#undine writes stuff

[pens-swords-stuff]

Fanfiction writer here. How do you stop your writing from feeling stale? Like, a week ago I felt really hyped up about a certain scene that I was working on— now though, in retrospect, it doesn’t seem as exciting or weighty as I thought I was.

(TLDR; 4.5k words in, starting to feel stale.)

Do you cook at all?

Because if you do, I wonder if you've ever had the experience of spending a lot of time cooking something really delicious that you're excited for, but when you finally take a bite.... It's just not that good. But the people around you think it's amazing.

This is a pretty common experience among people who cook. One possible explanation of this phenomenon is that as we cook, we're tasting and smelling it a lot to the point where our nose and tastebuds get desensitized to it. When we finally eat it, it doesn't taste that good because our senses have dulled it. People who haven't cooked it however, think it tastes really good because it's their first time smelling and tasting it.

This applies to writing too.

As the writer of our stories, we are absolutely immersed in our projects all the time. We're thinking about it, planning it out, writing it, reading it over and over and over again... Because we're so heavily steeped in it, our senses also get a bit dulled and desensitized to it. That really cool scene that we were super hyped for, spent a lot of time thinking about it and finally writing it out, then reading it over multiple times? It doesn't taste as good anymore.

But just because we think that our writing has gone stale doesn't mean that it actually has. Whoever is reading it won't have that same reaction, simply because they're reading it for the first time.

Funnily enough, I think the advice for both cooking and writing is actually the same: You want to cleanse your palate.

Spend some time away from that particular project; work on another part, or something else entirely. Make some moodboards or playlists instead of writing. Read other books, watch some TV shows, play some video games. Go outside and take a walk. Take a break and breathe in something that's not that particular project or scene for a bit.

Once you've given it time to rest, and once your palate is cleansed, you'll be able to go back to your project with refreshed senses. Then, when we take that first bite back into our project again, we won't be desensitized to it anymore and can fully appreciate it.

We can't ever really stop our writing from feeling stale — it just happens as we spend a lot of time on it. Eventually, you'll run into this problem again. That's why it's important to take breaks every now and then, and fill your creative cup with other things instead of internalizing it and attributing it to our own skill (or lack thereof). When it begins to look boring, stale, or like there's nothing good about it, taking a break can be a lifesaver and make us fall in love with it all over again when we get back into it.

(I've also found that adding something new to a WIP can really spice it up. For me, it was attempting to write a sex scene for the first time, and it really transformed not only my project, but also my writing in general. It was ridiculously effective, but that's a post for another time.)

Remember, all advice is subjective! So don’t take this too seriously. This is just one person’s opinion.

If you’d like to ask me for advice on writing or running a writeblr, please check out my Ask Guidelines and FAQ first.

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#writing #writeblr #writing advice #writing help #writing tips #undine gives advice #undine answers stuff

[bogos-bint3d]

Y'all don't even knowwwwwww

#there's more stuff in my drafts they're just not good enough for the public eye yet #this is why you cant ask me about Undyne / undine i will write an essay and rb all my old stuff #im still vibrating with excitement guys i am not ok

[kath-trashh]

taking a break from angst stuff to discuss lore building again; probably going to do a proper post w andrey, peter, and farkhad at some point

but in the meantime, properly finalizing some kid designs

the biggest difference for beastmen in pathodun is that they can grow into their forms; notkin is familiar enough with his body and form that he sees his werecat form as an extension of his human body. there’s smth here abt beastmen fighting rings but i haven’t figured it out.

artemy had already adopted sticky and murky before he set out into the dungeons, but he received a letter from his father telling him to head deeper into the dungeons, which artemy ended up doing. unfortunately, he forgot to tell his children, which is as much morally-grey parenting as i’m willing to write lol.

lmk if theres anything you guys want to see i rly appreciate every repost on my work for this au a lot a lot. i’ve been meaning to do man-eating plant / undine stuff w daniil (bc if u cldnt tell he’s kind of a marcille proxy) and have also been wanting to write some stuff for the apple basket gang, but it wld require undine stuff first. but also daniil suffers a lot in this au and i want to treat him right. anyways lmk

#my art #pathologic #pathologic au #dungeon meshi #dungeon meshi au #pathodun #pathologic x dungeon meshi #notkin pathologic #sticky burakh #murky burakh

[ome-magical-ramblings]

By Letters, Words, and Names.

One of the stuff I have been dealing with recently is the weight of letters. We always use words, names, and letters in whatever shape they come, no? It's the kind of situation where people are not thinking about what they're saying, writing, or putting into words. Then we go into rituals and say SABAOTH HEAR ME.

If we are constantly unaware of the words we use everyday, how do we expect the worlds to be aware of us when we want to be aware of our own words? In the beginning was the word, and this word is the binding of time and space, the difference between joke and an insult is all about the right time and the right space. If we can create the time and space with stories, we can bind the time and space with words and bind the words with time and space. Written charms binds the word in time and space, spoken charm binds the time and space in words. There is no so-called astral travel taking place, no spirits summoned in triangles, nor any elaborate prayers spoken. the letters are powers, the words are the forms of that powers, and the name is the connection to this world. Let's imagine this scene and I would like you the reader to try this by reading it silently then whispering then outloud: "I awaken to the world of truth, (your name) the hot summer, rays of sun, and the heat radiating from beach. My legs in the sea of God's majesty I take a breath and see the reflection on the water, like glittering pearls. Shaddai, how great is the world. Blessings of Gabriel wash out the dross of my soul and body, make a me a vessel of divinity today and forever. Amen"

A different one, slightly adversarial effect but it also push someone a bit out of normal time/space. "a Cloudy afternoon, the sky is white, the sea is cold, water up your neck, serene. A hand reaches and hold your leg but no one to be seen. People far, Morning Star, undine and healing but no one is heard." One about the moon: "Moon of April, Moon of June, Moon of Magic, Moon of Dunes, under your rays we receive your lights cold, hot, and warm. Reflect the Sun, Reflect the Sun, Reflect the Sun" if these words can do so much, how much do the words we read on screen, we scroll and scroll mindlessly consuming this or that kind of media. In reality all we need is to have an ounce of balance to it all. People often are careful about what they eat or diet of this or that, what about what you hear? read? listen? etc. Your stomach isn't the only thing that need a diet ;) Of course these are charms written/spoken by me regarding my own rituals, experiences, and stuff I went through and they wouldn't have the same weight as the ones practiced by African, Arab, European folk practitioners for hundred of years. All I am trying to provide here is way and method we can look at strength of words, power of words, and so on. At the end of this I want to give that you too have this power of weaving, writing, and breathing life into your words as all the word of powers, all the prayers, and so on are from the Heart. Let us give thank to god for being given the gift of speech and praying, and maybe buy a prayer book or MAKE a prayer book for you and spirits near you, what if some spirits want to pray but have no access to a mouth then maybe you can help them :D <3 When we choose our words, our letters, and our intentions carefully then the world respect us for respecting the Word. I leave you with something to think about:

#magic #occult #witchblr #witchcraft #invocation #folk magic #prayer #spellwork #charm #folk spell #folk witchcraft #alphabet #written charm #rhyme #magick #folk magick #folk spells #spells

[reinekes-fox]

Hey just wanna say since no one really is talking about the hawks and dove IF. That one is my fave <3. If you don't mind me asking can you elaborate more on the paranormal abilities of the night court route?

Thanks for showing my little pet project some love!

Now you may have noticed that there is no real "werewolf" route, thats cause they fall under shapeshifters and you will be able to choose from a few animals once I have written that part! (I will probably use the same code I use for Citadel of dancing birds, which I am also continuing writing atm)

Red: vampires, duh. I still have to decide which bloodlines I will be using for this and also how it will affect MC.

Orange: shapeshifters, thats it. No hidden drawbacks, no allergy to silver, but only somewhat supernatural abilities tied to the animal you choose. Like picking a strong animal you will get stronger etc. I still have to come up which animals to use and I have already decided that I will focus only on mammals! As insects are too op.

Green (or others): magic. I have the biggest lore for this lol. I will plan to make different magical areas (i.e. elemental stuff or telekinesis...) and you will get to build your own cane (including wood, precious metal that can strengthen your ability, gemstones that can do the same) because wands are lame and I want my magicians to be able to beat someone up with them.

Blue: ngl I am still torn on this one. I have mermaids (but closer to Nixen like the Loreley) or sth like Undine, thinking about selkies and kelpies because I really like them but thats not my mythology (plus it would make MC into something really dangerous and no RO will like to get drowned and eaten).

#anon ask #hawks and doves #had random

[undine66770]

Introduction Post (pinned) I figured since I've made some new boop-friends and such, I might make a brief little introduction post about me and what you'll expect to see on my blog... even though it's kind of in my blog intro itself. *You can call me Undine! (she/her) it's nice to meet you all and as said before I had so much fun exchanging boops with everyone.

I like a bunch of stuff, but mainly I'm really into things from days gone by such as the oldies but goodies. We're talking:

Music. My listening scope is the 20s-60s; but with a main focus on the '50s-'60s. I even have a big ol' Spotify playlist compiled of my favorite oldies if you're interested in listening to that! There's even earlier music in there too. If you want to check out what kinds of artists I mainly listen to, I have a last.fm profile. It'll give you a better idea! But some of my favorites at the moment are Jim Reeves, Perry Como, Dean Martin, Sanford Clark, Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Gene Vincent, Eddie Cochran, Ricky Nelson, Lola Albright, Hank Williams, Webb Pierce, Faron Young, Starset, Vitas.... Obviously this list is not exhaustive and you can go to my Lastfm and pretty much my tastes are there! I mainly like rock n' roll and classic country but again, Lastfm will tell you!

Movies. I'll admit I don't really have the attention span for much movies but on the occasion that I do, the Golden Age of film is probably my go-to. I have a lot of stuff on my watchlist... procrastination is a big thing with me.

TV series, too. I like the older TV series but I'm into modern stuff as well (I promise I'm not just a boomer, the modern stuff applies to everything else too! /j). I really like the noir and detective noir genres. Some examples of TV series I like include Dragnet, Peter Gunn, Johnny Staccato, Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, the Addams Family, BBC's Merlin (still need to finish), Doctor Who (although unfortunately I've not been able to catch up in a long time so no spoilers please!)

Old-time radio. Dragnet (which originally started as OTR) and Broadway is my Beat are some examples of what I'm into. So going into this, you will probably see me post people or things from the medias above, or others also. Other things I like include:

Pokémon. A bit rusty as I've not played a mainline game nor completed one in a while although wanting to get back into it soon but still like it.

RWBY

History

Worldbuilding and writing!!

Playing video games

Photography, one day I hope to learn how to become a great photographer. Besides the above, I'll just browse and reblog things that I think are neat or that I like - variety is to be expected, my blog doesn't really follow a theme. And that is pretty much basically everything that I can think of, off the top of my head! If I think of anything else or get any new interests I will edit this post with the edit date. Welcome to my blog!

#random undine rambles™️

[dietraumerei]

2023 Book Reviews

Ok, let's see if Tumblr lets me post this (I think it shouldn't be too long?) -- it's all my book reviews from 2023! Entirely unedited and just copy-pasted in, but on the off chance anyone else is interested in it, here it is.

I finished Tolkien and the Great War which was like…¾ very good. The last quarter was a fairly inexplicable and incredibly boring discursion on the early versions of what would, essentially, become the Silmarillion. Although a lot of his early works and early conceptions of what the Middle Earth mythology would be do tie into his life and experiences as a very young man in a hellish situation, this was just like…a recitation. And it was followed by a brilliant analysis of why Tolkien turned to an older medieval storytelling form instead of the modernists that we think of when it comes to the usual WWI writing! It was so good! The good parts of this books are so good! I simply cannot bring myself to care about the phoneme shifts his languages undergo.

It did remind me that I want to return to Paul Fussell’s writing in 2024, so there is that?

Also Tolkien’s bitchy disapproval of the aesthetes is never not hilarious to me.

I finished Hogfather, about which I refuse to give any kind of review other than to say I’ve been reading it nearly every December for going on 23 years now, and it’s a perfect book and I love it.

I finished Congratulations, the Best is Over! and I feel some kinda way about it. I love R. Eric Thomas, but the longer-form essays are sometimes good and sometimes not so good? I didn’t dislike it at all, but I’m also looking forward to what he writes next, as I think every collection gets a little bit better.

I finished The Custom of the Country and oh my god I LOVED IT. The Age of Innocence is still my favorite Wharton because Ellen Olenska, but this was the book that made me scream the most. It’s funny in the way that reality TV is funny, in that you laugh because you are horrified. Undine Spragg is the most magnfiicent monster in literature. She’s horrible. I adore her. What a fabulous work of art/car crash this book is.

I finished the latest Perveen Mistry Mystery, The Mistress of Bhatia House and it was wonderful but oh my god it is STRESSFUL and kind of a hard read at times because everyone is just being a huge dick to each other. (Also there’s a pretty major plot point left totally un-tied-up at the end which is wild, but I guess it’ll get sorted next book?)

I finished Lolly Willowes which tbh I didn’t love as much as I hoped I would, but is a very excellent book with some mind-blowingly relatable bits and I enjoyed it immensely. I love Sylvia Townsend Warner but just need to go in without expectations and enjoy the rather lengthy ride. (For such a short book, it takes awhile for anything to happen.)

I read Dolls of Our Lives and the more I think about it the more I disliked it. I’m tired and lazy so here’s the review I sent a friend:

I finished Dolls of our Lives last night. I found it…okay. The editing is often bad which was depressing. It mostly felt really tonally inconsistent – they’re both historians and know their stuff, but keep putting in schticky little pop culture jokes that are a) not that funny? and b) just appear out of nowhere. If you’re going to look at AG through a pop culture lens, do it properly, don’t just randomly name-drop pop culture stuff. It occasionally dips below surface-level analysis, but it’s not super memorable and I don’t see it aging really well. (I’d LOVE someone to write an accessible book that actually does look at AG dolls both within their own cultural contexts and the context of when they were released, to say nothing of the interplay of doll + book, and maybe with an added chapter on how girls and dolls play, and what it meant to release a doll that wasn’t aspirational in some way, whether it be an adult like Barbie or a baby doll. Okay, maybe I want three books. But it feels like there’s a lot of richness to dig into, and I’ve yet to see anyone scrape more than the surface.) Anyway, 6/10, it was okay but the authors do themselves a disservice. There’s a small section at the end where they talk about themselves and how the podcast has changed them and how it came about and it’s the best bit of the book because it’s actually vulnerable and interesting, with some theory thrown in, and it’s barely shticky at all.

I will now add that I think it’ll age like milk, and I’m super disappointed.

In happier news, I read The Murder of Roger Ackroyd which is simply a masterpiece, and reading it was a deep and abiding pleasure. I know the twist and it still worked wonderfully on me – if you don’t know how it ends, I REALLY urge you not to spoil yourself and also to read it, for it’s wonderful and you will scream at the reveal.

I finished When the Angels Left the Old Country after @lesbrarian recommended it and it might be my favorite book I’ve read this year? Top five, certainly – it’s tense and beautiful and funny and full of love and very Jewish, and it just filled me with joy to read, even the sad parts. The comparisons to Good Omens are unavoidable, but really I find it a very different story in a lot of ways, although certainly with connections. I adored it, and it’s one of those books I can’t wait to re-read. Also every time I think about the angel too much I want to cry, but in a good way.

I also – finally, after many breaks – finished The Path the Power, the first volume of Caro’s LBJ biography. Oh my god, this book. THIS BOOK. The next time I do this I’m going to update every week on what I learned that week because there is just so much in this tome. I want to visit the Pedernales, but not in summer. The description of grass-growing was riveting. The descriptions of the lives of the farmwives before electrification was riveting (and horrific). The play-by-play for elections in the forties literally kept me up past my bedtime. And I have not even touched on Pappy O'Daniel (a real person!! who was apparently toned down CONSIDERABLY for O Brother Where Art Thou) or Lady Bird or how Caro more than once makes sure to mention that Johnson had a dumptruck ass.

Anyway, Lyndon was a vote-buying absolute fucking weirdo from birth and his mother was just as weird and his father was fascinating and I’m a little in love with Sam Rayburn. Do not let either the Old White Man History or the fact that this book is a fucking doorstop stop you, this is a masterpiece and I see why it won a Pulitzer. (whoops, looks like it was another volume that won the Pulitzer) I cannot wait to read the other volumes, which I estimate will take me about a year per book, but worth it!

I finished Menewood, about which I cannot possibly write intelligently. Hild was and is so important to me and I love that period in English history so, so much, and the immersiveness of the books, how heartbreaking and hard and wild and wonderful they are! It did push me to plan to get Hild in non-ebook format; they’re both absolute bricks so it’s easier to read the e-book but I found it super helpful to be able to easily refer to the family trees and maps and stuff.

I finished Lauren Groff’s The Vaster Wilds and as a certified Groff stan I loved it. It’s gross and hard and has the most amazing end, and like Matrix I am excited to re-read it over and over and unlock more language and more beauty and just more.

I finished Here for It by R. Eric Thomas and loved it. It’s more serious and longer-form than what he writes for his newletter or Elle, and really benefits from it; he’s an incredibly talented storyteller. Not what I was expecting, but all the better for it.

I am DNF for A Lady for a Duke which I had such high hopes for! I don’t think it’s a bad book, but it is not a book for me, unfortunately.

I finished Everything I Need I Get from You: How Fangirls Created the Internet as We Know It and have a lot of feelings! I think it’s a really, really good book that’s respectful of fans and interesting, but it focuses almost solely on One Direction fandom, and I kind of wish that was clearer from the title and the summary? Like, no shade to that being the topic, but it feels like this is being sold as kind of a universal look at online fandom, and…it kinda isn’t?

(yes i’m salty there wasn’t anything about snapewives, yes this was somewhat soothed by chapters dedicated to L*rr*es and B*byg*te, YES I am afraid of 1D fangirls.)

I also read Phoebe’s Diary because I adore Phoebe Wahl and it was cool to read a middle-grade novel/graphic novel from her! (Most of the book is typeset, but there are lots of great little cartoons and drawings interspersed. I really, really liked it, although sometimes it’s a little hard to read because a) it is very realistic which means it’s like 95% about boys and boyfriends and that gets kind of old and b) it is very realistic and made me so unbelievably grateful that I never ever have to be 16 again. I would be extremely curious what a contemporary sixteen-year-old thought because it’s kind of a semi-period piece (set in 2005-6) and a few bits of it sort of…haven’t aged well from that period? (There’s one character who I think we’re meant to dislike but I love her so much because she reads aro-ace.) Anyway, I’m really glad I read it although at times it was painful, 10/10 do not miss being sixteen.

I haven’t finished anything, but I’m DNF for Sarah Vowell’s Lafayette in the Somewhat United States because I found it hard to follow and frankly incredibly boring. (I am going hard for the DNF’s these days, life is too short.)

omg so much! I read Learned by Heart in like three days, and it made my Anne Lister-loving heart sing. Truly, it broke my heart and it was so sweet and so happy and sad and just so good, I loved it and I’m hoping it triggers another bout of Lister hyperfixation.

I also read Agatha of Little Neon, which was likewise sad but sweet and happy and hopeful. It had a lot of feelings, but I loved it very, very much, and it just…made me feel good inside?

I was DNF on The Late Americans by about the sixth Sad Gay Man whose personality traits were that he was Sad and Gay and [insert one additional trait here that is shared with at least one other Sad Gay Man]. I love Brandon’s newsletter and his criticism; I did not like this novel.

I FINALLY finished Herzog! For a relatively short novel, it benefits from a slow reading – and I even basically skipped over the philosophical bits because my love for sad mid-century white men only goes so far. Anyway – a little to my surprise, I enormously enjoyed it. I don’t know that it’s, like, the greatest novel ever written and it’s edging into my ‘This got a Pulitzer? Really?’ pile, but a) I can see why it was groundbreaking and amazing and the Saga of the Everyman when it came out and b) honestly it’s really funny and interesting. It’s a little bit Odyssey-like, and Herzog is such a likeable schmuck, and just, yeah. It was great. It’s also a wonderful love letter to both the Berkshires and Chicago, and I loved the very quick Vineyard Havens moment.

Our Wives Under the Sea – a friend said this was the best book she’d read all summer, and I think it’s up there for me. It’s haunting and weird and beautiful and sad and I loved it very much.

Painted Pomegranates and Needlepoint Rabbis: How Jews Craft Resilience and Create Community - hah, I just realized this was a gift from the friend who made the Our Wives rec! I’ve got a little theme of reading about how craft creates meaning in various communities/subcommunities, and this fits right in. It’s definitely an academic text, but I found it extremely accessible. It doesn’t present a very diverse portrait of Judaism – which the author absolutely admits to and apologizes for – but for what it is, it’s a very interesting and valuable text, and I’m glad I read it and it’s part of my collection now.

I finished Big Swiss which is one of those books I ought to hate, but I was…not necessarily loving it, but definitely fascinated as hell with it. It’s such a gross book, and Greta is so majestically self-destructive, I actually could not look away. Magnificent, 10/10 would watch barely-likeable protagonists fuck their own lives up again.

Also, not a book, but I finally read Blackmun’s dissent in DeShaney v. Winnebago County, a landmark case that essentially determined that the government is not actually expected to protect you. (Skip noted segregationist Chief Justice William Rehnquist’s ruling, but the Wikipedia article on the case breaks it down well.) You can read it here – scroll down to the very bottom, his dissent is only 4 paragraphs, and it is beautifully, wonderfully written. The ‘Poor Joshua!’ paragraph is the most famous, but I return again and again to the passage Justice Blackmun quotes from Stone’s Law, Psychiatry and Morality, and particularly the line “What is required of us is moral ambition.”

(I learned about the case and Blackmun’s dissent through the podcast 5-4, which is both excellent, and a good antidote to growing up in the shadow of the Warren Court, as I did. The Supreme Court has always sucked, it turns out. Seriously, it’s one of my favorite Supreme Court podcasts and I subscribe to, um, a lot.)

I read Brutes in about two sittings, it was so good. What a wonderful book about the horror of being a teenage girl, and I mean that in the best possible way. I loved it.

I finished, appropriately enough, Ned Boulting’s 1923 which is a beautiful book about the Tour de France and the nearly-forgotten Theo Beeckmann, and about the covid pandemic and history and tracking people and places down through time. I am an enormous fan of Ned (and David and Pete for any other Never Strays Far fans), and although this book very rarely pushes just a touch into bathos, it is mostly beautiful and wonderful and I’m glad he wrote it and I’m glad I read it.

(I finished it on June 30th, which is rather an important day in the book so I’m proud of my timing too.)

I also read A Half-Built Garden which I have a lot of very complex emotions about. I don’t know if I liked it, but I like how it made me react and think and feel and get grumpy. I’m not even sure it’s all that great, but it sure did make me think.

I finished Fintan O’Toole’s massive We Don’t Know Ourselves about Ireland in the last 50-odd years. It is very good, and sometimes very hard to read (he pulls no punches regarding either the IRA or the Christian Brothers) and I’m glad I read it.

I also finished Secrets Typed in Blood, the third of the Pentecost and Parker mysteries. It starts off the weakest (or maybe I was just in a Mood), but it is, as ever, a good, quick, satisfying mystery.

I read Elizabeth Kilcoyne’s Wake the Bones which I loved – I normally prefer a bit more gothic in my Southern horror, but the very end especially is the most incredible reveal. I could not stand the protagonist and I still liked the book, that’s how good it is.

I also read Scorched Grace, which is apparently first in a series about a crime-solving nun. It’s written as a hardboiled noir and, yep, that’s what it is, which means it’s also not good, but it’s supposed to be kind of hacky, so it works? It’s *gruesome*, but I liked it well enough, I think noir just really isn’t for me.

Oh, and I guess I’m on an Irish lit kick because I read Foster (more a novella than a novel), which I found pretty meh, tbh.

I keep starting new books and I’m now in the middle of at least two Giant Tomes, oops. I did finish Saltwater by Jessica Andrews which is better than the Kirkus review it got! It didn’t, like, change my life but it was good reliving being at Uni in the UK and also I enjoyed it, all I ask of a book.

The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett: umpteenth re-read, a perfect book. I have beautiful editions of all the Tiffany books now, and hope to slowly make my way through them.

Red Shift by Alan Garner: I was heartened to learn that this is one of his most difficult books; I will be honest that I struggled, but it’s lingered in me, and I hope to re-read it many more times and keep untangling it. It is very, very good.

Hons and Rebels by Jessica Mitford: I’ve been meaning to read this for ages, and it didn’t disappoint in the least. I’m fascinated by the Mitford sisters, and this is such a good peek into them.

It also really drives home how unutterably boring a landed-gentry upbringing was.

Trust by Hernan Diaz: ok you know how people win Oscars nominally for some meh role, but it’s clearly really for an older role that they were overlooked for? That is this book and the Pulitzer, when In the Distance probably should have won. It was fine, but I was kind of underwhelmed. Next time I’ll just read some Wharton.

DNF on Upright Women Wanted which I wanted to love very much and absolutely hated. Next time I’ll just re-read Whiskey When We’re Dry.

I did finish Murder Under Her Skin, the second of the Pentecost and Parker mysteries. It was great fun and a very good mystery and I am excited for the next one.

I finished All the Beauty in the World, the memoir of a Met Museum guard. I have an almost guilty fondness for the Met; it really should not exist, but I love it, and I loved reading this very much. I do miss easy access to world-class museums :/

I also read Michelle Tea’s Against Memoir, which has the best fucking essay of all time about the SF girl gang HAGS, but really I loved the whole thing. I’ve become an absolutely massive Michelle Tea fangirl and use her tarot book all the time and just ugh, I can’t wait to get more of her stuff.

I just finished Elie Mystal’s Allow Me to Retort: A Black Guy’s Guide to the Constitution. Mystal is incredibly funny and smart and is an amazing Twitter follow if you are still on the bird hellsite. It is easy to think that funny writing is unserious, but this is deeply serious, and is a very good argument for pretty much a new Constitution that wasn’t written by enslavers. Also now I finally understand what substantive due process is, and what the difference is from procedural due process. (I also grasp the ninth and tenth amendments a little better too.) Anyway – really, if you are at all interesting in con law, or how much the Supreme Court sucks, or how broken a document the Constitution is while containing seeds of a better document, I deeply recommend this.

I finished The Care and Feeding of Waspish Widows, and continue to very much enjoy Olivia Waite! This is *not* an nice, fizzy romance – the romance is, honestly, a pretty small part of the plot, and that’s not knocking it one bit. It’s queer and scary and very good. I definitely would be okay going back to a fluffy romance soon, but I’m glad I read this.

I also finished The Return of the King and words fail me, honestly. It’s been so long since I read the trilogy, but I truly cannot wait to re-read it; Tolkien is so much better than what came after, and it’s been good to re-learn that. The battle of Pelennor Fields is the scariest thing I’ve ever read. I have discovered four new emotions. I cried at the end. I mean, *you* sum that book up! (I have precisely zero desire to watch any of the new shows and whatever else comes out; the original trilogy was lightening in a bottle, and I will keep my memories warm and good, tbh.)

I finished Square Haunting, about women writers between the war and Mecklenburgh Square. It was quite good and interesting, and it was nice to build on the writers I already knew about (pretty much just Dorothy L. Sayers and Woolf), and learn about Eileen Power and just…that whole London set. I don’t know if tons of it will stick with me, but I’m pleased I read it.

Remembering Denny, by Calvin Trillin. It’s about a classmate of his from Yale, and about how people change and show different sides of themselves, about being gay pre-Stonewall and about the Silent Generation. It is very, very good. (Also FULL of people! Larry Kramer shows up at one point! And early on there’s some stuff that unexpectedly linked to my own life which was just WEIRD and kind of wonderful too.) I love Calvin Trillin so much.

Fortune Favors the Dead, an excellent little queer noir mystery, I am excited to read the next one.

The Hollow Places, I really love T. Kingfisher, love a good quick horror read. This hit a lot of the same beats as The Twisted Ones, which isn’t a strike against it, but I’m hoping for something new with the next book. Still, A++++++++ landscape horror.

I read Women Talking which was…fine? It was okay, I wasn’t blown away I have to say.

I read Hérnan Díaz’ In the Distance which I truly ought to have hated, and I don’t know if I *liked* it, but it’s going to stick with me a long time. It’s a Western, kind of. It’s dreamy, and violent, and lovely.

DNF on Charlie Brown’s America: the Popular Politics of Peanuts. There is a great book to be written on this topic. It is not this book, which quickly proved unreadable.

And I finished The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics which was fun and lovely and a nice fizzy romance, especially after In the Distance, lol. I’ll def read the next books in the series!

I have been reading at a good clip! Let’s see, I finished Briefly, A Delicious Life by Nell Stevens which is about a ghost and George Sand and Chopin and making decisions and it was so joyful and so lovely and very queer. I re-read Lauren Groff’s Matrix and loved it even more the second time; I was able to snag a signed hardback copy from a friend and I’m delighted to own it because the book itself is beautiful, and it’s a dreamy read. And finally I read Calvin Trillin’s The Tummy Trilogy which is a collection of his three books that collect his food writings. These essays are glorious, hilarious, charming, a celebration of good food and good eating and regional food. I will say, though, that the final book is really by far the weakest, and I will skip it in future; the first two books are perfection. (FYI, if you do pick this up, and I really recommend it, note that he was writing in the 70′s and they are a bit of their time, but in a way that is good-humoured at least.) I’ve also got his Remembering Denny and I’m really excited to read that soon.

I finished Times Square Red, Times Square Blue and enormously enjoyed the first essay about Delany’s time in the porn theatres of Times Square. It’s character sketches and talking about how people meet and relate, and I loved it. The second essay is vastly denser and more theoretical, and I will be honest most of it went over my head. I liked most of what I grasped, although his plan for how to end catcalling of women is…certainly there.

I also read Kate Beaton’s Ducks in basically one sitting and it’s so, so good. It’s much sadder and harder than I thought it would be, but it’s worth reading.

I read Bad Land because Jonathan Raban died last week, and I am absolutely gutted. He was a magnificent writer and Bad Land was so good and so rich and a bit funny, and it got me up in my feelings as I read about him driving over the pass into Seattle, following the trail of Montanans, while I was flying into Seattle (and then going north through the rain). It’s so, so good, and I will miss Raban so much.

I also finished The Two Towers, about which I can only say that it’s kind of a weird bridge book, but it has some of the best and loveliest lines and also jesus I can’t write a review of Lord of the Rings, it holds up, ok?

I finished Bill Bryson’s 1927, his history of a fairly amazing year in American history. The occasional fatphobic jokes were…weird and not funny, but the man can write a good popular history book. It was my airport reading coming back from the east coast, and very good airport reading it was.

I finished Homewaters, which is a gorgeous book about the natural and human history of the Puget sound region, and I loved it. It’s not the fastest-paced book going, but it’s a fantastic history and goes into the biodiversity of the area, and I’m so glad I got it.

I also read A Prayer for the Crown-Shy in one sitting on an airplane. I did not glom onto the Monk and Robot books as much as I thought I would, but I liked this a lot, and found it really lovely. I hope very much that there will be others.

Finally, last night I finished reading Shadowlands: A Journey Through Britain’s Lost Cities and Vanished Villages. Some chapters are better than others (or maybe I was just more awake?) – I found the chapters on Skara Brae and St. Kilda genuinely riveting, but still don’t quite remember what happened at Old Winchelsea, for example. The last chapter, on Capel Celyn, was startlingly hard to read; I have mostly left my time in Wales in the past. Not in a bad way, but there’s no point in it being in my daily life, but it was much more painful to read about my once-home than I thought it would be. (It’s also just an absolutely gutting story.)

#weekly update #sort of

[clockworkstarlight]

pathfinder 2e oc explanation post!

hi i wanted to do this quick post before i get started on writing their concepts down because i felt like it! basically, first thing i wanted to note down is that they're two separate teams, since i got around like. 22 fav ancestries and i get that first so i can get started on my ocs. theyre 2 parties of 11 members, all of its members being found together by fate itself. theyre all real fucked up btw first party has: - leaf leshy witch named Pest-Filled Night / Pestette, the only one named so far :3. ill post her concept soon - a half kitsune sylph cleric, lead by constellations and stars to a life of adventures ^ btw these are the only two of the first team with developed stuff, the others i still gotta write concepts for and decide classes - an azarketi - a fetchling - another kitsune, but this time just a normal one - a ysoki / ratperson - a conrasu - a fleshwarp - a ghoran - a poppet - and a sprite for the second team i also don't have much stuff done aside from the beastkin oracle, but i swear ill make a post about 'em when i get to finish their concepts but for now, the ancestries of the second team are: - a vishkanya - a changeling - a ganzi - a oread - a talon - an undine - an automaton - a nagaji - the beastkin im talkin about - a strix - and a skeleton (yes you can play as a fucking skeleton in pathfinder and i love that) but yeah! after im done writing each of ther concepts ill go posting them around here!

#✧ post #✱ ocs #honestly theyre all really interesting in my head #i think you guys will kinda like em #honestly theyre just real cool :3

[relicariums]

I finished The Devil Crept In by Ania Ahlborn and I can see why she's popular in indie horror rn it's fast paced and the writing is competent. I however thought the overall package was mostly lame. the main monster man (say that three times fast!!!) is just a random mangled creature goosebumps level of basic. You ever seen those pics of the russian sleep deprivation experiment creepypasta? Not that inspired. It was good for the first half but she pulled the curtain and then I thought ah I know where this is gonna end and then it ended there. Not before much running in circles though. There was so much repetition in the prose. much to be scrapped.

Wanna read more horror tho I'm eyeing Ring by Koji Suzuki atm. Gonna buy it physical because I like the covers of the trilogy

That's next month tho. For September I'm back to reading Jungian stuff and MERMAID LIT! Will start with Undine... (But I could also hit two birds with one stone and read mermaid horror. There's a Mira Grant book that looks good)

#mel chirps

[corishadowfang]

12 Days of WIP/Fic Recs: Day #7

Speaking of writeblrs that need no introduction: @pens-swords-stuff is an amazing and incredibly supportive member of the community.  Undine has plenty of fantastic writing advice posts—but she’s also an incredible writer with some really amazing WIPs, and the one I’m going to throw at you today is Always the Bridesmaid.

Always the Bridesmaid is a murder mystery crossed with a fake dating story.  The story involves two private detectives—Victoria Price and Nathan Howard—that have been hired to investigate two murders that, after some digging, may both lead back to the same culprit.  While these two detectives don’t like each other much, they’re willing to work together to try and find the murderer—and, since the victims seemed to have been involved in a wedding party prior to their death, the two of them decide to plan a fake marriage in order to lure the target in.

Naturally, this is an absolutely amazing premise—a fake wedding to try and solve a murder is already incredibly interesting, but that combined with the interesting character dynamics between the two main characters and I’m absolutely sold.  Both what we’ve gotten from the character introductions and the story snippets so far has made me incredibly invested in these two, and I can’t wait to see where the story goes.

If you want to get more information on this WIP, then there’s a separate sideblog for it: @always-the-bridesmaid-wip

#12 days of wip/fic recs #wip recs #book recs

[pens-swords-stuff]

What do you enjoy most about writing?

#writing #writeblr #writing community #writeblr discussion #writers #writers on tumblr #undine speaks #undine discusses stuff

[moonlightreal]

Fairy series books

Let’s read some fairy series books!  

Fairy Lair 1997

The magic reaches out to a girl named Sylvia.  Only she and the town bully Dana can see the fairies, and save them from human pollution of the natural world! Soon the girls are rescuing undines and learning to be bards and seers.  They even learn to read the fairy alphabet, and so can you because it’s shown in the books.  I love books that come with a symbol alphabet!

These are great. The writing is good, the magic is… just the right amount to be magical realism without being too-much-boring-reality.  This is my favorite series on the list.

Fairy Diaries 2001

This “series” is two books and I’m not surprised there weren’t more.  They come under that heading of “they’re actually good but you sort of don’t remember that they’re actually good.”

In each book a girl goes through a portal to a world of tiny fairies.  The girls can bond with a number of tiny fairies, each with their own powers, and they help fight the dark fairies who are trying to tip the balance of good and evil in both the human and fairy worlds.  Fairy Finders with pokemon teams of fairies!  

Fairy Realm 2001

Young Jessie finds her way to the Fairy Realm where she helps the magical creatures there with problems.  And a villain is being villainy.  A fun series.

Spiderwick 2003

You’ve read these, we’ve all read these.  They’re great.

Stardust 2004

Lucy discovers that her new friend Allegra is a stardust spirit-- she can transform and fly and has special powers granted by the stars.  Of curse it turns out Lucy is one too.  The young spirits help protect the natural world and deal with kid issues, friendship and parents stuff plus a mysterious magical threat!

This is another Linda Chapman series, and like My Secret Unicorn it’s almost too childish for me to enjoy, but has enough fun magical worldbuilding to make it worth reading.

The Fairy Chronicles 2004

Similar to Stardust, girls discover they can transform into tiny nature-themed fairies.  They are also protectors of nature, usually from other magical beings that humans can’t see.  I had book 5 out of the library and it was an intricate little story about Spiderwort the fairy (in fairy form they use the name of their nature element) and her friends rescuing the spirit of simple pleasure by finding things in nature and writing a haiku.  I was surprised how much I enjoyed it, honestly.

But the writing is weird.  It’s very visual descriptions of what happens, without much emotion or empathy with the feelings of the characters.  If you look at JH Sweet’s website, she is a very loudly Christian writer of children's’ fantasy who makes her own website and photoshops her own cover art.  Good for her!

Fairy Godmother Academy 2008

Human girls find their way to Aventurine, a magical land where they learn to be fairy godmothers to protect the earth.  This series is very “girl power” and “ethnic power” and “nature power” with each girl finding the magic in their family traditions and their own talents and interests.  These are well worth looking up.

It looks like a new series called Queens of Aventurine is coming.

Phillipa Fisher series 2008

A fairy godmother brings a girl three wishes, she makes the most expected ones, it all goes wrong, she uses the third wish to reverse them.  The fairy hates humans and is reluctant to get close to the human she’s helping, but they eventually become friends.  Standard plot.

The fairy godmothers do this as a job, have numbers instead of names, seem to have no family or friends in the magical realm, and don’t feel emotions until they meet a human to inspire those emotions. Also each fairy appears through a part of nature and if they can’t help their person in the lifespan of that thing, they die.  Also they first appear as that thing so our main fairy Daisy was injured when her human in a fit of disbelief threw the daisy away, and another fairy appeared as a bee and died when he was swatted.  

The author seems not to realize that she has created a brutal fairy dystopia.

Candy Fairies 2010

This series is aimed at the 5-8 demographic which is younger than my preference.  I wasn’t going to pick them up but then I thought of Beneath a Sugar Sky and thought it might be fun to read something else basically set in Confection.  And they are just what I expected; light adventures for little girls, set in Confection. 

[fantastictrashpolice]

Pinned Post

Hi, I'm Squirrel! (they/them)

I'm currently writing: Project S.

If you're new here, welcome to my humble little blog! And if you've been here for a while, thanks for hanging in there! I know I left a bit suddenly, but life got busy.

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A few notes:

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First, I'd like to thank my beta reader for a story I'm working on for putting up with the massive amount of info-dumping I've been doing to get them caught up on a fandom they're not in.

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Second, I'm looking for writers (fanfiction writers included) to talk to, exchange work with, and exchange advice and tips with. Please let me know if you write fanfiction, original fiction, or both.

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If you write original fiction, you should know that my favorite genres are fantasy and sci-fi (though I'm not opposed to a good mystery!).

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If you're a fanfiction writer, here are my fandoms (note that I am not writing stories for all of these right now, but I'm willing to talk about them any time):

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Marvel Cinematic Universe (I stopped watching after Loki season 1, but I'm a fan of most things before then)

Pokemon (I haven't watched all of the anime (but then again, there are 25 seasons) and I'm mostly familiar with the earlier stuff. Mewtwo is my favorite character.)

Transformers (Note: I haven't watched a lot of it, but I read a lot of fanfiction for it. I'm not ashamed to admit that Transformers is my current special interest.)

Gravity Falls (If you ship Billdip, I'd appreciate if you didn't mention or discuss it with me. I'm just not a fan.)

Suitor Armor (A fantasy romance webtoon about a living magical suit of armor. I'm all caught up on this one.)

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Basically, I haven't watched anything all the way through since Wandavision came out.

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Q&A

What's your policy on NSFW?

I'm okay reading some NSFW stuff but I'm not really willing to discuss it. If I recommend an explicit or mature fanfiction, I will mark it as such. (if you are under the age of 17 or are uncomfortable with that kind of content, please do not interact with any of my posts that I mark as having mature or explicit content, or filter out the tag "yodeling corgis")

You asked those under 17 to not interact with certain posts- do you think minors shouldn't interact with your blog at all?

If you're under the age of 17, you should be fine as long as you filter out the tag "yodeling corgis". Most of my content should be perfectly SFW. I want the majority of my content to be accessible to people of all ages.

When is your Lost Boys AU coming?!?

I- Listen, I promise it's coming. Probably not soon, but I will eventually get around to writing it. Right now, I'm trying to stick to one longer project and mostly one-shots.

Where can I read your work?

For now, everything I've written and feel comfortable sharing can be found here, on my blog. I can't guarantee it's all the greatest because, to be honest, in the past I would post something as soon as I finished it, without editing, leaving most of what I wrote unpolished. I do plan on posting edited works on AO3 soon, though! Stay tuned for that!

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Writeblrs that inspired this one (sorry for the callout you guys, but I'm blaming it on Undine, her guide for new writeblrs suggested "tagging some writeblrs that maybe have inspired you to create a writeblr so that they can see it!"):

@pens-swords-stuff, @creativepromptsforwriting, @moondust-bard, @saintedseraph, aaand probably more to come!

#looking for writer friends #looking for writeblrs #writeblr #fanfiction #fanfiction writer #introductory post #fanfic #MCU #marvel cinematic universe #pokemon #transformers #suitor armor #webtoons #fanficblr

[blindrapture]

Oh hey look everyone, it's Genesis!!! :D Now this is one of those things where, when you realize that my dad introduced me to this band when I was 12 and I picked it up hard, the knowledge kinda explains a lot about me. This was the first time I ever heard rock music that wasn't structured like rock music. The first song he showed me was "The Musical Box," as it was and still remains his #1 favourite song of all time, it's special to him thanks to formative memories. I would show that one here (and, like. hey, if you like Stairway to Heaven but wish it was longer, heavier, had more guitar solos, but still came out the same year, the same MONTH.... then yeah here you go, let your mind be blown), but I'd rather focus on my favourite. :3

This is "Firth of Fifth." The title is a pun on an English river, and the lyrics are fancy and pretty and involve religion and Sirens and the river of Time and stuff. That's all well and good. But the music. No, seriously, the music!!! An elegant formal structure, based around a central piano piece, met halfway by a solo shared by... no, I can't do it, I can't just spoil it. ;w; Like, this song is... this song made me. I would write my fanfics to this all the time. I would get strength from it.

And furthermore, now years down the line, in my time of weed and depression, I admittedly turned to watching reaction videos on YouTube. A lot of them. Usually for my favourite things, to assure myself that I'm not alone, that others can see what I see. And I was excited when people started doing Genesis reactions, when those even became a little trend, but the best part was? The trending song was this one. And everyone, every damn reaction channel that covered this, had the same experience, and it was my experience from being a kid!!!!!!!

That experience is as follows:

1: Wow, pretty intro! Much more classical than I normally go for, but sure, I'm up for that!

2: Oh wow there's a band here. Peter Gabriel's voice is distinct and soulful and pleasant. But this is kiiiinda boring, kiiiinda sleepy. I'll listen to the rest of the song, but this isn't my kind of thing.

3: Oh huh, the vocals have stopped and now the instruments are going on an interlude by themselves. You have my attention. Where are you going with this.

4: AUTISTIC STIMMING

5: AUTISTIC STIMMING

6: GOOSE-FUCKING-BUMPS, FINALLY, A TASTEFUL GUITAR SOLO

7: OKAY THE VOCALS ARE BACK BUT YOU EARNED IT GENESIS

8: release. heart beating. thoughts racing. creative energy sparked. so happy.

Firth of Fifth is. Is magic. It is the.. it is the progressive rock song. It is everything the genre aspires for.

I promise you this will be a good time.

Lyrics for reference:

The path is clear Though no eyes can see The course laid down long before And so with gods and men The sheep remain inside their pen Though many times they've seen the way to leave

He rides majestic Past homes of men Who care not or gaze with joy To see reflected there The trees, the sky, the lily fair The scene of death is lying just below

The mountain cuts off the town from view Like a cancer growth is removed by skill Let it be revealed

A waterfall, his madrigal An inland sea, his symphony

Undinal songs Urge the sailors on 'Til lured by the sirens' cry

Now as the river dissolves in sea So Neptune has claimed another soul And so with gods and men The sheep remain inside their pen Until the shepherd leads his flock away The sands of time were eroded by The river of constant change

#Youtube #genesis #and this isn't even the lamb lies down on broadway #that one's a feature-length fucking dream film in genesis album format #that one was an album so mindblowing to me that I based the front cover of Rapture off it #selling england on the other hand is a fine wine and a good book. #also phil collins? underrated drummer. that's finally starting to change thanks to all the reaction videos #phil collins is a *classy* drummer. when he wants to bring out the skill it is effortless.

[bardicbeetle]

Tag Game: This or That Writer's Edition

Thanks to @pens-swords-stuff for tagging me in this!!!

Stealing Undine's note to say- whoever wants to play: you don't have to write explanations if you don't want to. I just like to do it because I am incapable of being concise and just leaving things be. - because oh boy same hat Undine. Same hat.

1. historical or futuristic

I really love sci-fi, so future is where it's at for me. I love weird tech, I love space travel, I love especially melding the aesthetics of the natural and the highly futuristic. Spaceship made of living plant matter? Sign me the hell up.

2. the opening or closing chapter

First of all, I am horrid at hooks, so I am no good with an opener.

But a wrap up? Closure? Satisfaction? The way something culminates and everything falls into place? I'm all for that, and I think I'm pretty good at it too.

3. light+fluffy or dark+gritty

I like lighthearted endings, I like hope i like knowing that everything will eventually turn out. It can be dark in the interim, but it needs to be tempered, I need the light, it's escapism, I want to be allowed to feel good.

4. animal companion or found family

<*looks at my own wips*> I think this one speaks for itself. I think there's something to be said too for building a family you would want to be part of. Building around the people who would care about you in the ways you are so desperate to experience.

5. horror orromance

I would categorize myself as a thriller person more than horror but it's definitely a bigger thing for me than romance.

6. hard or soft magic system

soft magic system all the way. how do the weird alien magic pools give the tree people their power? I don't know, but they sure do glow! how does your vampire teleportation work? couldn’t tell you but boy does it make them exhausted and ravenous.

7.standalone or series

While I love a one and done gut punch of a book, writing wise I really prefer longer form worlds I can lose myself in. I like complicated. I like diving so deep into something I forget which way is up.

8. one project at a time or always juggling 2+

Hahahhahaha, one project? Buddy friend my response to writers block is just start a new thing. I procrastinate projects by working on other projects, I need something to rotate to when I’m struggling with a scene. Currently I have two original projects + three fanfics going.

9. one award winner or one bestseller

I’d love to just do one bestseller. If I can get Safe in the Dark into the world and have it be beloved, that will be my satisfaction.

10. fantasy or sci-fi

You’re making me choose between my children here. I think sci-fi wins out by a very thin margin.

11. character or setting description

I'm very much a character-driven writer! Characters are the most important think in my writing. And descriptions has always been one of my weaknesses.

12. first or final draft

there is something to be said for the rough and tumble blood on the page that is a first draft. but truly I have to go with the finish line. with seeing the final culmination of all the hard work poured in.

13. love triangle in everything or no romantic arcs

I like romance well enough but it’s never a selling point or a sticking point for me. I can live without and with it.

14.constant sandstorm or rainstorm

<*Insert Sand Monologue from Episode II*> I am definitely going with rainstorm on this one. If it’s raining bullets you’ll find me standing in it just for the emotional release.

I’m leaving this tag open because it’s such a good one I want anyone who wants it to grab it!

#the magician cries #larkspur will write later #meet the magician #the games we like to play #tag games

[dustedmagazine]

Listed: IMustBe Leonardo

IMustBe Leonardo is a Berlin-based songwriter who has been making his oddball songs since around 2016. His latest album, Not To Be Scared of Weekend, is a self-recorded delight, entirely unfettered by commercial considerations — with one song that asks the eternal question, “Why should...you need god…when you have Kim Gordon?” Writing about it, Jennifer Kelly said, “About half the tracks are hand-made rock songs, bolstered by clicky drum tracks and ravaged guitar tones. The other half are the maddest, most surreal campfire songs you ever heard, gently strummed but extremely odd.” Leonardo wrote us one of the nicest — and longest — thank you notes we’ve ever received at Dusted, so of course we asked him for a Listed.

Nina Simone — An Artist's Duty

What she says in these 51 seconds, the way she asks that question at the end — everything is there.

Typhoon — Sympathetic Magic

This album was released in January 2021. Kyle Morton is a poet and a great songwriter. His notes to the album tell all you need to know: “The songs are about people — the space between them and the ordinary, miraculous things that happen there, as we come into contact, imitate each other, leave our marks, lose touch. Being self and other somehow amounting to the same thing.” He played a solo gig in Berlin, on June 17, 2023. I asked him to play my favorite song, “And So What If You Were Right.” He did it. He said it was the first time he played it in public. That was a gift.

Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha — Ballad Of A White Cow

There is almost only love in this movie, and all that love leads only to suffering. It terrifies me to see how often “doing the right thing” and well-intended lies destroy good people’s lives.

Emma Ruth Rundle — Engine of Hell

This album is a pulsing heart in the shape of a songwriter sitting in front of us, playing piano or classical guitar, and singing her story. “I wanted to be close to the listener and be whispering to you. I wanted to be close on an emotional level. Because I wanted to connect with myself on an emotional level, ” she said about this record. It takes courage to do this. It also takes a little bit of courage to stay in front of her and look at her fragile, invincible grace. Sonny Diperri, who recorded and produced this terrific record, is a great sound engineer and a lucky guy.

Christian Petzold — Undine

Art is proof that people can find infinite ways to create beauty, as long as they believe they truly need to love. Undine is a work of art. It not only is a truly original, touching movie about love. It is an act of love, made by people who can’t stand living in a society willing to humiliate and lose it.

Vic Chesnutt — At The Cut

Maybe one day our species will ignore what anguish is, and we will not even be allowed to mention the word. Someone will consider this “progress.” I don't see any progress in not feeling moved by what Vic Chesnutt — and every person involved in those sessions — did in this album.

Aki Kaurismaki — Ariel

I love Kaurismaki's cinema. I’m mentioning Ariel here just because it is probably my favorite... today. (For the record, it contains the best bank robbery scene in the film history.) If I ask myself why I love his movies so much, one reason I can put into words is that all his characters are condemned to the tragic and funny punishment of knowing what truly makes human beings happy. They are such stuff as the Tramp is made on.

This Mortal Coil — Blood

I put this album in my CD player recently, after several years, and started listening to it with the state of mind of someone who’s going to meet an ex-lover and is scared of not feeling anything. I was wrong. It still asks me the same beautiful question: “Did you really think you knew which kind of songs you like?”

Hirokazu Kore-eda — Shoplifters

I see Kore-eda as a sort of photo reporter who goes around and, almost by mistake, takes poetic pictures of fragments of happiness that — tomorrow — will not be there anymore. Laws were supposed to be instruments by which people pursued well-being. This movie shows how society rules are sometimes not ready to handle real life. They can end up killing what they should preserve, and it looks like a frighteningly stupid scenario.

New Pollution — Kiss The System

New Pollution is not just a band — it’s a no-filter attitude. They're the most contemporary group I know. I cannot imagine someone attending a New Pollution gig and not getting captured. There is spontaneity and freedom in everything they do — on stage and online. They keep releasing whatever they record (concerts, demos, soundtracks, studio sessions) and mocking all the show business rules. Nowadays musicians — indie ones more than others — are like bank clerks, each one with their daily plans: x hours of social media, x hours emails to labels, x hours emails to magazines... Music seems to be the last thing you should care about — and you're supposed to be a musician! New Pollution they don't care. “Revolution was your spare time,” they sing. I think Patrick Jessop has an instinctive awareness of how ephemeral existence is and I hope he never loses it.

#dusted magazine #listed #imustbe leonardo #nina simone #typhoon #maryam moghaddam #behtash sanaeeha #emma ruth rundle #christian petzold #vic chesnutt #aki kaurismaki #this mortal coil #hirokazu kore eda #new pollution