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eponymous-rose · 6 years

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Talks Machina Highlights - Critical Role C2E30 (August 14, 2018)

Note: Storms in my area tonight were messing with my internet, so I had a few brief outages to contend with!

Tonight’s guests are Laura Bailey and Travis Willingham AND THE TEENY BABY. Everyone is understandably distracted. Brian: “Let’s just show the baby for an hour.”

Announcements: Electric Beargaloo is up on CR’s YouTube, and a limited-run Honey Heist t-shirt is available on the store!

@critrolestats for this episode:

Fjord, Jester, and Yasha were missing for 6 days in-game (Laura and Travis were gone for 6 weeks out-of-game).

Jester’s cast Cure Wounds 38 times and Healing Word 6 times. Cure Wounds is her most-cast spell. Laura: “I am so happy about Taliesin making another healer. Me, personally. Inflict Wounds! Inflict Wounds! Inflict Wounds! Spiritual Weapon! Toll the Dead!” Travis: “That’s the mother of our child.”

Travis was definitely intending to distance himself from Grog with Fjord’s more sensitive character. A lot of Fjord’s backstory is based on things that happened in Travis’s own childhood, and while he’d normally want to keep those things protected, he was curious to see what it would feel like to share those with a character, and he’s already feeling a stronger sense of investment in that sense. Laura asks if he likes Fjord more than Grog. Travis: “I can’t really love anyone more than Grog right now, because Grog is bae.” Maybe in fifteen levels... He talks about how expectations shifted toward him in real life after he went through a growth spurt and came back to school as one of the tallest kids in his class: as a parallel to that, Fjord is being perceived as so handsome and charming and a leader after having had exactly the opposite experience through most of his life.

Jester does feel a bit abandoned by the Traveler. “This terrible thing happened, and nothing helped her in those dark moments when she was asking for him.” Laura doesn’t want to get into it too much, since it’ll come into play in the game. Is this the worst thing Jester’s ever experienced? Laura: “Well, yeah. Jester hasn’t done hardly anything.”

Jester doesn’t feel especially guilty, but “she wants everybody to be happy and wants to make other people happy, so in this situation where she’s the least happy she’s ever been, there’s an extreme desire to fix it.”

Emotional healing is much more important to Jester than physical healing.

Fjord didn’t really know how much he might’ve been worth to the rest of the Nein. He thought they might’ve come for Jester or Yasha, but not him. Travis: “Maybe not that far. Just from what he’d seen so far, he thought, ‘Nah, we’re lost, they’re not going to come for us. There’s so much they have to do.’”

Laura wanted to cast Sending (even if it was totally unhelpful), but Matt told her it wasn’t possible in her current situation: they knew how to deal with casters, and she wasn’t able to talk.

Gif of the Week: Jester dancing.

Laura was really bummed not to get to say goodbye to Kiri. They both wished they could’ve made it to the live show. They’re also super disappointed they didn’t get to play with Sumalee and Ashly.

Fjord’s “going to endeavor to keep trying to look out for everybody. He’s just hard on himself for a momentary lapse of perception. He’s going to be more motivated to take care of some shit.”

Laura and Travis realize that Fjord and Jester can both disguise themselves. Travis: “We could bone with anyone and anyone else! We can take suggestions.” Brian: “I’m thinking of some merch ideas.”

Taliesin sent Laura and Travis Caduceus’ art before anyone else. He checked in with Laura to make sure she was okay with another cleric, and she was really happy. Laura: “His domain is totally different from mine. A lot of times with Jester, I couldn’t do a lot of spells in the RP aspect of the game, because I had to save them for in case there was a battle we were playing. There are so many fun just-fuck-with-people spells she has.”

First impressions of Clay? Laura: “I love his hair.” Travis: “The dude abides. I didn’t even feel like an insight check was necessary. He just seemed so positive and nonplussed and go-with-the-flow. I think a little chillness was needed. If he freaks out and goes all rage monster, I will love him even more. He’s gonna eat people.”

Travis and Laura didn’t have any plans going in regarding their reactions to Molly. Laura: “I didn’t expect to get so emotional over it.” They were jumping in and out of watching episode 26, since they had a one-week-old baby at the time. Later in the night, they pulled the episode up and realized Taliesin wasn’t there... and found out from the chat what had happened. “We fucking go have one baby...” Laura: “Molly would still be alive if we were there. I feel like we would’ve told them to run.” Travis: “It was still a good plan, though, honestly. The dice just screwed them.”

Absorbing Summer’s Dance was “most definitely” Fjord’s tribute to Molly and wanting to get him vengeance. It was especially hard because they were roommates the entire time. “Fjord has never really had friends or companions, much less somebody you had to talk to every night before you crashed out. As crazy and different as Molly was from Fjord, he never judged Fjord.” Fjord’s last conversation with Molly was about how the ship exploded and what happened, and it was “the first time Fjord started to trust somebody with that shit, and he got fucking killed.”

Jester’s taking being a cleric much more seriously because she doesn’t want more friends to die, and she’s starting to understand the stakes of what she does. The cleric-related jealousy of Caduceus was a bit of bleed-through. Laura: “I need to remember that I’m the one that’s competitive and Jester is not. Because that definitely is my go-to.” Brian: “Yeah, you in real life are much closer to Vex than to Jester.”

Fanart of the Week: a great combat group-shot!

Both Jester and Fjord’s primary motivations have changed. Travis: “A little less seeking outside answers and knowledge to things that aren’t really going to help.” Laura: “Jester’s primary motivation of just wanting to bring joy has maybe increased even more. We’ll see how far that goes.” Travis really wants Jester to go dark. “See, now I’m sad that I made Jester happy. But I do think as we level up, Jester’s Spiritual Weapon should get more and more badass. A lollipop with spiky sugar on it or something. Rock candy mace.”

Fjord saw the Cloven Crystal reveal as just another sign of the universe telling him, “Fucking get after it, son.”

Matt gave them a five-minute summary of what went down right before the game, and then left it up to them to work out how they’d play it in-game.

Laura thinks the Gentleman’s bad news. Travis: “Oh, you think? He took fuckin’ samples of our blood.” Laura’s pretty sure he’s tied in with the slavers in some way, but Jester hasn’t got enough information to get suspicious in-game.

Fjord was genuinely impressed with Jester’s ability to---to him---sound upbeat even in captivity.

Fjord was starting to become comfortable that maybe the Nein looked to him for some sort of leadership, which he’d only had some brief experience with during his days on ships, but that took a pretty hard hit. Travis: “He’s encouraged to see Caleb as a team player and looking out for others, and that the first thing he tried to do was make us feel better. He expected a fair amount of, ‘You fucked up.’” Laura: “He was really, really nice.”

Laura reveals that Jester’s actually a cannibal serial killer. You... heard it here... first?

Fjord was surprised to see how much growth there was for Beau in the six days they were gone. “She seems mature, responsible. She didn’t punch any kids. It’s awesome.”

Jester thinks Yasha’s wings "look really badass”. She also doesn’t think anyone has as close a tie with their deity as she has with the Traveler (at least, before this recent uncertainty).

It’s tough for Fjord (but not so much Jester) knowing they can’t achieve revenge against Lorenzo, but they’re still hopeful for closure. Fjord would consider a good kill with Molly’s sword to be closure. Travis: “It’ll be taking care of the group, making sure something like that doesn’t happen again.” Jester: “I don’t know what will get it for Jester, honestly.”

Talks Machina: Are We Out Of Time Yet?

Ronin’s class? He’s very loud, so maybe a bard, but he has monk-like kicks. They think he might’ve been learning from Laura’s battle-heavy VO sessions in the womb.

Laura loved the “case closed” moment, even though when she first heard about it, her initial thought was “Nott closed a case without me!?!”

Travis was surprised that nobody else perked up at the description of the Cloven Crystal. Laura: “Nobody cares about your backstory but you.” Dani: “I care!” Travis: “THANK you, Dani!”

It was really hard for them to miss the first episode in the new studio, since it was such a milestone. They also hate that they missed the first PC death.

Sumalee got booked on a new TV show, and mentioned on Twitter that the first thing she got asked was what it was like to be on Critical Role.

They reminisce about Liam’s evil one-shot they played with Ashly and talk about how vicious Travis gets when he’s not on your side. Endgame for Fjord? Chaotic evil, clearly.

At Ren Faire a few years ago, Travis went missing from the group after some drinking. They eventually found him at a rare coin stand, and he showed off an old coin he’d just bought. Brian: “I’m like, ‘How much did it cost?’ And he just looked down.” Travis: “DON’T SAY THE NUMBER.” Brian: “The shame immediately kicked in.” Laura also dropped a dagger in a porta-potty. Brian: “The Ren Faire takes a toll.”

We fade out on Brian walking away while Laura and Travis sing ‘You’ll Be in My Heart’. As you do.

#long text post #critical role #critical role spoilers #talks machina #talks machina spoilers

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opalsiren · 5 years

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W.I.T.C.H. Reboot! W.I.T.C.H. Reboot! W.I.T.C.H. Reboot!

hi love! so, with the plethora of reboots kicking around mainstream media these days, its no surprise that the question of a w.i.t.c.h reboot has been broached by its fans. i have so, so, so many thoughts and this, but ill divide them into three categories for the purpose of brevity: firstly, general thoughts on what i would like to see if a w.i.t.c.h reboot is on the cards; secondly, what i would like to see in a live-action w.i.t.c.h reboot; and finally, what a decent animated reboot of w.i.t.c.h might entail. this is not an exhaustive list so please feel free to add onto this if youve any more thoughts! without further ado because jesus, we might be here a while….

general thoughts:

a w.i.t.c.h live action reboot should largely use the comics are source material. while the cartoons are beloved by many including myself, i reckon the good parts of each should be combined to be thematically consistent, fix plot holes etc. but the comics should be the bible here

the target demographic of younger women and girls would need to be established early on by the producers (personally i would love to see a slightly more mature, w.i.t.c.h college AU where the target demographic could be teens/young adult women and girls, but more on that later). this isnt to say that young men and boys would be absolutely excluded as an audience, but misogyny is alive and well in 2019, and our voices as women need to be uplifted. this is exemplified by the fact that caleb was given far, far, far too much screentime in the cartoon so that the show could reach a young, male audience, and his characters was mangled by chauvinistic tendencies. thank u, next.

i have my own preferences wrt to ships, but i think we can all agree that introducing male characters as mere plot devices for drama/conflict only to put them ‘on a bus’ when theyre no longer useful is just plain bad writing. this is a critique levelled both at the cartoon and comics, but largely the comics (see: Eric)(rip in peace).

i also believe that sticking to the conventions of a particular genre, or hybrid genre, would be preferable if a w.i.t.c.h reboot were to take place. some shows get it right, but I’ve seen a ton of shows go off the rails when they try to be a fantasy/comedy/crime/drama/horror/sci-fi/occult/soap-opera extravaganza all in one. i reckon a YA fantasy drama with comedic moments, something with a similar vibe to Shadowhunters or The Shannara Chronicles, could work really well. if we’re talking animated reboot, something with a similar tonal atmosphere to The Dragon Prince or Into the Spiderverse, would also be great

this shouldnt even need to be said but please, for the love of god, no musical episodes (heres looking at you, Riverdale).

i think i speak on everyones behalf when i say that, irrespective of the age demographic of the show, LGBT rep in w.i.t.c.h would be amazing. irma/cornelia have always been a practically canon fan favourite, but cassidy and nerissa’s relationship is definitely more than strictly platonic, so that could be developed upon too. trans/nonbinary!will is also a popular headcanon that could work. once there are lgbt heroes, and not just lgbt villains, i think we’ll all be happy.

similarly, seeing some neurodivergency in the characters could also be great: elyon dealing with pts after the fallout with phobos; irma struggling with adhd in school or college; hay lin and taranee also exhibit some traits of anxiety in canon. autistic!will would also work, and someone else in the squad is bound to be affected by depression given its pervasive nature these days.

much and all as i adore the guardian outfits, i think there would need to be a few changes made. the midriff-and-leg-baring get-ups, though very cute, become very jarring when you realise the characters are meant to range in age from 12 to 14. i dont have any specific thoughts on how improvements could be made, but lengthening hemlines could be a start. if anyone has any more thoughts, i’d love to hear them!

of course, there needs to be women in the writers room, lgbt people in the writers room, poc in the writers room, people with neurodivergencies in the writers room, etc. we all know what happens when writers rooms lack diversity, and it sure as hell aint pretty.

body diversity was something that was tentatively approached in the comics (irma is curvier than the others, at least in her mundane form), but eschewed almost entirely in the cartoon, with all the girls maintaining similar heights and waifish proportions. it would be worthwhile, not to mention realistic, for the girls to go through some body-image hang ups. maybe will is insecure about her ‘underdeveloped’ body, or maybe taranee longs to have the same curvaceous figures as other dancers her age. i think if they were to go for a message of body positivity, irma, loud and brash with no fucks to give, should love every inch of her fat body and encourage the girls to adopt her 'devil-may-care’ attitude. the patriarchy be damned.

one flaw with the comics AND the cartoons are that they dont really explore the worldbuilding a lot. we do spend some time on meridian in the comics and the cartoon, but largely from the perspective of either elyon, or caleb and the rebels. i wonder what a day on meridian would look like for the average meridianite peasant? what do meridianites do for fun? what language(s) do they speak? what are their religious/spiritual belief(s)? what are the styles of dress dictated by? meridian is based on medieval societies, and a caste system is suggested, but i would have loved to see the social hierarchies expanded on a little more. does the matriarchal nature of meridian rule value women and their labour? what about LGBT people on meridian? people with disabilities and neurodivergencies? is there any discrimination against the different species on meridian? in fact, i dont know if it was ever explicitly outlined to us the different species of peoples on meridian, in the cartoon or the comics. honestly id be happy to see a filler, AtLA Tales of Ba Sing Se-esque episode on meridian to cover all of these bases

one thing i loved from the comics that didnt translate as well in the cartoon were the girls’ passions and interests. will is obsessed with frogs, she rides her bike to her job at pet store, she swims, stresses over math homework. irma loves music and talking to her pet turtle, leafy; i could totally see her doing a stint at the college radio station or working part time at a record store. cornelia loves ice skating and has received tons of awards and accolades for her achievements on the ice. taranee is an avid photographer and dancer, but i could totally see her spending her spare time at rallies and protests too. hay lin is a proficient artist, making her own clothes and poring over paintings between shifts at the silver dragon. all of these things and more are what make these characters so well-rounded, relatable, likeable. their hobbies need to be weaved into the fabric of the show (not just brought up once for a silly plot device in cornelia’s case, or never brought up at all in taranee’s, as seen in the cartoon) in order for it to work

live action reboot thoughts:

this should go out without saying, but a live action w.i.t.c.h reboot should cast actors of colour to play characters of colour. hay lin, and by extension her family, need to be played by Chinese actors, while taranee needs to be played by a black actor, preferably one of east asian descent, etc. if they add a little more diversity to the cast i would be totally pleased. latina!irma is a popular headcanon that i ascribe to, and will has always been kinda ambiguously brown, so adding less ambiguous representation for poc to the cast would really be excellent

of course, age-appropriate casting is a must. more specifically, there should not be any 25-30 year olds playing characters in their mid-late teens, unless ofc they could actually pass for the age they are trying to play. shows like The OA and The End of the Fucking World really get this right (most other teen/YA dramas, not so much. less of the chiseled abs and rock hard pecs on teens, please)

this one might be tricky to get right, particularly with budget constraints, but i think a really good CGI/visual effects team is necessary for a w.i.t.c.h reboot to work. unless an adequate amount of the budget is spent on making sure the magic looks realistic, almost plausible, it will make everything else look cheap by comparison

also, this is more of a personal preference, but i’d love to see someone with a really beautiful visual aesthetic and scope of cinematography. i’m talking Sense8-esque levels of cinematographic beauty

i’m really rambling now but, similarly, it’d be so cool to see someone who could use lighting/colour theory in very particular ways. in Marvel’s Netflix Originals, each character has their own theme colour; in Jessica Jones, for example, all of the scenes are very blue and almost leeched of warmth, while in Luke Cage there seems to be a warm yellow filter over everything. how cool would it be if all Taranee-centric scenes had a slight gold hue? or if all of cornelia’s scenes were lit with green? maybe all of the colours could combine in the a subtle yet effective way when all of the guardians are together to show their unity and combined strength.

thoughts on an animated reboot:

i know very little about animation so these thoughts will be brief, but an art and animation style something like that of Into the Spiderverse would be really gorgeous. it is fluid, dynamic, beautiful to look at and, most importantly, reflects the comic format in a moving image perfectly. alternatively, the animation studio behind The Legend of Korra could also be wonderful. the visual effects used for magic would look absolutely incredible

one thing i have to praise the Jetix cartoon for is their choice of voice actors, which were, in many cases, spot on. while cornelia’s VA was annoying and shrill, the actors playing characters of colour were themselves people of colour. if an animated reboot was on the cards, i think it could be a great opportunity to once again include some diversity to the cast, namely hiring actors of colour to play characters of colour

please let no one who worked on voltron near a w.i.t.c.h animated reboot with a ten foot pole. no i will not elaborate

tl;dr at the risk of sounding like an entitled millennial, a w.i.t.c.h reboot should be less about creating something entirely new for a brand new audience, and more about building on what the longtime fans of w.i.t.c.h already love and bringing it forward for the older generation. all on all, we grew up with w.i.t.c.h, so it’s time for us to have our reboot. thanks for coming to my TED talk!

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bthenoise · 5 years

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Q&A: Gideon’s Tyler Riley Gives The Lowdown On The Band’s Forthcoming Album With An Exclusive In-Studio Look

All photos by: Alex Bemis

Doing anything for almost ten years can certainly feel like an eternity. After days, months and years of repeating the same cycle over and over again, many people can feel burned out or in need of change. For noisemakers Gideon, after countless hours spent on the road supporting four full-length records, the Alabama outfit was definitely in need of something new.

Enter No Love/No One. Bursting out of the gates, the band’s new bruising two-track EP immediately slaps you in the face with brutal riffage and rugged vocals from frontman Daniel McWhorter. Coupled with a ruthless ending track titled “2 Deep,” it’s clear Gideon isn’t the same band from 2011′s Costs.

With a newfound writing approach of telling it like it is and not caring about anyone else’s opinion but their own, the seasoned four-piece, thanks in part to new bass player Caleb Derusha, have banded together for what should be very a productive and revamped 2019.

Working on the long-awaited full-length follow up to 2017′s Cold, guitarist Tyler Riley admits things will be different this time around saying, “Cold was the last time that we will ever probably do this, but we were still kind of being careful about what we were writing about or what kind of risks we were writing. So along with us deciding that we didn't care what anyone thought about what we were writing lyrically, we also decided to do the same thing musically.”

With No Love/No One hitting harder than some might have expected, Riley reveals “it's a nice little taste” of what’s to come. “There are way more elements that aren’t included in the EP,” he says. “It's only two songs so you can only cram so much in. But everything that's in those two songs is on this album and even crazier. And then there’s more to it as well.”

Now if the idea of a heavier no-fucks-given Gideon doesn’t excite you for their forthcoming album -- which is nearly completed, by the way -- maybe the remainder of our interview with Riley will. To check out what the soft-spoken guitarist had to say about writing and recording Gideon’s new record, be sure to look below. Afterward, for more from the band, head here.

Where are you guys in the writing and recording process as of right now?

Tyler Riley: So we've got most of the record done. We got a couple songs that we need to touch up some vocals on and aside from that it's a pretty complete project right now. I think we have one more song that we have to finish some lyrics for and we're tracking those pretty soon and then it’ll be completely wrapped.

How long has this process been so far?

We had like four weeks recording and then we had a little bit of a break here in between when we finished drums because we did drums last and now just to finish out lyrics basically. We’re trying to make it as good as possible and all the other [songs] are so strong we've even scrapped a couple songs lyrically, trying to make sure that everything's the best it can be. We spent like a week doing pre-production at one location. A nice friend was able to lend us their lake house for a week. So we went out there and finished up the songs as much as we could. And then we had two weeks in one studio and then a week in another studio to do drums. So that was kind of the process there.

When you guys are writing, generally, what kind of headspace do you need to get into?

Well, for this record, we have our new bass player Caleb who has a heavy hand in this new record. And a lot of the process was him just locking himself in his room. He works less than everybody else in the band. So while we're working, he would just be slaving away and sending us clips and stuff. And we’d send him notes and he was just doing the large majority of the footwork. So besides the first week in the studio where we were finishing writing together, it was mostly him doing that. And it's interesting because he's a dude that just started playing with us a little over a year ago, but he knows everything about the band. Like, he has been with us since day one. Not even like, as a friend, but more so as a fan and sometimes his [previous] band was playing with us. Like back in the early, early days. He knows everything about us, everything about our old bands. Like it's crazy that we didn't really link up until we did. But yeah, he's had a huge hand in this process.

So was it refreshing to have someone else taking on that responsibility versus how you guys did your previous record?

Yeah, I mean, basically, this dude’s a little bit younger and almost, you know, hasn't been beaten down by the career that we've had. Which [our career] has been great, but it's been a long time. It's been 10 years of going straight now, you know? So for him to come in and really be super appreciative of the situation -- because this will have been, I guess, the best [career] opportunity he’s had so far -- you know, that has been an inspiration in itself [and] just his attitude toward everything. We've developed like a newish direction because of his enthusiasm. I think it kind of in a way has been pretty good for us to get in touch with what we are as a band.

So aside from the addition of Caleb, what do you think is the biggest difference between Cold and this record you guys are working on now?

I'd say the biggest difference [was that] Cold was the last time that we will ever probably do this: But we were still kind of being careful about what we were writing about or what kind of risks we were writing or how hard we were going into our, like, hobby level talents. Because there are certain things that you do when you're at home that you're probably even better at than what you play on the road when you're playing in the same band this long, you know? And some of those things you don't get to utilize. So along with us deciding that we didn't care what anyone thought about what we were writing lyrically, because that's a big theme in this album, we also decided to do the same thing musically. Once we started, we were like, “Man, this really works not holding yourself back and just writing what you think is sick and what you know is going to be sick.” So I'd say that's the biggest difference. It’s just we, kind of, in a way have taken off our shackles a little bit and we're just kind of going wild with it.

Are some of the things you're referring to lyrically related to your previous Christian affiliation as a band?

Yeah, I'd say for fans that have paid attention super hard, it's kind of old news if you've actually kept up with everything and the process of how far the lyrics came from Costs to Cold even. In Cold, I don't think that we really specifically mentioned anything spiritual at all. But that's just part of our process. We were teenagers, literally teenagers, when we started playing this band coming from the Bible Belt, a place where you don't have a choice what you're going to do. The only way that any of our parents at the time would have let us travel across the country as 17-year-olds was if we could be like, “But we're doing it for this, all that stuff you taught us.” They're like “Okay sure, all right, go ahead.”

It's not that it was fake. We really believed everything that we were doing at the time, but being on the road, you know, I just learned so much about myself and all of us did by doing that for so long. So yeah, naturally as we got older, things just kind of morphed into, you know, we didn't want to shock everybody. We didn't know what we thought. So we weren't just going to denounce everything the second that we had a doubt. But yeah, so now we're to a point where we're feeling like, “You know what man? When we're on the road we act like ourselves. When we're hanging out with our fans at a show, we act like ourselves. So why don't we just act like ourselves on the album?”

Has that been pretty freeing for all of you guys that now you can take a deep breath and just really show off your own personalities in a way?

Yeah, definitely. And you know, I feel like it's just going to get easier and easier from here on out. This [album] is really breaking the seal with it. I mean, I guess we broke the seal with our last single/singles that we put out. A little EP, No Love/No One. I guess that was a bit of a transition. But yeah, this is going to be the first time it's full on just whatever we feel like doing with no regard.

Yeah, that's exciting. And referring to the EP, do you think that's a pretty good example of what's to come from you guys moving forward musically?

I'd say so. I say it's a nice little taste. There are way more elements that aren’t included in the EP just out of, you know, it's only two songs so you can only cram so much in. But everything that's in those two songs is on this album and even crazier. And then there's more to it as well.

So what’s interesting, just looking into your guys' various stuff online, on Wikipedia for the EP it says Gideon is “marking a heavier change in their sound.” That’s interesting considering you guys are already pretty heavy as it is, how can Gideon be “heavier”?

Yeah, I agree with that. I think that when you play your songs live a lot -- in like 2017, we played almost 150 shows that year, like a little over 146 or something like that -- you know, you just kind of learn what works and what doesn't work, what's fun, what’s not fun. And when we wrote that EP it was like, we're going to do everything that’s badass. Everything that is sick when we play live, I just wanted it to be like that, you know? So we just kind of channeled what we do [live] and in a way. I feel like a lot of people that have seen us would say this, but even when we play the old songs now, we've kind of honed in on this, what makes it sound so heavy when we're playing it live. We've been getting tighter and tighter. We try to anyway, we make a conscious effort to make that happen. That's what we wanted for these songs, we wanted it to sound like it's going to sound as aggressive as it sounds when we play. To me, when we play old songs, it's more aggressive live than it was on the album. So I guess hearing it come to fruition on that EP probably seemed a little bit like, “Damn this is even heavier.” But really that's just how we've been trying to do for a while.

In the time since Cold came out, have you been paying attention to the heavy scene at all and how it's been developing? If so, were those outside influences things that you brought to this record? Or did you guys try and push that aside to just focus on you guys directly?

Well, we all try to [pay attention to the scene], especially myself. I try to keep as connected to what's going on in heavy music and underground heavy music. I try to keep as much in touch as possible. And it's almost like, the heavy music and the heavy music scene just kind of formed around what we wish that we could have been playing before. So it felt more like, “Man, now we can really do ourselves because it’s coming back into style basically.” You know, breakdowns are not faux pas anymore. Metalcore is not a cuss word anymore. It used to be like a metalcore band is, you know, shunned. Basically, an emo or a scene band would be metalcore, you know? So yeah, it's like, metalcore is cool again in a sense and it just made it better for us because we've been metalcore the whole time.

Where do you think that judgmental side from hardcore kids comes from vs metalcore?

Man, I think it's just like when you discover something and it's personal to you, sometimes you feel like you're the only one that ever realized it, you know? Especially as I get older, and I'm starting to see these waves of certain genres becoming popular again and I'm sitting over here like, “Man yeah, when I was 16, I had a swoopy haircut and I loved that shit too. And now it's cool again? That’s cool.” I don't know but I think that kids just don't realize that they think the thing that's in front of them is going to be what they love forever and sometimes they close their minds too. They’re just so blown away by hardcore the first time that they really experience it because it's such an inclusive genre, you know that they're like, “I never want to let this go and this is the best thing that's ever happened to me.” Which, I totally understand how you could get to that point, but I just think that everyone comes to the realization eventually that like, “Hey man, hardcore is awesome but it's not everything in the world.”

That's a pretty good way to put it in. The idea that people will discover it and then want to protect it at all costs. But let’s talk more about your time in the studio. Looking through Instagram, you posted that you were doing some 12 hour days. What is it like in the studio with you guys? What’s the vibe usually?

Well, recording a record is just so much work. I feel like the only way you can really get through it -- like you're saying, we were doing those 12 hour days. I think the only way you can do it is really just put your head down and do it, just go to work. Just like writing aside, producing aside, everything having to do with being creative aside, it's like the recording is just a huge undertaking. Just the amount of music that you're putting down takes so much time. So the studio was mostly us just working 12 hours. Seriously, four weeks straight, not a single day off. 12 hours a day, me and Caleb were at the studio every single day. Four weeks straight, not working, just doing that. So it was like we had no choice but to just try and enjoy it. Have fun. Come up with the sickest shit we could, make sure that we're playing our parts exactly as hard and as sick as we can. But yeah the vibe, it can get stressful, just like -- every record is stressful. When you start getting down to that last week, it's like “Man, are we going to finish everything?” And like I said, we still have a couple of things to do on vocals. So it was a bit of a stressful process, but I feel like it has to be like that. You know? If it was too easy the album would probably not be as interesting [laughs]. And maybe I'm just telling myself that because of how stressful it gets so I feel better, but I'm pretty sure that's right [laughs].

You mentioned just how hard you work for weeks at a time with no days off. When bands put out records, a lot of fans immediately listen to it and judge it right away without ever really considering the amount of time, effort and money that was put into making that record. That said, what do you think is one thing you would want to tell fans about what studio life is actually like?

Yeah, I mean, I feel like everyone should be aware of the fact that in the music industry, it's all deadlines. It's like, you only have a certain amount of time to create something out of nowhere. You know, how can you put a time limit on something like that? So the fact that we can all come together -- especially as like, dudes in their 20s who have tattoos and are just like by society standards are kind of low-life dudes -- the fact that we can get together and make all this happen, they just need to know that there's so much that goes into it. Months and months of preparation and it comes down to the wire, and it's a lot of pressure. We pour our hearts out as musicians, you know, this is our only way to cope with life. Not our only way, but this is our best way. That's why we do this kind of thing. And when you go to the studio and spend weeks and weeks pouring your heart into something, I think it deserves, and I try to do this, I think it deserves an unbiased look. You know, try to put yourself in their shoes and figure out what's going through a musician's head when they record their record because it’s a lot of work and a lot of risk. And you really put yourself out there when you do something like this.

Yeah, that's a really good way to put it. Unfortunately, with streaming, most people are able to just skim records without fully digesting it and understanding what it represents.

Yeah. You can listen to it one time and never listen to it again. That's just kind of part of being in a band. It doesn't bother me super hard. But there are times where I’ll read the comments and be like, “Man did you listen, did you like really listen to it? Were you having a bad day that first time you listened to it?” I mean, there are going to be people who hate this record. There are people who hate every record. There's always someone. Not everyone's going to like it but I just ask that people give new music, in general, a chance and try to put yourself in their heads. You know, that's the beauty of music. Just try to figure out where they're coming from. Sometimes you realize, “Oh damn, they are in the same exact headspace that I am” if you pay attention.

So with most Gideon records, you guys have usually guest features. Will there be any this time around?

Yeah, potentially. I think today they might be tracking one of them. And I'm not sure if it will be more than one, but yeah, we've always been a fan of that kind of thing. But we've gone back and forth on this record of just wanting people involved who are closer to us and kind of get the vision of who understands Gideon and who knows Gideon as people. So we're hesitant to just like throw it out there and try to get some big names or like you know, whatever. We got Jamey Jasta on the last record and that was a dream come true. At this point, I'm not sure if we're really shooting for anything like that but whatever ends up on the record will be on the record as long as it's special and fits it. So we have at least one, and maybe more, if we have time.

Lastly, what is there about this record you want people to know that we haven’t covered already?

Well, expect the unexpected. That's all I can say, really. This is going to be a wild record. I just hope everyone's ready for it because we're pumped. I think it's the first time that we've really put together an overall vibe throughout the entire record that has been this cohesive, for sure. This is like an album, album. Listen to it from start to finish when you get it and feel it.

#Gideon #Noise Exclusive #Interview

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artbyelana · 2 years

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Hilma Af Klint

Week 3 Artist lecture

Telling Better Stories: Hilma Af Klint and Art History

Lecture given by Caleb Gordon - Manager for public programmes / City Gallery + Experience Wellington

Hilma Af Klint (1862-1944)

Caleb writes tours

Aaron Lister - curator

Making Galleries reconsider telling Art History

Abstract

Thought of herself more than an artist -> a mystic, medium and spiritualist

experimented and sketched before trying it on canvas.

Influenced by organic / biomorphic forms trying to find abstract visual language.

Emotion and movement

"Keep on moving and connecting"

Idea of opposites that we can't overcome" -> masculine + feminine

^"The 10 Largest" - Group IV 1907 - the biggest paintings and main point in the exhibition

^ "The Swan, No. 17" -> seems rigid but has and contains organic forms

D^ "Altarpiece" -> spiritual and geometric, unpacks Hilma's spiritual understanding

"De Fem Altar" -> starting in 1896

Always worked with other women -> collaborative -> allowed her to create the work that she wanted to

"The Five" -> Swedish Group -> create the 'automatic drawings + they were signed collectively -> (very little 'Hilma Ego' in any of her work and practice)

Don't know a lot about her personal life -> lived and had intimate relations with Women -> surrounded by support, love and broken hearts.

Relationship with spiritual figures

Think about spiritual process -> spirits conversing with her /spiritual dialogue / orders.

"Andromeda" 1888

The Stockholm Academy / college -> was successful + won prizes

Andromeda -> Greek myth -> Hilma's painting was unusual as the subject didn't look scared and looked as if she was going to overcome the problem

Gustaf Af Klint (1771-1840) = Grandfather -> Seafaring while mapping and charting

Hilma mapping and charting spiritual themes, making the invisible, visible.

Did exhibit her work even though people don't think she did. People often think she was a recluse

Presented works in Stockholm but we can't find anything on how it was received

No records of responses to Hilma's work anywhere but there are responses to other people's who exhibited at same time and shows

"Don't show my work until 20 years after my death" - Keep work hidden from the public

Surrounded by places and countries where war was occurring

^ "The Blue Books" -> instead of travelling with all the paintings she took black and white photos and then reproduced them in watercolours for books.

^ "The Dove No. 4" 1915 -> becoming really popular at the moment because of the blue and yellow - people currently sharing it around in support for Ukraine. For Hilma yellow = masculine and blue = feminine

Spirals - connecting to the cosmos

Spiral temple -> left notes on where she wanted it to be built on the Island of Ven

The Guggenheim -> spiral building -> thought and designed by German woman at same time Hilma was thinking of hers

Hilma's work exhibited at the Guggenheim was theirs and her biggest show ever with about 600,000 visitors.

The show was how she got really well known

Lighting is quite dark at City Gallery -> conservation and preservation decision - lighting is set at conservation levels

Hilma left her work to her Nephew and it was kept in his basement in Sweden.

Think that Hilma prepared and stored the works which helped them survive.

Artwork still belongs to the Family and Foundation. All 200+ works still all together after all this time.

youtube

^ A quick guided online tour by Senior Curator Aaron Lister.

I thoroughly enjoyed Caleb's lecture about Hilma, her practice and her life. I haven't been able to go to the show yet as I've been isolating but this has made me more determined to go once I'm allowed out of isolation. I love the freedom, movement and emotion in her works and I think they would be amazing to stand in front of.

#Youtube

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tmitransitioning · 6 years

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How many mods are there? How many are amab and how many are afab? I'm just curious!! I feel like there's an overwhelming majority of afab related questions being answered and I was wondering if it's due to an unbalanced ratio of afab to amab mods.

there’s 11 mods. I’ll post the bios here, since people can’t get them on mobile. I can’t say who was assigned what at birth (most of us have only known each other about 3 months), but the bios should help answer the questions you have about lived experience. Mod Aaron: I’m Aaron, I’m an 18 y/o gay trans man living in the US. I’m taking an injectable progesterone hormone blocker until testosterone is financially available to me, hopefully by January of 2019.I’m also on an antidepressant for anxiety, and I have Sensory Processing DisorderMod Ferrum: 25, almost 26 nonbinary with a goal of comfortably identifying as a girl; been on oral E and Spiro since July 2014 and Finasteride since 2015. Also on antidepressants. Doctoral student in Metallurgy and corrosion who regularly melts iron.Mod Luna: Mod Luna is a 17 year old Agender cool-bean. They’ve gotten onto estrogen! H*ck yes! They’re also pretty anxious, but it could be worse. Luna isn’t sure what they wanna do for work yet, though becoming an actor sounds really fun!Mod Mayhem: 34yo trans male, nurse, on T (IM and SQ) for +5y. Multiply neurodivergent, chronically ill with several major medical conditions since childhood. I’m on hand for medical/science questions, but NOT specific patient advice that would be best handled by a professional who is familiar with you.Mod Moss: Mod Moss is a 22 year old non-binary queer who has been on oral spironolactone and estradiol for about 4 years. Mod Rabbit: Mod Rabbit is a 22 year old Jewish nonbinary queer who has been on and off injection testosterone for the past 4 years and has had a double mastectomy. They are an autistic multiple system of many brainweirds, in addition to several chronic illnesses. They are particularly interested in answering questions about the intersections of transition and disability, neurodivergence, and religion or spirituality, as well as talking about the construction of cisheteronormative gender roles in (mostly American, as that’s what they know the most about) culture. They like dinosaurs and fantasy novels.Mod Shelley: Mod Shelley is a 25 year old American trans woman who has been on estradiol and spironolactone for ~4 years. She has used pills, patches and injections to varying levels of effectiveness. Mod Shelley has social and generalized anxiety disorder, and clinical depression that are occasionally medicated with Lexapro. Mod Shelley is a semi-professional geologist and hopeful future graduate student.Mod Vega: Mod Vega is 25 year old, American, nonbinary, androgynous, and has been on and off testosterone cypionate in injectable and topical gel form for 3 years and stopped use in July 2017.Mod Wolf: Mod Wolf is a 20 year old genderqueer butch on low-dose IM testosterone since summer 2017. They have a hormonal intersex condition and hypermobile type Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, as well as a wide and colourful variety of interlacing neurodivergencies. They study narrative psychology in Canada, with a focus on how conventions of fiction shape people’s experiences with neurodivergence.Mod Zorf: Mod Zorf is a 21-year-old mtf art student. She’s on IM estradiol, formerly took spironolactone pills, and all the while has been on Prozac (until very recently). She also a radical sex-positivist, and a gender-bending weirdo. She’s up for any and all questions related to HRT, including questions about HRT’s effects on sexuality and or psychological health.Mod Caleb: Mod Caleb is 24 years old and has a complicated relationship with his gender, but for the sake of simplicity identifies as a man. He has been on T for 4 years and is 3.5 years post op for top surgery and is actively going through the process of being approved for a hysterectomy. In addition to being on antidepressants and anxiety medication, he also experiences difficulty absorbing T and has had a lot of complications with getting dosage right. He has used gel, patches, and injectable hormones.

we have an overwhelming majority of testosterone/masculine centered asks being submitted, so that’s why this blog seems to answer them more. To balance that we’re trying to answer estrogen questions as soon as they’re asked(to put it into perspective, of the 80 asks that are still unanswered in our box, at a minimum, 70 of them are testosterone based asks- i didn’t review the 110+ in the queue, but i would guess it’s near that ratio) As when this question was last answered, we strive to answer questions from all submissions and eagerly encourage asks and submissions from nonbinary and trans women/feminine of center people.

#mod bio post #call for asks #trans women #femme #mtf #nonbinary #feminine of center #anonymous #tmitransitioning

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tigerathleticmissionexperience · 6 years

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Day #8 marked our final day of scheduled activities as tomorrow will be mainly a travel day back to Marshall. Please pray for our safe return back to ETBU and that all travel logistics will go smoothly. We began this Wednesday eating breakfast at Ms. Gloria’s cottage and left for St. James Infirmary at 9:30 am. Our mission today was to bring as much joy and Jesus as we could to these elderly Jamaicans that were sick, destitute, and some with special needs. We learned from the organization’s director that the individuals ranged from 35-95 but anyone placed there was an individual that could no longer take care of themselves for one reason or another. They were divided into male and female huts/shelters that only had beds inside and were not air-conditioned but were ventilated. We went and met the elderly males for the first 30 minutes and then the ladies for the remaining time. I enjoyed getting to know Dee, Stanley, and Dunlap in our brief 60 minutes with them. Dee wore an old wooden cross around his neck, which made for an easy spiritual conversation with him to which we ended praying together. Stanley, was completely blind but his name was written on the wall above his bed so people could speak to him and know his name. Today being my nine year anniversary with my wife, Whitney, we talked about his family and wife quite a bit. He told me the secret to his 65 year marriage before she passed was that they went to church together very regularly. We also prayed together specifically about the unseen wonders of heaven, certainly in both of our futures, where we would someday reunite. Dunlap held a special place in my heart as she reminded me of my two wise grandmothers whom both contributed greatly to my personal spiritual growth and development as a young boy. We talked about Jamaican and American society and the legacies we would like to leave behind as we work to help be the change for God’s kingdom and our respective countries. All three were very inspiring and motivating conversations and prayers, but so were the many other handshakes, smiles, and hugs. As we drove off, I couldn’t help but think about the individuals only in their 30’s and 40’s that will now likely live out their remaining 40-60 years in their beds with no great sense of purpose left, however, maintaining such a joyful spirit through it all. Many of our players related to them well and even had strong fond memories/stories of their grandparents to share. How blessed we are as Americans, Texans, and members of the ETBU community to have the blessings, resources, family, and friends that we do. We had lunch back at the cottages before going to the beach for several hours and enjoying the sunset really for the first time this trip. These young ladies and staff have really worked hard and poured their hearts and wisdom out to advance the kingdom of God, this team’s chemistry, and amongst the people of Jamaica, so it was great for them to relax and enjoy God’s scenic creations this afternoon. Overall this trip has greatly had an impact on my life. The Lord has sent me to the books of 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy to study thoroughly while I have been here and opened my eyes to quite a few different areas in which I can improve, help my family improve, and help disciple our basketball family in the near future. 1 Timothy 1:5 says: “Now the goal of our instruction is love that comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith.” I believe these are wise words from Paul on how to disciple the people we are directly responsible for so that they may go out and more effectively and efficiently witness to others for the kingdom. Many have read much about the many different orphanages, shelters, and infirmaries we have visited, served, and witnessed in the past eight days from some of our players’ perspective. From a coaches viewpoint, our players have learned to not let their youth or inexperience hinder them as the profess the name of Jesus Christ as it talks about in 1 Timothy 4: 9-14. They have set an example for all believers with their speech, life, love, faith, and purity and they certainly have not neglected their gifts while doing so. We all have been genuinely changed for the better by this experience. I sincerely believe this is going to be a great foundation for our program as we head into year two and the upcoming season as it relates to humility and thankfulness. In 15 years of being a part of college basketball programs in many capacities and levels, I have not been a part of a team that is going to enter the fall semester this connected. I pray we can use that as a springboard to get off to a great start, but will take great intentionality and prayer to maintain the focus, discipline, and love as the momentum of this trip wears off. It is hard to imagine how this could have been any more impactful spiritually for the individuals involved, and I cannot wait to see how the seeds we planted will sprout in our lives and in the Jamaicans lives as God provides the metaphorical rain to give it nourishment and life in His time. The vulnerability of our players and the great leadership and organization from Judy Fox, Lisa Seeley, and Coach Rainbolt have been what has made this trip so highly successful. Coach Rainbolt, as always, has done a great job preparing this team spiritually before/during/after each day, and we are very thankful for him. I also want to thank Ryan Erwin and Dr. Blackburn for their leadership and vision to make these life changing trips possible. Finally, I want to thank all of the donors who contributed financially and all of our supporters that prayed for us continually. We will miss these people and this beautiful country as we head home tomorrow, but we return strengthened, united, and experienced as we go forth for the kingdom of God. Caleb Henson Assistant Women’s Basketball Coach

#TAME

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thehappyhomecook · 6 years

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Good afternoon all. If your going away on holiday this summer and want something good to read then I would highly recommend this book. It’s called ‘Confessions of a funeral director’ by American undertaker Caleb Wilde. It is a brilliant book which gives a real insight on a very personal level to the American family funeral home. If your looking to read something that is on a more personal level then this could be the book for you. There’s no gruesome details in it about embalming, cremation or autopsies, there’s plenty of books out there for that this isn’t one of them. And it is a breath of fresh air that is doesn’t contain any of that stuff. Instead it delves down into the personal, spiritual and professional life of the author. It’s not a huge book but it is a page turner and is very well written from start to finish. I really enjoyed this book and I enjoyed how Caleb tells his own story using his experiences in the profession to do so. I can myself relate to a lot of what he talks about as I and many like me have experienced similar things. It was great for me as a U.K. funeral professional who works for a family business to see how an American family business operates. There are a lot of similarities but also some differences. All in all this is a really great book and I would encourage anyone to go out and buy a copy. @confessions_of_a_funeral_dir #funeraldirector #funeralservice #funeral #funerhome #mortician #morticianlife #undertaker #confessionsofanundertaker #confessionsofafuneraldirector #calebwilde #blog #blogger #influencer #book #bookrecommendations #bookreview #bookreviewer #bookreviewblog #death #deathcare #deathpositive #deathpositivity (at Chipping Sodbury, South Gloucestershire)

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ottersight12 · 6 years

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Spiritual/Mental Practice/Witchcraft (pt. 1)

In regards to being a Witch, there are many different types and interests.

I also learned at a young age that men who practice magic, astrology, herbs, or anything that can be considered witchcraft, were called warlocks. Though I never really liked this title compared to witchcraft, that’s just the title for it.

I’ve never been one to practice what most called Magic, or “Magik”.

I’ve also never been extremely religious. I’ve always considered myself more of a “logistic spiritual” sort of person, such as the practice of Astral Projection, in regards to being able to control it. This is something that some people apparently attempt their for their entire lives to be able to have any sort of vision once.

I have achieved it a few times, and though, the visions that I have had sound minimal compared to visions that have been told to me in conversation, and have been seen by others. I will talk more about this in another post if I get permission from them to share it, or have them create a post or video, then share that.

I believe that most, if not all humans have a certain level of Psychic ability. It depends mostly to the level of mindset towards it, and experience with your dream state, along with real life.

I’m not alone talking about being about being able to read minds, or move objects by warping energy around at will. This, in my experience, is based around what I see as, atleast partially, being an all around realist. This is based around people who have an in-depth understanding of what is going on around them, and overall, and how things will be affected by these scenarios if not changed, whether it be socially, economically, politically, ect. This can also happen in any possible combination of these related, yet seperate things, or events.

I will continue on this later on.

- ottersight12 (Caleb Ottinger) 04/25/2018

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sillymewaiting · 6 years

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i’ve never related to any fictional character on a spiritual level in the way i relate to caleb’s sister tatiana

#brian jordan alvarez #the gay and wondrous life of caleb gallo #i’m rewatching it again instead of working on lines oops

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arecomicsevengood · 7 years

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Anti-Gone by Connor Willumsen: Book Of The Year

Koyama Press has just published Anti-Gone, Connor Willumsen's first book-length project. It's great. I interviewed Willumsen for the Comics Journal two years ago, and his book is everything I could hope a debut full-length book by someone I went on record with praise before they had a full book out would be. It's a gamechanger on the order of the first Powr Mastrs book, or Ruppert and Mulot's Barrel Of Monkeys. These are books I basically have never even attempted to talk about why they're good, and instead view as an article of faith for people with my critical allegiances. I doubt a better comic will be published this year.

It nonetheless seems in bad taste, or somehow redundant, for me to try to go on at length about the book for The Comics Journal: Let other writers have at it, so that it can be viewed as consensus opinion that this book is great, not just one lone idiot's ass-covering opinion. Still that's not to say I'm not thinking about it, and if you want to know what I'm thinking when I'm asserting the book's greatness, I will attempt to put it into writing here now.

Let's begin with the title: Stating an opposite of "gone" implies presence. "Here" is already claimed by Richard McGuire. That book riffs on place while Anti-Gone is more about presence of mind, as held by its characters, who rove about a vast dreamscape of a world. Partially, it's about the struggle to take in the world around you as the world around you, without say, immediately spitting up references to movies. It's a struggle to see the world without mediating it through your memories of other mediated experiences. This struggle gets spoken of explicitly through dialogue. At a formal level, the book is all about commanding your attention, and holding it firmly, as you experience it without knowing where it's going.

That last bit is what most narrative art attempts, and what most audiences expect. We go into a story wanting it to be something other than our immediate reality, and by giving it our attention we hope for the best. Of course, if you've seen a lot of movies, or read a lot of comics, your own foreknowledge of tropes can lead to feeling you're following along with something you already know where it is going. This feeling is not exactly the same as constantly referencing culture you've consumed over the course of a conversation, but it's related. Anti-Gone sets up a formal system where the reader's full engagement parallels what the book is about. Meanwhile, becoming aware of the rate of attention at which you're engaging with something essentially makes you more engaged.

Connor does a pretty great job at avoiding any sense, at any given moment, that you, as the reader, know the story he's telling. I will do my best to likewise avoid giving anyone reading me before the book any undue advance knowledge of plot points, although obviously a little will be revealed, and the further you read the more I'll allude to.

Let me stay focused for the moment on this theme of commanding attention. Most comics try to engage readers by being as clear as possible, in the composition of a panel or a page. They want to create a rhythm that carries you along. Towards the end of my interview with Connor, he discussed this idea of "visual tension," and wanting to push it further. I didn't know what he meant by that. Essentially, it was a notion of something that trusted the reader's ability to read it, without telegraphing meaning through symbols and shortcuts. I basically still did not understand what he meant at the time that I asked him to define it, or I didn't understand what the point or effect of this would be. It's an approach that runs counter to all sorts of shit, from Scott McCloud and Understanding Comics to that "How To Read Nancy" book Paul Karasik and Mark Newgarden are about to put out, to my understanding of Frank Santoro's workshop Connor was previously a student of. The payoff is here in this book, and it's twofold: One, it feels fresh as fuck to read something out of step with current trends in methodology. Two, you naturally read it at a much slower pace, which works wonders towards the effect that you pay attention to it without expending brain power anticipating what'll come next.

Willumsen increases visual tension in a number of ways. Caleb Orecchio pointed out a couple of examples when he wrote about Anti-Gone for Comics Workbook, which I will link to instead of scanning more pages. The first is varying degrees of detail, where things get dropped out to capture small gestures, juxtaposed against fuller drawings where the smaller action is located inside. Because of this, the layouts fluctuate. Eyes move all around the page, to take in all that might be important. The marks begin to be read almost like lettering: I feel like I am truly reading it, and not just at a level of engagement akin to skimming. I'm not just turning pages, I'm poring over the drawings.

The drawings need to be great for the sort of highwire act I'm describing to work at all, to compel you to want to look at them. It's a cartoon language, lacking extraneous detail, but the human characters are allowed to be ugly, with unwieldy flesh and unflattering clothing. The lines that make the world are smooth, and feel neither anxious nor tepid, but thought-through.

The visual language insists you pay attention to all of it, and the story doesn't betray the art by giving any indications that the plot has a main thrust you should focus on. When Willumsen puts in a page where we essentially are tracking character's progress through a landscape by the light of a window's shape shifting as characters pass by it, we take it in, aware, essentially, the the journey is more important than the destination. In the absence of action, we are paying attention to mystery. What Willumsen called "visual tension" ends up imparting its own kind of suspense to the proceedings. In film, an editor can slow down the pace of a scene, but comics require the reader to slow down their reading experience on their own. A film can create suspense by taking its time getting to something viewers know to be inevitable. Here, we are slowed down by the fact that we don't know what is going to happen next, but we know we need to pay attention to make sense of whatever will come.

The language of drug experiences has a term called "time dilation," for the feeling where the brain's ability to think essentially outpaces reality's sequential unfolding. One of the things that I wanted to talk about in my interview with Willumsen, but was too self-conscious and chickenshit to talk about directly, was psychedelics. The ideas engaged in Willumsen's comics often feel "trippy," but I know that, for instance, both Noel Freibert and Robert Beatty are people who loathe having their art styles compared to the effects of drugs, finding it both reductive and off-the-mark as to their experiences. But I don't think it should be off-limits to talk about this stuff, or leave the discussion of it to Joe Rogan: Drug experiences are frequently overpowering in a way that leaves an impression on most people who engage with them. This is not to say you can't get to similar places via meditating, or reading a lot, or engaging in any kind of spiritual practice: However the fact of drug use allows a shortcut that then can be exploited or talked about in an anecdotal way. The focus in Willumsen's comics on perceptual phenomena could originate from drug experiences, or it could just stem from an intense drawing practice: How paying close attention to something changes the way in which you see it, how you ascertain its essence. It's easy to justify not talking about drugs by rationalizing other ways the mind-state can be reached.

However, one of the things that makes my avoidance of talking about drugs so disappointing to me is that one of the things that happens in this book, that enough pages are devoted to that you can even say it's what it is about, in summary, is getting fucked up and going to the movies. If that sounds like a not particularly deep subject, consider that David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest can be said to be largely about getting high and watching TV. These things, especially taken in conjunction, basically constitute the very essence of the postmodern condition. Drugs increase our awareness of subjectivity, and TV and movies are other people's subjective visions, worked out elaborately enough they can be shared. Wallace was mostly interested in Television or entertainment as a different kind of drug that still held addictive and spiritually numbing properties. Willumsen's narrative interests in drug experiences neatly dovetails with what I view as his themes, and the aspects of attention that are all over the book already.

Another concept that comes up in the concept of drug discourse, like Aldous Huxley or Terence McKenna or whoever, is the notion that these drugs essentially remove the frames by which we look at the world, the learned and assumed contexts where we encounter things and consider them to be the way they are. In a design decision that turns out to be more thematically appropriate and less decorative than you might initially suspect, the front cover of Anti-Gone has a die-cut, essentially turning the whole thing into a frame for a simple cartoon drawing that is the book's first page. That frame, giving the name of the book and its author, can be removed to present the reader with an image unmediated.

(That title, by the way, is a pun on Antigone, a Sophocles tragedy, and a figure in Greek mythology. Rather than summarize the play, I'll just reference Wikipedia's statement that the name means "worthy of one's parents," which is sort of interesting if you view the book itself as being a part of an artistic lineage, but I don't think Willumsen would be interested in referencing that to try to prove a point that he is some kind of heir to the tradition of comics exemplified by, say, Richard McGuire. However if I wanted to interpret it that way to give this positive review a vaguely hyperbolic thesis, I could. If I wanted to point to other forebears, whose work I greatly admire, I'd point out that, on a level of how the book is actually made, the feeling that I am looking mostly at marks made with pencil makes me think about CF, while the computer-assisted shading added after the fact makes me think about Kevin Huizenga.)

The notion of unmediated experiences doesn't just relate to drugs or movies, of course. It's also about how we experience one another: How, in personal relationships, (romantic or non, or ambiguous), the way in which we view another person does not necessarily line up with how that person sees themselves. In fact, often it can be the view of a third party, if spoken aloud, that effects our interpretation of what another person is like. Those who watch a lot of movies might recognize this as the premise of the Nicole Holofcener movie Enough Said, which costars Elaine from Seinfeld and Tony Soprano, as well as Holofcener's go-to star, Catherine Keener. This shows up as a sub-theme here also, and I think it's this element that puts the book over the top for me in asserting its quality.

At a certain point in my life, I started to view "personal relationships" as the most important there is, essentially. In terms of art, insight into these areas became more affecting than, say, how a person interrogated genre. At this point, I even feel fairly resolved and at peace with death, but I know that for as long as I'm alive, how to relate to other people will remain something of a mystery. This book feels useful to me, in these instructive terms: It insists you view people on their own terms, the same way you take in the reading experience. Other books might present themselves as spectacles to be taken in, or puzzles to be solved, or as things where you are meant to relate to the main character as an author surrogate or whatever.

The other aspects of the book that boil up through its willingness to wander feel related to this notion of relating: There are interpersonal relationships, yes, but then there are questions of capitalism and desire, or how one navigates politics when those in power maintain their status by force, or questions of pet ownership. (I love the alligator the two main characters adopt and name Blade.) All the big questions are here, essentially, if you give enough of your attention to see them there: The book demands, and rewards, giving it all you have.

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