hey, blog! for this post, i wanna talk about one of my favorite genres of film–spooky. not necessarily horror movies, just films that have a fantastical, scary, or autumnal vibe. (a legit horror movie list will likely arrive later). i’ve been rewatching lots of my halloween favorites lately, and i figured this was the perfect place to recommend some of them! so, without further ado, (and in no particular order) here are some great spooky movies!
practical magic (1998)
this is a movie that i watched for the first time recently, and i fell totally in love with it (thanks, locklyn)! it’s got the perfect blend of romance, nostalgia, and fantasy. plus, sandy bullock, stockard channing, and nicole kidman–how can it get any better? the soundtrack, too, is truly a beauty to behold. stevie nicks, joni mitchell, elvis–all my favorites in one place. another thing i love about this movie is that the dynamic of the family reminds me so much of my own. i could see glimpses of my mom, aunts, cousins, and myself in the characters. 10/10 spooky girl power comfort movie for sure.
the rocky horror picture show (1975)
fellas, this is one of my absolute favorite musicals, and the 70s movie is my favorite adaptation of it. rhps is hands-down one of the most creative, odd stories ever told, and this movie is the definition of a campy glam rock masterpiece. susan sarandon and tim curry (as always) are phenomenal and make this wacky, low-budget movie stand the test of time. the songs are bangers from start to finish, and the script is endlessly quotable.
p.s. msa students are putting on a production of it on halloween night, and i may or may not be playing janet weiss!
the addams family (1991)
let’s get one thing straight–when i reference the addams family, i am always, always referring to the 1991 version! what a fun, campy, macabre masterpiece. when i was little, i got so excited when this movie came on tv because i was always compared to wednesday–and maybe, in hindsight, that was meant as an insult to my pessimistic nature or rbf, but i took it as the highest compliment because in my eyes, wednesday was the coolest ever. to this day, i want what morticia and gomez have. talk about a family who minds their business, keeps their circle small, and looks out for their own. the american dream, if you ask me. the cast is a delight, as well–houston, ricci, and julia deserve nothing less than three academy awards apiece. the perfect comfort movie for little girls who have dark humor and can’t seem to fit in anywhere.
well, that’s all for now. ’til next time, have a happy halloween!
As a literary artist, I often times get burnt out on writing which in turn also seems to discourage me from reading. Too many words in such a short span of time makes my head spin, but as I am in my senior year, I have been working on many things that could make my writing process more productive and less destructive.
One of those things being a steady writing and reading schedule. So as I started this journey, I thought to myself – What could hold me to reading new books every month? And the conclusion I have come to? Blog.
In this series of blogs, I am going to review the first chapter of every book I read, and hopefully, remember to do a final recap of my thoughts towards the end of the year. There is so much to get from an initial chapter of a book, but I can only assume that my first impressions will be far different from what I leave the book with.
For the first blog in this series, I am going to be giving my initial thoughts based off of the first chapter of “A World Without You” by Beth Revis. Before I give my thoughts on it, I do want to give a warning for slight mentions of death, nothing specific, but the first chapter does involve a funeral.
The book opens up from the point of view of Bo, a seventeen-year-old boy at Berkshire Acadamy, a school on a small island off of Massachusetts. He describes the island as a gloomy place that barely ever sees sun, and from what he says about it, I imagine it to be almost like the island in “Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children” which I love.
In the chapter, Bo is heading towards some kind of ceremony, but it isn’t really clear that he is heading to a funeral until the second page when he comments on all the food in the kitchen. “Why do all old people cook when there is a tragedy?” So true.
After that, Bo is lead to a ceremony in the courtyard of the school by “Doctor” who is introduced as a teacher of sorts. This is where the reader finds out that Bo’s dearest friend, Sofia, has passed away – although it isn’t clear how. At the ceremony Bo and a few other people are asked to say a few words and release a lantern in honor of Sofia, but Bo’s distaste for the whole situation leads him to opt out of speaking much.
After, Bo manages to slip away and the chapter leaves off on him saying he is going back to the last place he saw her.
Okay, now that we are through with the synopsis, here are my first impressions of the book.
1. Something is off…
So from the first chapter, I was able to gather that the untimely death of Sofia had some suspicion surrounding it, or so I believe. Just the way Bo describes how uncomfortable he is with the whole situation leads me to think that there is something more to just a young girl who passed away.
2. Bo has family issues?
At the ceremony, Bo sees his family seated and glares at his father. It seemed to me that there were some underlying issues that may be the reason Bo is now at a boarding school
3. Bo was very in love with Sofia.
This one is the assumption I am most sure about. Just the way Bo describes his mourning over Sofia is different to that of a friend. I am really interested in the relationship between the two… even though I know this book will likely leave me sobbing.
So far this book already has me hooked on the concept and I am really excited to see what the plot develops into.
Hopefully, I will keep up with this blog series… If I do I’ll update when I am done lol.
In the spirit of Halloween, what is more fitting than monster high? So for this blog I will be listing my top 5 monster high characters. Whether it be for looks, personality, or the movie they are in these are the ones that have always stuck with me. Monster High was a big part of my childhood. Even my little brother (who was obsessed with the power rangers) enjoyed the movies as well. I feel honored to have grown up and been able to experience the magic of Monster High in real time. There was always a rush of excitement whenever a new movie would be announced. I always looked forward to seeing what new character designs we would get to see. Now currently Monster High is being rebooted, and while I’m happy, nothing will ever beat the original. Lets get started.
Starting with number five:
C.A Cupid
I have just always loved Cupid so much. Cupid was introduced in “Why Do Ghouls Fall in Love?”. I was obsessed with her character design. I love her pink hair, and her heart shaped lips so much. I also loved her role in the movie. (I’ll try to include a picture, but it might not work)
At number four we have:
Elle Eedee
I was OBSESSED with her doll so much. I just remember being in love with her color pallet and design. Her hair was a combination of purple and blue, and it was just the most beautiful thing to look at. Elle is a robot who appeared in the Boo York movie. Her name is a pun and I thought that it was so clever. (L.E.D)
For number three we have:
Honey Swamp
Honey was introduced in the “Frights Camera Action!” movie. Her character design is just flawless to me. I love her color pallet, but her hair is definitely my favorite. Also her name is so cute. I wish I could have gotten her doll.
At number two we have:
Lagoona Blue
Lagoona was the first monster high doll that I ever owned, and she is also a part of the main cast. I love everything about Lagoona. I love her Australian accent, and her personality as well. Her hair is gorgeous as well. One thing about monster high is they’re going to make sure that the hair is perfect. There is no telling where my Lagoona doll is now, but wherever she is may she rest in peace.
And now for number one:
Operreta
Operreta has just always stuck with me for some reason. Her character design is absolutely gorgeous, and I love the fact that she has a southern accent. Operreta is the daughter of the Phantom of the Opera, and she loves music. She will always have a special place in my heart.
Honorable mention:
Ghoulia Yelps
Ghoulia is just so cute to me. I love how she’s a zombie, but shes probably the smartest character in the entire series. I love everything about her!
Recently, I one of my favorite hobbies is to hit “generate” on a random poetry generator. More times than not, I find myself liking a poem, but not really relating to them. But the other day I found this poem that I became obsessed with.
Some of my favorite poems are the ones that portray mundanity in a way that carries over to almost anyone who reads it. This poem is slightly a different variation of a portrayal of mundanity. In this poem, Elizabeth Hands tackles explaining her family dynamic in a way that many can relate to. Throughout the poem, she shows the reader how even in her own family, she often feels as if there is no real connection.
One of the lines that really stuck with me was when Hand states,
“O what a strange parcel of creatures are we, Scarce ever to quarrel, or even agree; We all are alone, though at home altogether”
Through these words Hand perfectly sums up the feeling of monotony that comes with her family’s perfectly “fine” relationship. She shows how the in between that her family’s interactions reside in is often lonely, because it results in the unintentional distancing from each other.
I think this poem really speaks to the time we are in. Especially with the way technology consumes us today, many times you can feel alone while in a room full of people. Elizabeth Hand really connected this feeling in a later portion of poem too.
“Like social companions we never fall out, Nor ever care what one another’s about; To comfort each other is never our plan, For to please ourselves, truly, is more than we can.”
This line ends the poem on such a relatable note. At first I only thought about the poem on surface level and didn’t think I could relate to it. I have a wonderful family, and most of the time, I feel like we are all very connected to one another. But as a reread this poem I realized that it speaks to so much more than what it was intentionally written to mean.
This poem really captures the energy of how many of Gen Z feel when surrounded by our older family members. We, as a highly technological generation, have formed a sort of disconnect with the older generations unintentionally. Because we are so enraptured by the technology and all the information we have at the tip of our fingers, many times we forget to connect with our families and friends physically. We forget the importance of human connection.
I think this really speaks to the reach of art and how even after decades, art can speak to anyone.
howdy, guys! in this blog, i’ll be talking about some movies i watched recently that i absolutely love. some i watched over the summer and some during the first few weeks of school whenever i’ve had time, and i’ll be sharing a few of the highlights here! it goes without saying that elvis (2022) belongs on this list, but i already did a blog on it, so it’s not here. (and, hey, you know the drill–no spoilers and no particular order.)
terms of endearment (1983)
y’all…i don’t even have words for this movie. it’s one of my mom’s favorites, so we watched it together one night this summer, and i literally could hardly sleep after it because i just could not stop thinking about it. it’s the sweetest, most heartwarming movie ever but it’s also gut-wrenchingly sad. terms is so extremely relatable to me with my relationship with my mom and how i imagine myself as a mother. it paints a gorgeous, truthful picture of the challenging transition from girlhood to womanhood with unflinching empathy and humor. i actually rewatched it with my roommate last night and sobbed uncontrollably in spurts for the rest of the night. if you like steel magnolias, this is the movie for you. shirley maclaine is so wonderful, it’s my favorite jack nicholson role, and don’t even get me started on debra winger. the talent is unbelievable here. please, please give this one a chance. i’m so glad that i did.
girl, interrupted (1999)
this is a movie that i’ve always wanted to watch but have been saving for just the right time. ever since i first heard of it, i knew that i would love it because the cast, subject matter, and overall aesthetic just seemed like something crafted just for me. even the soundtrack has some of my favorite songs ever. i was definitely right. i’ve never related more to a movie in my life. to spare you from an extremely long rant about how much i love this movie, i’ll just include a brief review that i recently wrote for it:
“as someone who has suffered from a mental disorder my entire life, and as a young woman, this movie was a huge step forward in my healing process. it held a mirror to my flaws and to my strengths, it made me realize that i am not alone, and it helped me to connect with the other women in my life who love this film for the same reasons. so, yes, i do hate to see this film written off as an exploitative romanticism of the mentally ill because, for me, it’s the best representation of life with my disorder.
i understand and respect why some people feel inaccurately represented or offended by this film; but that simply wasn’t my experience with it. mental illness, especially amongst young women, is grossly misunderstood and often polarizing—girl, interrupted is a prime example of that. it’s far from perfect—it’s melodramatic, grimy, and sometimes over-the-top.
that being said, i do think it’s something everyone should form their own opinion about. i’ve read reviews saying that no one with mental illnesses could ever relate to this or act the way the characters do, which is extremely harmful, because, when i watched this, i related to it so vividly. harsh generalizations like the ones in those reviews are counterproductive and just as invalidating as the film was to the people who wrote them. so, please, takemy opinion as well as any others you read with a grain of salt—watch this movie for yourself.”
the eyes of tammy faye (2021)
i was super excited when the ads for this movie came out, and i couldn’t wait to see it in theatres, but it sadly never came to any near me, and i didn’t hear much about it, so i assumed it wasn’t very good or something. i was so, so very wrong. as a longtime fan of both andrew garfield and jessica chastain and someone extremely interested in the topic of religious scandal, i enjoyed this movie more than i can say. jessica just totally captures tammy’s beautiful spirit, and the film is a wonderful love letter to the amazing person she was and the…less than amazing person jim is. this movie is campy, glitzy, heartfelt, and brilliant–just like tammy faye was. may her spirit live on forever.
dolores claiborne (1995)
this has got to be one of the most tragically underrated stephen king adaptations ever. admittedly, i can understand why, though. this movie does move at a fairly slow pace. even i didn’t watch it all in one sitting. so, why did i love it so much? two words–kathy. bates. she is such a genius. easily one of the best actresses of all time, and horror is a specialty of hers. at first, i was unsure of jennifer jason leigh’s direction with her performance, but the further i got into the film, the more i understood the merit of what she was doing and just how well she was doing it. i think that when we watch something by king, we expect it to be upfront horror, but this is more of a slow-burning psychological terror. in the past, i’ve been a critic about king’s portrayal of women and still am, but in this particular case, i was pleasantly surprised. i found it extremely relatable in many ways, and the dynamics between the female characters are nothing short of brilliant. this is an amazing story of revenge, motherhood, and women sticking together. the ending makes everything make sense, every slow moment necessary and worth the watch. i cannot wait to watch it again, knowing what i know now. it’s super quotable, too. i have notebook pages full of the dialogue from this movie. just so, so good.
well, if you made it this far, thanks for reading! a neat thing about this list is that it also kinda doubles as a good list of movies every feminist should watch. all these stories contain strong, powerful women and their journeys, and i highly recommend them for both educational and inspirational enjoyment! see y’all next time!
as a treat for making it through that blog, here’s a picture that represents my mental state at the time of writing it:
But I came in at 12, just in case she finished up early
I’d rather be safe than end up sorry
Her time is money, so she cannot wait
I took my seat on the chair against the wall
One of the few chairs that weren’t drowned in hair
I looked in front of me at the pictures
I wonder what’s the story behind them
I listen to the scissors performance
The music ends, and she says that it’s my turn
She dusts the hair away and I sit down
But the hairless chair failed to last long
One thing that I love about poetry is the ability to tell a story in such a few amount of words. Poetry has always been something that I naturally have a love for. There are many different kinds of poetry. Some kinds follow a distinct set of rules, while other times you can just do whatever you want. I appreciate the amount of freedom that poetry allows a person to have. You can express anything that you want too with multiple stanzas or just a few lines. I typically like to rhyme in my poems, but I chose not to in this one. Rhyming comes so natural to me and it just so fun to do, but I also like the way that a poem does not have to rhyme. The possibilities are truly endless. I find that I am able to write best when I have a specific idea in my head. I can not think on an idea for too long, and try to create something that was never there in the first place. I have to already know exactly what I want to execute before I actually start on my piece. It helps things flow more smoothly for me. Writing drafts is a great way to get all of my ideas down. Sometimes at night I will have a random burst of inspiration, so I will open my notes app on my phone and write out everything until I feel like I have a stable base for one of my pieces. The prompt for this poem was to write about a distinct setting, and for some reason the idea of writing about a hair salon seemed so perfect to me. When I wrote this poem I had hair that was all the way down my back that I just didn’t know how to love any more. I dyed it, I cut bangs, I gave myself layers, but nothing ever satisfied me for long. I damaged my hair in the process and I knew that I had to let it go sooner or later. My hair meant everything to me, so cutting it off was something that was far from easy. It took a few months to detach myself from its hold, but once I did I knew that I was ready. When I cut my hair off I felt nothing but relief. It felt good to have a fresh start. I cut off 17 years worth of hair and I regret nothing. So if you have to take one thing away from my poem, it’s do whatever you want with your hair. Remember that it will always come back, so if you’ve ever thought about dying it a new color, cutting bangs, or going completely bald, do it. It will all come back one day.
I’ll just be calling the book IEAG for short, as the full title is The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Ancient Grece, an Authoritative Account of Greek Military and Political Power, Architecture, Sculpture, Art, Drama, and Philosophy; (Written by Nigel Rodgers.)
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As per Locklyn’s comment on my first blog post of the year, I will be talking about art, love, war and society in this post. We start on page 476, titled Drinking Together, Symposia and Bars. Symposion literally means ‘drinking together,’ by the way. Anyway, a symposium was an event catered to socialization and drinking. (The only alcohol the Ancient Greeks consumed was wine, so that was what they drank.) Symposiums could be started with celebrations of sporting events- or simply a friend coming by uninvited. The nights’ entertainment at the most luxurious symposiums were dancers, flute girls, and serving boys. Sex was shown to be common throughout these parties, and I cannot continue past that because this blog will not be posted if I do.
“A symposium otok place in a house’s andron (‘men’s room’), a special windowless room on the ground floor. Its floor was raised at the walls, against which couches were arranged.” We’re ignoring the weird windowless room thing; I assume that was for ambiance. What we will instead focus on are the reclining couches. If you have ever seen images painted, drawn, or reconstructed still-lifes, you will see Greek men reclining back on couches. (The Romans and Etruscans also copied this dining method.) Many things would happen if you were to attend one of these symposiums. First, your sandals would be removed by slaves. You might be adorned with flowers and have oil smeared onto your body before being shown to a couch, which you would share with another man. You would eat the food mainly with your fingers, throwing your scraps to the floor where the dogs would eat them.
That entire scenario only happens if you’re a male born into an important, rich Greek family. What would you do if you did not have the funds to throw a grand party? You would socialize in a bar/tavern called a kapeleion. “Citizens could eat snacks and buy wine in flasks to take away along with torches to light their way home through Athens’ unlit streets.” If I were to equate these kapeleions to anything, it would be to a modern British pub. Brawls and riots broke out often, if not at least small disturbances.
I can’t fully discuss the topic of sexuality within the Ancient Greek world, but I can give you this quote from IEAG; “Ancient Greece was once seen as a sexual arcadia where happy pagans, free from Christain restraint, enjoyed sex in ways damned by the Bible or law. In particular, homosexuality, male and female, was openly celebrated. Such views of Greece as a homosexual paradise owe as much to fantasy as to reality.” In simple words, the Greeks didn’t have the same ideals about sexuality that we do now. Bisexuality was the unspoken norm, but not how we might think. Please look this up further, as I cannot discuss it.
Flowering is one of my favorite albums of all time. Toru Kitajima, from J-Rock band 凛として時雨 (Rin Toshite Sigure), is, in my opinion, one of the greatest Japanese lyricists and musicians of the modern era. Best known for “Unravel” the first opening theme for the Tokyo Ghoul anime, he writes songs about the human condition, and what makes someone human.
The first song in Flowering is “Flower” (linked below)
“Flower” portrays the initial loss. It is a very reminiscent song, with lyrics such as (loosely translated, not perfect) “My past brightened when I met you” and “I live in a colorful dream-world I don’t want to end”. This song also, as shown in the second line quoted, deals with the denial stage of grief. Overall, this is my second-favorite song in the entire album.
Next, we have “Abnormal Trick”.
“Abnormal Trick” delves deeper into denial. The mourner does not want to accept the truth. This is shown with lyrics such as “Still hiding? What looked like secrets (don’t change) have pierced me” and “You can’t wake me up, me up/although someday I won’t be blamed for my sins,/Will I exist within?” . It, however, begins to fade into a form of acceptance with the line “Like a fool, I can’t change/Are the wonders destroyed by the unchangeable me still here? I want to see/I can’t wake me up, me up, me up” as the mourner begins to wish for freedom from their self-imposed catatonic state.
After this, comes the song “Haze” (linked below is the Egomaniac Feedback version, though it’s the same song.)
This song is about the hatred towards the world can feel when grieving. It showcases a sense of apathy. This can be found as early as the first stanza:
Somebody’s tears that fell from the sky
I don’t have any kindness to give to anyone
If you were to be consumed by darkness
Will a millimeter of me even glow?
Smile
This stanza seems to portray a sense of both derealization and apathy. It is likely that the tears referenced are the singers own, and the line “I don’t have any kindness to give anyone” speaks for itself in terms of portraying apathy. It also delves into how people who are grieving feel like they’re losing everything around them. This is shown in the third stanza:
Becoming lost while reminiscing
Losing everything that I touch
Everything is becoming shrouded by fog; I won’t hide anymore
However, the song shines a bit of hope with the fifth stanza, as TK sings:
There is no way I can change the world
But I can cut through the darkness
This portrays a sense of willpower. Even though one cannot regain what is lost, you can move forward with your life and be happy again.
After this comes the song “Phase to Phrase”:
This song portrays a sense of fault within the singer, and the idea that they are the reason everything is out of control. This is emphasized with the lyrics of the song:
A rotating phrase, I counted the motion1
It’s close enough to start pretending
There’s no turning back from lies
I become the disorder that draws close
Nobody wants themselves to be seen
Nobody wants themselves to be known
There’s no pain, nor sadness, and yet, and yet
What they don’t want others to know are frozen inside
What they don’t want others to know are killed inside
But then it all may disappear
Everybody could become, everybody could become, and yet, and yet
I become disorder
The singer says that everybody could become anything, and, despite his efforts, he becomes a chaos he cannot control. I believe that this is the peak of the self-loathing that can occur with grief. This song represents the upmost limit of his hatred for himself.
Next comes one of my favorite songs, “White Silence”:
This is the softest lyrical song in the album. It features Shione Yukawa for a portion of the song. This song is from a different perspective than the rest of the album, and is from the POV of the deceased. The song urges the mourner to move on. Showcased in the lyrics:
Remember them, the words you’ve forgotten
Don’t look for me, because I’m no longer here
I’ve been swept away
This is a stark contrast from the rest of the album, as oftentimes the singer refers to “you” in reference to being lost, instead of “I”. This song represents a transition into the next stage of the song, and the mourners life.
After this is “12th Laser”:
This song seems to be looking back on the previous songs. Once again in the perspective of the mourner, the song portrays the helplessness they felt when the person they are mourning first died. This is the first case of healing being shown.
Example lyrics for this are:
My heart couldn’t understand, a picture drawn by my left hand The unconveyable color of sadness A laser of memories beyond is shining through I could not escape
The first stanza (shown above) portrays the idea that they were trapped, and “could not escape”. The thing keeping them trapped was their inability to allow themselves to heal and move on.
“Film a Moment” the fifth song in the album, is another song that focuses on looking back.
It both looks back on the time when the deceased was still alive, and once again at the period of time that the mourner was at their worst. It discusses the way that time had felt like it stopped. The song also portrays the struggle between wanting to remember the precious moments forever and wanting to forget them completely. This is shown in the lyrics:
The you that I long for isn’t there
Perhaps there are no such miracles
film A moment, Fill the moment, Kill the moment
The world I hold in my hands is expressionless and silent
I want to see what lies beyond. Could I kill the future?
A finger, a dimly lit ghost of what’s left of you, turning red
If only I could steal the future you have filmed
Gently the secret signal floats away. You are laughing
Without emotion, blatant fiction
If only the future could be stolen
Memories are shining through, we met in a dream
Shining through, we met in a dream
And so, I wrote my name
I have become like time, will someone restore me?
Is that what I want?
The song feels almost like a blur, both musically and lyrically. The singer portrays a desperateness to become “whole” again; a desire to finally move on from their grief. However, they struggle to balance the happy memories and their future. This is what causes that “time freeze”.
The 8th song, “Daylily”, has no lyrics.
The daylily flower is a flower of many meanings, but the one most thematically correct would most likely be “forgetfulness and loss of memory”. It is a decision to forget everything and move on that way. A “bad” ending, though it’s not entirely over yet. It’s merely a step in the process.
After this comes the song “Fourth”.
This song is filled with a sense of yearning. The singer shows their desire to talk to the person they lost again, to experience the good times. The lyrics show this:
The sound of your footsteps echoed inside of me
What I found was something you hid at night – a secret song
Wishes made again and again in the night, can you see them?
Inside the night, you wouldn’t stop…letting go
The sound of the night’s wind…was so faint
Still unknown, the immeasurable light
Find it
The light in those hands
Listen to the sound that could be seen in those eyes
Tell me what could be seen in those eyes
These tears may go away if we can meet in the sorrowful night
The light that you carry All of it, all of it, all of it, all of it
Gather it…in those hands
Thereby the stars, are you smiling?
It is not desperate or rushed. It is filled with a sense of acceptance and finality. The singer understands that they cannot regain what is lost, but they have finally accepted it. They’ve realized that moving on is not forgetting, but living on in their name. It is bittersweet, filled with a sense of joy, yet also an understanding that it’s all over.
Finally, “Sound_am326 (Secret Track)”.
Once again a song with no lyrics, it is instead filled with acoustic guitar and piano. Reminiscent of all of the previous songs, namely “White Silence”, it represents a finality. It was made to be the closing track for the album, and fills that role excellently. It portrays all of the difficult feelings of mourning and moving on without a single word being sung.
This is, as I’ve stated before, one of my favorite albums of all time. Toru Kitajima did a phenomenal job with the composition and portrays the story of a person in mourning wonderfully. The title is very fitting, as the album tells a sort of “coming of age” story about accepting ones emotions and learning to feel again after a severe loss.
Thank you all for reading! Next time, I’ll be covering the album White Noise, and the story it tells.
…The only shop in Toile City that remains untended to by children is the Toile Library, due to its owner being one of the few adults not required to serve in the ongoing lilarianad rally. Though, at first glance, you’d be forgiven for thinking of him as a particularly eccentric child. The caretaker in question is a short man whose species is unidentifiable due to the concealment of his garb: an old yellow and turquoise striped coat wrapped around his frame, a modified helmet from the Great Tunnel war adorns his head, and a pram always at his side veiled in fine royal silks.
Colloquially he has earned the title of “Poacher”, but on his non-existent citizenship documents, he is Hiadrance Verol. It may come as a surprise that the surrounding lilarianad towns folk leave him be, what with the current foreign conflict stirring up long-buried vitriol for aliens of every sort. But their blind eye becomes more understandable when taking a closer look at how he earned his name as Poacher.
For as long as it has existed the city of Toile has been accosted by the native wildlife that circles its walls. Under normal circumstances, this is nothing to fret over. Lilarianads are no strangers to conflict with nature itself or the occasional breach of their walls by displaced fauna, but now the severity of such an event is unprecedented. With most of the able-bodied lilarianads being drafted, the city’s only line of defense beyond its barriers are the fledgling men and women that took to running the town in their parent’s absence. If a pack of grinning lards or something of the sort were to scale the city’s walls somehow it would result in what most would consider the worst bloodbath since Lance’s Rout. Thankfully with the Poacher in tow, that will never happen.
Every day after the lights of the city fade into the night he ventures into the woods with his blowpipe and traps in hand and returns the next morning with caged baby animals piled on his back, ready to be sold. Not only does this keep the population of the native fauna in check, but it also serves as a surprising source of income for the city. Most of the captured animals are sold off to birlev gladiator rings, exotic pets, or zoos all around the system.
How exactly he traps the animals, conducts business, or how he acquired such skills remain mysteries, as are most aspects of the Poacher. Even how or when he arrived in Toile City is unknown, it indeed seems as if he dropped from the sky on some quiet night.
All of these questions and more remain unanswered, so the townsfolk often satiate their curiosity with rumors and speculation. Some think him a monarch in hiding, others see a tired war veteran who’s finally settled, and then a small few even believe him to be a cursed god of sorts.
But no matter what gossip the rabble rant and rave about, I’m inclined to believe that the more subtle details warrant further scrutiny. The wedding ring on his finger, the symbol that seems prevalent in his wardrobe, the tiny arachnids that seem to follow him, or the fact that no one has ever seen the infant within the pram. What exactly does all of this entails, I have no idea. But I intend to find out by doing what no one seems prepared to do: ask the man himself.
During writing time for class, I tend to strictly listen to music as a way to focus and extract new ideas or perspectives on a piece. So far, it has proven as a gateway to writing some of my favorite works. Recently, I have begun to dive into my love for slam poetry once again instead of the usual playlists. It is a theme that I intend to achieve in my senior showcase, so I thought that maybe I should look at some examples of what I would like for it to look like. There, I found some of my favorite performances and impactful pieces that correlates to the black experience and the beauty of intersectionality. I would like to share with you some of my favorite pieces and dissect them a little…
Kai Davis- Ain’t I A Woman
Kai prefaces a story in the beginning of the video that really brought the poem together. She says that in her class that there was a discussion about the separation of blackness and gender and how her professor believed that you were “black” before you are a “woman”. Well Kai rightfully disagrees stating that the two coincide and that you cannot be one without the other. To which said statement receives backlash from her male peers and even her professor. However she took notice to the complicity and silence of her female peers. It affected her so much so that she wrote this beautiful piece. Throughout reading I felt all the boxes being checked of what kind of poetry that I aspire to write and the message that I wish to spread. “Too black to be a woman, not man enough to be black”, or “Ask him to stop calling my scars sacrifices, calling my suffering an inconvenience” were just some of the lines that really stood out to me. It was both a new and fresh telling of the life of a black woman and yet it felt familiar as if I already knew the words. The poem felt like a warm hug, like my experiences were not isolated. It made me want to write pieces where people could see themselves in it just like Kia’s. I could feel her anger, her frustration, her eagerness for understanding, and her hope through the changes in her voice. Her performance was a reflection of what it poem achieved and I thought that it was so beautiful to see an active comparison between the two. This was one poem out of a set so I highly recommend that you listen to the others.
Tolu Obiwole and Ashia Ajani- Black College
I really love to see performances where there is more than one person, especially in the back and forth format, I feel like it work perfectly with this piece. I especially like the parts where they would speak together, it added perfect emphases on the lines I felt were most impactful. I really liked this piece because of how widely relatable it was. It is about the nuances of adjusting to PWI’s and the isolation you feel when being the only black person. It is something that I could relate to as the nervousness and awkwardness expressed in the piece were a reflection of mine. There were a lot of points made throughout the performance of which I felt were the perfect balance of explanation and the giving a non-black listener the task of figuring out. The rhythm added such a impactful punch to the noteworthy themes in this poem. Like always I highly recommend that you give it a listen.
Steven Willis- How the Hood Loves You Back
This performance has to be my favorite of the three. It had the love, the sorrow, and the anger balanced so brilliantly. It brought literal tears to my eyes because of the frustration I felt in his voice and in his movements it was hypnotic to witness. I got chills when he began to describe the way in which the hood can show love in the most violent of ways. He did so in a way that wasn’t historically dehumanizing or critical and I really appreciated it. Lines like “This is no longer Jefferson’s Avenue, but where Twig got shot” or “If the Hood Loves you, she’ll write it in tombstone tats” felt so heart-wrenching to hear but so beautifully spoken. Once again the bass in his voice really added to the urgency of this topic and how uniquely painful this niche form of love is. I beg with the utmost urgency to give this piece a listen.
