#like i love my version of aaron but it’s mostly self-projection you know

[annarellix]

Crazy in Poughkeepsie  by Daniel Pinkwater, Aaron Renier (Illustrations) (Neddie & Friends, #6)

Mick is a good kid, but maybe he can use just a little guidance. But it’s unclear who will be guiding whom, because Mick’s brother came home from Tibet with the self-proclaimed Guru Lumpo Smythe-Finkel and his dog Lhasa―and then promptly settled both of them in Mick’s bedroom. (The thing about this kind of guru is that he doesn’t seem to know exactly what he’s trying to do. He sure does seem to be hungry, though.) Anyway, Mick agrees to something like a quest, roaming the suburbs with the oddest group of misfits: Lumpo and Lhasa; graffiti-fanatic Verne; and Verne’s unusual friend Molly. Molly is a Dwergish girl―don’t worry if you don’t know what that is yet―and she seems to be going off the rails a bit. Along the way, the gang will get invited to a rollicking ghost party, consult a very strange little king, and actually discover the truth about Heaven. Or a version of the truth anyway, because in a Daniel Pinkwater tale, the truth is never the slightest bit like what you’re expecting.

Book page: https://tachyonpublications.com/product/crazy-in-poughkeepsie/

My Review (5*) This book is brilliant, delightful, funny, and a bit weird. It's a short novel featuring a boy called Maurice, his bizarre family, a guru from Himalaya who was born in New Jersey, a couple of friends of Maurice. They are all in a small town called Poughkeepsie and I loved them all. There's plenty of humour, a fascinating world building, and a great cast of characters. I loved them all even if the Guru was a favorite. The author is an excellent storyteller and kept me turning pages and entertained. I laughed a lot and I was happy this is part of a series because there's a lot of other book I will read. Highly recommended. Many thanks to Tachyon Publications for this ARC, all opinions are mine

The Authors: Daniel Manus Pinkwater is an author of mostly children's books and is an occasional commentator on National Public Radio. He attended Bard College. Well-known books include Lizard Music, The Snarkout Boys and the Avocado of Death, Fat Men from Space, Borgel, and the picture book The Big Orange Splot. Pinkwater has also illustrated many of his books in the past, although for more recent works that task has passed to his wife Jill Pinkwater. Website: https://www.pinkwater.com/

AARON RENIER is the author of three graphic novels for younger readers; Spiral-Bound, Walker Bean, and Walker Bean and the Knights of the Waxing Moon. He is the recipient of the Eisner award in 2006 for talent deserving of wider recognition, and was an inaugural resident for the Sendak Fellowship in 2010. He teaches drawing and comics when he is not working on his own comics and illustration projects. Website: http://www.aaronrenier.com/

Illustration and cover via Edelweiss

#middle grade #humorous fiction #fantasy #tachyon publications #review

[bloody-wonder]

heyyy okay so I just saw a post where people basically called the fandom out for ignoring the fact that Andrew is “abusive as fuck” to the other monsters while still bashing seth and aaron for their homophobia and I just uhhh- I would really like to hear your thoughts on this pls? Cus while I can definitely see how andrews relationship with them is not at all normal or healthy in many ways, I don’t really feel like abusive is the right word for it, is that just me?

firstly, while we’re on this topic i’d like to say a couple of words about the aaron discourse that seems to be back in fashion.

in fandoms we have this interesting desire to rank *problematic* behaviors in order of their graveness and then act as if this ranking is objective for all people everywhere. this is where the “you hate aaron bc he’s homophobic? well your fave actually killed a person so“ argument comes from. while there’s logic to the idea that being murdered is worse than being called a slur, for people who experience homophobia irl on a daily basis a fictional murder will never be as upsetting as fictional homophobia. conversely, other fans who don’t fall into this category but might relate to aaron for different reasons (bc he happens to be a well-rounded character) are confused by how he’s branded as the worst while the other foxes (especially the monsters) are right there and feel the need to make the fandom appreciate him more by writing that kind of posts comparing his flaws and shortcomings to those of the other foxes according to the questionable but binding ranking of all sins. and round and round the discourse goes bc the latter party can’t imagine how for many people homophobia can take the highest rank of Problématique despite being “not as bad as murder” or whatever.

if you’re able-bodied and able-minded it’s likely that all the ableism in aftg went over your head. if you’re not queer and haven’t experienced homophobia it might be easier for you to look past it in aaron’s case and be able to appreciate him as a character despite it. if “asexual spectrum” and “amatonormativity” are terms you don’t give much thought to in your day-to-day life, you probably see nicky in a completely different light than i do. all of these things are objectively wrong but if one is worse than the other is completely subjective for each individual. there will always be people who like aaron and those who dislike him and i’m afraid no amount of discourse will drastically change their opinions.

returning to your question, a lot can be said about andrew and all the bad things he does. a lot has been said. if you’re after some good andrew bashing i feel like there are quite a few blogs out there who can provide. even in our corner of the fandom where we worship and idolize andrew joseph minyard we still discuss his flaws from time to time. the only reason we haven’t done that recently is bc according to our latest decree “andrew hasn’t done anything wrong ever and we love him and in fact he deserves more opportunities to stab people”. so the argument that andrew’s problematic behaviors don’t get discussed enough doesn’t seem true to me. but it’s not really about that, is it? it’s about not enough people liking aaron and seth and too many people liking andrew - according to op. whereas his crimes are higher (or at least as high) in the ranking of crimes - according to op. but here’s the thing - like i said all of this is very subjective, some people just like andrew despite everything and will never like aaron no matter how strong your argument in his favor is. they’re not politicians in an election campaign, they’re imaginary people who we get attached to bc they make us feel better about ourselves. but if they were politicians and the election was held on tumblr andrew would win in a landslide just bc the voters are mostly queer and andrew’s gay and aaron’s homophobic. that’s how it works.

and finally as for the word “abusive”, before i used to get mad at how people use it all too often and dilute its meaning but nowadays i’m just wondering if this is just simple etymological evolution: at first “abusive” was used to designate only the gravest kinds of mistreatment, but then people became aware of its rhetorical effect and now this word seems to mean “acts i personally find unacceptable” - which can range from more to less harmful. for the sake of intelligible discussions it would be helpful to use different words for different acts in that range, but you can’t really generate enough engagement with words like “annoying”, “offensive” or “harmful” and many users don’t really pursue intelligible discussion anyway. i personally like the word “problematic” which suits me well bc it requires futher explanation of why you perceive something as a problem and it doesn’t have the indicator of its graveness built in. however, i can also see how bc it’s been overused in the past to the point where it itself became a meme, some people can’t take it seriously anymore. “problematic” sounds like a joke so people have to call things “abusive” to be taken seriously. “abusive” is the new “problematic”. this is something i perceive as well so i often try to distance myself from the word by writing it in funny ways but i still use it bc i know no better umbrella term for things that i consider “not good” but wouldn’t go as far as to call them “abusive”.

that being said, what exactly you designate as *problematic* matters as well. for example, i would call some of andrew’s behaviors problematic bc, you know, they are a problem, but i wouldn’t call his relationship with the monsters problematic. strained, difficult, lacking communication, even “not a friendship” if you wish, but no, not problematic and certainly not abusive.

#andrew minyard #aaron minyard #all for the game #the foxhole court #aftg mine #aftg ask #i love aaron with all my heart but if i had to choose between him and andrew i wouldn’t hesitate even for a second #just bc andrew is one of the main characters and we spend so much more time with him and so i feel like i know him much better #whereas with aaron interpretations can differ drastically #like i love my version of aaron but it’s mostly self-projection you know #sorry for the huge ass rant but i've been seeing my mutuals make *you're allowed to dislike aaron* posts for several weeks now #and i'm upset that they feel the need to #fellow aaron stans who make people feel like they're not allowed to hate aaron #shame on you #anyways #if everybody likes him the aaron market will become inflated #we need people with healthy disgust for aaron's homophobia and generally unpleasant personality #so that our biome can thrive

[tuesdayx]

So I thought it would be fun to do a song-by-song breakdown of our latest album Essential.

Essential started as some rough demos designated for a side project in late 2019, which then became our largest album to date in terms of song selection. Many of the themes deal with learning to cope with the changing world thanks to Covid, with a perspective of someone who had to keep working at an "essential" job with no option of self-quarantine. I was happy to continue working and being able to pay my bills over the past year, but there was always elements of stress, fear, and tension lingering over myself and everyone else in my position.

So here we go; starting from the top let's look at the Songs of Tuesday X's 6th album Essential.

1. Jet Fuel Can't Melt Steel Beams: the title was a reference to the 9/11 conspiracy memes, which as stated in the opening lines, "has nothing to do with this song." Written in January of 2020 before Covid had made any significant impact in the US, the song touches on many themes which happened to occur throughout the year, such as [another] Californian forest fire (Australia too), new diseases (Covid), a riot (the BLM movement over the summer, which I will state everything that movement has been fighting for is 100% justified and the United States is in desperate need of Police reform, as does our political system which has remained inherently racist to this day.), Civil War (and exaggeration for sure, but the civil unrest and political division in our country will soon split us apart further), more corporate giants(companies like Amazon profited more from this Pandemic than ever before and have helped further the gap between the American working class and the top 1%). Favorite line: "I won't get philosophical, I only wanted your attention."

2. The Only Difference Between You and Me is a Sense of Apathy and Your Brand New Nikes: This song is a blithing criticism of the American political system. Our two party system has left Americans with a choice between "the lesser of two evils" and allows politicians with no true interest in our needs to rise to power. The use of 3rd parties as an alternative is a overly simple compromise that would only just begin to alleviate the problems created in our political system. Both of our main parties are considered conservative parties to the rest of the world, and any progressive measures that would benefit society and reduce the effects of climate change are considered radical and preposterous by politicians with financial stakes in our crooked system where corporatations hold control and the people are treated as fuel for an otherwise worthless currency. Favorite line: "Listen to the radio, they played my favorite song. Now I'm bored and wanting more."

3. Blame it on the Elves: the title is a reference to an episode of the Podcast "Lore" by Aaron Menke (i can't recall which episode, but you should check it out anyway because it's great listen.) An instrumental interlude inspired by ragtime music of the 1920-30's, with an edge of course.

4. Class of Dropouts: This song was written when I was 16 during my sophomore year of high school and was originally featured on my now unavailable album "trees" before adopting the Tuesday X monicker. I brought it back 6 years later because I loved how raw and punk it was. The lyrics are dorky but I decided to leave them as is, it's a cool track for high school stoners to blare and let out their teen angst. Favorite line: "Walking in on my friends fucking."

5. Polaroids on My Bulletin Board: This is a song about growing up. As a 22 year old (now 23) who decided not to go to college straight out of high school, I felt isolated from my peers in a way. By going into the workfield right away I sometimes feel like I skipped a few years and missed out on a lot of opportunities. I regret not leaving my hometown sooner than I did and chasing my dreams of being a touring musician in a band. More often than not I reminisce of my youth playing shows and getting into trouble, as I now feel old and out of place in a scene I grew up in. Favorite line: "I know what it's like to be alive, I know what it's like to live a lie."

6. Labradoodle Underpass: Going back on the theme of growing up, this is about my recent experience with shows as an adult. When I was a teenager I felt ambitious and ready for anything, and I would drop literally everything to go to the nearest show. As an adult I feel introverted and constantly anxious about the world around me. I've missed out on a lot of great shows due to my own self doubt's and anxiety. Now that shows have been canceled for over a year I feel even more regret by not appreciating them more while I could. Favorite line: "23 years and a lingering fear that anything could happen, why am I here?"

7. Some Shit: This was me trying to be modest mouse lol jangly guitars and half talking/half singing vocals describing the world around me. I guess in a way it was an exercise in writing character description and setting, but otherwise it's just a chill track that almost feels aimless at parts. Favorite Line: "it's just some shit I learned from a friend. Just some shit I learned when I was trying to prepare."

8: Woe is the World: On the album this is a chorus snippet that barely a minute long (the full version is available as a bonus track on bandcamp, and it was actually a demo that turned out better than the final version.) I originally wrote this song when I was 15 with a different set of lyrics, but I came back to it while writing this album and re-wrote it to reflect my mental state and the world around me. Overall, just another melancholy track in a sea of melancholy songs. Favorite line: "you've never felt more alone than you do now, was everything worth it in the end?"

9. Then Why Was it Named Gideon?: the title is a reference to a line in Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour (my favorite series) and like the first track on this album doesn't have much to do with the song. "Gideon" is a simple love song, talking again about how growing up sucks but having the right person by your side can make all the shitty times worth it in the end. Favorite line: "it's time to move on, you're taking too long."

10. I am Here, I'm Looking at Her, and She is Beautiful: This song is entirely about the book "Perks of Being a Wallflower". That's it. Nothing else, let's move on. Favorite line: "Over Christmas I read them a poem about a brown paper bag and the boy who wrote it."

11. Try to Be a Filter, Not a Sponge: Like the previous song, this one is also mostly about "Perks of Being a Wallflower", but with elements of my own experience with toxic relationships. I like to think of it as the character Charlie's experience with Mary Elizabeth overall though. Favorite line: "She called my favorite book washed out trash, said I have no taste and I'm still too sad."

12. Lavender Spray Bottle: This instrumental dates back to 2017. I recorded the guitar part as a demo on my phone and forgot about it. Over time I forgot how to play the guitar part, so I used the demo as a basis and layered everything else on top of it. The title is a reference to a bottle of water with lavender essential oils mixed in that my ex used to fend away spiders in the house we lived in at the time.

13. Hindsight is 2020: I will admit, this is my favorite song on the whole album and was actually the last to be written and recorded. With a simple guitar part and layers of vocals, this song is a direct reflection of life during the peak of the pandemic. With curfews in place and rising case counts, I had to learn to cope with life at home during my late nights away from work. My partner was quarantined during this time and I reflected on the mental strain this put on her. Favorite line: "Don't go to work, you need the money but you're not happy when you're there. Sometimes life is so unfair."

14. I Don't Know How to Deal With Serious Emotions Without Turning Them into a Fucking Joke: the title came from a meme I found on my phone from high school. The song itself was about my own inability to handle serious emotions without coming off as sarcastic. In both the music and lyrics, the song starts as a simple confession before exploding into raw chaos. Favorite line: "it's so hard. I'm so scared, what have I become?"

15. Say Hello to My Little Friend: the last instrumental on this album. A short haunting tune that reflects the final two tracks. The title is probably a reference to Rambo or something, but I never watched it and I thought it fit the feeling of this song.

16. Minneapolis: What became one of the most emotional tracks on this song actually began as a joke. My partner was snap chatting a friend one night and they asked me to write them a song on the spot. So I improvised the first two verses and chorus of this song, referencing her going to school there at the time. I found I actually liked what I had written however, so I refined the track and changed it from a sassy country song into a melancholic lament of my experience in the twin cities and southern Minnesota. Favorite line: "I miss Camp Snoopy, and Paul Bunyon's log flume ride that went around the whole damn mall."

17. Before the Sunrise: the final song on the album is an intimate look at my relationship with my partner. Through past experiences i have become riddled with self doubt and always looking at improving myself as a person. With hopes that one day I'll be the person I'd like to be for mine and their sake, it's an optimistic tribute to my best friend. Favorite line: "the cycle ends until the sun rises again, you're my best friend."

Thank you all so much! Check out Essential and our other music on Bandcamp, Spotify, Apple, and other places! I hope you all enjoyed this personal look at these songs that got me through the worst parts of 2020.

#tuesday x #emo #music #alternative #art rock #diy music #diy #midwest #underground #lyrics #essential #covid19

[nalyra-dreaming]

  So I always post a recap, mostly for myself 🙂 (for later^^), but I hope you will enjoy as well! (Got a kiss from Will there and Hannibal didn’t kill me!  – Win win!!) 🙂

I arrived on Wednesday afternoon this time, planning on working on Ravage stuff that evening with Romina, but we ended up with Electra and room service instead, which was awesome. (Thank you soooo much for the little firefly man dear!!!)

Thursday was Ravage ToDos then and London – going by Fuller’s on the way

getting my daughter a Harry Potter „Hedwig“ (as requested^^)

and dinner at the Michelin-star „Aquavit“ (Skandinavian Restaurant – the Blood Pudding was DELICIOUS!)

  and then Pinter’s Theatre, watching Martin Freeman’s performance.

    (We tried to catch him at the Stage Door, but he came out after 2h(?) and we left after 1h in the snow, because you know, Mads and Richard wouldn’t go so well with pneumonia^^).

Friday I spent a LOT of time trying to catch all the Fannibals I saw, say hi and invite them to sign „my Mads“ – bought back then for the German Comic Con 2016 (when he canceled) this has now been utterly filled up with Fannibal love from all over the place! (And Evalie brought her Will! It’s the same one from the meme photo you might have seen btw^^)

(And I had him sign it, too :))) Picked up lots of beautiful things from the con, but they’re mostly in the big package still and on their way home.

Opening ceremony had standing ovations, driving home the fact, that these people were actually there!

  Truly amazing.

Meet and greet was fun but short, they only did a few minutes each.

  Still enough time to realize a few interesting things about them, Scott being really aware of what we put on the table for example and interested in Radiance (looking through it ) and trying the Hannigram smarties that @TheCakeIsPeople brought, Aaron loving that people liked the Go-Getters and his other projects so much, Jeremy very unsure at that point still (Twitter feed later showed he always said the same things^^) but very deep and elaborate answers already, Richard interested in where everybody was from and commenting when he knew the place, Mads on beer 4 (afaik) at our table and a bit brisk, recognizing fans he met before, talking swedish with the Fannibals there and refusing to put on the bite mask we had laid out (as decoration) on sight^^^^. Darn. 😛

  On Saturday I had 5 (!) photo ops, group with Romina, Aaron & Scott, 2 Mads and a Mads and Richard one. I took the cardboard to the photo op with Mads and we had to redo the photo 4 times, because of the glare :))) (Starfury put them all up for digital download, wohooo) and he was amazed by all the signatures on it!! Also – really life size 😛

The other was with something for the Kickstarter, I can’t show you yet^^.

Richard didn’t really pose that day, he was very stiff, hands in his pockets, standing to the side – we wondered if he maybe had a bad con experience before. (That was different day 2, yeah, good job Fannibals!!). Unfortunately you cannot see the “I’m fine” on my shirt, that’s what I was pointing at^^

Panels from noon, with Aaron and Scott being their usual hilarious selfs, Mads kind and witty (even though some of the questions were really… ugh. Disgraceful – someone asked him if he got „excited“ in the sex scenes for Polar(!) and someone else told him he didn’t have a fashion sense (like what the actual fuck?)).

Richard had an introduction interview with Sean on the first day, with only a few audience questions. Again, I think he was a bit … IDK, careful. On Sunday he did an open panel and was way more relaxed there as well! And he is SO WITTY and intelligent! And much more good looking in person than on screen somehow. Like really. A bit scary. :))

  Mads is very nice, smelling lightly of cigarettes (well, duh^^), it was funny to watch/experience the poses he switches through for photos^^. Very easy to ask and stand next to. My hands were shaking nonetheless^^.

Aaron and Scott gave me one of the best hugs ever, I already had my pose with them from last time and told them so, just wanting a hug 🙂

Signing was fun, Mads and Richard, with Mads signing my three books (not showing you Ravage yet!), and I showed him the scene with the illustration of „Will pushing Hannibal in a wheelchair, at Bedelia’s dinner“ – because he had said in his panel that Will would have really enjoyed having the upper hand in S4, pushing Hannibal around in a wheelchair(!!). AND I FUCKING WROTE THAT. (Not actually in „A blackish red hue“ (at least the Ao3 version! (The book version has that scene)) but the image has created for a scene EXACTLY of that (and then adapted into the book, with permission of the artist(!)). I just…. I WANT TO SEE THAT, DAMMIT!! He said „Very good call“ :))) And then personalized it to me <33

  Also, at that point he knew about the cardboard cutout being from the GCC, so they must’ve talked about it backstage! And I asked him to sign it all over his own face which he did, grinning. 

And he’s finally on the LA Times ad, completing it.

AND on the sword sheath, checking all the signatures and commenting on them. He wanted to know where it was from and I explained and he was amazed. (Since he and Richard signed so small (in comparison to Eddie Izzard^^), I was able to put Scott, Aaron and Jeremy on it as well – you can’t see Scott here because he didn’t press that hard, his signature is above Aaron’s).

Oh, and Mads didn’t know that Hannibal got an Emmy nom that year we put up the ad in the LA Times – he was surprised and asked me which ones and of COURSE I’d had forgotten. Hope his team relays him the info via the tag on Twitter^^.

Richard just grinned a bit when I told him that the book is my S4-8 and that it starts at the Motel. He had an interesting expression on his face, I can’t really describe it, maybe a „would’ve sported dimples if he actually had them“, you know. Amusement-tinged. Also very interested in the signatures on the sword sheath!

Life goals. :)))

I had dinner in the bar late afternoon (the London Pride ale is very good imho^^), and then the cosplay contest was on and Noah won, yay, as flaming Chilton!!! They put up the incredible Wendigo-Cake there, from KitchenConjurer – it was cut up the next day, because Mads wasn’t at the cosplay contest.

Don’t remember what I did after the cosplay, lol. Ahem. 🙂 I think I went to my room because I was exhausted. ^^ All the nerves shot from the photo shoots and signings^^.

Next morning were more photos – another with Richard (and a little red dragon by PersephoneSiren!!!!!), who was so much more relaxed that day, and one with Jeremy – who was a bit bewildered by my ask to give me Bunny Ears – and THEN went and did the same expression Hugh Dancy and Joe Anderson did!!!!!! ROFL. Amazing!

  Incredible panels followed – I would invite everyone who hasn’t to read through the Twitter transcript tweets – Aaron and Scott gave Mads a run for his money – aka he never stood a chance :))))

And then they went and cut the ear and nose/chin off the Wendigo cake and Scott kissed Aaron with its lips and you should have seen Mads’ face :))))) Hilarious! ❤

  Jeremy is a panel revelation(!), I would pay REAL money to have him, Richard and Hugh on one stage, talking. These three must be so extraordinary together. (They already are separately, just saying… that would be like an intellectual orgasm).

Had to queue early and so I went and got my autos from Aaron and Scott and Jeremy then, who were soooo sweet and appreciative. And Aaron smiled when he saw the Go-Getters DVD, gave the DVD inside a little pet and signed it to me with a very sweet personalization.

Can’t wait for his new film btw, because the Go-Getters is hilarious and you should definitely watch it!!!!!

Another bar visit for food and ale and then the closing ceremony. Already.

It’s been almost 5 days and yet the time flew.

I cried.

And then I went to my room and packed up everything, creating an impromptu bubblewrap-suitcase. Went through fine, fortunately.

It’s been incredible and I will gladly come back no matter the guests (though these were incredible of course!), who knows maybe I can go to FFT3 if/when it happens as well, and I hope I manage some meat-ups. I met more people than I can remember, spent some very precious times in deep discussions on not so easy subjects, which I love and which is so, so, SO important.

If you’re reading this – thank you for doing so!

And if I met you there – thank you for making my weekend. Because the guests is one thing, but meeting you guys…. that is incredible.

I hope you enjoyed this 🙂

Feel free to ask if you have questions!

Personal RDC5 recap So I always post a recap, mostly for myself 🙂 (for later^^), but I hope you will enjoy as well!

#fannibals #hannibal #london #personal #pictures #rdc5 #recap #mads mikkelsen #richard armitage #aaron abrams #scott thompson #jeremy davies

[theraen]

Character Creation Tag (Charlie)

Okay so I wasn’t tagged in this but I saw it on @slytherin-bookworm-guy tumblr and it was so interesting to read (I lowkey want to read your story in one sit Kyle) that I thought maybe you’ll be interested in reading my version too? 

Also being completely honest I am a bit shy and I don’t think endless talks about my wip and ocs would be interesting, so maybe in this way I can talk about it but without being annoying/boring? I don’t know it’s probably all in my head but nevermind.

So let’s get into it!

1) What was the first element of your OC that you remember considering (name, appearance, backstory, etc.?)

Her name and her love for Doctor Who (am I projecting)

2) Did you design them with any other characters/OCs from their universe in mind?

Yes! I designed her with Alice; at first they were supposed to be best friends that later on the story would turn into something more, I even wrote a piece of that story that was completely different from my current wip. But I ended up changing the whole universe and the dynamics between the two of them.

3) How did you choose their name?

It just came to my mind to be honest. I thought it was pretty cool and I immediately  thought about all the ways her soon-to-be-friends-but-not-friends-yet could call her to make fun of her (yes, I know, it’s stupid, but they are so)

4) In developing their backstory, what elements of the world they live in played the most influential parts?

Well, she is a Necromancer coming from one of the most powerful Necromancer family in the world (the Necromancers are the bad guys, mostly, but sometimes it’s hard to draw the line) and she betrayed her family to be with the good guys - she basically helped them destroy her family, they all died in an epic battle that ended bloody and in fire. 

Most of her knowledge about the world she lives in comes from the Necromancers’ version of history, but growing up she becomes able to see the lies in it. The Necromancers’ world is a tough world where you either master your powers or you die, and that has been quite an important part of her backstory. Death has always followed her and it certainly won’t stop now, since the final battle between Necromancers and Elementals is drawing closer and closer.

5) Is there any significance behind their hair colour?

Nope.

6) Is there any significance behind their eye colour?

Nope but there will be, but it’s a huge spoiler and I don’t want to ruin the fun.

7) Is there any significance behind their height?

She’s small, but that’s it.

8) What (if anything) do you relate to within their character/story?

She’s strong but has her fragilities, like most of us have. She will lose friends along the way and gain new ones, which is something that has happened to me many many times. Also, later on in the story, there will be a part based off my experience with depression and mental health issues, so yeah, I would say that.

9) Are they based off of you, in some way?

In some way, yes. Her hair is short like mine, but that’s it physically speaking. For what concerns her inner self, see above (also like I said before she loves Doctor Who hehehehehe)

10) Did you know what the OC’s sexuality would be at the time of their creation?

Yes. I always wanted to create a bisexual character because when I started thinking about Charlie that was what I was identifying with

11) What have you found to be most difficult about creating art for your OC (any form of art: Writing, drawing, edits, etc.)?

First of all, I can’t seem to be able to draw her. Every time I try I end up drawing terrible faces, hair, all of it. I hate it and I don’t know why it is like that.

Second of all, some pieces of writing are... let’s just say challenging. I can’t flirt for shit and that’s a problem cause she’s very open about it and flirts with anybody, so I always write it like Insert flirting here and then move on with the story :D

The action scenes come out pretty easily, and that’s a surprise. I’m kinda proud of it!

12) How far past the canon events that take place in their world have you extended their story, if at all?

I have covered a lot of her life in my mind, canon and beyond. I have written some parts of it too, but they’re in Italian and I’m not in the mood for translating right now cause I’m kinda busy later so I don’t have much time, I’m sorry :(

13) If you had to narrow it down to 2 things that you MUST keep in mind while working with your OC, what would those things be?

She’s kinda cursed so she can’t use her powers (and that’s a thing I have to always keep in mind cause she’s super powerful and I want to do great things with her but at this point of the story I can’t yet). 

Also her past haunts her, she often dreams about her dead brother (I’m sorry bro) and the things she’s been through in the past have shaped her into the person she is right now. 

And she cares a lot about people. Her best friend Linn ends up in a magical coma in the second chapter because of a tragedy that happens (she barely makes it alive but ends up in a coma) and that touches Charlie very deeply. They’re like sisters, wherever there’s one there also is the other, or at least it should be like that. But now it’s not, and that’s killing Charlie from the inside.

Sorry, these are three things. Whoopsie!

14) What is something about your OC that can make you laugh?

Her crush on Mary Reed (a side character); she’s the cutest bean ever and every time they interact I just can’t stop laughing cause they are silly and cute.

15) What is something about your OC can make you cry?

Like I said before, she cares a lot about the people around her, especially a child, Aaron. He had a tragic incident in the past where his parents died so he ends up in the community where Charlie and the others live. Aaron is a shapeshifter and he turns into a kitty (of course it’s a kitty I love kitties) and always snuggles against Charlie when it’s night and he is afraid of the dark. Charlie loves him as if she was his older sister, she always takes care of him and I love her for that. I don’t deserve these characters I’m an evil piece of shit.

16) Is there some element you regret adding to your OC or their story?

Yes. Her parents gave her a dagger when she was born (a family tradition) but I can’t remember where I put it last. It should be somewhere in my notes but I just can’t find it and it frustrates me to no ends. Urghhh.

17) What is the most recent thing you’ve discovered about your OC?

She doesn’t like bergamot in her tea. Am I projecting part 183901883

18) What is your favourite fact about your OC?

Have I mentioned she loves Doctor Who?

Feel free to do this tag game yourself! I’m not gonna tag anybody but feel yourself tagged (if you don’t want to you don’t have to do it of course, it’s just for fun!) It was really inspiring and interesting, it helped me thinking about my character and reminded me of some stuff I forgot about, hehehehe

#tag game #writing #spilled writing #my writing #writers #writers on tumblr #writer #my wip #my ocs #my oc #oc #writeblr #writeblogging

[aarontveit]

alright, I said I would type it out when it arrived, so here you go!! (i apologize for any typos, i’m dyslexic!!)

Aaron Tveit’s Interview/Article. THE X MAGAZINE: Issue #001, October 2017

Aaron Tveit is the man everyone wants to be -- or to have. His fervent fans, a sweet but somewhat frightening breed, refer to themselves as “Tveitertots,” and listicles chronicling reasons to love him abound. There are even gifs about his hair. But perhaps the most striking thing about Tveit’s appeal is his own indifference to the attention. Upon arriving at the lakefront cottage in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, where the actor stayed while starring in Company at Barrington Stage, an exuberant labradoodle rushes to greet us. “This is Miles,” Tveit grins, and his easy appeal radiates.

Most of Tveit’s sentences begin with some iteration of: I’m very lucky. It’s his refrain. “I’m in this tiny percentage of people that jumps out of bed in the morning to go to work because I absolutely love what I get to do for a living,” he says. “I always remind myself of that -- especially in this crazy f--ing world that we’re living in right now.”

People who court Tveit’s degree of success usually declare that they’re special, but Tveit repeatedly insists that he’s just like everyone else. Anointed with titles like “Broadway Wonder Boy” and “Broadway’s Favourite Boyfriend,” the actor patiently dismantles myths of perfection, instead emphasizing his gratitude. “I’m just a regular guy,” he says. He loves fantasy novels, had a crush on Alicia Silverstone as a preteen, and listens to 90s rap when he needs to cheer himself up. Tveit’s friends from home keep him grounded -- they travel far to see him perform and support him at every turn. “But they’re also the first to say: ‘Hmmm, we don’t know if you’ll make it,’” Tveit says with a laugh, “which is the best thing I could ask for.”

It’s natural to imagine Tveit starring in a series of wholesome vignettes. He loves his parents and visits them often, and recently built a fence around their property for Miles. He’s allergic to dairy, a believer in ghosts, a bit of a nerd. He is a student of the world, equipped with a kind of caffeinated curiosity that never crashes. “I had a teacher once say that curiosity is the best quality you could ever have as an actor, and that really resonated,” he says.

In Stephen Sondheim’s Company, Tveit starred as Bobby -- the last bachelor in a pathologically matrimonial group of friends -- and he is quick to acknowledge his likeness to the character. Approaching his 34th birthday, Tveit remains a bachelor while most of his friends are married with kids. “My buddy came to see the show -- I was the best man in his wedding recently -- and he said, ‘Oh. So it’s just your life.’” But there are deeper similarities between Tveit and Bobby too. Despite his career choice, Tveit is an unwilling recipient of offstage attention, a reluctant receptacle for desire. He is the observed observer, reflecting the psychologies of those around him while remaining somewhat indecipherable, a blank-canvas quality that separates good actors from great ones. Like Bobby, Tveit is a host of quiet contradictions: He is present but elusive, open but guarded, social but withholding, expressive but hard to read.

In the past, actors have played Bobby as a brooding, bitter character, but Tveit chose a different interpretation. “My version of Bobby is an optimist,” he says. “He’s actually the only true romantic in the show.” Tveit references several lines and scenes that support his thesis statement. “He can’t fathom why anyone would get married without love.” While the other couples encourage Bobby to settle, Bobby holds out for something more. “I relate to him in that way. I’m an optimistic, happy person -- and I’m a romantic. I believe that when you know, you know.”

When pressed on what he means by the word “romantic,” he elaborates with ease, traveling a well-worn neuronal path through the topic. “Deep down, I believe we’re all going to meet these great loves of our lives,” he says. “The verdict’s out whether it’s one person or many people -- but we have the chance to open ourselves up, and I relish that opportunity.” Tveit upholds an ideal of marriage, which he believes Bobby shares. “If and when I get married,” says Tveit, “I want it to be once.” His parents have been together for nearly forty years, and Tveit describes their relationship with aspirational reverence. He summarizes the flimsy reasons that Bobby’s friends present him to buckle into a lifelong commitment -- “Because you have to, because it’s time, because you need to settle down, because that’s what real life is” -- bu neither Bobby nor Tveit cares for this sterile social contract. They care about love. Love in the particular. Love with claws and freckles and a fear of crosswalks. Love in dorky pajamas. Love with allergies. “I hope to be married one day and I hope that I’m going to meet someone that makes me feel...that way,” he says.

It’s hard to tell whether Tveit is an introvert or an extrovert, so it’s no surprise that he identifies as a “weird combination of both.” Around friends, he’s silly, unfiltered -- but around strangers, he’s cautious. “Someone once told me that I had Norwegian reserve,” he says. “When I meet people for the first time, I sit back a little. If I’m psychoanalyzing myself, I guess I’d say I like to understand people before I interact with them. I don’t know if it’s a guarding mechanism -- I’ve always been that way.”

This guarded nature might explain why he’s so hesitant to share on social media. Self-promotion has never been easier, and public figures have never been more pressured to capitalize on it, but Tveit finds most digital approaches pernicious. He did finally concede to Instagram and Twitter, but he mostly uses these platforms to promote projects. (Not even Miles has made it onto Instagram.) Nowadays, most young performers work to groom their brand, to generate an impression of intimacy between themselves and their followers. Tveit isn’t one to sneer, but he finds the platform-as-diary approach silly at best. “At the end of the day, I just don’t see why anyone would be interested in what I do outside my work. I see posts like that and I just think, who cares?” 

What you’ll find on his social media is Tveit the acor. What you won’t find on his social media (or anywhere else online) is Tveit the person, and perhaps that’s why he still possess a kind of purity. Mostly, Tveit’s social media proves that he is a man who works -- hard and often. “I’m a person who’s never, ever satisfied,” he says, “and I have a really hard time resting. I don’t vacation well because I don’t, like, sit down very well. Those are tough qualities sometimes in my personal life, but as an actor I think they serve me really well.”

Tveit says the performers and creative professionals he’s worked with over the years have provided “shining examples.” “You look at these people who have this insane level of success, and then you meet them and they’re the nicest people in the world,” he says. “Hugh Jackman is someone I really, really look up to in that way. I mean, when we did Les Mis, he had the hardest job of anyone these, and he was the nicest person in the room. He knew everyone’s name, was never late -- led by such an ultimate example. I said to myself, ‘That’s the guy I want to be like.’” 

Regarding the digital drool that appears when you Google his name, Tveit maintains a healthy, bemused detachment. “You have to let it go in one ear and out the other,” he says. He’s happy whenever people respond positively to his work, even if “that’s how they happen to be manifesting it.” Despite the feverish adoration, Tveit believes that his carefully preserved privacy has another advantage: It’s secured him respectful fans. “I’m very lucky,” he says. “I haven’t really had any kind of strange, uncomfortable, weird encounters. Fans have been nothing but wonderful and supportive for me.” I ask him how he feels about the term “Tveitertots.” “I think it’s absolutely hilarious,” he laughs. “That in itself -- like, how could you take that too seriously? It’s so wonderful and silly and fun.”

But is it frustrating for his personal life? “People often say I’m not what they expected,” he answers. “But for me, it’s been a positive thing. Usually, they say I’m nicer than they thought,” he laughs. “Less serious, more ridiculous.”

As an actor accumulates celebrity, the role that’s toughest to maintain is that of the unadorned self: the regular guy who loves his labradoodle and his family, orders a turkey sandwich and recites the post-industrial history of Pittsfield. Despite the roles and the awards, the voice and the dancing, the YouTube views and Spotify plays, the 246K Instagram followers and the marriage proposals in the comments, Tveit is just a regular guy. And maybe that’s what makes him most exceptional. 

#the x magazine #aaron tveit #/ #// #/// #p: aaron tveit #i can't believe i had my magazine for all of .2 seconds and then typed up this monstrosity

[chelseawolfemusic]

Chelsea Wolfe parts the veil on sixth studio album 'Hiss Spun' // SubMerge

Scratch the surface of your being long enough and you’ll fall through into the abyss, a non-world without end, without up or down. Stripped of all context, it is a place where one is left prey to all the wraith-ish antagonists of the psyche; to survive here, one must not only battle them, but create the very terrain on which to wage one’s battles. 

It is a space Chelsea Wolfe, raised in Roseville and Sacramento, has returned to time after time in her work, from the charred sparseness of Apokalypsis (2011) to the poisoned synth melodies of Pain is Beauty (2013) and the stormy, distorted depths of Abyss (2015). Taken as a whole, her stylistic arc is a gradually seething sojourn beyond the veil, gathering momentum and intensity, leading to the elemental fury and charged intimacy of her latest album, Hiss Spun (released Sept. 22, 2017). Tagged over the past few years with everything from “goth” to “doom-metal,” Wolfe’s heavy aesthetic is grounded in delicate songwriting and haunting, siren vocals—half-lullaby, half-lament—which cut through the smoke and fire of her most abrasive songs. It’s no wonder she’s managed to simultaneously rivet the gaze of the criticosphere while cracking the Billboard 200 with her last two releases. 

Full article via Submerge.

Hiss Spun, while emerging clearly from Wolfe’s previous meditations on themes dark and dreamlike, and the contrast between turmoil in the landscape and within the psyche, is the most scourgingly personal of her artistic statements thus far. 

She herself has described it as having an element of exorcism, and the suggestion of traumas corporeal and noncorporeal surge furiously to the surface of the lyrics at times. Such things can be gleaned by the listener; they refuse to be borne out in commonplace description, perhaps, but it is clear enough that they are used here as raw material to be sublimated through artistic excision. Against the clinical white background of the album cover (inspired by Wolfe’s visits in her youth to sleep research facilities) she crouches, not so much against the coming purge but to the task of making pain express itself at her bidding. Song titles like “Vex,” “Strain,” “Welt” and “Scrape” underline the volatility of the subject matter, as if a reactor were needed to contain it all. 

Outside of the psychological underpinnings of her work, Wolfe is an artist who rocks in the most brutal, primordial sense of the term. Further amping up her distorted grandeur by utilizing additional guitar and vocal work from Queens of the Stone Age’s Troy Van Leeuwen and Isis’ Aaron Turner on Hiss Spun, Wolfe’s succeeded in illuminating her ties to a grand tradition of soul-searing, head-banging music. If anyone can pull together the current demand for brutal emotional honesty and the newfound appreciation for the roar and hiss of black metal in 2017, it’s Chelsea Wolfe. 

Fellow Sacramentans will have the chance to experience Wolfe at her latest creative height alongside pulse-shattering fright industrialists Youth Code at Ace of Spades on Nov. 3, 2017. 

 Just in the first couple listens, I get the feeling that Hiss Spun has a lot to do with destruction—not in the sense of an apocalyptic end, but a destructive creation, reordering, making and unmaking. Did this play a big part in the work?  While I was writing this album, there was a lot I needed to finally heal from: my own self-destruction and ill-health, my past and memories. There is a running theme in all my music of becoming stronger from getting through the difficult times—the forest needing the fire to regenerate—and it definitely continued on Hiss Spun. 

You’ve said Hiss Spun is a host of small words and phrases with large meaning. What mindspace were you in to allow these terms to slowly gather together?  There are some keywords throughout that guide the album, and tie things together that may not otherwise seem connected. I was in a bad state while writing some of this album, but allowed myself to just be a mess and open up; allowed whatever needed to come out musically or lyrically to flow. 

Listening to your discography in order, there is a clear building in anthemic intensity from one album to the next. Is this mostly the means you have at your disposal as you progress, a build in confidence, a rediscovery of influences?  A build in confidence as I get older yes, and a rediscovery of influence—especially on Hiss Spun. Each album I make has its own catalyst, and for this one it was the reunion of my friend and drummer Jess Gowrie and I. We had a band in Sacramento years ago called Red Host, and she really taught me a lot about being in a band, being a good front-person, and just turned me onto a lot of great, heavy music. After I left to pursue my own project, there was seven years of separation. We didn’t see each other all that time but were pulled back together about two-and-a-half years ago. As we became friends again it was clear that our musical chemistry wasn’t finished, so we started writing songs together. Those songs became the beginnings of Hiss Spun. 

Do you have any favorite films that fuel your visual input and leak into your music? If you could re-score a favorite film of yours, what would it be?  The Seventh Seal was an early influence for me. I saw it and then read Ingmar Bergman’s autobiography The Magic Lanternand was intrigued by his use of contrast and shadow. But also just the mood and concept of that film—the character of Death followed me for many years. The album cover for my first album, The Grime and the Glow, was in tribute to that, shot by my friend Jessalyn Wakefield. As for re-scoring a favorite film, I don’t know. My favorites already have such great soundtracks—Encounters at the End of the World, Cold Mountain, Cry-Baby. I’d like to score something totally new. 

Faith and spirituality seems to be on the wane, but our willingness to discuss and tackle trauma and the burdens we have as humans seems to have grown. Do we still need a connection to the supernatural in our lives? How can it help us?  Finding a connection to the self is very important these days. Sometimes the deepest spirituality can be found inward. Once you know yourself, you can be of use to others. 

While making this album, I heard you got back into popular alternative artists from the ‘90s like Nine Inch Nails and Marilyn Manson. Around that time, it felt like there was a larger place for the willfully transgressive and “raw” nearer to the heart of popular music. Do you think we might be heading that way again in music as a whole?  Jess and Ben [Tulao, guitarist] and I would jam and write songs at my place, and then head to the dive bar down the street and play late ‘90s/early 2000s Nine Inch Nails, Soundgarden, Manson, Deftones and Queens of the Stone Age on the jukebox. I’d love to see that kind of music in a more present way again. Like on SNL, for example, you rarely see rock bands anymore. And there’s not a lot of room for it on the radio either. 

I often find the verge between sleeping and waking, whether by day or night, is a really fertile wellspring for ideas—good and bad. Do you find this useful in your work? And is there a way to make bad dreams/bad imaginative content “work” to benefit you?  I’ve been inspired by that state of mind for almost my whole life, without even realizing it most of the time. When I was a kid I had insomnia and bad night terrors. My parents took me to a sleep research facility where I was hooked up to all sorts of monitors and meant to fall asleep in a hospital bed in a small white room, to find what was wrong with me. That actually became visual inspiration for Hiss Spun as well, in the album cover and in the video for “16 Psyche.” Anyway, as I got older, I started having sleep paralysis regularly, but my version was not to be paralyzed, just waking up and the characters/shapes from my dreams were still in the room with me, often moving toward me, so I’d lash out or scream. It takes a while to move on from that haziness, and it would follow me into my day as I wrote new music. I still deal with bouts of insomnia sometimes and sleep paralysis. I’m not sure it’s something that ever goes away. 

You’ll be coming up through NorCal and specifically Sacramento toward the tail end of fall. Is this your favorite time of year? What is your ideal natural setting?  Fall and winter are definitely my favorite times of year, yes. Where I live now it snows in the winter and that quiet is unmatchable. I plan to spend this winter doing psychedelic experiments on myself and working on songs for my next album. Even though I’ve spent a lot more time in Sacramento lately since I moved back to Northern California, I haven’t played a show there since 2012 so I really look forward to coming back and seeing many friends and family! 

It’s been a while, so be sure to give Chelsea Wolfe a warm welcome when she returns to melt our faces at Ace of Spades (1417 R St., Sacramento) on Nov. 3, 2017, at 7:30 p.m. with special guests Youth Code and Screature. Tickets are $22.50 and can be purchased through Aceofspadessac.com.

#Sargent House #Chelsea Wolfe #Hiss Spun #Submergemag

[20qs20somethings]

Aaron, 25

1. Can you use three to five words to describe our generation? Creative, Independent, Defiant

2. Talk about a person or an experience that has helped shape you into the person you are today? I was raised by a lot of very strong women and my family is a lot of people who really believe in hard work, passion, independence, as well as the strength that comes with community. So I would say the people who shaped me the most would be my mom and grandmother because they really led by example and lead everything they do in life with love. My mom raised me when she was a teenager and my grandmother brought all of her children over to the states from Jamaica. She and my grandfather raised this whole family as the first generation to immigrate to the states and her perspective on life and work is always thinking about the person next to you as opposed to yourself so much. They shaped me the most because they are very strong, resourceful, compassionate, artistic people who always encouraged me to do the thing that I felt the most scared about doing but that I also felt the most excited about doing at the same time. 

3. Talk about your relationship with social media? Social media has become this necessary evil for a lot of people. I don’t think many people are thrilled to log on anymore, you do it out of necessity and habit. But I do think there are communities of people who are using it in ways that excite me. Social media kind of feels like this puzzle that isn’t quite connected to real life in a way that is meaningful. There’s still this projection of another self that we put out on Instagram or things we say on Twitter for attention, retweets or engagement and there is a more authentic version of someone’s self that they’re willing to present to the world. I really would rather not be on Twitter all day.

4. Who or what is your biggest motivator in life? My friends. I’m really blessed to have a community of black writers and creators who support each other. We kind of found each other just through admiring each other’s work, our drive, and now our collective vision for what the future might look like online and other spaces. They are my rock and they are such beautiful people. I think whenever one of us shines, all of us shine and we try to make sure that we are always there for each other and lift each other up. Whenever I see them doing great work, it makes me want to do great work as well.

5. Do you believe in love? Of course.

6. Fill in the blank: “Happiness is _______” Community

7. What are your thoughts on race? I think race is something people can use to both edify and bring down. When we talk about race, conversations on race are centered around whiteness and what whiteness does to other groups of people. But I also think that race is something that there is a deep sense of pride and individuality with it as well.

For me at least, my blackness is something that I carry a lot of esteem, pride, and joy because I love being black, I love being surrounded by black people, I love lifting black people up and singing praises and making it clear that what we do, what we make and how we live is valid, necessary and beautiful. So for me, race is something that even if it began as a system of oppression, wherein most cases a white person decided to marginalize another group that isn’t white, I think that we’ve come a long way and have established and built remarkable communities that identify as both products and overcomers of their own oppression which is a really amazing and devastating thing. 

Whenever someone points at you and says you’re lesser than, in that process you’re able to become stronger. That says a lot about the resilience of your people and what they stand for and what they believe is true, which is in direct defiance of being called lesser than. Race is complicated and it’s messy and it’s fascinating. But as far as I’m concerned and my family and friends who are concerned, being black is a gorgeous, complicated, intricate, and a powerful thing.

8. Who or what brings you the greatest joy in your life? Probably my sister Eliyana. She was born when I was 15 (we have the same mom and have different fathers) When Eliyana was born, she was the only sibling who shared the same mom as me and I was an only child in that sense in my mom’s home growing up. So when Eliyana was born, I felt this new sense of purpose in my life that I haven’t really felt before. I was having a conversation with her recently, she’s 9 now. We were talking about work, what I did that day and I said, “I was working with some of the developers on our team.” So I started to explain everything developers do, how they build things, how they code websites and she was like, “I think I wanna do that, that sounds cool.” 

But whenever I tell her anything I do that involves someone doing something cool, she thinks she can do it. Without hesitation she’s like “my brother does something like that so I want to do something like that.” It fills me with so much joy and pride and I swell with emotion every single time she says something like that to me because it not only reminds me of the possibility of everything when you were young, but she’s this intelligent, brilliant kid who the world is not something that’s daunting to her, it’s something she wants to jump into and do amazing things in. Not to mention, she’s a really funny person. 

9. Do you think the American Dream is still alive? The American Dream is this idea of success that was only afforded to certain people for a long time. It’s like the biggest PR stunt in American History. The way that that was coded to mean something to white people was really astounding. The American dream wasn’t for me, it wasn’t for my family. I think it was something that was specifically invented and coded as a whisper to people who are privileged and already had access to that ladder that it describes. 

The whole term and idea is really sinister to me because it was kind of pointing fingers at people and saying that the only way you can quantify your success is by working through a certain system to get that success and really not acknowledging the context that people bring with them when they come to America and a lot of time the context...is not one of coming here to build a better life, it was to survive. 

There were a lot of promises that came with coming here, but it was not the golden vision that it portrayed itself as when people got here. For a lot of people who are black Americans, getting to America was not a choice. No, I don’t think the American Dream as it was invented and as it was pushed out to people and the ideology behind it is not something that i think is available to everyone. 

10. Would you rather have security or fulfillment in your work? Fulfillment.

11. What are your thoughts on marriage? Marriage to me is mostly something that I think about in terms of choice and having the option to do something like that. I don’t like to be in people’s business as much, they can make their own choices, but I think people should...have the option to do that. 

12. Do you think there’s a certain pressure to live a certain life online? I think it definitely exists. I think that if people feel that pressure, they should always interrogate where that’s coming from and what they’re trying to emulate and go after. I think there’s always validity to anyone presenting themselves in any way they want to, but if that pressure is leading to them feeling negative about themselves or other people then I think it requires some inward questions about why that is and always taking a breath wondering why they feel the need to do this, and if that answer is truly positive, then that’s fine.

13. What do you want out of this life? I would like to live without hesitation, to feel like I’m free of any system or any person. To make the people around me happy to be around me in a genuine way. 

14. What’s something that makes you angry? Inefficiency, people who are bad at communicating.

15. Do you think our generation is too focused on being politically correct? I think whenever people talk about political correctness and what is too much and too little, the conversation should really shift toward: What is the intent? What are you trying to get someone to do? Are you calling someone out because you want to look cool or you want to look like you’re smarter than them, or you want retweets, or are you calling someone out because you’re genuinely invested in them getting better and being better. I am of the school of thought that I am not on this earth to educate everyone and I don’t expect everyone to do the same for me. So I think we really have to think about our intent and think about the fact that not everyone is going to change, not everyone’s going to get to that place with us that we’re all understanding of each other. Some people are just not going to make it there and you just have to let them fester in their ignorance. It’s too much work to be policing, correcting, and all that effort. 

16. How do you want to be remembered? Someone who in everything that they did was dedicated to making it better and helping people be their best selves and making their best work in conjunction with making things that are great.

17. What are qualities that you value? Compassion, great work ethic, empathy, honesty, creativity

18. Fill in the blank, “I wish we had more _______ in the world”   Sincerity 

19. How would you describe what it’s like to navigate your 20s? There’s a lot of waiting for something to happen. I’m a hardworking person and I’ve put a lot of time into my career, friendships, and people I know, but I was still waiting for this script to appear to give me a recap and give me a path forward. I think it’s this year I finally realized that no one is going to write that for me except for myself, I have to take those steps to move. I think realizing that is daunting too because you don’t know which step to take or what to do. But I think the first five years of my twenties was a lot of thinking to myself, “oh people say when you’re 23 or 24 this or that should happen.”

20. What is the best piece of advice you want to leave the world with? Always find your peace, always know where the sources of that are, and always make that your default in everything you do. There are times to be fast, there are times to be slow, times where you need to be bold and loud, but I think the one place people will always find the most clarity is when they’re at peace. 

#20qs20somethings #millennials #20somethings #love #advice #social media #profile #interview

[mattmarlinwrites]

Album Review: Blood Orange’s Freetown Sound

Hi there, readers! I wrote this extended analysis/writeup of Blood Orange’s Freetown Sound for a collection of online essays about notable indie albums in 2016, but never shared it here! Hope you enjoy it!

Background

Blood Orange is the current solo project of Devonte “Dev” Hynes, whose music primarily falls into contemporary/alternative R&B, but also incorporates elements of indie rock, pop, jazz, funk, and soul. Hynes was previously a member of the dance-punk band Test Icicles and recorded other solo albums under the name Lightspeed Champion before beginning to perform and record as Blood Orange in 2009. His previous album, Cupid Deluxe, was released in 2013 with a large number of guest musicians ranging from Clams Casino to David Longstreth (of Dirty Projectors) and received mostly positive reviews, including accolades on Pitchfork’s year-end list as well as their list for best albums of the decade so far.

In November 2015, Hynes sold a cassette recording of the previously-unreleased Nelly Furtado-featuring song “Hadron Collider” at his shows, sparking speculation about a new album. He announced Freetown Sound – named after the capital city in Sierra Leone where his father was born – in April 2016 and later revealed the album’s artwork in June, hinting at some of the release’s guest features in a promotional video that accompanied the album art reveal. (On an interesting side note, Hynes’s album announcement did not contain any track names, just the fact that the album would have 17 songs.) Hynes’s press release that accompanied this announcement detailed that the album would be about “my life, my upbringing, being black in England, being black in America...my movement to this country at the age of 21.” On June 28, Hynes made the album available to hear three days earlier than his previously announced release date of July 1, simultaneously sharing a video for the lead single “Augustine” (which features cameo appearances from Julian Casablancas and Porches’ Aaron Maine).

Review

2016 was a garbage year. There’s no way of ignoring that. On top of the dumpster fire of US politics and the seemingly nonstop high profile deaths, racial tensions and murders of people of color continued just frequently as they had in the past few years. Even worse, the strides the LGBT movement made just last year with the Supreme Court ruling in favor of marriage equality hit a lot of pushback between North Carolina’s HB2 and the Pulse shooting. Not to mention all the ways these struggles were amplified for those who had intersecting marginalized identities, such as of women of color.

For me, no album this year encompassed all the experiences of these various identities in 2016 quite as extensively and vividly as Freetown Sound. In retrospect, this strikes me as odd considering this album only came out midway through the year. And yet, it seems even more relevant now than it did upon its release, almost as if it presaged that the year would only grow worse. But what kept bringing me back to Freetown Sound was its role as a conscious source of relief, a release I knew I could always turn back towards to assure myself that there’s some hope in spite of all the negativity. Hynes certainly made these songs with this aim in mind, publishing an Instagram post upon album’s release that said, “This album is for everyone told they’re not black enough, too black, too queer, not queer the right way, the underappreciated. It’s a clapback.”

The opening moments of the album set this tone immediately, providing the framework for what’s to come. “By Ourselves” begins somewhat theatrically in its approach, almost like the overture to the themes and sound of the album in the 16 songs that follow. A warped piano recording – the grainy quality to the audio’s texture reflective of the less-than-pristine conditions those in Hynes’s songs face – leads into a group vocal reminiscent of Greek chorus, before the song gives the spotlight to poet Ashlee Haze reciting her piece “For Colored Girls” over a fiery saxophone solo, ending with the foundation-laying words about the album’s aims for representation:

I will tell you that, right now There are a million black girls just waiting To see someone who looks like them

The album then immediately propels itself into its other main mode: downright groovy R&B tunes. “Augustine” walks a delicate balancing act with Hynes providing three different vocal modes – a whispered low-register that details the parallels between his life and his parents, a falsetto reflection on the murders of black youth like Trayvon Martin, and the closest he comes to belting it out on the album during the chorus – all while a punchy drum machine keeps the song to a steady beat. This track, too, is an overture of sorts, compiling the themes of connectivity, race, and sexuality – the chorus providing a queer reinterpretation of the titular African saint as Hynes’s means of grappling with the hypocrisy of Christian homophobia – that are at the heart of the album. It all culminates in a passionate address to Nontetha Nkwenkwe, a major South African figure known for being imprisoned (and eventually killed) trying to bring peace and unity to her divided nation.

From here, the album moves into something of a more free-flowing state, with tracks like “Chance” and “With Him” veering from typical song formats in pseudo-interludes meant to connect to the next substantial centerpiece of a song. These moments also introduce hooks and melodies that seem incomplete on a first appearance, only to be expanded upon in later tracks, making the record sound more like a film soundtrack to city life and all the recurring leitmotifs that come with it.

In fact, much of what would be dead space in other albums feels bustling and alive here instead. The gaps between songs are occasionally filled in with ambient noise from city streets – the shuffling of feet, protest chants from activists, interview clips from the likes of Ta-Nehisi Coates and Vince Staples encapsulating the lyrics that preceded them. Hynes implemented this specific production choice to allow listeners to hear the album how he hears it: as “music… to listen to on headphones to soundtrack… walking around.”Hynes even referred to the album as “like my version of Paul’s Boutique... kinda like a long mixtape.” Each of these interludes and soundbites, then, is vital to the album’s overall flow, transitioning from one mood to the next to simulate what Hynes experiences emotionally just walking around New York City.

But whenever the album reaches a centerpiece song, they always feel cathartic, their explosions of passion earned by the buildup of themes and reflections Hynes has been accumulating in previous tracks. “Best to You” is probably the clearest example of this, the liveliest song on the album with its multiple overlapping percussion tracks and Empress Of’s evocative vocals. Yet, this all comes even as its lyrics center around someone desperately pleading to be loved by another who clearly doesn’t love them back. “E.V.P.” falls into this category as well with Debbie Harry of Blondie joining Hynes on vocals among a memorably distorted synth line and a bombastic chorus. Later in the album, Carly Rae Jepsen fills a similar role on “Better Than Me,” a personal favorite track of mine that adds a winding keyboard melody and a pulsating percussion track into the fray. Each of these tracks brings the personal angle that Hynes mentioned in his press release, dealing with everything from finding self-worth to relationship troubles.

But, for me, the strongest moments of the album come when Hynes intertwines the personal with the bigger concepts. “Better Than Me” resounds exceedingly well in this field, implying that the song’s romantic prospect rejects Hynes because his blackness and/or queerness makes him inadequate by comparison. “But You” and “Hands Up” are perhaps the most powerful songs on the album in this regard, both of them direct addresses to the listener as forms of personal reassurance in the face of larger social pressures. The former fuses a commandingly patient bass line with stirring piano in the chorus, building to a simple statement about one’s personal value, but earns such a moment with the lines that come directly before it:

If you don’t know what that means Don’t tell me that it’s true Teach yourself about your brother ‘Cause there’s no one else but you

This track in particular evokes one of Hynes’s interviews about his intent in making the album, in which he said, “I think of this record as [being] fully aware of, ‘Yeah, my life is in danger on a daily basis,’ but using that as strength to rise up and stand tall and be proud of who you are and accept who you are.” On “Hands Up,” Hynes takes a similar approach through a devastating chorus where he fears about a friend’s safety in the wake of the country’s many racist murders, tying a variation on the titular protest chant into the refrain. Likewise, “Desiree” tells a narrative about Hynes’s transgender friend that he calls “an ode to her strength,” especially uplifting with the widespread hate the transgender community faces, accompanied with audio from the drag ball documentary Paris is Burning and a skittering drum beat.

But all of this would fall flat if the album didn’t deliver emotionally and back up its message with palatable sincerity, which Freetown Sound deftly manages to pull off. “Hands Up” is especially poignant in the context of the overwhelming amount of news about black murders, Hynes’s falsetto on the chorus aching with the pain of how close these losses hit. Towards the end of the album, “Juicy 1-4” wrings its emotion through one of the record’s most memorable bass lines and Hynes building up to a musing on how crucial sources of comfort are, but how difficult they can be to find when society views you as othered. “Hadron Collider” is an exceptional track in this regard too, with the song’s comparatively slower tempo spotlighting Nelly Furtado’s vocals. The bridge on this track offers a powerfully melancholic hypothetical that sums up one of the album’s core sentiments: “Oh, to be brave” when so much of the world is pitted against you.

When it comes to albums that I find vital and want to revisit most each year, I consider a few things. I consider how much the album reflects the world and its major enduring struggles. I consider how effectively an album makes its statements as a unified collection of music. And, perhaps most importantly, I consider how much the album resonates with me and my personal struggles. As a queer person trying to navigate one of the most devastating years of my life and wondering, fearfully, how my friends and I will endure in the face of the imminent danger we know is coming our way, I found myself returning to this album more and more frequently as the year went on. And each time, Freetown Sound proved to be uniquely therapeutic for me, providing the same comfort and reconciliation that I found in talking with friends about the issues that envelop the album, grateful just to know that I had people on my side, ready to stick by me. Even though Freetown Sound doesn’t provide any concrete answers to the issues it covers (and, if 2016 is any indication, any potential answers are easier said than done), Dev’s album helps in at least one way: opening up a dialogue. As he noted in an interview with Pitchfork earlier in the year, “Well, there really isn’t a takeaway, especially on this album. You’re just kind of listening to me thinking for 58 minutes. There’s no real solution or answer.” Reading back those words, listening to the album once more, hearing the soft, slightly warped guitar of “Better Numb” trickle through my headphones as Dev cries out the refrain, a reprisal of the one on “E.V.P.,” the one that never fails to incite chills or start tears welling, I feel like I am finding that comfort, that support, in the music.

Favorite Lyrics

Choosing what you live for It's never what you make your life How could you know If you're squandering your passion for another?

“E.V.P.”

It's real as gold Chains and all All the things that make us bold Make us bold Black is gold Rightly so

”Juicy 1-4”

Oh, they took and skinned my name Try to raise the feeling I saw right through, tried to love them They threw it in your face Tell you what you're feeling How could they know?

“By Ourselves”

Looking at the girl with the thick, blonde braids And you're tryin' to make out what her t-shirt says No one really ever cares what 'thug life' means They wanna be surrounded but they hate to breathe The air is thick as I plan my escape

“Chance”

The door was open I could've stepped inside Oh to be brave, want to be brave To be brave In this battle of the ages

“Hadron Collider”

Talking Points

What do you see as the primary overarching themes of the album? What resonated with you?

How do you think this album compares to similar continuously flowing and/or socially conscious 2016 releases like A Seat at the Table and Blonde?

What are your thoughts on the various soundbites and interviews spliced into the album? Thoughts on the guest features?

Dev Hynes’s voice: fitting for the type of music he’s making or undercooked? If you find his voice lacking, what kind of vocal style would work for you on an album that sounds like this?

I know Dev only toured the album at a few festivals and cities, but did you get the chance to see him perform the album live? What did you think? Did it improve or weaken your thoughts of the album?

#blood orange #freetown sound #dev hynes #devonte hynes #music

[nofomoartworld]

Art F City: This Week’s Must-See Art Events: Djinns Against Digital Colonialism, John Waters Action Figures, and “Werifesteria”

Tyson Tabbert’s “Female Trouble” action figures will be on view at La MaMa Galleria.

This week you’re in for a weird ride. From Aaron Pexa’s installation inspired by faeries from Welsh mythology (opening Wednesday at UrbanGlass) to a show of fake John Waters memorabilia Thursday night at La MaMa, there’s a lot of idiosyncratic happenings to partake in. Add to that itinerary a Friday night group show of emotion-altering colors (like the opposite of a mood ring!) at Small Editions and Eva Papamargariti’s speculative mutant frogs at TRANSFER on Saturday.

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Tue

Mitchell-Innes & Nash

1018 Madison Avenue New York, NY 5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. Website

Pope.L : Proto-Skin Set

A friend and I recently had a conversation about the trend of galleries putting together shows of famous artist’s lesser-known works from yesteryear and writing a vague exhibition text to explain why they’re important. Here, that means “an exhibition of early work by Pope.L dating from 1979-1994 that demonstrates the function of materiality and language in his practice.”

While that sentence doesn’t really say anything, we’re guessing this show will be good because Pope.L is a genius and the racial politics he’s addressed in his work since 1979 are sadly still all-too-relevant today. We’re guessing “the function of materiality and language” will always be “relevant” until we’re all telepathically linked by some Elon Musk gadget.

Wed

MoMA

11 West 53rd Street New York, NY 3:30 p.m. Website

Ulrike Ottinger’s: Johanna D’Arc of Mongolia

This week’s “most-likely-to-offend-someone” event is likely MoMA’s presentation of Ulrike Ottinger’s nearly-three-hour-long bizarre 1989 film Johanna D’Arc of Mongolia.

I’m recommending it because of it’s supposedly gorgeous cinematography and because it sounds weird as hell. Mostly, you’ll want to know what people are talking about when the inevitable flood of think-pieces hits the web Thursday morning.

The story follows a group of privileged western women (including an ethnologist who happens to speak Mongolian… grimace) as they’re captured by “the exotic, fierce Mongolian princess Ulan Iga”. They spend a Summer as hostages and ultimately find common cultural ground with the Mongolian clan. I haven’t seen the film, so I can’t say if it’s a thoughtful, culturally sensitive story about overcoming differences or cringe-inducingly problematic. Either way, we can pretty much guess how it’s going to be received (at least on the internet) by audiences in 2017.

UrbanGlass

647 Fulton Street Brooklyn, NY 6;00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. Website

Aaron Pexa: The Spoils of Annwn

Inspired by a Middle Welsh epic poem, “Preiddeu Annwn”, this immersive installation references King Arthur’s mythical voyage to the Glass Fortress, home of the faerie folk. Aaron Pexa is bringing this tale to life through surrealist glass sets, neon, video, light sculptures, and illustration.

All of this is supposed to evoke a feeling of “werifesteria,” which means to wander longingly through the forest in search of mystery.

Thu

San Damiano Mission in Brooklyn

85 North 15th St. Brooklyn, NY 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. Website

Rally for a Better Loft Law

NYC Loft Tenants are organizing to demand a better version of the state’s “Loft Law”.  Intended to protect housing in converted buildings, a new version of the Loft Law is making its way through the mess that is Albany and needs amendments and support. Basically anyone who cares about art in New York needs to come out and learn about what politicians are and aren’t doing to preserve affordable live/work housing.

Speakers:

Assemblywoman Maritza Davila, Senator Martin Dilan, Assemblyman Joe Lentol, Councilman Steven Levin, Councilman Rafael Espinal.

Legendary tenant advocates: Chuck Delaney – Lower Manhattan Loft Tenants and Michael Mckee – TenantsPAC;

Loft tenant lawyer: Michael Kozek;

Artists/Activists: Ximena Garnica – Leimay/NYLCT, Aniela Coveleski – Arts in Bushwick, Aaron Scaturro – NYCLT

La MaMa Galleria

47 Great Jones Street New York, NY 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.Website

Lost Merchandise of Dreamlanders

During Frieze week I was wandering the stalls of a satellite fair and thought: “Someone should really make a guide of what art to not bother making. The top of that list would be anything involving Barbies.” But lo and behold, today I spied this Divine doll by Kyle Lords and changed my mind.

Kitschy, yes. But a fitting tribute to John Waters and his “Dreamlanders” (the Baltimore equivalent of Warhol’s factory scene). Except for Divine, most of the crew never achieved “superstar” status, sadly. But what if they did? Curator Tyson Tabbert imagines an alternate reality in which the trashy world of 1970s John Waters films filtered into pop minutiae: Pink Flamingos bed sheets and breakfast cereal, for example.

The project grew out of a Facebook community of likeminded fans, and now will have an IRL exhibition of things like the action figures for recreating the infamous “I WANT MY CHA CHA HEELS” Christmas morning scene from Female Trouble.  The tagline is “The childhood you wish you had.” For those of us who had to resort to giving Cal Ripken (serious, he looks exactly like Divine) bobble heads colored pencil makeovers, that’s all too real.

Shin Gallery

322 Grand Street New York, NY 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. Website

Grand Opening of Batu Museum

Batu Museum is a new nomadic curatorial platform dedicated to placing the work of artists at different career stages in dialog. Here, that means figurative work from canonical legends such as the late, great Louise Bourgeois will be shown alongside emerging artists and living art stars including Marlene Dumas. That’s an interesting curatorial concept, opening in a gallery I like for their wild installs. This show is dedicated to works that convey narratives about the body through figuration or related processes.

Artists: Hyon Gyon, Louise Bourgeois, Marlene Dumas, Goshka Macuga, Lucas Samaras and Keunmin Lee

Fri

The Jungle Lounge

248 McKibbin Street Brooklyn, NY 7:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.Website

For the Love of Barbara (DeGenevieve)

This is a show paying tribute to the late artist/educator Barbara DeGenevieve, featuring work by artists who collaborated with or studied under her. DeGenevieve’s NEA-funded work famously came under attack during the Culture Wars of the 1990s, and she became an outspoken opponent of censorship and a popular professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

This show also marks the inauguration of the The Jungle Lounge, an apartment gallery in Sean Fader’s plant-filled McKibbin loft. He’s fundraising to convert the space into a gallery with queer-centric programming and a paid residency (the Barbara DeGenevieve Memorial Fellowship) program for recent queer SAIC grads to work and show in NYC.

Artists: Barbara DeGenevieve, Amber Hawk Swanson, Aiden Simon, Jules Rosskam, Mayumi Lake, Brad Farwell, Lacie Garnes, Eileen Mueller, Oli Rodriguez, AnnieLaurie Erickson, Jenyu Wang, Marissa L. Perel, Jamie Steele, Miao Jiaxin, Ei Jane Janet Lin, Annie Hogan, Liz Nielsen, Young Sun Han, Charles Lum, Elise Rasmussen, Sean Fader, Carly Ries, Catherine Gass, Christopher Sonny Martinez, Scott Patrick Wiener

Small Editions

60 Sackett Street Brooklyn, NY 7:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. Website

Four Steps to Self-Help: Color Therapy

Curated by collective Alt Esc, this show is all about the psychological effects of different colors. The description can read as a little-New-Age-y, but the work will likely be good. Aliza Morell’s radiant canvases seem to glow like a Lisa Frank screensaver or beauty shop neon signs. Evie Falci’s assemblage/painting technique is what Tibetan mandalas would look like if monks lived in a suburban craft store instead of the Himalayas. They’re so much better than how that description makes them sound. All of the work here is likely similar in the sense that it’s best experienced IRL.

Artists; Aliza Morell, Calli Moore, Nicole Ruggiero, and Evie Falci.

Sat

Eyebeam

34 35th Sreet, 5th floor Brooklyn, NY 5:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. Website

Re-figuring

Eyebeam artist-in-residence Morehshin Allahyari is in the midst of a two-year project exploring “digital colonialism”. That reads like a research paper I probably couldn’t get through, but this show sounds surprisingly engaging. She’s invited artists, activists, and scientists (Gelare Khoshgozaran, Nooshin Rostami, Ida Momennejad, and Maryam Darvishi) to create “Fabulation Stations”. Here, they’ll present new and appropriated fables through different media that relate to past and hypothetical future colonization. They’ll be inhabiting the archetype of the female Djinn and drawing inspiration from sources ranging from Italo Calvino to Islamic mythology and the immigrant experience.

TRANSFER

1030 Metropolitan Ave Brooklyn, NY 6:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. Website

Eva Papamargariti: Precarious Inhabitants

We’re very excited about this solo show from Greek multimedia artist Eva Papamargariti. We’re big fans (and sometimes curators) of her digital works, which comprise everything from biting critiques of consumer culture to surreal landscapes (or both at the same time).

Here, she’s focusing on plastic—that ubiquitous, supposedly “democratic” substance that’s literally rewriting the fabric of countless species’ DNA as it accumulates in landfills, roadsides, slums, and oceans. What will these future creatures look like after millennia of ingesting errant molecules synthetic polymers? Papamargariti proposes new mutations as she traces plastic’s real and speculative lifespan from creation to all-too-distant decomposition.

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