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yeonchi · 3 years

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Kisekae Insights #22: My Friend Karen (Baby-Sitters Little Sister)

I remember back in primary school (Grade 2 or 3, or maybe it was 1) when we were first allowed to borrow library books from the fiction section (instead of picture books) and the first book I picked up was Karen’s Worst Day. There was a whole section full of The Baby-Sitters Club and Baby-Sitters Little Sister books and so, I was hooked on the latter series from then on; I was never really interested in the former. I’ve seen people review the books on “BSC snark” blogs in the past few years and, well, let’s just say that I never realised how Karen was from the perspective of older fans who have probably read more of the series than I have. I guess the Karen meme isn’t without some cultural context.

Did I implement The Baby-Sitters Club in my personal project? For the longest time, I didn’t. By the time I went to secondary school, I stopped reading the series as I was getting hooked on Horrible Histories and later, Diary of a Wimpy Kid. But the memories of reading the Baby-Sitters Little Sister books and implementing the characters in me and my friends’ imaginary adventures stayed over the years; it wasn’t until 2019 with Soulbound Series 3 that I finally got the idea to pay tribute to the series before I finished up my personal project. However, given the original period that the books were published (1988-2000), you would imagine that there would be some sort of culture shock that I never thought about during primary school; needless to say, I found a way around it.

Oh, and by the way, I am following the graphic novels as well. The graphic novels are quite modernised compared to the original books and I like the art style, though one detail that didn’t sit right with me was how they made Hannie Papadakis’ family part-African American when they were entirely Greek in the original books. Oh well, diversity and inclusion, I guess. It’s not that surprising given that the artist, Katy Farina, is LGBT and based in California. I don’t know how many books they’re planning on making into graphic novels given that there are 122 books in the Little Sister series, though I do hope they publish more novels more often instead of every 6 months. Anyway, let’s get right into the story.

History’s Strait

This story takes place in Soulbound Series 3.

The story begins with two different people in two different places and two different time periods. In 1986 and 2006, a young Karen Brewer and Hiroki Ichigo encounter time portals in their homes. Walking through them, they end up in the year 2016, where the Doctor and his recent companion, an older blonde woman, are investigating a time disturbance that is making things appear and disappear around the city. The cause of the disturbance is revealed to be King Goldras, a monster that was summoned by Yanagiri, the main antagonist of the series.

Hikaru Tomokaze, who was travelling with the crew of the Barrier Base, UltLives into Ultraman Nexus and puts up a Meta Field, reducing the effect of the time distortions, before finishing King Goldras off with the Over-Ray Schtrom. There’s another fight between Hikaru and Yanagiri as Ginga and Venokatto, but that’s not important right now. The monster’s defeat causes Karen and Hiroki to fade away and return to their original places in space and time… or so they thought.

The Doctor and his companion then head to 2019 to meet present-day Hiroki. It is then that the blonde woman reveals herself to be the present-day Karen, who is now in her 40’s. The two head into a café and catchup on what happened in the many years since their seemingly random meeting.

A Friendship that Crossed Time

This story takes place in Soulbound Series 4.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic on Earth, Karen decided not to go back to the US, instead deciding to stay with the Doctor (because even the Doctor isn’t exempt from travel restrictions and quarantine requirements lol).

By 2021, Hiroki was investigating the identity of the demonic overlord who was constantly changing his timeline even after the time-space anomalies (particularly associated with the Time War) had subsided. As he is discussing this with Karen over dinner one night, they hear screams coming from outside their restaurant and head outside to discover an enemy invasion from Che Antara and Gengilas. Seemingly remembering how they fought beside each other in the past, Hiroki and Karen work together to fight the two villains, who retreat after a quick battle.

As Hiroki and Karen wondered how they even remembered fighting alongside one another, some Reapers begin appearing around them and devouring people. The Fifth Doctor quickly brings them to the TARDIS, where he explains to them that there is a paradox connecting 1986 with 2006 and they are the ones at the centre of it. He discovers that one particular timeline at the centre of the paradox, where Hiroki and Karen kept meeting after the original incident with King Goldras, is being powered by the same time disturbances caused by said monster, but is shocked to learn that it is being maintained by a TARDIS.

Following the incident with King Goldras, the Second Doctor believed that Hiroki and Karen were supposed to meet more frequently as kids in this timeline and so, he reopened the time portals and used his TARDIS to maintain them. As a result, Hiroki and Karen were able to travel to each other’s time periods and hang out with their friends, go on adventures, fight battles and so forth. After some time, a time differential caused the Second Doctor to appear older because of what was about to happen.

The Fifth Doctor confronts his older incarnation and tells him to close the time portals before the paradoxes swallow up time and space. Not wanting to let their past selves move on without closure, the Doctor allows Hiroki and Karen to tell their past selves that this is the last time they can see each other, reassuring them that they will see each other again in the future.

The time portals are closed and everything returns to normal, with Hiroki and Karen now remembering the adventures they had in that seemingly forgotten timeline and the Doctor now knowing the actions of his past self.

And so, that concludes the adventures between Karen Brewer and Hiroki Ichigo. You may be interested to know that they became confidants given what they went through over the years. Heck, I probably could have done a Kamen Rider Kiva with that 1986-2006 time gap. The forgotten timeline in that last story probably wasn’t the only timeline where Hiroki and Karen met; there could be timelines where they existed in the same time period or went on more adventures between time periods than what we saw. But for now, Hiroki can brag to Akari and everyone else he knows how he once had a friend named Karen Brewer.

Anyway, here’s some Plastic Love by Mariya Takeuchi to round off this post. It’s the insert song that would be played among the montage of Hiroki and Karen having adventures in each other’s time periods.

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#kisekae insights #doctor who #ultraman #the babysitters club #babysitters little sister

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ckret2 · 4 years

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So I've been deeply pulled into the Radiosnake pairing bc of your fantastic writing! Problem is, now I have fic ideas but no knowledge of the Hazbin background. Can you tellI me where I can get more Hazbin info? I've only watched the pilot and read your stuff. I heard there were comics??

That is an excellent question anon, because right now it is really hard to get Hazbin background easily.

Okay, so, the canon info on Hazbin Hotel can be sort of sorted into four tiers, from most to least canon.

Tier 1: The Definitely Canon

There is, of course, the pilot. And then there is an Angel Dust prequel comic, only seven pages of which have been released so far. We’ve been told it’s gonna be finished and we’ve had glimpses of in-progress prequel comics for a couple other characters—most prominently Alastor’s and Charlie’s—but so far that unfinished Angel Dust comic is the only one that’s been officially released.

Finding the in-progress comic pages is... a challenge. Nobody, as far as I can tell, has been specifically collecting all of the pages we’ve seen so far. I was able to scrounge up:

Couple more Angel pages

some Alastor pages

another Alastor page

a random Alastor panel

another random Alastor panel—I’ve seen the full page of this before, Alastor goes “Hello ladies!” and they go “HELLO ALASTOR~<3″ but I can’t find the full page now

There’s a smattering more canon panels on the artist faustisse’s twitter, but I haven’t dug them all out, and some of the posts I’m gonna link in a lil bit have a glimpse of another panel.

If you haven’t already heard of Helluva Boss, I recommend looking into it as well. It’s a second series being created by the same folks, different cast of characters but set in the same version of Hell, so any canon details we learn in Helluva also apply to Hazbin.

Helluva’s pilot is here. Plus a cute music video here.

Earlier this month, during a BLM charity stream hosted by show artist Ashley Nichols—she runs regular streams under the title “HuniCast”—they released a few sneak peaks of future Helluva scenes, all compiled here.

And that’s it for canon. Two pilots, a music video, a smattering of future scenes, part of one comic, a few WIP pages/panels from other comics.

Tier 2: Pseudo-Canon

Everything else we currently know about Hazbin (and Helluva) are things that the creators have told us. Consequently, they’re all pseudo-canon—and likely subject to change in the future as the shows and comics are further developed and released. Some details that were released/described in the past have been contradicted at other times, or else radically changed by the time the pilot came out.

(For example, when Alastor was first created years and years ago as an OC with no plans for Hazbin, he was a demon deer who could shapeshift into a human shape—now he’s a demonized human with a few deer traits. And Charlie and Cherri Bomb used to look very different.)

So until and unless they make it into canon, all these pseudo-canon details are subject to change and should be taken with a grain of salt—but, they also comprise most of what we know about the characters’ backstory and the as-yet-unaired characters.

Pseudo-canon info on Hazbin is scattered mainly between two sources: the creators’ twitter accounts, and livestreams where they take questions and talk about the making of the show. If you and livestreams do not get along (my ADHD and livestreams do not get along), or if you don’t want to wade years and years back into twitter accounts to dig up every scrap of info on the characters the creators have ever mentioned, collating all the pseudo-canon info is gonna be hard. (It’s gonna be hard even if you do want to sit through the streams and dig through all their tweets.) Lots of fans, me included, depend on the absolutely heroic work of various fans who are willing and able to watch hours-long streams and collate a list of canon factoids released during the streams. I’ve reblogged as many of these posts as I’ve been able to find:

Alastor’s sound design (on twitter)

Alastor's Sound Design (post I made with screenshots of weird—but very interesting—subtitles slipped into the aforementioned video)

Sir Pentious and Cherri Bomb’s sound design

Niffty and Husk’s sound design

Charlie, Katie, and Tom’s sound design

Intro song’s sound design

Happy Hotel’s sound design

details from Faustisse (including a pic of a couple costume designs. Most of these posts come from zatyrlucy, who’s been doing a fantastic job of going stream-by-stream to get lists of details from the regular streams by Ashley Nichols and by comic artist Faustisse.)

more details from Faustisse (including a pic of the Von Eldritch family dining room)

Faustisse 3 (better look at that table)

Dollymoon’s Hazbin Hotel Facts - PART ONE (Shoutout again to dollymoon for compiling these, we’ve never spoken but I am eternally grateful for this service. Dollymoon’s posts are THE single most reliable compilation of Hazbin Hotel’s nebulous pseudo-canon facts that I have found to date, including both links to the sources and timestamps where applicable. Dollymoon’s URL has changed since making this post so the “read more” link doesn’t work but the “source” or “reblogged from” links direct correctly to the new blog. Incidentally, the risk of other blog creators deleting their blogs/posts or changing their URLs is why in info posts like these, I always link to my own reblogs rather than their original posts—their original posts might vanish without warning, but I know I ain’t gonna delete my posts, so these links will still work in the future.)

Hazbin Hotel Facts - PART TWO

Hazbin Hotel Facts - PART THREE

Faustisse 4

HuniCast - Australian Wildlife Relief charity stream

I think this was a faustisse stream (the original source deleted these posts, so the comic pages that were originally behind that read more cut are now gone.)

Faustisse stream 6?

And those are all the masterposts of factoids I’ve managed to collect. If anyone has more masterposts, chuck ‘em at me.

Even this isn’t all the knowledge that’s been released about the show. The posts that dig the farthest back are Dollymoon’s, and even they don’t comprehensively cover all of Hazbin’s production. A couple of these characters, Vivziepop created as a teenager, so there’s some truly ancient concept art floating around out there that will have details that probably aren’t canon anymore... but might still be until something happens to actively contradict them.

Tier 3: The Wiki

The wiki is kind of an absolute mess. It’s a chaotic blend of things actually seen in the pilots/comic, things mentioned at some point in some stream somewhere, and wild fan speculation based on what they headcanon as plausible based on the above, all mixed together with very little indication for which is canon, pseudo-canon, fanon, or speculation. Most of the statements on the wiki don’t have citations.

(And, on top of that, half the main characters’ info gets split up into separate tabs instead of just having a normal-ass wiki page, AND their image galleries are on COMPLETELY SEPARATE pages that are linked to in one of the tabs, and the most important characters all have TWO SEPARATE GALLERIES. Which doesn’t have anything to do with the quality of the facts hidden underneath those tabs, but nevertheless drives me up the wall.)

Some things on the wiki were added according to info released so long ago it’s probably changed by now. Some are possibilities that got reported as facts. Other things on the wiki have unambiguously changed, or else are just flat-out incorrect. (For instance, at this moment Alastor’s page still lists him as an overlord, even though it's been confirmed that Alastor is not an overlord despite his power level because he isn’t interested in and didn’t pursue that position, per this stream. For a little bit, somebody’s fanart of their headcanon human Alastor got added to the wiki as concept art.)

tl;dr: the wiki should never be trusted as a primary source. The wiki’s better than it used to be. Even so, at this time, it’s only trustworthy to fill in the gaps of what you already know is true from other, better sources.

The thing it’s good at is it more or less compiles all the known info all in one place. Trying to figure out who the hell this Vox guy is is really hard if you’re reading for mentions of him in compilations of a dozen different streams, much less if you’re trying to comb through those dozen streams yourself, plus a dozen more, plus three different artists’ twitters. In comparison, it’s really easy to, say, just go look at Vox’s wiki page, where all the trivia is compiled. (And Vox’s page is actually one of the better cited on the wiki. Look at all those numbers!)

So, if you need to find out who this character is you’ve never heard of before, if you want to see a full list of the thus far named characters, if you don’t remember whether Alastor likes coffee or tea, if you want to know what Angel’s twin sister looks like, if you need a reminder of Sir Pentious’s death year... check the wiki. It’s an okay starting point.

But, if you see a “fact” on the wiki that you yourself don’t remember from straight out of the pilot, and it doesn’t have a citation that links to a tweet or a stream... regard it suspiciously. And do not trust it unquestioningly as fact until and unless you have seen the source.

Tier 4: Noncanon Creator Shitposting

I’ve mentioned Ashley’s HuniCast streams a couple times. The biggest draw of them is that she usually gets several of the voice actors in the streams, where they’ll happily say nonsense in their character voices. For the most part, they’re not sharing any actual canon info they’ve been given on their characters, just goofing around pretending to be their characters. Nevertheless, a lot of the things that happen in streams get accepted as broad fandom headcanons, like Alastor being into dad jokes. (My favorite, for obvious reasons, is this one.)

It’s easy to find the source audio for all this wonderful nonsense by searching youtube for “HuniCast highlights,” and then rummaging around for animatics people make out of the audio. The only one noncanon video of this sort I can think of that didn’t originally come from HuniCast is a lone one from Alastor’s singing voice (who’s a different voice actor than his speaking voice).

So, obviously, none of these are canon. But they do come from some of the people actually involved in the creation of the show, and they are in the characters’ canon voices, so a whole lot of people treat them as semi-canon anyway. (Even the wiki lists “dad jokes” among Alastor’s likes, which to my knowledge hasn’t come up anywhere except for HuniCast streams.) Since they’re so broadly-known, they’re worth knowing about as important sources of fanon, even if you don’t want to adopt them into your own headcanons. They’re basically the same level of canon as blooper reels.

#anonymous #ask #hazbin hotel #reference #helluva boss

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swimintothesound · 6 years

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Swim Into The Sound’s 2017 Un-Awards

Welcome to Swim Into The Sound’s first annual Un-Awards! In this direct (and more negative) companion piece to our Diamond Platters, we take a moment to reflect on some of the worst moments in music over the past year. From bad lyrics to tasteless cover art, this is a quick-hit version of the lowest points that 2017 had to offer.

In a year where we keep thinking “well, at least things can’t get any worse” 2017 always managed to surprise us. From politics and celebrities all the way down to movies and music, this was a year of general-purpose deplorable behavior and reprehensible choices. While there were plenty of good moments over the past 365 days, you will find that none of that light reaches these depths. This post is a place of darkness, a hell devoted solely to the most soul-crushing and life-questioning music of the year.

I’d also like to throw out a disclaimer that I don’t particularly like being pessimistic, especially when it comes to art that people have (presumably) worked hard on. Aside from that, negativity stands in direct opposition to the ideals that this website was founded on in the first place. What I’ve found is that it’s hard to talk about the good without also thinking of the bad, especially for a year like 2017. As I mentioned before, the previous post is the exact inverse of this one, and the next article going up will cover our favorite albums of the year, so if you are searching for affirmation, this is not the place to find it. Just think of this as the lone negative meat in a positivity sandwich.

Truth be told, aside from a few visibly-frothy entries, most of these awards are positive spins on negative experiences: moments that surprised me, music I’m embarrassed to enjoy, or weird synchronicities that I noticed throughout the year. I could have gone out of my way to shit on Katy Perry, The Chainsmokers, Imagine Dragons, or any number of middling radio-ready albums that were released this year, but at a certain point that all just feels redundant and hack. I prefer to be original in my distaste. So without any further adieu, I’m proud to present Swim Into The Sound’s list of the most spine-chillingly-regrettable music of 2017.

Biggest Disappointment

Winner: Queens of the Stone Age - Villains

Being a fan is a mixed blessing. The upside is that you get to enjoy the rollercoaster of hype that is an album rollout and you get the sweet experience of listening to a highly-anticipated album for the first time when it releases. On the flip side, that fandom can easily backfire if your expectations have been built up too high. While I love Queens of the Stone Age, in 2017 I fear that I may be outgrowing them. The group’s 2004 release Songs for the Deaf is literally my favorite album of all time, and there’s no higher praise than that. Each record since then has been good to great until 2013’s ...Like Clockwork which just didn’t sit right with me outside of a select few songs.

This year, the group’s seventh LP represents a new artistic low. Featuring limp “dancy” grooves, irritatingly-clean instruments, and some of the most laughable lyrics I’ve ever heard, the band we see on Villains bears little resemblance the one that I fell in love with years ago. I recognize that wanting a band to stay the same is a shitty thing for a fan to ask, but I just can’t understand, enjoy, or tolerate the direction that the group is headed. I’m a lifelong fan, but that makes these recent records hurt all the more. When you love a band, you devour each release that they put out. Even if the last few records haven’t hit as hard, you stick with them because you want them to be better. The excitement of something new is impossible to stay away from, but now after months of listening, all I want is for Villains to stay away from me.

Runner-up: Portugal. The Man - Woodstock

While I wrote glowingly about Portugal. The Man’s entire discography last month, Woodstock (while not bad) is not an album that I particularly wanted. It’s not the band’s worst, but it’s the most sterile, safe, and poppy album that the group has ever created. Outside of a handful of adrenaline-pumping car-ready songs, Woodstock takes no risks. The album breaks no new ground, asks nothing of its audience, and seems entirely too content to settle. While those qualities are the exact opposite of what I expect from the trailblazing Portlanders, I’ll hold my reservations until I hear what comes next.

Album I Feel Like I Will Adore In A Few Years

Winner: Fleet Foxes - Crack-up

Until earlier this year I never particularly liked Fleet Foxes. In preparation for their 2017 release, I found myself endlessly replaying the group’s self-titled LP alongside Helplessness Blues while doing other things. Somewhere along the line “inoffensive background music” turned into brilliant folk epics, and I finally understood what made the band so unique. However, in a Bon Iver-esque pivot, Fleet Foxes’ third LP Crack-up represents an experimental shift in sounds, and unfortunately, it’s a change that doesn’t sit particularly well with me. There are some awe-inspiring moments scattered throughout this record, but as a whole, it’s not a release that stuck with me in the slightest, let alone one that can hold a candle to the band’s earlier work. I recognize that there’s something special going on in Crack-up, but I feel like it will just take some time for me to properly excavate it, just as I did with the group’s first two records.

Runner-up: Sun Kil Moon - Common As Light and Love Are Red Valleys of Blood

Sun Kil Moon is another artist that I’d never listened to until 2017. After hearing this year’s mouthful of an album Common As Light and Love Are Red Valleys of Blood, I came away pleasantly surprised. Featuring solemn, looping instrumentation and long podcast-like narration by Mark Kozelek, I listened to all two hours and ten minutes in complete fascination. I dipped back into his previous work like Benji and loved it just as much, but for whatever reason, I never ventured back into Valleys after that first listen. Maybe it was the album’s lengthy running time or the idea that the narration would prove too distracting for a casual listen, but Valleys always felt too daunting to dive back into. I feel like one day when I’m a middle-aged dad with a couple of kids I’ll finally have the time to revisit this album and it will speak to me on an entirely new level. The songs and stories here feel like something that I will find solace in when I’m older, but I just don’t have the 2+ hours right now.

WTF Moment of the Year

Winner: Bhad Bhabie

Of all the memes to emerge from 2017, few have been as successful as 14-year-old Danielle Bregoli. She first gained traction in January thanks to a Dr. Phil clip in which Mrs. Bregoli challenged an audience member to “cash her outside.” The teen’s delivery of the phrase caught fire and became a meme/infinitely-renewable social media caption for a hot minute. One of the more perplexing news stories of 2017 (and that’s saying something) was Danielle’s announcement of her music career as “Bhad Bhabi” complete with a deal on Atlantic Records. Preceded by an appearance in a Kodak Black video, this announcement blindsided the music world and spawned a million think pieces. However when Bregoli released her first song in August the unthinkable happened: It wasn’t that bad.

The video for “These Heaux” was the first part of a one-two punch alongside “Hi Bich” that set social media ablaze in September. As everyone collectively remembered the months-old meme from what seemed like a lifetime ago, most people took this as an opportunity to laugh at her once again. Meanwhile, I watched the same videos as everyone, and recognized it as bad music, but found myself embarrassingly enjoying both songs. “Heaux” and “Hi Bich” are both competent and well-produced Rae Sremmurd-esque bangers that, yes, are propped up by production, but still enjoyable. The truth is, they’re musical fast food. It’s not nutritious, healthy, or even filling, but sometimes you just need to bask in the utter trashiness that is Bhad Bhabie.

Runner-up: Lil Pump

Earlier this year I wrote a 3,000-word post in which I attempted to reconcile my newfound love of trap with my extreme dislike of the current crop of SoundCloud rappers. While that write-up was primarily inspired by the reprehensible human being that is xxxtentacion, I now regret lumping Lil Pump into the same category. While his brand of blown-out hyped-up trap is of the same school as xxx, Lil Pump isn’t nearly as bad on a personal or musical level as Onfroy. More surprisingly, I actually found myself liking his breakout single “Gucci Gang” more than I am comfortable admitting. Featuring a worryingly-mindless chorus and the same laundry list of flexes as most trap hits, “Gucci Gang” manages to be an infectious banger that has also propelled Pump to the forefront of both the charts and popular culture.

Most Un-sexy Sex Song

Winner: Alt-J “Hit Me Like That Snare”

In an interview with Q Magazine, Alt-J’s lead singer Joe Newman described “Hit Me Like That Snare” as an “atypically filthy psychedelic grind.” Wow, guys. Wow. If you want to avoid listening to the song, I don’t blame you. All you need to know about this track is that the band rhymes “slithering” with “scissoring” (yes, that kind), and the lead singer describes the song as “spicy.” Whew.

Runner-up: DJ Khaled “Wild Thoughts”

While I thought “Wild Thoughts” was exceedingly-sensual on first listen, the song now has too many things working against it for me to find any titillation here. From Rihanna’s baby talk to memories of dancing hot dogs, I just can’t listen to this song without picturing Santana’s face, or DJ Khaled screaming. The single achieved a level of cultural-pervasiveness so quickly that it became saturated beyond its original artistic vision. God knows I have no problem with DJ Khaled, but this track now contains too many distractions to remain pure. The music video is still unspeakably steamy, but as a whole, “Wild Thoughts” has lost what little sexy luster it initially had.

Am I The Only One Seeing This Shit?

Winner: Rappers Counting

I’ll admit that this category was created with the sole purpose of repurposing already-written articles, but that doesn’t make the observations contained within them any less valid. The first of these two hyper-specific happenings of 2017 can be found in this article where I outline three examples of rappers using numbers as lyrics. Not like clever wordplay involving numbers, but counting upwards sequentially one numeral at a time. It’s a weird thing to have happened multiple times in one year and feels like such a lazy cop-out of songwriting, but at the same time, each artist in the list manages to make it work for one reason or another.

Runner-up: 21 Savage’s Food Lyrics

Another weirdly-specific phenomenon of 2017 is something that I noticed while listening to 21 Savage’s debut Issa Album over the summer. Despite his tough gangster exterior and dark, moody beats, 21 also managed to fit an alarming number of food references into his first retail outing. While not particularly jarring, these references provide a weird contrast to the rest of the Mr. Savage’s “murder music” and end up sticking out like (multiple) sore thumbs throughout the record. It happened just consistently enough that I began laughing every time they poked up, and I felt the cosmic need to compile them somewhere, so I did.

Most Insensitive and Heavy-handed Song about Suicide

Winner: Arcade Fire “Creature Comfort”

On this second single off Arcade Fire’s Everything Now, we hear Win Butler clumsily address the topics of suicide and self-harm. The song’s first verse explains “Some boys hate themselves / Spend their lives resenting their fathers / Some girls hate their bodies / Stand in the mirror and wait for the feedback.” Taken on their own, these lines aren’t particularly offensive, but it’s the second verse where things get truly tactless: “Assisted suicide / She dreams about dying all the time / She told me she came so close / Filled up the bathtub and put on our first record.” I mean, what a pretentious and shitty way to insert yourself into someone else’s misery. It’s such a bizarre form of narcissism and masturbating to your own past, this line truly is one of the grossest sentiments that I’ve heard put to music over the past year.

Runner-up: Brand New “Same Logic / Teeth”

While it’s true that suicide isn’t exactly a groundbreaking topic for an emo band, Brand New somehow manages to stumble over it fantastically one of the few times that they tackle the subject. Surrounded by excellent songs of diverse sounds, styles, and topics, “Same Logic / Teeth” sticks out as Science Fiction’s most significant blunder. With questionable lyrics, bizarre vocal choices, and overwrought sentiments, it’s easy to see why most bands would prefer not write songs about killing yourself because the only time I have ever wanted to end my life is when I’m hearing Jesse Lacey sing about how fish won’t judge me by my faults.

WTF Moment of the Year 2: Weird Boogaloo

Winner: Vulfpeck “Captain Hook”

Venturing back to the “WTF Well” for two more entries, another of 2017’s biggest surprises came at the end of Vulfpeck’s Mr. Finish Line. The band’s third full-length studio album is a stone-cold chiller, but after half an hour of unspeakably funky tracks, “Captain Hook,” the record’s final song threw me (and every other listener) for a massive loop. Teased as a collaboration with Bootsy Collins, most fans expected a brainwave-shifting epic of an album closer, a modern “I’d Rather Be With You” but with even tighter instrumentation. What we got was a goofy comedy track featuring two of Vulfpeck’s members affecting the voices of an infant and an old Jewish man. Bootsy’s contributions are noticeable but minimal, and as a whole, the track is just a fantastically-bizarre experiment. “Captain Hook” is a weird child-like song featuring a trio of the three most disparate voices you could ever imagine, however (now that I know what to expect), I absolutely adore the song. It’s such a weird marriage of voices that, when combined with Vulf’s approach to music, circles back from annoying to endearing. It’s one final cherry of weirdness on top of the funk sundae that is Mr. Finish Line.

Runner-up: Taylor Swift “Look What You Made Me Do”

Preceded by snake imagery and a dark rebranding, “Look What You Made Me Do” marked Taylor Swift’s long-awaited return to the forefront of pop. After 2015’s 1989, numerous turbulent relationships, a public unmasking via Kardashian, and a complicated legal battle, the song represents Swift’s full embrace of the dark side. As the first single released off Reputation, “Look What You Made Me Do” was met with waves of confusion when it dropped this fall. From the Right Said Fred sample to the thinly-veiled jabs at her detractors, nearly everything about this song was poked and prodded through upon it’s August 25th release. There’s a strange schadenfreude to watching the biggest pop star flail to spectacularly, but at the end of the day she’ll still make a million dollars, sold-out rock stadiums, and be more successful than the richest DC supervillain, so as much as I want her to succeed, I guess it’s also okay to laugh. I definitely haven’t “come around” to the song, and I doubt I ever will, but the air of “what the fuck” was palpable the night that this song was released.

Weirdest Flex

Winner: Lil Pump “Gucci Gang”

After a brief intro and meme-ready chorus on “Gucci Gang,” Lil Pump surveys his surroundings and begins to describe them in the song’s sole verse. “My lean cost more than your rent” he boasts, “Your momma still live in a tent” he continues, “Still slangin' dope in the 'jects / Me and my grandma take meds.” These lines are so outlandish and bizarre that I can’t help but love them. First, we get the worrying comparison between the upkeep of his own opiate addiction to monthly rent, then the (uncalled for) implication that the listener’s mother is homeless, and the final cherry on top: the fact that Pump spends quality time popping pills with his grandmother.

It’s actually one of Pump’s numerous references to the elderly on his scant number of released songs, leading me to think that this is either A) a genuine lyric, or B) a worrying cry for help. At least he’s spending some quality time with his elders before they pass. Even if it’s a drug-fueled haze, I hope that both parties treasure their remaining time together.

Runner-up: Drake “Gyalchester”

On one of More Life’s most hard-hitting tracks, “Gyalchester” finds Drake braggadociously displaying his opulence in rapid lyrical flashes. Halfway through the first verse, the song’s beat cuts out just long enough for Drake to exclaim “I don't take naps / Me and the money are way too attached to go and do that.” While the sentiment of money over everything is hardly new for the rap game, using naps as a framing device to explain how fond of currency you are is such a “Drake way” to go about it. At this point, Drake is far beyond the memes of his earlier career, but lines like this one are how he got that reputation in the first place. All this said, I’m not gonna begrudge anyone their beauty sleep or lack thereof, everyone has their own unique schedule... Plus the song bangs, so cornball lyrics are easier to overlook.

Most Abhorrent Cover Art

Winner: The Darkness - Pinewood Smile

I honestly don’t want to write too much because I just want to stop looking at this. The facial hair. The teeth. The nose ring. The Photoshopped band members. I’m sorry I had to subject you guys to this, but this abortion of a cover is too bad to not share.

Runner-up: Maroon 5 - Red Pill Blues

*Adam Levine walks into the studio*

“Hey, have you guys heard of Snapchat?”

Most Undeservedly Shit Upon

Winner: Arcade Fire - Everything Now

For the sake of ending on a somewhat positive note, I’m going to wrap up by talking about two albums that were widely disliked, but I managed to appreciate. First off we have Arcade Fire’s fifth LP Everything Now. While I did just spend a paragraph dunking on the album’s suicide track, I actually thoroughly enjoyed this record. I’ll start this off by saying I have no reverence for this band, I don’t care for their older work, and they’ve always struck me as a painfully average indie group. Perhaps thanks to this lowered expectation, I emerged from my first listen of Everything Now with a smile on my face. It was goofy and cheesy, and about as far from subtle as you can get, but I still enjoyed it for what it was. Since the album is in this “shit upon” category, I guess it goes without saying that I was largely alone in this sentiment.

Maybe people were turned off by the unrelenting social media campaign, or just expected more based on the group’s previous work, but either way, it seemed like indieheads the world over were sick to their stomachs after hearing this record. I personally think the album has a wonderful Abba-esque charm to it. There’s a tremendous melodic through-line with the titular “Everything Now,” there are memorable choruses on “Creature Comfort,” and even a gloriously chunky riff on “Chemistry.”

At the end of the day, I think I enjoy Everything Now for the same reason that I enjoyed M83’s Junk. I went into both albums with low expectations and ended up loving the cheesy throwback vibe that they embraced. I can totally understand why that pivot would turn off long-time fans, but apparently, this sound is right up my alley. It’s not going to be on my end of the year list or anything, all I’m saying is Everything Now is good for what it is. You know what? It’s great for what it is. If fans could take their blinders off, remove their feelings on the album’s lead-up, and take this as a standalone adventure, they would probably enjoy Everything Now for the goofy romp that it is.

Runner-up: Foo Fighters - Concrete and Gold

Even before Concrete and Gold was released, I saw about a half dozen articles about how the Foo Fighters have nowhere else to go and are the embodiment of “New Dad Rock.” While it’s true that the band is unchallenging to listen to and don’t exactly think outside of the box, the criticism is a double-edged sword. Aside from being a thinly-veiled put-down, the dad rock label means that Foo Fighters won’t ever release a “bad” record, but they’re also never going to release another “classic” like Colour and Shape. While I agree the group is in a weird spot career-wise, I resent the idea that they won’t ever release something impactful as Colour and Shape simply because they’re older. Apart from the fact that 2011’s Wasting Light was one of the band’s best, on Concrete and Gold we see a band that’s still incredibly hungry.

Eschewing the conceptual framing devices of their past couple releases, Foo Fighters set out to make a straight-up rock record, and they succeeded. The band still go through their usual motions, oscillating from biting punky tracks to slow moody epics, but as a whole Concrete is a record that’s well-paced, well-produced, and solid from front to back. Just because it’s played on the radio doesn't mean it’s an inherently “okay” album, and just because the band is growing old doesn’t mean they’re settling. Concrete and Gold is concrete proof of that.

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templeofgeek · 6 years

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We sat down with Joey Spiotto aka Joebot Illustration. His unique blend of children’s books and geek culture have been creating a buzz on the con circuit and the artist community. We talk porgs, art, and all things geek!

Q: How did you come up with the idea of combining children’s books and all things geek?

A: Well I had been working on another series of prints where I turn some of my favorite movies/games/tv shows into vintage children’s record albums. I love the idea of taking something that’s not necessarily for children and making it kid friendly. The next obvious choice was turning my favorite geeky things into children’s book covers.

Q: When did you realize you had this special talent and could make a living out of it?

A: I think my parents recognized it long before I did. I was always drawing as a kid, and my mom was very supportive of it. So I was always taking various art classes growing up. In high school I got serious about my future goals of becoming a professional artist and I kinda geared my education towards that. I skipped “regular” college and went right into art school after graduating high school. Growing up I had great teachers that never said that being a professional artist was not a viable path. I was very fortunate to have supportive parents and great teachers helping me along the way.

Q: Is there a specific genre you never get tired of creating?

A: I don’t think so. The great thing about loving a lot of different things is that there’s always new great things being created to base new projects off of. Great TV shows pop up constantly, we’re getting great new genre films on a pretty regular basis, with music based pieces I tend to stick to the classics, and with video games there’s a constant stream of releases throughout the year. If there’s a great character that I feel can easily translate into my style, and i’m a fan of whatever that thing is, i’ll typically tend to go for it.

Q: What sparks your creativity? I know it’s cliched but what’s your creative process?

A: Sparking creativity is rarely a cliche… sometimes it can be a challenge. I typically create artwork only based off of things I love. So if there’s something that i’m drawn to, it’s usually pretty easy to come up with an idea based off of it. Unless it’s a commission, I really don’t make artwork based off of something i’m not familiar with and that I don’t like. Creativity can be elusive and so if I find myself getting bored of something, I have to step away and come back to it later. Typically I try to work on something else and then come back to what I was working on, and that really helps. Taking breaks, changing gears, and revisiting a piece.

Q: Have you ever wanted to venture out of the children’s books and into another style?

A: I have another series called “High Fidelity” where I recreate vintage children’s records in the style of the old Disney vinyl LP’s. I just released a book with the help of Kickstarter collecting that series. I’ve been very fortunate to have two pretty successful series of prints that i’m known for, and those have kept me busy so I haven’t had time to work on another idea yet. Like with the “records” and the “books”, i’ll know it when the time comes. Those ideas really just came to me as a spark and I saw them clearly in my mind. They also came to me when I had some downtime, and I’ve been super busy the past few years with work and family life so I think I haven’t made room in my brain for another thing. Recently though I’ve been feeling the need to create my own world with characters that I can give life to, that’s sort of where my artistic passion currently is and so while I have nothing to share now, i’m definitely working towards developing those ideas.

Q: Lootcrate recently turned your designs into figures (which we love), can we expect more figures or other mediums for your art?

A: Thanks so much! That was a really cool project to see come together. I can’t say whether we’ll see more of those or not, but feel free to reach out to LootCrate on social media and let them know how much you enjoy them, and if you want to see more! It’s amazing how powerful a tool things like twitter, Instagram and Facebook can be.

Q: Bob Odenkirk from “Better Call Saul” signed your work, what was his reaction? and do you have any other interested celebrity stories with your work?

A: Yeah, that was AWESOME! I’m a big fan of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul. I first became familiar with Bob Odenkirk’s work on the HBO series Mr. Show years ago… the dude is brilliant. I’m a big fan so having him appreciate my work is a huge compliment. Unfortunately I wasn’t around for the signing. I guy that follows me online was working in a studio and Bob had come in to do some work. The guy had my prints and brought them in for him to sign and then was awesome enough to take some pictures and send them my way. I did meet Bob Odenkirk a few years earlier when I was part of an official Breaking Bad art show at Gallery 1988. He’s a great guy, we had a real nice conversation. Living in Los Angeles and working with Gallery 1988, i’ve been fortunate to meet quite a few people who’s work I admire. Joss Whedon, Conan O’Brien, JJ Abrams, and Neil Patrick Harris are just a few people who have my artwork hanging on their walls. It’s kinda surreal because i’m a big fan of theirs and then they become fans of mine through my artwork… it’s all kinda weird, but also pretty cool.

Q: Is there a certain person or event that you credit with making you the artist you are today?

A: Jensen and Katie at Gallery 1988 took a chance on me after I quit the video game industry and found myself unemployed when the economy tanked at the end of 2008. They invited me to a few shows and for the first year I sold nothing… it was pretty depressing. Then I went to Disneyland and found inspiration in Mary Blair’s poster for “It’s a Small World” and I came up with an idea for what I wanted to do for their annual “Crazy 4 Cult” art show. My fake kids record “River Tam & The Fireflies” spread around the internet like wild fire and sold out at the show. That was a huge turning point for me and my career as a pop culture artist. Then along the way more opportunities arose as more and more people saw my artwork. I had another career before this working in film and video games as an artist, but i’m happy to have moved on from that world to where i’m currently at.

Q: Has becoming a parent changed your art?

A: Hmmm that’s a great question. My wife and I have two amazing baby boys, and currently I’d have to say the only thing that’s changed my art is the time I have to dedicate to it. I work from home and while that sounds really great, and for the most part it is, it comes with it’s own set of challenges. I’ve definitely had to become more efficient in my use of time, but that’s still hard because sometimes I don’t have it in me, but they’re both napping and I have an hour window to make something happen. But I think i’m starting to want to make something that I can share with my children and that goes back to wanting to create characters and worlds and tell stories in them.

Q: When are we getting your interpretation of porgs?

A: Ha! I’m VERY excited for the Last Jedi. I’m going to sit on the fence with Porg related art until I’ve seen the film. What if they turn out to be the Jar Jar of The Last Jedi?!? Then I’ve created a bunch of Porg prints that nobody wants to buy. I remember going to the theater just to see the trailer for The Phantom Menace and thinking “There’s no way this will be disappointing!” (For the record, i’m 98% sure Porg’s will be awesome.)

Q: What are you most excited for this Christmas?

I’m excited to take some time away from my desk and be with my family. This has been a busy year for me, I still have some freelance projects to wrap up and then I have a bunch of books arriving any day that I have to ship out to Kickstarter backers, so my year is far from over, but once those all go out and my work is done for the year, i’m looking forward to trying to relax (i don’t really take time for that…ever) and enjoy being a dad and husband without deadlines hanging around me. Oh and Star Wars. I’m very excited for a new Star Wars movie.

Q: What’s next for you? Cons? Prints? Projects?

A: I’ve got a bunch of cons lined up next year, with my first one in March I think. So my goal is to work on my own personal project until Con season kicks in and then get back in the swing of things with new prints. I find myself wanting to write a lot lately, so i’m going to take some time to do that and listen to the spark of an idea I’m currently figuring out. Last time I did that it led me to where I am today, so i’m very excited about this new project and looking forward to diving into it.

Check out Joey on…

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Artist Interview with… Joey Spiotto We sat down with Joey Spiotto aka Joebot Illustration. His unique blend of children's books and geek culture have been creating a buzz on the con circuit and the artist community.

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