junior literary – Literary Arts Blogspace

Greek vs. Roman Mythology

Okay, I lied. I said in my last blog post that I was going to continue my incoherent ramblings about Katara and Avatar: The Last Airbender as a whole, but I’ve decided that i need to get something out of the way instead, which is how i feel about Greek Mythology and Roman Mythology.

Anyone who’s had more than one conversation with me might be aware of how passionate I get over a certain empire, which starts with R and ends with oman. I’ve been known to yell, hit things, stand in chairs, and leave groupchats in the past. Is it that serious? No. Do i care? Also no!!

(There is, quite literally, a running gag between my friends to randomly text me “The Romans” and watch to see how mad I get — it has been described as a trigger word of mine multiple times)

Roman Mythology and Greek Mythology are often used interchangeably, like they are counterparts or equals. Now, do not get me wrong. Roman mythology (though i know nothing about it besides the creation myth) is just as complex, but in the end, they ARE separate things. This is just information off of the top of my head, mostly from my understanding of greek mythology and how it differs from roman mythology in those big ways that MEAN something. Even though they were adjacent (watch me make myself mad) they are NOT the same, most importantly in how they portray certain gods.

Am i going to start talking about myths? No! I dont know anything about them, and if i refuse to learn more than what is absolutely necessary (Read: I’m too lazy.) I do, however, know about the pantheon itself.

The Greek pantheon was very heavily focused on “Hey, you guys are messed up, but we’re MORE messed up, so be scared of us.” The Greeks, with what their pantheon represented, was very arts and emotions focused. They interpret things like hubris, defiance against the gods, lust, ect. Hubris is a big one, most commonly portrayed with Achillies. He believed that he could live, and deny the fate which was set out for him, if he avoided following his whole prophecy “ur gonna die bro” thing. The gods didn’t like that!!

The greeks were very insistent on their idea of fate, which is what most myths follow. Gods deliver a prophecy, the guy who’s the butt of the joke in the prophecy tries to avoid prophecy, ends up butt of the joke. (Seriously, you think they’d stop warning them, right?)

The romans are different. Extremely different. Again, this is my throwaway “here’s what i think 🤓☝️!!!” because i admit that i do not know that much about roman mythology, entirely because it makes me so upset. Many myths from Greek times are so Romanized we get left with our current version of Medusa, who, in the original myth, was born a gorgon. Or Achillies, who, in his original myth, never had invulnerability. He was just quick yall..

The romans were very victory, war, order and rule-based, rather than the emotional and theatrical Greeks. This is best portrayed by their goddess of love, Venus. She represented, obviously, love; beauty; prosperity; fertility; and VICTORY. She also mothered Aeneas, who is a direct ancestor of the founders of rome. Romans held her in such a high regard because of this. They had a goddess literally named victory and they still worshiped her and prayed to her in hopes of a victory in battle. Her greek counterpart(??? cousin. They’re cousins now.) Her greek cousin, Aphrodite, more so represents Beauty, (beauty over love, that’s important) Love, PLEASURE, and procreation. See how those differ? Similar, but important differences.

None of this is even mentioning MYCENEAN Greece (dear gods, Mycenean Greece :/) which had nearly *checks notes* 600 years of a nearly entirely different pantheon that the Classical greek pantheon is based on, plus those 200 or so years of the greek dark ages? There’s just so much more rich, complex history behind the greek pantheon. And, yes, the romans were heavily influenced; And, yes, they carry a lot of similarities. However, the romans were after, with influence from more places than the greeks had. It’s kind of like when you take a character from a show and change him so much that he’s pretty much an OC now and you could write your own story with it and no one would ever notice.

Okay, this is getting long but i am also talking about my special interest (greek mythology) and my special dislike (roman mythology) and i haven’t gotten up and screamed from the rooftops yet, so i’m doing better than i normally would. She’s getting long, so i’ll see you next week!!!! I will (likely) either be speaking on the same topic or going back to Avatar.. undecided. Kiss kiss!! Byee!!

Disability and Media

Here today we talk about disability, how it is portrayed in the media, and why we should care.

While July is the official Disability Awareness Month, disabilities affect people all months of year, and we need to talk about it. Especially the representation in the media of people with different disabilities. Or shall I say, the lack thereof.

The disabled Flag represents the different types of disabilities and shows pride and support for those with disabilities.

Disabilities are varied and wide spectrum. We have broad categories for them, being physical, sensory, developmental, and psychiatric. Physical disabilities affect your mobility or motor functions. Cerebral Palsy, spinal injuries, and arthritis are common examples of physical disabilities. Developmental disabilities, like intellectual disability or fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, affect cognitive functions, especially at a younger age. Psychiatric disorders are psychological conditions, like PTSD or bipolar or OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder). Though these can get tricky, as the way they debilitate a person is not very well documented or taken seriously. Neurological disabilities affect the brain and nervous system, like a traumatic brain injury. Neurodevelopmental disabilities are commonly represented by ADHD and ADD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and attention deficit disorder). Finally, we have sensory and learning disabilities. Sensory disorders consist of a disability that affects some sort of sense, such as blindness or deafness. Learning disorders, like dyslexia (reading difficulties) and dyscalculia (math difficulties) affect your learning process.

We’d think that, if we have so many different types of disabilities and disorders, we would have a better understanding of and acceptance towards disabled people. Unfortunately, due to negative stereotypes and ableist history, we still have so many misconceptions about those who are disabled. For example, not everyone who uses a wheelchair is paraplegic. While the statistics are inconclusive currently, it has been reported that up to 1/3 of wheelchair users are ambulatory. This means they still can move and walk with less assistance. Another misconception is that people who use canes or walkers are old, or that you can only develop physical disabilities later in life. Disabilities can be developed at any time in one’s life, and mobility aids can be needed at any point. So why do we depict disabilities as this rare, scary, and sad thing?

That’s another thing. The extreme depictions of disabilities. Either people who are disabled are depicted as hopeless and wish they weren’t disabled, or they’re a superhero and an inspiration. We are normal people. We have our good days, and our bad ones. We shouldn’t be reduced to one emotion because we are people with a wide and diverse variety of emotions. Or the extremities of psychiatric disorders. People with schizophrenia are considered dangerous and “insane”, people with bipolar disorder are “unstable and something you should fear”, or OCD is being the “neat freak”. These depictions are useless at best and harmful at worst because these disorders are a spectrum. We do not all depict disabilities the same way, just as no two people are alike. We need to start depicting disabled people and characters as what they are: people.

It also sucks, as someone who uses mobility aids, to have little to no accessibility in your daily life. Schools have barely any accommodation, and if they do have the occasional wheelchair ramp, it’s on the other side of the school. So, it gets to a point where it feels like the 1950s, where folks with mobility issues need to be “hidden from public view”. But with all systemic issues, the rights and support for people with disabilities are still new. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed in 1990 by President Bush. That’s only 34 years ago. So, architecture and medical information are still outdated and unavailable to people with disabilities. That’s also not to mention the discrimination against queer, afab, and people of color in disability spaces.

Disability affects about 1 in 6 people. Whether it be in the mind, body, or both, we all deserve respect and accommodation for our disabilities. We deserve to feel safe and comfortable in our bodies and shouldn’t be treated like we’re incompetent or a burden. Disabled people are still people and deserve to access quality medical care. So what could you do to help people around you with disabilities? The best thing you can do is ask what help they need. It can be nice to help them put something away or offer advice, but you need to always ask what would make the disabled person feel most welcome. If you’re holding events, please try to make them accessible. If someone has sensory disorders, make sure to add accommodations so they can experience everything too. I think people often think we want “special treatment”, but in reality, we want what everyone else wants: to be able to function and enjoy life.

Just remember that, if someone around you is disabled, treat them with respect and kindness. Treat others how you want to be treated, and please, for the love of God, do not push wheelchairs without asking.

Let’s Get to the Bloody Point.

Periods are a natural occurrence for 1.8 billion people. So why is it so stigmatized and repulsive? Let’s talk about that…

^{A discussion (well, rant) about feminine hygiene and the stigma around it.}

Periods. The natural occurrence of shedding the endometrium. It is reported that over 1.8 billion people menstruate monthly. So why is the discussion around this topic so stigmatized? Any and all reasons stem from one real reason: the hatred of people who were born with uteruses.

Let’s look back in time, turn back a few pages of the history book. One of the oldest written menstrual stigmas was in the Bible. Leviticus chapter 15, verses 19-33 states (in layman’s terms) that women, and anything they rest upon, become “unclean”. If menstrual blood touches anything, it too becomes unclean. This passage led to a constant mindset throughout male scholars in history that anyone who bled and everything around them was corrupt and dirty. An example of this mindset early on was from Pliny the Elder (AD70) that menstruation “is productive of the most monstrous effects”, that crops will “wither and die”, and bees “will forsake their hive if touched by a menstruous woman”. These quotes are disturbing to think about. Imagine how much abuse stemmed from these types of mindsets. Even in 1694, women were compared to cockatrices, mythical beasts that had venomous breath, all because they were bleeding (according to James McMath, M.D).

Alright, stepping forward some, let’s look at the 20th and 21st centuries. In 1950, Good Housekeeping (THE magazine for women), advertised sanitary towels as “So skillfully shaped not to look like a napkin box” and so “that the sharpest eyes couldn’t guess what’s inside the wrapping”. This, even in “modern ages”, made periods seem like something that people should be embarrassed about and ashamed of. A monthly function to regulate your body is shameful. Wow. What about the 2020 Tampax criticism, where they advertised tampons that “open silently for full discretion”? More recent studies in the medical history of menstruation contain euphemisms such as “the curse”, “dirty red”, and more (from as recent as 1975) contribute to the unclean stigma of periods and feminine hygiene.

Now, we talked mostly about women throughout history, but they aren’t the only people who bleed monthly. AFAB people, or assigned female at birth, struggle with these stigmas and frequent transphobia due to this natural phenomenon. Period discussions and products are tailored for women. Pad wrappers that say “Strong Like a Girl” create an isolating barrier for transgender and gender non-conforming folks. When we also look at the prices of menstrual products, things get worse. The average price for 36 tampons can easily cost $12 a box. The federal wage is $7.25 an hour. So why does this hit trans individuals harder? The 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey stated that transgender people are twice as likely to live in poverty and three times as likely to be unemployed compared to the general population. Now, ten years later, times for the working class have been ever harder. We also need to think about those who prefer gender-affirming bathrooms, such as a transgender male using the men’s room. They will rarely have access to period products when they’re needed most. Along with bathrooms, opening a crinkly, plastic wrapper in the men’s room can lead to a sense of fear and lack of safety, especially in a time when transphobia and violent hate crimes are rising.

Now, the bloody point of this article was centered around the menstrual hygiene stigma in the United States, but there is so much discrimination for people who bleed monthly across the world. There are also discussions about people not having certain healthcare rights due to the assumption “all women want to or should bear children”. There’s also discussion around other feminine reproductive issues, like the age for hysterectomies and abortion, or even the effects of birth control, or how the medical system is very anti-AFAB people. But that, my friends, is all we have time for today. I really hope this gave you a better perspective on menstrual hygiene and why it is so important. Please read the linked articles for more information if you can.

^{Articles used for reference:}

^{https://www.ama-assn.org/delivering-care/population-care/why-stigma-prevents-treating-menstrual-hygiene-essential}

^{https://magazine.publichealth.jhu.edu/2022/stigmas-toll-sexual-and-reproductive-health}

^{https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/transgender-men-pain-menstruation-more-just-physical-n1113961}

^{https://transequality.org/sites/default/files/docs/usts/USTS-Executive-Summary-Dec17.pdf}

^{https://theconversation.com/dirty-red-how-periods-have-been-stigmatised-through-history-to-the-modern-day-206967}

^{https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo2/B26427.0001.001?view=toc}

Nirvana Deep Dive: Bleach

This series of blog posts is about the instrumentation behind All four of Nirvanas albums the three studio albums in Bleach, Nevermind and In Utero and the compilation album Incestiscide and depending on the reception of the series Unplugged will get a nod.

The Bleach era (1988-1989) featured Guitarist Jason Everman, Drummer Chad Channing (and occasionally Dale Crover of The Melvins), Bassist Krist Novoselic, lead guitarist and Singer Kurt Cobain. Oddly Jason Everman doesn’t appear once on Bleach recording. He paid to produce the album thus getting him a writer’s credit. The trio of Kurt Krist and Dale Crover would hit the studio in late 1988 to start work on Bleach with producer Jack Endino the songs Downer, Papercuts and Floyd The Barber would be completed and though an attempt to rerecord with Chad Channing came about the three ultimately decided to leave Dales original tracks as is. Every other song has Chad Channing in full force playing away.

The odd sound of Bleach comes from the cheap recording equipment used. The band was taped on a eight track and played every song live overdubbing in the post stages (which Kurt hated with passion). The setup for Bleach’s studio recording is as follows: Track one Chads Kick Drum Track two his snare and hi-hat recorded on an overhead place on a boom arm about 5-10 feet above the actual drumkit. Track Three has his floor tom with the microphone passing under the drum’s resonator head on the bottom. Track Four a mic for his tom 1 drum directly attached. Track Five was Krist’s bass and mic up of his amp placed in the same room as the other instruments and at times you can hear blead through from other things happening in the room. Track Six was Kurt’s vocal then track seven was Kurt’s guitar and Track Eight was free for either one vocal or guitar overdub which most times would be a rhythm guitar part that Jason Everman would play live. This in turn is also due to Nirvanas style being very noise rock adjacent at the time.

Bleach had a troubling process to begin the record label Nirvana was signed to at the time Sub-Pop was trying hard to stay afloat and thus couldn’t afford to pay the studio time necessary to record Bleach. So, Jason Everman the newest member of the band after Chad paid the entirety of the money necessary to produce and publish the Album. Granted he would tour with the band for the duration of their North American tour before being fired and joining Soundgarden.

“Blew” A more sludge metal take with the growly low distorted bass and aggressive guitar dives creates a song that invokes a sense of violence almost. Plus, Chad Channing delivers a impressive triplet groove that slides around the kit and makes it poppy. The bass growls on the opening track as well creating a heavy mosh sound.

“Floyd the Barber” is a heavier sludgy song through and through. Aggressive distortion meets bad production equipment. A lot of bleach is punk rock and the lead off track starts us right, Kurt uses a mixture of guitars most importantly a Mosrite guitar with two large humbuckers in the neck and bridge position. Which creates loud and almost oscillating tones.

“About a girl” Kurts Beatles song. Growing up Kurt Cobain was quite a Beatles friend and even as he got older and rowdier he found solace in Abbey Road and Sgt. Pepper even so much as so constantly playing the song in Tracy Marander’s apartment to whom the song is about. The song is played with a very clean Strat sounding guitar with distortion on the solo. Alternatively, Chad Channing’s drum part is very rhythmic and matches the bass line.

“School” is a noise rock song and seemingly uses a fuzz effect as when I attempt to recreate the sound whenever I play my fuzz pedal does better than my distortion box. Also, the rhythm guitar part fills out the main chord progression of the song under the lead part a clever and very subtle use of that elusive Eighth track available to record with.

“Love Buzz” is well a burst of sound the guitars are tuned up a half step higher than normal and for a band that typically drop tunes a weird, distorted sound comes out. Kurt’s guitar almost sounds metallic clanking together, while the Bass seems uncharacteristically low and eerie. The drumming is fantastic as the pace of the song is fast and hard to miss. The guitar solo features the rhythmic strums of a A major chord.

“Paper Cuts” this track is heavy dark gloomy and scratchy it fits a certain aura that is just the right amount of painful noisy rock mixed with a slight cleanliness of production plus Dale Crover leads a hard and powerful drum track for the ages. Kurt did overdub with a feedback noise with his guitar close to his amp.

“Negative Creep” is a song mostly composed of power slides, a technique where one strums an open string grab said string and slides up or down the fret board. This technique creates slight dissonance and harmonic screeches. Which happens whether accidentally or attentionally.

My top listens are.

Downer

Negative Creep

Love Buzz

Blew

Please leave music recommendations in the comments.

Katara: A Character Study

Katara: A Character Study (Likely pt. 1)

It is 12:47am on 8/25/25 and I am exactly 16:00 minutes into “The Avatar Returns” from Avatar: The Last Airbender. I had an entire blog post typed up about Katara and her character and how some choices made by writers and how they chose to continue her story in later series (Ex: The Legend of Korra) doesn’t make sense with where they took her development in the original series. That, however, was lost between the three computers I’ve signed in on because my Microsoft account hates me, so I’m restarting. This is gonna get really (really) hypothetical and I’m gonna sound insane, but I chugged a monster from like 3pm to 4pm and im not sleeping until at least tomorrow night and I have things to say about pretty girl. (Correction: I fell asleep at 2:45)

Katara is the last waterbender from the Southern Water Tribe, which (allegedly) used to be much bigger, much more lively, and much better as a whole before the hundred-year war began. That, however, kind of a little bit, was not the case in the state we find the Southern Water Tribe. The state we find her in is a few tents, a shoddy wall made of packed ice, and a (likely) hastily built watch tower with poor structural integrity. The Southern Water Tribe is made up of women and young children, the only “suitable” warrior being a 16 year old motherless boy with an ego issue. So, honestly, not a lot. A far cry from the assumed prestige one of the two water tribes may have had, especially considering how it is seen in the next series and compared to the Northern Water Tribe. I don’t care to explain the tribe in further detail, so I’m going to carry on with my study.

Before

after

The story follows along with brother and sister Sokka, the 16 year old with an ego issue, and Katara after they discover a boy frozen in an iceberg. In the first episode this boy, Aang, is revealed to be destined to save the world or.. something. Don’t ask me, I’ve only seen it four (five-ish) times.

In the first episode Katara, who is the voice narrating the opening, is set up very early to have a major supporting role within the show. (Since this is not a summary of the show as a whole, I’m going to not talk about the show anymore or else I will be renaming this blog to “How Avatar: The Last Airbender is a cinematic masterpiece and can do no wrong.”) Katara is depicted as dominantly motherly throughout the series, but she is also warm, deeply responsible, stubborn with a deep desire to be independet, and overall compassionate.

(Not at all bringing up later characterizations throughout the series, where she becomes so fiercely protective of team avatar, even vengeful at some point. Pictured above is her dressed as The Painted Lady, arguably one of her most compassionate moments throughout the series)

Katara, set up from the very beginning is more compasionate than Sokka. He’s expressed as paranoid, misogynistic, self-absorbed, practical – overall someone, upon first meeting, you’d assume is pretty reasonable. I, however, would not trust him with my drink. Not like he’d do anything bad but he’d straight forget who’s drink it was and chug it on his own. He’s stubborn, he’s selfish, out for his own self-interest, and a few other words I may not be able to post to my blog. Compassion, if i had to name HER character trait, would be the first thing to come to mind.

She takes the place of her mother at such a young age, essentially becoming that in Sokka’s eyes. There are dozens of times that she puts someone else before herself, even if she’s being manipulated or believes she can’t do it. She is single-handedly holding team avatar together in the desert. And, hear me out, just like waterbending. “Woah!! Danny’s pointing out something they don’t shut up about in the show (they never bring it up in THIS series, let me cook (the kitchen is burning))!!” I can go on forever about how each of the benders and even non-benders have a personality that perfectly represents them and their bending technique… so I will!! That’s why I have a blog!! (Look out for me yelling about how scrappy and resourceful Sokka is in like a week or so)

Waterbending is very insistent on the ebb and flow of things. Two fish circling each other, Yin and Yang, pushing and pulling, high tide and low tide, even the moon and the waves. They’re all waterbending, all the original sources of it. Humans were taught waterbending by the moon, inspired by the way she pushed and pulled at the ocean. This sounds peaceful, but where there is good there must be something disruptive. This is perfectly displayed in Katara’s character, because just like she is motherly and helpful and compassionate she’s also got a temper, she’s stubborn, and she’s determined. I sound insane. Don’t make me backtrack again, decent outline danny. (Little does no outline danny know, decent outline danny is rocking back and forth, waiting to be let out of circus jail. He will not be let out of circus jail. Why am I talking to myself???)

Waterbending is dependent on grabbing energy and not so much controlling it but shifting it. Thinks something similar to a scale, like the one lady justice holds. You want the water to go here so you shift your entire body with it, right? Kind of like a literal push and pull. Anyone who’s seen The Northern Water Tribe parts 1 & 2 know what I’m talking about. If you don’t just nod and pretend you do. The fact Katara is a waterbender does shape her personality, just like it does with Toph and Aang, and even the fact that Sokka isnt a bender. She reasons but, ultimately, chooses her emotions over rational or “i can’t do it” thoughts.

There are two events where i think Katara shows the most compassion, and all three relate to Firebenders. She hates firebenders. One killed her mother and she believes them, for a long time, to be the cause of all of her problems. (which.. yeah) But she still recognizes when people need help. She, as the painted lady, aids a village of sickly and starving fire nation civilians by liberating them from a nearby metals factory. This threw them off by days, could have made them late, and they barely even had the supplies to feed themselves; however, people needed her help and she couldn’t abandon them.

The next event is when she, wracked by grief over her late mother, searches for and finds the fire nation officer who killed her with the help of zuko. That’s a whole other story for a whole other blog post, but in the end she decides to spare his life.

Okay, I’m getting off track. I’m also getting to long. I’m going to end this here and leave my actually organized notes on the benders and how their personalities are in relation to that for next week. Hmmmm. Hmmmmmm. Hmmmmm. (This got deleted halfway though writing it and only like half of it got saved so this is gibberish and I’m SO sorry)

I’m going to try and break up any further blogs on her into arcs, even if it’s just an arc explored over a single episode (Jet, for example) then probably follow it with my favs in order (SOKKA THEN ZUKO RAAAAGGHHHHH)

Nirvana series: Bleach Deep Dive.

This series of blog posts is about the instrumentation behind All four of Nirvanas albums the three studio albums in Bleach, Never mind and In Utero and the compilation album Incestiscide and depending on the reception of the series Unplugged will get a nod.

So starting off with Bleach (1988-1990) the Lineup of this era of Nirvana featured Guitarist Jason Everman and Backup singer Drummer Chad Channing ( and ocassionally Dale Crover of The Melvins) Bassist Krist Novosleic and Frontmand lead guitarist and Singer Kurt Cobain. Oddly Jason Everman doesn’t actually appear once on Bleach he paid for the production of the album thus getting him a writers credit. The trio of Kurt Krist and Dale Crover would hit the studio in late 1988 to start work on Bleach with producer Jack Endino the songs Downer, Papercuts and Floyd The Barber would be completed and though a attempt to rerecord with Chad came about the three ultimately decided to leave Dales original tracks as is. Every other song has Chad Channing in full force playing away. The odd sound of Bleach comes from the cheap recording style. The band was taped on a eight track and played every song live overdubbing in the post stages (which Kurt hated with a passion). The setup for Bleach’s studio recording is as follows: Track one Chads Kick Drum Track two his snare and hi hat recorded on a overhead mic track three his floor tom track four a mic for his tom 1 drum. Track five was Krists bass and mic up of his bass. Track Six was Kurts vocal then track seven was Kurts guitar and track eight was free for either one vocal or guitar overdub.

So as you can see Bleach had a troubling process to begin with but that didn’t deture the artistry of the group. The opening track “Blew” A more sludge Sludge metal take with the growly low distorted bass and aggressive guitar dives creates a song that invokes a sense of violence almost. Plus Chad Channing delivers a impressive triplet groove that slides around the kit and makes it really poppy. Eventually when Dave Grohl took over his power filled this song out live. The second song on the album is “Floyd the Barber” based on Floyd Lawton from the extremely popular Andy Grififth Show giving a darker take on the character. The song details Kurt walking into a barbershop expecting a haircut only to be subsequently tortured and murdered. “Floyd The Barber” instrumentally is dark and gritty Dale Crover of The Melvins recorded this song and gives a strong almost tribal beat paired with the harsh distortion and harmonic breaks mostly added and fixed in post by producer Jack Endino. Krists bass takes a lower seat holding a more funk inspired groove that Jack Endino would spruce up on the back end. “About a girl” Kurts beattle song was slower cleaner song about Kurts current long time girlfriend Tracy Mirander the song uses a true less is more approach. The lyrics are memorable digestable and feature a couple of recording quirks Kurt used a vocal overdub that usaully would have been a double track of his main guitar. “ School” is a noise rock song through and through the guitar over dub is strong on this one and pops out over the main track at times.

“Love Buzz” is the best noisy song on this album it has a explosion on sound at points with Kurt and Krists tuned up a half step the guitar scratches and yells at you with the nice instrumental pause to let the frantic low baritone vocals of Kurt Cobain just creep at you before a long scream of pure pleasure. A BUZZING sound is heard on the main guitar track as Kurt uses his boss ds-1 one a distortion sound box that creates a fuzzy banshee effect when turned up to the proper settings. Overall I’m buzzing with love over this track its quintessential Nirvana. You ever like hurt your hand on a piece of printer paper that weirdly shallow yet deep cut that stings even longer. Well if not you can listen to “Paper Cuts” this track is heavy dark gloomy and scratchy it fits a certain aura that is just the right amount of painful noisy rock mixed with a slight cleanliness of production plus Dale Crover leads a hard and powerful drum track for the ages. Kurt did overdub with a feedback noise with his guitar close to his amp. Its on to the B side of the album.

“Negative Creep” is sliding friendly full of powerful bass line Krist layed down fits the groove and pocket of Chad Channing plus a vocal overdub was instituted to help flesh out the singing. “Scoff” is just that a scoff in your face as it isn’t my favorite song yes it is a deep cut but its not my favorite. I do enjoy the snare floor tom eigth note grove but beyond that it loses flavor. “Swap Meet” is loud and noisy and required a few reruns to get it right but I love it and the few live versions were pretty good. The next song on the list is “Mr. Moustache” which is very very difficult to play as a guitarist. The song is captivatingly confusing and the drum part is winding the the count on the ride seemingly switches with the snare at points. “Sifting” is slow and sludgey and possibly the most sludge metal song on the album. The drop tuned guitars and high tom centered groove on the drums add a large amount of punch and the bass line is amazingly good it is five minutes though so it runs kind of long eith some repitition. “Big Cheese” is a pop metal song at its heart the faster jumpy fill based drums and long ride cymbal bell taps add a lot to the song. The final song from the original 1989 Bleach release is downer and last is definetely not least. By far the shortes song is a pretty good representation of future Nirvana ( so is “About a girl”) which leads it to be a good listen and this song was only recorded in three takes with Dale Crover drumming.

Overall Bleach is good my top listens are.

Floyd The Barbar

About A Girl

Downer

Negative creep.

Yelling about Mischaracterization Pt. 2

Helloo!! I’m not done being mad!!

This is a direct continuation of my last blog post, in which I talked about mischaracterization and/or misperception within fandom spaces and common things I see which I hate. If you haven’t seen that one, go look at it!! This isn’t self advertising!!! Trust!!!! If I add more exclamation points you may believe me!!!!!!!!

Horrible Four: I cry!!! I feel emotions!!! BLAME ME FOR IT!!!!

We all know that character, we all have one as a favorite – he or she may be our favorite character, but every time we see them drawn or in any sort of fan content they’re reduced to a singular emotional aspect of themselves, whether it be that they cry a lot, or they’re motherly, or they’re angry.. I was going to put Izuku Midoriya in here, but his face was staring at me the entire time I was writing this and it got unsettling.

No one knows you like i know you, Katara. No one.

Believe it or not women are allowed to feel things, and no it doesnt make them hysterical!! Guys it’s 2025!! we’re better than this!! She’s a character who is bad at forgiving people and holds a grudge, she’s not evil and she, believe it or not, doesn’t beat people with sticks!! Hope this helps!!

Yellowjackets Cast

Okay. Yeah. I know.

Here’s the one where I’ll actually comment, okay. Yellowjackets.. while it’s impossible to excuse half of the things that happen, you have to think about the fact these are teenage girls with a literal sociopath being the only one with survival skills. Enough Said. “They ___ though!!” I literally haven’t seen the show all the way through and I hate them all so much. (I’m talking about the girls when they’re younger. NOTHING justifies what happens when they’re older i DONT care)

This one is technically a joint with what was going to be #5. “Oh btw i have mental illness,” In which characters are reduced to having one mental disorder of the other.

In Yellowjackets there is a character, Lottie, who has Schizophrenia. People blame her for the happenings of the story, but honestly.. Lottie, girl. Lottie my diva.

Type Five: Oh btw I have [insert disability/mental illness]

This one can go for a lot of characters. Characters in Arcane ranging from Jinx to Viktor, they’re ALWAYS reduced to some infantilized version of themselves. Or they’re evil or something.

The main problem I have with this is that it reflects really badly in real life on people with this disability/disorder. While representation is SO important, for all kinds of things, for so many reasons. (Take Cho Hyun-ju, or player 120 from squid games as example of how media representation went well) sometimes characters are reduced to JUST that aspect. If you portray every character with Bipolar Disorder the same (as erratic, out of control, violent, and crying all the time) then people really aren’t going to know that’s not what the disorder is. The same thing with schizophrenia, or even physical disabilities like mobility disorders. If you depict people with something and THEN throw a bad stereotype on top of it then you’re just strengthening that stereotype!! Don’t!!!

Jinx Arcane Mobile Animated Wallpaper

Type Six: Everyone’s type, apparently (I’m boring but at least I’m cool (looking))

This applies to just having a nice cohesive design, like with half the background ponies in My Little Pony. When I ask your favorite the most out of the way better be, like, Apple Bloom. I don’t want to hear something about Sparkle Wing who has two sentences as her Wikipedia page.

Other than that?

Sleachta Daryl Dixon

Daryl Dixon.

He wasn’t even in the comics. He wasn’t important at all in the first few seasons. I had more interest in a hundred other characters before him (Me when i lie). He became popular in the 5th season, due to high demand and likability from fans.. Maybe i’m a bit guilty for this one, and it’s redeemed since he did get his own seat as part of the main cast later on, and even his own show. (Even if that show isn’t exactly good.

Honorable mentions: Moost of the Aftons. I was genuinely convinced when getting into five nights at freddy’s that there would be any amount of real lore on these people, but no. Yall really took it and ran. After that is Kieran Duffy from Red Dead Redemption 2, who i am also guilty over.

That is all of the possible things I could think of and this is all I’ve thought about for two weeks.. mmmm… I’m not driving myself insane for no reason so yay!! We’re through!! Any other things you see or know or want to share please tell me about it because characterization is VERY important to me!!! I have so much to say about all of these characters and I fear I cannot articulate those words onto a page so if I said anything wrong or in a way that didn’t make sense I LOVE feedback !!! Have a nice day <333

My next few blogs will probably be character studies on a few i’ve mentioned here (cough karara cough WHOOOO SAID THAT) because i love them and no one knows them like i know them (katara mmmm…. mmmm….)

Why Viva Pinata was Revolutionary

Viva Piñata. You don’t know em, but you’ll probably love em! Viva Piñata is a video game (and a TV franchise, fun fact!) that was created by Microsoft and Rare. Its universe is full of living piñata animals, with various personalities, that you can collect and care for! They interact with each other, some getting into fights and even eating each other in a hunter-prey dynamic. You grow different plants to attract different pinatas, and even build houses for them!

So what’s so special about this game? Well, it’s an XBOX 360 classic from 2006, meaning it was competing with titles like the Spyro the Dragon franchise and the first LEGO Star Wars games. Big and exciting things were coming out in 2006 for the 360, and Viva Piñata was no different. It contained over 60 different animals, each with unique models, with some even having variants. You also have several systems, like hatching eggs and watering, and fertilizing plants. You can interact with multiple different townsfolk with different shops and dialogue. Now, in the big age of 2025, with games like GTA and Monster Hunter, and Minecraft, these don’t seem impressive. But when we look at how this game was only 10 years after the shift to 3d graphics, it is absolutely beautiful. Many of the models still hold up today. Take the Preztail, while made of paper, you still see the fox-like shape and a soft look to the animal. Or the Horstachio, a horse piñata that is colorful and looks very charismatic. Each piñata has so much love and character put behind it. Having 60 diverse models for the pinatas alone is a huge feat for 2006 3D games.

^{Left: Horstachio}

^{Right: Preztail}

Viva Piñata is so relaxing and has so many elements that inspired the game genre of “cozy games”, like Slime Rancher or Stardew Valley. While the graphics might be outdated and dialogue a bit janky, we have to admit that, for it being made in 4 years (concept was 2002, and release was 2006), this is a wonderful feat. They even had sequel games, a TV show, and (my favorite game), Viva Piñata: Party Animals. It has so many mini-games, each having unique mechanics and advantages for some animals! The game also has races like Mario Kart. For 2007, a game with such a diverse animal cast and franchise is amazing. Party Animals is amazing if you want some XBOX 360 nostalgia, and a fun game that still holds up amazingly today. What’s also great is they both have backwards compatibility, meaning the newer XBOX consoles still run them beautifully!

If there’s anything I want you to truly take away from this rambling, Viva Piñata and its franchise is a feat for its time, and I would highly recommend trying them out. They’re classics that have been in my heart for over a decade, and I want more people to experience the classic, nostalgic feel of these games. I wish there were a larger community for it, and I really hope that at least this gave you some inspiration to seek out this game, or even games from your childhood that are now dusty relics of the past.

^{Some of my own art of Viva Piñata!}

First Post – Mischaracterization in Fandom Spaces

( !! Spoilers for the Percy Jackson Series, The Owl House, The Walking Dead, Avatar: The Last Airbender… honestly, just proceed with caution. !!)

When I think of Fandom spaces one of the first things I think of is how certain characters (. As complex or as single-faceted as they may be) may be handled. I’ve seen genuine strong, complex, and dangerous female leads be reduced to a forced romantic subplot or over explained to the point she’s just some 13-year old’s new oc. I’ve seen simple, nearly background, male characters be forced into spotlight, and for what? He’s got no flavor! Nothing exciting! He’s just a random white guy with brown hair, there’s no substance! Why is he everyone’s favorite!?

Now, don’t get me wrong. Mischaracterization can be displayed in a lot of ways, not only complex characters being reduced or boring characters being elevated (for what? He’s hot??). Sometimes it can be something as small as, say, people latching onto the fact a character cries a lot and reducing them to something weak, unworthy, or annoying. Or an annoying character being bad. A lot of the time, I’ve seen, it’s just someone taking a character so far away from their original plot that It’s not even the same guy anymore!

What is mischaracterization?

Mischaracterization is the incorrect portrayal or description of something. When a character is thought of in a way that is not intended by the original author. See, this is different from the instance of Misperception, which I find may directly lead to and be caused by Mischaracterization. Do I have to explain the correlation between the two? No. Do I want to? Also no. I still want to, so you guys are getting a link.

I’m SOOO good at explaining things, I know. A whole external link explaining my argument, and I’m continuing to use the term Mischaracterization when it’s clearly misperception that I’m thinking about.

Is Mischaracterization/Misperception the end of the world? In most cases, No. Not at all. Get over it. Except I can’t get over things, and it is the end of the world! Yay!!

What are you even talking about right now, dude?

Good question! I’ve no clue! Joking, joking. This blog is basically the types of mischaracterizations that I see a lot in FANDOM spaces. Heavvyy emphasis on FANDOM spaces.

The first, worst type: He’s bisexual I didn’t know that

I do think this one is the end of the world, yeah. I can get all into how we treat queer men in media as if they’re lesser, and how we portray them as extremely feminine in fandom spaces and how that draws back to societies perception of men and masculinity; however, I’m not going to do that. I prefer keeping this brief (I say at 564 words), so I’ll yell about it some other time.

(Flip this coin: How queer women are treated in media, and how fandom spaces deal with that like it doesn’t matter as much or they force one party into a masculine role, because women can’t possibly be taken seriously.)

The first character that comes to mind is Nico di Angelo. He’s so badly misperceived by fans that I honestly don’t even know how to characterize him myself. Thanks for that one, Rick.

Sorry i just wanted to put a picture of him. Anyways.

He has this incredibly complex character with so many ties to literal fascist Italy (???) with complex storylines and arcs!! Oh and by the way, He just so happens to be queer. “So this means he can be reduced to a blushing hyper-feminine queer teenager?” Uh??????? No????? Can we touch on the terrible, terrible religious guilt he feels?? ??? ?????? (A few more question marks for emphasis, ??????????)

Honorable mention of Jack Twist, the most criminal instance of a character being reduced to their queerness and stripped of all other sort of personality. He’s so much more than what people claim. ILY Jack Nasty. <33

Second, Tragically: OH EM GOSH, ROMANCE!!!

Powerful Women with forced romantic subplots.

KATARA, BABY! RUN GIRL!! RUNN!!

I will always be a hater of their entire romance thing. Sorry not sorry (extra not sorry). This isn’t even from he fandom, since the WRITERS THEMSELVES did it and it just does not make sense for her character. Not saying powerful women can’t have romance in their lives, but the entire subplot was so forced. It was just an excuse for the “Beats the bad guy, gets the girl” trope. Horrible. 0/10. to the chopping block with you.

Okay, okay. I can’t do much about what the writers did, because in the end that’s what happened. I can however complain. And I’m choosing to complain about how the fans, somehow, reduce her ENTIRELY to a motherly friend and Aang’s girlfriend. free her. free her from her prison.

Another few characters worth nothing are Maggie Rhee from The Walking Dead, Mary Linton from Red Dead Redemption 2, and Katniss everdeen.

(Honorable mention of Geralt from Netflix’ Witcher series. don’t know much about that guy but allegedly he’s a powerful woman reduced to a romantic subplot. love that for him.)

Three: I’m a horrible person but I’m also hot!!! So its okay!!!

The most often that i’ve seen this is in men. No comments. Just complaints.

I lied. There are c0mments. so many comments.

I’ve been so angry about Shane (TWD, not SDV) and his existence that I’ve genuinely been unable to sleep.

Also from The Walking Dead. I haven’t met him yet but apparently Negan Smith is a horrible person. I wouldn’t know.

This is just criticizing the lengths people will go to in attempt of excusing.. certain actions within media.

The Last, the WORST mischaracterization: WHERES MY MELANIN@?!!??!?!?!?!

Guys. Guys. Whitewashing is bad. Seriously trying to find a picture of Damian Wayne where he looks how he’s supposed to is incredibly difficult. Also one where he doesn’t look like someone just pulled him out of a lint trap.

For reference, He is described to be Arab and of Chinese descent on his moms side, and pretty pasty on his Dad’s, who is, uh, Bruce Wayne. Ignoring that. He’s BROWN. He’s supposed to be BROWN. WHAT HAPPENED YALL?????

(They just wanted him to look like his dad)

She can’t catch a break. free her.

I don’t think i even WANT to talk about how bad some of her fanarts are. because actually what???

Connie WHYYYYY Do they take your melanin babe you need thatt it makes me sick

A lot of what i’ve seen about her is, and i’m QUOTING here, “Her being brown doesn’t fit my image of her character.” Great! Because she’s not your character!! You’re really weird!

Also him

Okay!!!! I had to cut down like more than half of this because it was getting to be like 1.5k words and I think this one is at a similar length again (??) So!!! I didn’t yell as much as I wanted to but here’s like.. the worst instances of what I STRONGLY dislike in fandom spaces.

Adventure Awaits For This New Blog!

Hi! Hello! Nice to meet you! I’m your host, AJ, and it’s lovely to have you here. This week’s first-ever blog post is about my new club at MSA: Dungeons and Dragons! Alright, alright, settle down. I’m just as excited as you are.

So, to start us off with a simple question, what is D&D? Dungeons and Dragons, often shortened to D&D, is a tabletop role-playing game. Typically, you have a Dungeon Master/Game Master, who is essentially the guide and narrator. Normally, you have 3-6 players who are the main characters of the story! It’s a collaborative storytelling game with creativity and battles. Normally, your group meets once a week to play, or once a month, depending on scheduling.

Sounds cool, right? Well, I, AJ Eubanks, will be the club DM. I’ve been in the D&D community for over 4 years now, but this is my first time DMing. This club is going to be open to all players, whether they’re experienced and know the ropes or are brand new and don’t know what dice to get. I want to create an exciting and fun group for nerds to gather and express themselves through the power of roleplay and storytelling. I will help you with your character creation and even make cheat sheets to help with your class and abilities. I will also provide dice you can use during game sessions (several made by yours truly). Water bottles will also be given out!

So why am I starting a D&D group this year? I wanted to bring the same joy and community that I was given with Dungeons and Dragons in 7^th grade, because I feel like everyone deserves a good, safe place to express themselves and their creativity. I want to bring a place where those who feel like they might not “fit in” can feel comfortable and make friends. So far, I am loving MSA and want everyone else to have a great experience too!

Now, enough with the sappy stuff, let me tell you how the group itself is going to go. We will be doing a one-shot/session 0, which is a pre-game to get familiar with your characters and the basic D&D rules. The one-shot is very simple: The placid waters near a fishing village have been invaded by a huge, aquatic beast. The creature is destroying the ecosystem, attacking villagers, and blocking passage to an island full of healing herbs. The party needs to act quickly, before the creature claims its next victim. It is a very easy start and allows new players to get comfortable with the mechanics and storytelling aspects.

So, to wrap up this nice adventure with a golden bow, I would like to thank you for reading! I appreciate it greatly. Next blog post is going to either be my monthly favorite animal facts or my current fixation on cross-stitch. Pictures coming soon!! 🙂