the equivilant of bestowing a curse upon the matter once the word Vollidiot has been uttered the sealing encantation will be uttered “Scluss damit” meaning Closed Therewith(in) or “kein Gespräch” the all encompassing No Discussion.

To compound on that idiom often expressed as proverb of wisdom surpassing any all that Solomon did and prounced as an idiom as well.

Sometimes, should the accusing party of the German influence choose to show genade or mercy they will drop the slur of  “Noodle” and benevolently utter or mutter or proclaim or disclaim “was fur ein hirn!?” the equivelant to “what a brain” or Brainaic.

This German competency accusation stuff is far more serious that it sounds and devistates Germans beyond comprehension or belief, but what works works.

There are two words Germans use as sort of neutral intellectual off hand remarks, calling each other Depp or Fool and Alter or Older, Aged, Aulder, somthing having to do with Age, it can be used as either a compliment or insult a or a nickname.

It’s not very easy to fully understand because of the constant use of interrobangs, and the reality of how often it is not what you say but how you say it, the intonation or satzmelodie/sentence melody and betonung of how one says what they say in German that matters.

There are other words that end in zeug, meaning thing that stump people in their simplicity

Workzeug means tool or literally work thing

Flugzeug means airplane or literally flying thing

Feurzeug means lighter or literally fire thing

I laughed the first time I was called an Auslander, which literally means Outlander, because I remember watching the original Mad Max where the BDSM crowd was trying to take control of society and they kept calling one of the main characters an outlander.

Südlander is an odd one as well it literally means southlander, a person most likely born further south than the German borders of Germany, extending into and beyond the European Union grasp of Germany’s sphere of influence. 

It is a term I have only ever heard directed at people of a darker complexion than I am, and has a sort of implication of being a gangster be that plastic gangster as they are called in Europe or wannabes as they are called by most Americans or not.  ...The nicest way I have ever heard someone be called a südlander was in informal German auf du, they were asked “bist du Südlandisch” even that though carried several connotations beyond national heritage, there was that ever-present interrobangesque implication of being literally from the the south side of the tracks in the Südstadt or southtown of the city I was in.

I’ve been called Fremde, never to my face but directly in front of me before, this word means Stranger, or unknown or unacquainted or is implied to mean Foreigner without outright saying it which is probably why so many bloggers any YouTubers and journalists in Germany insist on being called an Expat. 

No one really knows what to do with that word. I have read several article one in the guardian with the actual title “Why are white people expats when the rest of us are immigrants” They did not do their due dilligence, it is a legal term for Americans on several .gov websites with reason and purpose cited for calling people expats. Search away!

Even The Local Germany an online news website wrote an article “Who’s an expat or immigrant in Germany.”

Quoara even has a question about the matter wondering if it has to do with socioeconomic status or race, sigh.  Many folks that are not from America or England simply need to update the terminology on their laws and rules and guidelines for those who live outside of their country of origin.

To me an Expat lives outside of their country of origin but maintains the citizenship of their birthplace, an immigrant is someone who moved away from thier birthplace nationality and has or is in the proscess of changing nationaliities.

Either way, calling yourself an Expat to a German who uses oversimplified words and language deeper than Alltagssprache, Umgangssprache, Dialect or what the call the K?&§ language sounds Hoity Toity, or fancy as it gets, bordering on accusing yourself of being a pretentious luxus or luxurious and elegant etepetete or a schickimicki Auslander of the most schick schicksal (destiny) imaginable.

#ultimate sophisitication #simplicity #elegance #germany #germans #living in germany #expat germany #expat #american expat #german language #german #deutsch #einfach #ein einfaches fach #fachkraft #warum einfach #schwer geht #intellect #intelligence #kompetenz #kompetenz minderung #moderate competence #waschlappen #noodle #auslander #sudlander #fremde #expat vs immigrant #pretentious #luxus

[hoidn]

people. people. for the love of all that's good in the world, please learn how to use the interrobang correctly. please. i know you can't work commas or apostrophes or, god forbid, semicolons, but the interrobang is within your grasp! it's a star you can reach if you just put a tiny amount of thought into it. i promise!

you use an interrobang to add emphasis to your question. "what?" becomes "what?!" as in, "i am exclaiming this question because i am so startled or amazed or horrified or feeling some other strong emotion!"

writing "what!?" adds confusion to your exclamation and to your reader. "i'm excited! maybe?" is that really what you want your character to say? because the number of times a day i encounter a mangled interrobang indicates a truly worrisome epidemic of people who apparently have no real grasp on their own emotions.

"how dare you!?" you yell in outrage. except... it might not be outrage? you've come to the end of the sentence and now you're not sure. once, you were, you think, back at the beginning, but not anymore. the question mark hangs at the end of all your sentences, undermining every exclamation you make. the uncertainty is becoming unbearable but there's no way back. you're trapped here in this hell of doubt. what's real? what's true? is anything? how will you ever know?!

this, friends, is what you do to your reader every time you mutilate an interrobang.

so, to sum up:

?! = yes. good. !? = no. bad. why would you do that?

seriously, i am asking for so little here. my standards have fallen so low. the correct placement of two elements. just two. that's all. two. two.

#grammarsexual #bad grammar can kill #the bloody sputum of grammatical errors

[ncisduckie]

2, 4, 12!

When you’re writing a new story, what is the one thing you need to know before you can start?

The main character(s). For fic, it’s usually the inciting action. But for everything original--it’s the characters.

How do you know when a chapter is “done”?

Ooof. Okay, so I learned chapter endings from a few different places. Commercial break placements on dramas and where manga chapters end are my biggest influences. 

So, for me, a chapter is usually done when there’s a sort of revelation that carried on to the next page (chapter)... or a resolution that leads the narrator down a new path. That path will be started in the next chapter (or the next act)

Here are some last lines of 7 different chapters: 

If only I could convince myself that was true.

Why did I have the feeling Ms. Christie knew something I didn’t?

She didn’t say anything as she pulled from the curb and drove the rest of the way to my apartment complex.

The only person I needed the strength to hate right now was Shawn. And it was getting a little bit easier every time he opened his mouth.

Quitting Drama Club didn’t keep me away from just Shawn. It also kept me from my only friends.  

I didn’t like that answer.

Apparently, that was that. Now I was an actress.

One of the things that one of my workshop leaders from last semester reminded me was that each chapter is essentially its own little story. It should have some sort of a beginning/middle/end. 

I’d personally say that if you don’t want a beginning/middle/end... you can think of emotional shifts. How does the character(s) change by the end of the chapter?

Now, this won’t work for every chapter but it’s a good starting point? 

Edit: I took “done” to mean finished as in... where to end a chapter. If that’s not what you wanted to be answered... let me know and I’ll adjust the answer (maybe on discord?).

What punctuation do you hate with a passion?

I don’t... think I have anything that I hate to that extent?

I think interrobangs have a bad rep but I don’t really have strong opinions about punctuation? I��m frustrated with my inability to properly place commas sometimes, but I wouldn’t say I hate them. 

#writerblr #questions #writing community

[toooldforgermany]

POST   3  -  5   SONGS   THAT   REMIND   YOU   OF   YOUR   MUSE. RULES:        REPOST,   DON’T   REBLOG.

BAYSIDE -- INTERROBANG .   if confidence is in the chest, i never take a single breath, i keep my secrets up my sleeves and cut my arms off just to sleep.  //  i am on a mission to lose this sorry disposition and i know there’s truth in lies but i’m so tired of nursing mine, i’ve always had more pride than sense, a little expletiving prince -- a winter of my discontent begins, oh how i’ve longed for this.

BAYSIDE -- BURY ME .   don’t lean on me, cause these bones are weak. they’re held up by friction and force and i’m not it’s in me to be so mean. can people change in any meaningful way? we cover up, we rennovate, can you really fool the world with a freah coat of paint?  //  i love that music saved you and, lord knows it saved me too. but songs never love you back and you never know the person preaching to you. you can’t believe what you hear and see. history is calling me but i was up all night and i just wanna sleep.

THE BEATLES -- YESTERDAY .   yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away. but now it looks as though they’re here to stay, oh i believe in yesterday. suddenly, i’m not half the man i used to be; there’s a shadow hanging over me, oh yesterday came suddenly. why she had to go i don’t know -- she wouldn’t say. i said something wrong, now i long for yesterday.

JAKE BUGG -- LIGHTNING BOLT .   everyone i see just walks the walk with gritted teeth but i just stand by and await my time, they say you gotta tow the line they want the water not the wine but when i see the signs i jump on that lightning bolt.

CRYWANK -- I AM SHIT .   language is scary when overanalyzed. every word that i say seems far too contrived. what are your intentions? i’m ashamed by mine; when i’m thinking too much, i realize i’m unkind. pretend that i’m nicer than i’ll ever be. i am selfish and deluded, enjoy my hypocrisy.

TAGGED BY :  not tagged, but stolen from @killnoir​ ! TAGGING :  nah, unless you want to !

#; | 💊 LISTEN TO UNCLE JACK AND NICK WHEREVER YOU GO ! ( music ) ✿❧ #; | 💊 I'M NOT LIKE THESE WASTRELS . . . ( musings ) ✿❧ #; | 💊 IT'S TIME FOR . . . ' I HEAR YOU . ' ( memes ) ✿❧

[aimmyarrowshigh]

aheavenlyrush replied to your post “I’ve been on tumblr since 2012 and I was even a John Green fan for a...”

i checked and it happened in 2015

aheavenlyrush replied to your post “I’ve been on tumblr since 2012 and I was even a John Green fan for a...”

i saw that jg post on my feed and i had no energy to comment on it but truly when i saw that you had i felt such relief!! i remember making that one post about stiefvater defending him and telling teenage girls to be quiet and the response to it still fucking haunts me i swear

Oy, was it really that recently? The last three years have taken 900 years. And yeah... Maggie Stiefvater’s post about it was a Really Bad Look, and iirc that was the environment that spawned the beginning of the batshit “Keep YA Kind”* concern-trolling thing (yep, also 2015) that was mainly used to silence girls and women and people of color whenever the four white cishet men in YA fucked up between 2015 and 2018, when it finally publicly came out that most of them were, yk, fucking up because they’re legitimately horrible people and maybe the people calling them out should have been taken seriously.

* The other notable “why the fuck is this happening???? why is HE the one getting the sympathy here?????” events from “Keep YA Kind,” which, listen, I would bet you anything that it was very very nearly called “Keep Kidlit Kind” until the only person involved with 1/4 of a braincell managed to realize the acronym on their Twitter handle looked REALL BAD:

Andrew Smith, a straight white adult man, says out loud with his human adult man mouth, that he knows he can’t write female characters well and relies on fetishization and stereotypes because he never really met a girl until his daughter (??? SO WHAT IS YOUR WIFE, ANDREW? CHOPPED LIVER?) and, being as that is Bullshit and also his books were also being lauded as though they were Infinite fucking Jest Jr. even though the interview in question was for a book in which mutant grasshoppers take over the earth and a teenage boy gets trapped in a bunker with a teenage girl who eventually has to git to birthin’ babies she doesn’t want and isn’t medically prepared to have safely For The Good Of Humanity, he’s called out.

He’s called out mostly on a technical, writing level at first, even! Like, “Here’s how to write a female character: you write a fully considered, well-rounded character. They’re a girl.” And Andrew Smith FLIPS HIS SHIT, does some op-ed about how his mother used to beat him so he can’t see girls as people, and makes his twitter private. The “Keep YA Kind” sycophants support him HARD.

And then this happens to pop up on a mysterious Twitter that just HAPPENS to start while HIS twitter’s offline...

NOTE: Jay Asher, author of 13 Reasons Why, was literally dropped from his publisher and SCWBI for being a sexual predator. So like, I don’t think he was bullied, I think his predation was being remarked upon. Like, idk, maybe that he was being called creepy or sth idk idk idk

And then when A.S. decided to unsockpuppet to promote his next book, The Alex Crow, which is about mutant crows and a bunker or whatever:

The “asshole” in specific that Andrew Smith was calling an asshole was delightful human being and fellow author Kate Messner, who, coincidentally, was one of the victims to come out against Lemony Snicket’s sexual harrassment, so she’s had a BULLSHIT time just trying to do her JOB of being an author while female.

Which leads to Tommy Wallach! All-around fucknut! Whose major interest seems to be being That Guy In Philosophy 101 Who Always Has To Be Devil’s Advocate, Even Though No One Asked, and has a deeply vested interest in making sure that teenage girl readers -- who are his target audience, because he chose to write YA, as an adult man who made a choice in what he wrote and chose to make it YA, and not, like, any of the hundreds of genres that AREN’T largely written about and for teenage girls, yk -- know that teenage girls are Dumb. Victoria Schwab actually wrote an essay for YA Books Central about the incessant problem that IS/WAS Tommy Wallach called “We Need To Talk About Tommy” back in -- you guessed it! -- 2016, but it’s offline now and I’m not going to go Wayback it rn.

I’m just going to copypasta YAinterrobang’s Wallach timeline because he’s exhausting, he reminds me of undergrad.

Wallach’s continual pattern of behavior is worth discussing, especially in the context of sexism in YA and the continual marginalization of “diverse” voices in the community despite the efforts of the We Need Diverse Books movement.

Wallach’s problematic behavior runs back over a year, starting with a defense of Andrew Smith where he ignores the opinions of author and advocate Tessa Gratton in favor of a dictionary definition of sexism. (Andrew Smith’s behavior and the fallout around his statements have, of course, already been documented on YA Interrobang in “The Curious Case of Andrew Smith, Twitter & sexism.”) Wallach postures that women are inherently “other” from men, accuses Gratton of “gin[ning]up the controversy” and explains that he is a feminist because he was “raised by a single working mother and she’s still my best friend in the world.”

[View Wallach’s defense of Smith and attack on Gratton as a .pdf.]

Fast forward to later that year. Author Justina Ireland takes to Twitter to discuss a book where she feels the black character is self-hating. Ireland, being black herself, is asked about the book in question; she says that it’s Wallach’s debut novel We All Looked Up. Though Wallach is not tagged, he swoops into the conversation and demands Ireland provide proof that his character Anita is self-hating before claiming that author Dhonielle Clayton, who is also black, is friends with him and “engaged” with him on the issues in the book.

Clayton later stated publicly that she had not done any sensitivity reading on We All Looked Up.

What brought Wallach’s behavior to the attention of the YA world as a whole came this past November in the wake of the horrifying terrorist attacks in Paris. When the hashtag #prayforparis went viral, Wallach responded with multiple social media posts and a blog post about how atheism was the only belief that could make the world a better place. (Though Wallach argues that it is not, in fact, a belief: “The fact that we have a word for it makes it seem like it’s equivalent to other belief systems, but it’s not. The absence of something is not equivalent to the thing itself.”)

[View Wallach’s comments on atheism as a .pdf.]

After Wallach Tweeted that he was a “a rabid atheist, and the world would be a better place if more folk were” – a Tweet he subsequently deleted before deleting his account in its entirety – he doubled down in a block post that outlined all the way religions failed and all the reasons atheism was awesome.

Those who tried to explain to him why this behavior was – to say the least – problematic found themselves quickly blocked or shut down; at once point, Wallach tried to explain anti-Semitism to Jewish author Hannah Moskowitz before claiming that “if [her]parents are atheists and [his]dad is Jewish, [he’s] as much Jewish as [her].”

(For those wondering, Wallach blocked me during this incident despite being friendly with me and having taken my advice previously; while he did believe me in regards to his behavior towards Justina Ireland, which you can see in Tweets above, my snarky comment to him about “the only good people are the people who are exactly like me” was, apparently, too much for him to take. As Wallach’s account has since been deleted and I purged my social media account in January, that interaction is no longer publicly available.)

Take this behavior in comparison to author LJ Silverman, who recently received a sea of anti-Semitic hate mail – including crude manipulated images of her in an oven – for Tweeting that she was worried about the upcoming election in the context of history. Wallach painted himself to be the victim, somebody “attacked” for insulting all of the religious folks in the YA community, while Silverman, who simply shared a worry plaguing her, became a victim of virulent trolls.

While Wallach deleted his social media accounts after this, there were no public consequences to his actions despite ill-will from the YA community at large. If another member of the YA community had spoken out – one of our Catholic or Islamic or Jewish or Mormon authors, for instance – the backlash would have been substantially worse, possibly career-ruining.

Wallach’s career, however, was not ruined; he recently landed a six-figure deal for a book trilogy centered around a “holy war.”

And thus, we return to Wallach’s dismissive comments on suicide – which, it turned out, were neither new or original. In a blog post deleted after it came to light during this discussion, Wallach rated “the top ten literary suicides (organized by emo-ness)” which included all of the characters of HBO’s Girls – “It’s really just a fantasy of mine.” – and, ranking at number one, Sylvia Plath – who is not a character but a real person who suffered from depression before taking her own life at a young age.

[View Wallach’s post on suicide as a .pdf.]

“I’m only going to talk about the fact that a successful YA author found it appropriate to glorify, romanticize, and mock what for many of his readers is among the highest causes of death,” wrote Schwab in her “We Need To Talk About Tommy” post. “That this author could be so very careless and flippant and insensitive about such a very serious issue is abhorrent. That two years after penning this post he still sees suicide as something to be made light of, to be used as a marketing tool.”

Simon & Schuster made no public comment about any of Wallach’s comments. His career, save for making enemies of some fellow authors, seems relatively unscathed by his callous actions.

Anyway, the moral of the story is, like, if you wanna read books by straight white dudes, go for it, but check them out from the library. Spend your book-buying money on books by women, nonbinary/other folks, and dudes who aren’t straight and/or white. Straight white men, PARTICULARLY in categories of literature that are largely targeted towards girls and women, and largely written by girls and women -- but published, edited, and marketed by other straight white men -- are lauded FAR above what they’re actually worth, as like, storytellers or human people go.

The Glass Escalator is a one-way trip to wonderland, but YA is a skyscraper that was built by women and I PROMISE you, whatever book by one of these dudes you’re considering reading, there’s a better version by a woman and/or person of color on the shelves nearby that just didn’t get 1/10th of the marketing money.

And of course there should be an effort to be kind on social media, but “keep YA kind”... to whom? To the people who were being silenced when they were pointing out legitimate problems with the behaviors of men in social power? (And one of whom, in the case of Jay Asher, was LITERALLY DANGEROUS BC HE IS A SEXUAL PREDATOR.) Like, really? There had to be a hashtag campaign to silence dozens of people with legitimate, not-bullying-just-pointing-out-problems-that-are-problems-with-stuff-you-did-dude problems, to make social media feel more comfortable for four middle-aged straight white men?

As though the outside world isn’t comfortable enough for middle-aged straight white men????

#asks #aheavenlyrush

[nyfacurrent]

Business of Art | Neurodivergent Artists Build Community

“My advice would be to look for each other and look after each other—be generous and share skills.” - Sonia Boué

Imagine a time when neurodiversity is integrated into the art world’s everyday vocabulary. Is this a new concept for you? Neurodiversity stipulates that neurological differences are to be recognized and respected as any other human variation. Increasingly, more and more people—and artists—identify as neurodivergent, or as individuals who diverge from the dominant societal standards of “normal” neurocognitive functioning. These differences can include Dyslexia, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Autistic Spectrum, and others.

Now imagine an average event or opportunity for artists. This may be a networking event that features unstructured conversations, or an open call for funding that requires you to prove a strong network of support. For neurodivergent artists, these ubiquitous realities can present many challenges that often go unseen.

As a way of acknowledging barriers to access and offering solutions, we’ve invited Sonia Boué to share her experiences and recommendations. Boué is a visual multiform autistic artist and a prolific blogger on autism and art. Read her writings here, and visit her website to learn more about her practice. Since being diagnosed as autistic in 2016, Boué created WEBworks, a network and mentoring project funded by Arts Council England based on her own experiences and research. Boué designs projects, mentors, provides training, and consults for arts organizations with the goal of creating opportunity for neurodivergent artists.  

Says Boué: “I love my work because it is really varied and I get to work with some seriously talented neurodivergent creatives. Working with organizations is also fascinating and rewarding when you get to see thinking evolve.” Read Boué’s advice for neurodivergent and introverted artists below, as well as arts administrators.

NYFA: You’ve talked about “network ableism” and its impact on you in your quest to fund your projects. Can you tell us more? How do you define ableism in this context? 

Sonia Boué (SB): Network ableism in my experience is the assumption that social privilege (ability) is a baseline we all have access to if and when we want it. Because most opportunity in the arts involves some networking, this is a serious access issue for us. 

We can’t all summon up a smile and waltz into a room—and there can be many very good reasons why not, some of which may be neurological. For example, dyspraxia, which affects motor coordination and sometimes speech, can make these situations hard to navigate. We may not recognize faces or be able to remember names.

There’s a lot of shaming around not being "socially able” so it takes courage to say it. Decades of not showing up can mean that you don’t understand how conventional networks function. I had to unpick a lot of this to learn how to write a funding bid. 

Social assumption also runs through the kind of Arts Council England funding bid I needed to make for my project. Your idea may be brilliant but unless you can find partners to back you (network klaxon!) you will not succeed.

NYFA: You’ve written that when you encounter an ableist comment, you think, “this person needs training – and I (and all my autistic colleagues) hold much of the missing knowledge.” How can institutions work to welcome and incorporate this knowledge? 

SB: It’s a brilliant question, and this issue is in the room always. Institutions just aren’t seeing it because of the social stigma involved. So first I think it needs to go on the agenda. Staff will also be autistic, neurodivergent, or introverted. 

Then it’s important to invite us in to your organization formally. We are consultants, speakers, and trainers. My view is that we should be paid for our work which is incredibly valuable to arts organizations as we are authentic voices. 

But it takes more than a training day! Building trust with community is also very important for any organization; ultimately it’s about relationships. Consider commissioning a review of marketing and events from neurodivergent perspectives. 

You can tell a lot about an organization from their use of language. Knowing who you are talking to and getting your message right are an absolute must. Delivering value to community is also essential. 

NYFA: Do you have thoughts on how organizations that emphasize in-person events can make them more welcoming to neurodivergent artists? 

SB: If you mean networking events, this is a bit like asking a wheelchair user whether they are sure they wouldn’t like to try the stairs just in case! But here are things which can help with in-person events. 

Personally, I need people on the inside who know me well, and access to the door. Environment matters greatly; is your building accessible for those with sensory sensitivity? Will your event be noisy, involve crowds, and involve mainly unstructured chats? Tell us! 

Information is the name of the game. I advise always publishing clear and detailed information giving a sensory menu for neurodivergent attendees so they can plan for what to expect from the event in terms of challenge. 

It’s the genuine thoughtfulness and attention to detail that counts in the welcome. Providing lots of options is also vital. Is there a quiet room with soft furnishing and dim lights, or outdoor spaces? Are there specific structured elements? 

Finally, the offer has to be right. If the event holds no interest, I’m not coming. Look into programming with a consultant from the community. 

NYFA: Are there resources or voices that you’d especially recommend to arts administrators looking to learn more? 

SB: Essentially we are talking about a culture shift in our understanding that humans are neurodiverse beings. Often I’ve found that the adaptations that suit neurodivergent people can benefit us all. This is about increasing options and thinking about individuality.

I recommend these neurodivergent thinkers, bloggers, creatives, and resources:

Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism

Autism and Expectations: De-Mystifying Autism 

Dan Holloway, Rogue Interrobang

Katherine May 

Sonja Zelić

Kruse on adaptations to environments

Dr. Kate Fox  

Dr. Damian Milton

Jon Adams

I don’t particularly recommend sourcing resources from disability arts organizations that aren’t neurodivergent-led. My experience is that the thinking is often not there yet, despite some best efforts. 

Personally, I like to be very specific and stick to what I know. I wouldn’t try to advocate for other groups and always try to remember that within neurodivergent groups, there’s probably greater diversity than in the general population. 

NYFA: Many artists, for a variety of reasons, feel the typical networking advice is unhelpful or exclusionary. And we ourselves have given this advice! Let’s reframe the conversation: what is some more inclusive and effective networking advice that organizations and artists can begin to share with each other? 

SB: I think it’s worth unpicking what some of the difficulties are in quite some detail, as I began to hint earlier. Networking can be hellish if you can’t process language in real-time speed, for example. So this needs an honest and open two-directional approach. 

Have you ever been in a room with someone and texted them? I’m sure most of us have. Text slows things right down, and, you can use emojis! Result! Often we’re critical of using technology when we’re face-to-face, but if this could be an adaption, why not? 

It’s an exciting time to be breaking through the barriers to invisible disability. What holds us back is often social censure, which is ultimately ableist. Organizations could lead the way in creating a new trend. 

If we think about modalities, this is also helpful. How many ways of being in a room and communicating can you think of? I also love the ‘gateway friend’ idea: a known, trusted person who can enable you to get in to a venue and out again. 

But we need to understand adaptations to in-person networking are limited in effectiveness because—wash, rinse, repeat—we have to keep it up which is exhausting. Or it just doesn’t work for us. This knowledge puts the onus on change. 

NYFA: What are your favorite means of networking online? 

SB: Blogging, blogging, blogging! This has been the most effective tool in my entire armory. I also love Twitter. I began with a Facebook artists’ page many years ago, then progressed to a professional platform with the wonderful a-n Blogs.

My Wordpress blog has been my most significant online site, far outstripping any other. I’m also warming to Instagram as a more visual platform but have been slower to take it on. I think it’s hard to work across platforms but probably essential. 

NYFA: Can you tell us how WEBworks, an autistic-led peer support and mentoring group, came to be? How could this kind of group be replicated by autistic and neurodivergent creatives elsewhere? 

SB: WEBworks is unique due to the individuals who’ve formed it. It may provide a transferable model but we can’t yet know that, I feel. It developed from my Arts Council England research into autistic project leadership. 

I happened on a mentoring model through my own need to understand the ‘neurotypical’ workplace and then found other artists like me who needed support. Genuine enablement through supported opportunities and specific adaptations are a powerful combination we use. 

I now know this to be a responsive and relational approach and will be writing about it in more detail for my Arts Council England project evaluations. I hope to publish some of our findings next year. 

NYFA: What are your favorite resources for neurodivergent artists looking to build community or navigate the art world? 

SB: There’s no substitute for trawling the internet and I’ve built my entire community by sharing work and spending untold hours in online research. Social media platforms can be game-changing for us, though of course we need ‘realtime' contacts too. 

Often virtual and realtime contact overlaps as relationships deepen. I think the usefulness of contacts and resources could be quite specific in each case. My advice would be to look for each other and look after each other—be generous and share skills. 

Even neurodivergent networks can seem distant and closed from the outside. The most effective antidote to professional isolation is to send powerful smoke signals online, from which you can seek out more local neurodivergent contacts. We’re growing in number as we discover identity 

Being safe online is an issue I’d like to mention. We can all be taken advantage of, so I would also counsel caution. Take things slowly and allow genuine connection and trust to build up. 

Regarding the art world, in the United Kingdom I recommend the wonderfully inclusive online artists network a-n Blogs, whose support has been exceptional including publishing articles about this topic! 

Viewing fantastic online art content when you can’t get to many shows provides inspiration and learning. I love to watch the Tate Modern YouTube channel, and I do follow many wonderful U.K. and international artists on Twitter and Instagram, which helps me keep in touch, 

But I feel it is vital that neurodivergent artists don’t get dispirited or compare themselves to more neurotypical artists so I watch the scene with a dispassionate eye. I’m interested in building from within and remaining authentic which includes valuing the unique qualities of our neurological status.

NYFA: What has mentorship meant for you, both as a mentee and a mentor?  

SB: Trust is at the heart of the mentor/mentee relationship, and it’s a real joy, not to say privilege. I believe such support in an art practice is underrated. We are supposed to know how to navigate an uncertain profession solo.

For myself it has led to professional progression where, despite some early breaks, the complexities of the art world would have thrown me entirely. In many ways it’s about lending experience and gently steering.

Mentoring is a fascinating process because you learn as much as your mentee in many ways. It has allowed me to deepen my understanding of neurodivergent challenge in the arts. 

NYFA: You’ve credited successes in your career in part to your “own autistic methods.” Do you have any thoughts on how artists can not only accept their individual differences, but celebrate them? 

SB: I really feel we have to embrace a ‘not broken’ philosophy. Some of the artists I work with have acquired huge reservoirs of self-doubt and even despair. Our first job is to realign some of this thinking. 

Sometimes it’s my job to sustain hope and provide consistency. Our sensory challenges and issues with executive function can make a practice feel fragmentary until we begin to piece it all together. 

The worry that you can never ‘finish’ a piece of work can be quelled if you understand that the process is what interests you most and you can begin to value this. Transformation from ‘failure’ to a more performative practice can take place. 

How we frame our creative lives to ourselves really matters. Reconnecting to the source of our creativity—our brains—as valid and useful is incredibly empowering. 

- Interview Conducted by Mirielle Clifford, Program Officer, Online Resources

Sonia Boué is an Anglo-Spanish visual artist based in the U.K. She holds degrees in History of Art (BA, Sussex University), and in Applied Social Psychology (MSc, Oxford University). She is also a trained Art Therapist (Sheffield Hallam University). This background informs her research-based multiform art practice, which focuses on themes of exile and displacement, with a particular interest in the Spanish Civil War.

Inspired by the NYFA Source Hotline, #ArtistHotline is an initiative dedicated to creating an ongoing online conversation around the professional side of artistic practice. Our goal is to help artists discover the resources needed, online and off, to develop sustainable careers.

This initiative is supported by the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation.

Images, from top: Derek Fordjour (Fellow in Painting ’18); Angelina Gualdoni (Fellow in Painting ’08,’15)

#conversations #interview #artisthotline #artist professional development #professional development #nyfasource #nyfa source #emily hall tremaine foundation #business of art #neurodivergence #neurodiversity #accessibility #soniaboue #mirielle clifford #instagram

[aaronmaurer]

Music I Liked in 2021

Every year I reflect on the pop culture I enjoyed and put it in some sort of order.

I never claim to speak to general trends in music, as it’s such a subjective artform with such a large number of releases that has become even more niche over the past decade. My indie/alt-rock leaning taste is my taste and I connected with a number of records from old favorites and newer discoveries alike and I definitely recommend all of them. This is also one of those years where ranking them feels especially arbitrary; rather than do that, I split them into three tiers.

As a brief aside, in 2021 CD sales increased for the first time in over a decade; now, it’s possible this increase is solely attributable to TSwift and Adele, however, the main point is that physical media is still viable in the age of streaming. If you want to support artists, maybe considering canceling your streaming subscription and purchasing albums instead. CDs are much more affordable than vinyl, can be produced more efficiently and are more profitable for artists, just sayin.’ (At the very least consider buying digital albums via Bandcamp which has much greater benefits to an artist than streaming; why “lease” songs when you can “own” the files in perpetuity?)

Tier 3: Worth A Listen

Dayglow – Harmony House

The sophomore release from Austin-based Sloan Struble is a little more yacht-rock inflected than the bedroom synth pop of his debut, but it’s still a lot of fun. Seeing he and his band perform guitar-based music to a sea of receptive youth at Lollapalooza this summer was a real treat; the kids are alright!

Grouplove – This Is This

Grouplove released a surprise quarantine record at the beginning of the year and I was surprised to find I enjoy it a lot more than 2020’s more polished Healer. It may be a little clunky lyrically (see “Shake That Ass”) but its quasi-embarrassing qualities are so earnest they quickly become endearing – and the hooks are undeniable. Just a fun little under-the-radar rock album.

Hayley Williams – FLOWERS for VASES / descansos

Speaking of quarantine records, Paramore frontwoman Hayley Williams also delivered a surprise one last year on the heels of her 2020 solo debut. FLOWERS… is more stripped down than Petals for Armor, but contains beautifully intimate songcraft that complements that prior record very nicely.

Jon Foreman – Departures and Switchfoot – interrobang

Jon Foreman had a busy year, dropping both a new solo record as well as one with his band. While I can’t say these are my favorite albums from either project, they are both solid and the best moments on each would certainly comprise a strong top-5 album of the year contender.

Lord Huron – Long Lost

I am a big fan of Lord Huron but they have always been pastiche artists and never more so than on their latest record, which recalls bygone country and folk troubadours broadcasting from remote radio stations. This one is more pretty than memorable, but at the very least it provides some lovely background atmosphere.

Tier 2: Appointment Listening

Eddie Vedder, Glen Hansard, Cat Power and Olivia Vedder – Flag Day Original Soundtrack

I have not seen the Sean Penn film Flag Day, but critical consensus is that it’s not great. Its soundtrack, however, is terrific, featuring original material from the artists above. The Glen Hansard tracks are his best since his Swell Season output, in my opinion, and the vocals from Eddie Vedder’s daughter Olivia are a pleasant discovery.

Julien Baker – Little Oblivions

On her latest album, Julien Baker opens up her sound, adding full band instrumentation (performed almost entirely by herself on-record!) but remaining as lyrically raw as ever. Little Oblivions is an eviscerating document of her substance abuse and its effect on her relationships with others, culminating in the devastating “Ziptie” where she questions whether her mistakes are enough to cause even God to give up on her completely.

Manchester Orchestra – The Million Masks of God

Another blast of introspective and propulsive melodic rock, Manchester Orchestra’s latest deals with themes of grief, faith and purpose. Driving lead single “Bed Head” is a song of the year contender for me.

Modest Mouse – The Golden Casket

I honestly wasn’t expecting to connect much with a new Modest Mouse record but The Golden Casket surprised me with both its upbeat catchiness and occasional (albeit still caustic) optimism. This is one I kept returning to not only during the sunny summer months of its release but throughout the rest of the year as well.

Sufjan Stevens & Angelo De Augustine – A Beginner’s Mind

Sufjan Stevens began 2021 with a multi-album suite of instrumental electronic recordings, which would be enough for most artists, but in September he released this folksy acoustic-leaning collaboration with fellow singer-songwriter Angelo De Augustine. Inspired by a series of random movies the two watched together on a songwriting retreat – from Point Break to Night of the Living Dead – the songs are interesting a number of levels but are still captivating even without knowledge of the source material.

Tier 1: Highest Recommendation

Big Red Machine – How Long Do You Think It’s Gonna Last?

Although I’ve never really gotten into Bon Iver, I find Justin Vernon’s work with the National’s Aaron Dessner and others very compelling. This latest record from the duo’s Big Red Machine project features a stellar cast of collaborators including Taylor Swift, Anaïs Mitchell, Robin Pecknold, Ben Howard and more, who bring an almost mixtape-like feeling to the proceedings yet with more thematic coherence than that classification sometimes implies.

CHVRCHES – Screen Violence

The latest release from Scotland’s CHVRCHES finds frontwoman Lauren Mayberry interrogating social media’s malicious impact on individuals, specifically women, through the metaphor of a horror film. The result is some of the most urgent, effective and flat-out catchy music the band has released yet, with nods to 80s synth pop including a pitch-perfect appearance from the Cure’s Robert Smith.

Geographer – Down and Out in the Garden of Earthly Delights

In 2019, following a couple LPs that I didn’t really connect with, Michael Deni released the New Jersey EP which quickly became one of my favorites of that year. Down and Out… continues this winning streak with a collection of fantastic new synth pop jams that still allow his haunting falsetto to shine. It’s rare for a 15-track record (20, if you include the B-sides packaged with it) to be as consistent and engaging the whole way through as this one is. Perhaps my favorite album of the year.

Japanese Breakfast – Jubilee

“Paprika,” the opening track on Michelle Zauner’s third album, begins quietly with some discordant instrumentation that quickly gives way to a joyfully upbeat rush of melody, layered vocals and even a horn section, and never loses steam from there. The record is a beautiful and fun piece of dream pop, at various moments recalling not only that microgenre’s progenitors but also the lush atmosphere of a Won Kar-wai film or smoky neon haze of Destroyer’s Kaputt.

The Killers – Pressure Machine

The Killers continue their unexpected mid-career resurgence with Pressure Machine, following 2020’s excellent Imploding the Mirage. I had thought I only wanted larger-than-life, arena-ready bombast from the band and was skeptical of a more stripped down, storytelling focus, yet here Brandon Flowers & Co are with one of the year’s best records. Recalling the small Nevada community of his youth, Flowers sketches portraits of both specific individuals and the American West at large with a deft touch that shines an empathetic light on the “quiet towns” often overlooked in today’s discourse.

BONUS! Favorite EPs of the Year

Jaguar Sun x Jesse Maranger – Blooms

Canadian musician friends Jaguar Sun and Jesse Maranger linked up for this (too brief!) 4-song EP that finds them alternating vocals across the tracks while creating captivating soundscapes.

Beach Bunny – Blame Game

Chicago’s Beach Bunny get even better with every release and their 2021 offering is no exception, with abundant pop smarts and unabashedly feminist lyrical savvy.

Here’s a playlist of songs from each of these records for your sampling pleasure:

#music