Coming May 1, 2024: I'm thrilled to say my horror story "Unknown to Science" will appear in Allegory Magazine!

A fame-hungry scientist unwisely uses her girlfriend’s psychic abilities to study the deaths of prehistoric monsters, including our friend Dunkelosteus, shown above.

Allegory is a Biannual Online Magazine of SF, Fantasy & Horror, and this issue will be free to read on the site for 6 months.

DannyeChase.com ~ AO3 ~ Linktree ~ Weird Wednesday writing prompts blog ~ Resources for Writers

Image credit

''English Illustrated Magazine'', 1891-92 Source My interpretation is that this illustration depicts Love (amor) versus Fear (timor). That's all I've got.

Alan's Bread was Burnt to a Crisp 🍞🤯

Dragon #98 (June 1985), with cover art — “Allegory” — by Denis Beauvais.

Shizuroth, part nineteen

Previous parts: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen

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Finally, finally, finally, after the shopping has been done, and his stupid signature leather jacket has been adjusted, and Genesis has given his final bitchy warning about not acting out of character, finally… Sephiroth can have some peace and quiet.

Some day off! Not that the sparring wasn't great, and the clothes were frankly desperately needed, even if he couldn't make his usual colours fit right. All that aside though, he really needs time to himself! There's still so much to figure out! And he really needs to meditate. He needs to sort himself out! And he also, probably, needs to make use of Shinra's archive and records and study some history.

He also really needs a proper mirror in his little single room apartment. The bathroom mirror isn't enough to appreciate the new clothes. To think he used to hate dressing up formally as Shen Yuan. The difference of a few years as Peak Lord makes! And admittedly, Shen Yuan could've never looked anywhere near as good as Sephiroth in a suit like this. Sephiroth, really, looks just too good. Fit for a thousand magazine covers. Which is fitting because he's pretty sure Sephiroth has been on magazine covers back on earth! Which is kinda weird from this perspective! Famous in another world sounds like a damn isekai light novel title. 

Ah, but then his whole life is a mockery of the genre.

Dropping his shopping bags by the wardrobe and his new coats over its door, Sephiroth throws himself on his couch and sighs, running a hand through his long bangs.

He has clothing, his room still needs some improvements and will never be Qing Jing Peak, but it will do. Those were the easiest things to cover, really, and now that they're done, now that he's spent several hours getting used to this body and how it looks and who he's supposed to be… the world he's now part of…

Is he really just going to be Sephiroth from here on out? Is he supposed to forget PIDW and Binghe and Cang Qiong Mountain Sect? Just go on being Sephiroth, and put Shen Qingqiu behind him?

… He really isn't sure he can, actually! In a way, Shen Qingqiu had suited him better than Shen Yuan had. Well, once the OOC restrictions had come off and he was free to be himself, anyway. Being a soldier, a super SOLDIER at that, with alien DNA and the lifeblood of the planet in his guts… 

Resting a hand on his stomach, Sephiroth tugs at the blood red shirt he has on.

It's… really a bit like he's Binghe now. He's an alien hybrid thing here, so it's kind of like being a half demon! Or, ah, weirdly accurate biblical angel? What with the angel wing motif these games have going for themselves… Sephiroth's final form was kinda eldritch, from what he recalls. Wings sticking out every which way. Ridiculous and over the top in a way only Final Fantasy can be!

Damn but he hopes he can grow wings at some point. That would be just so cool, he doesn't even care how ludicrous it would get. The whole thing about wings being cause for existential monster angst is a thing he probably would need to consider, but, seriously. Wings! Yes, please, thank you!

It's the lifeblood of the planet that bothers him the most. Not just because of the oil allegory.

It's also how the local reincarnation cycle works. Though it's more like a spiritual composting rather than straight up reincarnation - but still! The energy pumped into his veins comes from the souls of dead things.

Yeah, he can't ignore that anymore.

Sitting up, Sephiroth gets out of the dress pants he'd bought and the button up shirt, switching back to the more comfortable pyjama pants and t-shirt he started the day with. He takes a moment to put purchases away and tidy his room up to peak Feng Shui before sitting down on his bed.

The energy in his gut is thick, massive and near immovable. He'd read up on Mako as much as there was to be read on his phone. The cycle went something like Lifestream to Mako to Materia - so, in the right conditions, the stuff actually crystallises. So, in a way, Materia is spirit stones! And that's kinda what it feels like in his gut - like his energies are condensing, hardening under pressure… crystallising. Except not into a golden core, nah, just one big shapeless lump of dead-weight-energy.

Well, not on his watch!

Relaxing and breathing in and then slowly out, Sephiroth thinks about all the Cultivation tricks he learned cultivating with damaged spiritual veins and incurable poison. Here he kind of has the opposite problem than with Shen Qingqiu, though - Sephiroth's spiritual veins aren't worn and fragile, they're hardened, like… scar tissue. He really feels a bit burnt on the inside!

Shinra's method was all quantity over quality where it comes to this stuff. Brute forcing their way into a semi-functional magic system, and who cares if it scorches the earth when there's instant profit to be made!

What a truly subtle metaphor.

Well… Shen Qingqiu has worked with worse - and at least there's a lot to work with! So as long as Sephiroth manages to avoid the Qi-deviation of the century, he will have one hell of a golden core! Just gotta not burn himself inside out! No pressure!

Qi Condensation stage - done! He couldn't have done better himself.  Foundation Establishment, however… yeah. Sephiroth really has a great body, but it is not prepared for a Golden Core Formation. His energy flow is all whack.

No wonder he cracked like an egg at the slightest bit of mental pressure… a bit like the original goods Shen Qingqiu, really, with his many Qi-deviations.

Right. Never mind that! He has a lot of work and not all the time in the world, alas. No seclusion training in this world!

Time to get to it.

Sword gays showdown preliminaries

Propaganda:

For Kazuma Asogi:

ok so he’s not CANONICALLY queer but it’s ace attorney. so… he does, however, canonically have a katana! a sword so integral to the plot it gives me shivers just thinking about it. the sword also has a name, it’s karuma (translates roughly to karma) and it gets passed onto the main character, ryunosuke naruhodo (who he calls partner), after kazuma (spoiler alert) dies in case 1-2. except (SUPER spoiler alert!) he isn’t dead! he comes back in case 2-3 and would you look at that he has ANOTHER SWORD, a more european sword (cause he ended up in england after his amnesia brain said he REALLY had to go to england). once he gets his memories back, ryunosuke gives karuma back to him and proceeds to use it to destroy the wax figure of his dead presumed serial killer dad (long story), and now he has, you guessed it, TWO SWORDS! for the next two cases he wears both swords at his sides, and also he broke the tip off of karuma attempting to murder someone (he didn’t actually murder anyone but still) and then turns out karuma’s hilt has the REAL serial killer’s will in it. very VERY important sword. in the end, kazuma gives karuma back to ryunosuke which is really symbolic but that’s besides the point, and they cross swords and it’s a whole big thing. 10/10 gay sword guy.

For Raiden:

Man catches knives with his heels and uses a sword to cut through robots 20 times his size

He's such a tragic character! Raised to be a super soldier from birth and is constantly being exploited by the government. As for the lgbt part him and his rival in the latest game he's in have so much tension it's unreal (gay). I headcanon him as trans too because he has a feminine figure, his voice gets more masculine as the series goes on (testosterone) and his entire body gets replaced with cybernetics (trans allegory...)

For Claudine Saijou:

Fights with a longsword! Should be number 1 for this line alone: “For heroes, there are trials. For saints, there are temptations. For me, there is you”, said to def not her girl crush but rival btw (stream Revue of Soul) Vote for my disaster theatre kid its what she deserves!

Her gay levels are off the charts. She has a homoerotic rivalry with another classmate (Maya Tendo/Tendou Maya) that is integral to her character, as she was always first until she met Maya. She’s also half-French, but that’ll be important later. When she’s looking at pictures of Maya stretching (to study her form of course) and another character asks her what she’s looking at, she panics, blushes, and says none of your business. Her and Maya have a heartfelt conversation while stretching with Claudine’s face pressed into Maya’s chest (between her stomach and breasts). Some art from a magazine has Maya pushing Claudine into a deep stretch, but it looks like something a lot different (Claudine blushing doesn’t help. Also I realized that there’s a lot of gay stuff related to stretching with these two).

During a two on two duel (I know it’s not a duel), they fight together. Not only that, but at one point they hold hands and take a pose typical of romantic partners in dancing. For no reason. They just pause and do it to show off. They aren’t even fighting. Anyways, when they lose, Claudine starts crying, not because she lost, but because Maya lost. So, of course, Maya starts speaking to her in French, with one of the things she says being “You’re cute even when you cry, my Claudine.” All of this is stuff that’s happened in the series (except the magazine thing).

Now for the gay stuff in the movie. Their duel with each other is so dense with sapphic undertones they can hardly be called undertones. For starters, the song that accompanies this revue is called “A Beautiful Person, or Perhaps it is.” While this title is incomplete, the director states that he wanted the watcher to fill it in and this removed the end of the original title. That title is “A Beautiful Person, or Perhaps it is a Love Song.” The duel is framed as a fight between a hero (Maya) and a devil (Claudine). Maya is in an outfit reminiscent of Renaissance Italy and Claudine is in a suit. Thus, Maya signs a contract giving her soul over to Claudine, as is the case with marriage. With her own blood, in the shape of Position Zero (an important symbol in the show), which happens to look like a T, for Tendou. After a few minutes of fighting, Maya disappears and monologues, appearing in a white dress. This means that Maya has signed her soul over to Claudine, and they are now both wearing a white dress and suit. Not beating the gay marriage allegations. Maya finished her monologue with “For heroes, there are trials. For saints, there are temptations. For me, there is a devil.” They continue to fight, Maya proclaiming herself emotionless and empty. Maya then cuts the medallion from Claudine’s chest (they wear medallions and you lose the duel if it gets cut off).

Claudine falls. Maya attempts to claim victory by stabbing her sword into Position Zero, which is then covered by steel doors. Claudine sits up and reveals she has another medallion in her mouth, which she does by sticking out her tongue in a uhhhh. Anyways, after a bit of back and forth, Claudine tells Maya that she’s full of arrogance and pride and envy and longing. She then says that “No matter how many times I die, I will revive! Tendou Maya! To beat you, my rival, into submission!” She then makes her stage entrance, taking Maya’s usual entrance speech and mocking it. She also says “I fill myself with exploding passion, now, and bash it into your heart!” After some talking, Maya makes her stage entrance, taking Claudine’s usual entrance speech and mocking it. Up until now, they have been playing characters, but still letting their own emotions shine through. Now, they are entirely themselves.

They begin to fight again, running downs white aisle before clashing swords, with Maya saying “Such an ugly, emotion drenched appearance-“ and is cut off by Claudine, who says “Show me more, Tendou Maya! Right now, you’re the cutest you’ve ever been!” To which Maya responds “I’m always cute!”  The song starts up again (duels are accompanied by songs), with Maya singing “With a grin of deception I’ll tear this piece of cloth.” Deception in Japanese is mayakashi, a reference to Maya’s name. Maya then sings “I want to show you my feelings becoming dyed in black.” Black is Kuro in Japanese. Claudine, in Katakana, is Kurodine, with her nickname being Kuro, so that line could also be interpreted “I want to show you my feelings becoming dyed in you.” Claudine then sings “Only me, always, forever,” before they sing in unison “You only need to look at me,” as they lock blades. Some fighting happens and they’re falling through the sky, holding onto each others clothes and Claudine says “Only I can make you lay everything bare!” To which Maya responds “I’ll expose my everything, on the stage!” Claudine shoots back with “There’s a partner you can expose everything to, on the stage!” At this point, there’s a short time with independent vocals for Maya and Claudine in addition to their talking. Maya has been singing “If I’m on the stage, if I’m in front of you,” for the last two lines of dialogue. Claudine sings “Be it ugly or beautiful,” as Maya sings “I will expose, anything and everything, all of me, all of me.” As this happens, Maya is saying “We love the stage,” which is continued by Claudine saying “And we can’t part from the stage!” Maya calls them both “Pathetic clowns!” To which Claudine corrects “No, rivals!” Maya says “If you’re there, I have to strive higher!” Claudine says “You make me even more beautiful! Maya!” Maya then yells “Claudine!” Claudine yells “For heroes, there are trials!” Maya continues “For saints, there are temptations!” Then, as one, their swords crossed, faces inches from each other, yell “For me, there is you!” Over top of this, their voices sing a line in unison: “Forever and ever, I’d like to cross swords with you.”

Claudine’s sword stabs through the contract, through the Position Zero in blood, which may be Maya’s family name, and Maya says as an aside “Saijou Claudine… You are beautiful.” Claudine cuts the medallion from Maya’s chest, finally beating her rival.

Summing up the whole case of censorship that Ichinose (Suletta's voice actress) suffered by "Gundam Ace" and by the official profile of "Gundam Witch From Mercury".

It is quite common to have dialogues between the voice actors of the anime, the main ones being: Lynn who plays Miorine, and Ichinose who plays Suletta. And it's not uncommon for shipper moments to happen with them, they've always been very supportive of the SuleMio couple, especially Lynn.

Since the anime ended, it is common to find Lynn and Ichinose talking about the SuleMio marriage, and in one of the interviews they even mentioned a term that is an allegory for babies, insinuating that the couple may have plans for the future.

"Gundam Ace" is a magazine dedicated to the franchise, and as "Gundam Witch From Mercury" is the most recent anime, it is obvious that several of the issues focus on this anime. And in the most recent edition that even has a print of SuleMio embracing wearing wedding rings on the cover, they included one of those lines from Ichinose: in her speech she comments on Suletta and Miorine's wedding. But in the digital edition they deleted the word marriage.

All this obviously generated a lot of complaints from the anime fandom, especially from the LGBT part of the fandom.

Today we had the official apology from "Gundam Ace" itself and from the official profile of "Gundam Witch From Mercury", but different from what I thought at first (I have no knowledge of Japanese), they didn't apologize for the censorship and said that the newly released digital edition was wrong, and yes it was literally the opposite of that.

The official profiles apologized for the inclusion of the interview claiming that the ending of SuleMio: whether they got married or not is something interpretive, and that it would not be correct to include a speculative phrase treating it as 100% confirmed.

Since the first episode, it has been said that same-sex marriage is common, which even surprises Suletta.

On many occasions, Suletta and Miorine express a desire to marry each other, and on one occasion Suletta explicitly says that she wants to marry Miorine in matching dresses and buy wedding rings together.

And in the final episode Miorine is called sister-in-law by Eri who is Suletta's "sister", and the two women are shown having matching rings and treating each other like family.

But now all this is now interpretive? That if a woman marries another woman, wearing matching rings and being called sister-in-law by the sister of that woman she married isn't enough if they don't see her kissing her wife or having sex with her? Rings aren't enough, words aren't enough and everything is nothing more than an interpretation of the vision of the voice actresses or the public when the couple is not formed by a man and a woman?

A few weeks ago a shoujo author complained about the relationship between Suletta and Miorine, in her view there were not enough actions or words to confirm that there were romantic feelings between the two women, and that in fact there were only romantic feelings between the boys with them. At one point Guel declares his feelings for the second time for Suletta, and she rejects him without hesitation for the second time. Guel uses the term "precious person" to confess to Suletta, and she has this reaction:

But for this shoujo author it doesn't matter that literally a woman admitted to having feelings for another woman using the same term that a boy used to admit to having feelings for her, that doesn't count, that's not normal, that's not romantic, it's just interpretive when It's a woman talking about another woman.

When he first came out in 1938, in terms of how his character was portrayed, Superman wasn’t just unique and captivating because of his amazing powers and charming personality. He was by many accounts of entertainment at that time…an exception to the norms

One of the many ways Action Comics #1 changed everything: The fictional concepts of ‘aliens among us’, ‘Being with Godly Powers’ and how they’re combined with the Pulp Hero which led to Superman.

The thing is

A lot of these stories of beings with godly powers beyond those of mortal men would often be portrayed as an antagonistic to outright villainous force meant to horrify their victims with the overarching mantra of Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely. It’s a trend we seen play out a lot of times in our current media when beings who either gain or often times posses godlike powers are either villainous last obstacles for our hero, their greatest challenge or as like seen sometimes in shows including Star Trek, beings of thousand of years old who long detached themselves from the affairs of beings considered ‘lesser’ than them with little to no interference, meant to be observed. There’s certainly a probably chance of characters like these being the norm even for stories in pulp novels, magazines and other media back then in the 30s

More telling since they had popularity even lasting beyond Action Comics #1’s first printing, if that superpowered being has alien origins, they’re those that usually either don’t understand the concept of morality as we lowly humans do and utterly so alien and abomination in mere appearance, looking at them directly can drive some to madness a la HP Lovecraft whose works find routine publication from as early as 1908 and only ended in 1936 or in the case of say War of the Worlds who had a very notable radio adaptation in 1938 (which caused a bit of mass panic due to timing of people tuning in their radios before announcements and title introductions were made) they might understand that morality and they given to destroying our civilization anyways in conquest as an allegory for Imperialism at that time

In both of these types of stories, any being even those with a humanoid appearance are seen as others or outside forces that are threats to humanity and especially the average Joe and they were stories that came out prior to Action Comics #1. Prior also to that comic, sure they were some superheroes usually in either mythology like Hercules or pulp heroes a la the Phantom

Superman when he first came out was an exception to all of that

For a simple reason, he could’ve been on of those aliens who were detached from the reality around them by their age and wisdom, an invading ruthless conquerer like HG Wells’ Martians, a abomination who mere acts of simply existing in our realm invokes dread, despair and fear of what unknown entities he can be linked to that overpower us lowly humans a la The Colour Out of Space or even the faceless one Nylarathotep or even a man who when gaining his great power eventually descends into utter madness and villainy for their own selfish gains which ironically was what the duo of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster had in mind for their planning stages of this brand new creation they wanted to share.

Even for a heroic example, Clark could’ve simply been a simple man with a bright costume and a gimmick in an attempt to cash in the small notable trend the Phantom had set up into his adventures coming out a mere years before Action Comics

And yet Superman wasn’t any of that. He was simply a humanoid alien immigrant who was raised by a kindly couple and from an early age decides to use his newfound godlike powers and incredible abilities not to frighten, not to be detach, not to conquer….he just wants to help. He’s a Champion of the Oppressed, a living marvel dedicated to helping those in need.

All of those other examples of what people had for character prior to Action Comics #1 are what they are….

Superman Can. And he can do that, cause he was and still is the exception

As soon as the discourse of the campus becomes a libidinally fraught fantasy about children to whom something might happen, we find ourselves on the theoretical terrain mapped by the Lacanian theorist Lee Edelman two decades ago in No Future: Queer Theory and the Death Drive (2004). As I have previously argued in this magazine, in the discourse of the campus the student turns out to be a type of the Child—the organizing trope of the heterosexist ideology Edelman calls “reproductive futurism.” Reproductive futurism is, among other things, an ideology of security: the sacrosanct Child, “the telos of social order, …the one for whom that order is held in perpetual trust,” must be protected at any cost; the naturalness of heterosexuality and the gender binary must never be questioned. Katehi’s narration of the primal fantasy of the campus exhibits reproductive futurism at its most histrionic. In the imagined body of the “very young girl,” collective anxieties about the Child and about social reproduction—always raced; note, again, the specter of miscegenation hanging over the narrative—are given pornographic form.

And then thought stops abruptly: whenever there is a risk that something might happen to the Child, the time for thinking is over. It is time for action, reaction. Time to call the police. That actual UC Davis students, engaged in an act of passive resistance, were hurt as a result of this frenzy to protect the “very young girls” of UC Davis belies the phantasmatic status of the latter.

Viewed through the lens of Edelman’s argument in No Future, the fantasy of the campus appears as an allegory of the nation-state. The future of the nation itself is taken to be at stake in what happens “on campus.” Both nation and campus are supposed to be securely bounded, to keep safe the Child; in both cases, this safety proves impossible to guarantee, and this ineluctable exposure—to violence, to liability, to non-affiliates—spikes the panic. When there is “campus unrest,” panic flares because the campus is supposed to be where unrest does not happen, where the Child is safe from reality. Panic nudges both campus and nation toward ever more extreme, ever more militarized practices, aesthetics finally subordinated to terror. Borders, checkpoints. An especially shrill Columbia Business School professor has taken to demanding, on any media platform he can access, that students who chant “Free Palestine!” should be expelled and banned from the Columbia campus.

The Child must be defended. So, enemies must be banished. So, a camera must be installed. So, a wall must be built. But let it be covered in ivy!

—Samuel P. Catlin, "The Campus Does Not Exist: How campus war is made," Parapraxis Magazine. Emphasis mine.

"he deadnames bruce to his face and is the only one who struggled with it. he kept clays underwear." WHAT HAPPENS IN TROLLS

bruce's birth name was spruce, but at some point between leaving the band and reuniting with his brothers he changed his name to "bruce" to put his old life behind him. jd keeps calling him spruce, and is the only one to do so. clay even likes bruces new name, and calls it fancy, and angrily corrects jd when he calls bruce the wrong name (which bruce thanks him for!). a lot of people see this as an allegory to being trans with family members that dont accept your new name

during the brozone days, clay was designated "the fun one" (and desperately wanted to be taken seriously, but thats a separate issue). one of the things jd forced clay to do to live up to his title was to wear a specific pair of underwear. jd called them funderdraws, like underwear but 76% more fun! clay hated them and asked if he had to keep wearing them. jd told him to keep practising his dance moves. clay was also photographed at least ONCE in his underwear, for a MAGAZINE COVER, and while were never given an exact age for anyone in brozone, its generally accepted clay wasnt any older than 16. if trolls wasnt a kids movie people would see this (and likely bruces treatment) as an obvious allegory to the sexual exploitation of child stars

when the band break up, clay takes off the "funderdrawers" to symbolise him leaving the entire band behind. jd kept the underwear for 20 years and its the only way they find clay when they had no leads to find him. even branch says its disgusting that jd kept them. its very weird and literally no one talks about it

I'm not a My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic fan. Which is to say, I never bothered with it and never cared for it one way or the other.

But half of my friend group are horse show fans and I have absorbed so much about the show through osmosis, fanfic readings and select watch-togethers, that I have this weird, warped, allegory-of-the-cave-esque view of the show that I honestly really vibe with.

The Pinkie Pie I know has been reflected through so many mirrors and passed through so many filters that she has transformed into something completely new, yet recognisably Pinkie.

I know not what Applejack struggles with in the day-to-day, because none of the scarce material I have consumed, canon and not, talk of her inner world.

Rainbow Dash's voice is both the excitable, bold and throaty voice of her show voice actor, and the equally excitable but simple-minded affectation of her Rainbow Dash Presents version.

I love Rarity with all my heart, but is she the real Rarity? Or simply her idea? An equine Dulcinea? Nevertheless, I've been trying to train my Rarity impression. It's like posh, but also fun?

I don't have much to say about Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy, but I am certain I will as time goes by. I will consume fragments of many different Twilights Sparkle and Flutters Shy until I have a complete image of them in my head. Not unlike that scene in The Truman Show (1998) where Truman collects magazines to create a collage of the portrait of the woman who changed his life.

So am I a fan of the horse show after all? I can't in good conscience claim that. That would be stealing valour from the people who care beyond the superficial aspects and engaged deeply with the material. But I'm happy to cheer along, like the kid being brought to a football match by their parents. Except I care a vast amount less about football than I care about MLP. I could get through the MLP movie (it has neat songs). I could never get through a football match. Alas.

I do unironically love Vylet Pony though, like, oh my god have you listened to Carousel? that shit is fucking tight. It slaps, it slaps me wholly and utterly. I've been listening and relistening to it for three days now. The album is a journey, you HAVE to listen to it.

Ghosts alternative ending that’s morbidly cliché wizard-of-oz-esc but imma leave it here because I recon it has potential:

Alison wakes up from a coma (the final scene) and the ghosts/house were technically imagined but they represent people she sees in life as a life/death blend of some kinda generational ‘life goes on’ allegory.

There’s a magazine in the waiting room with the loose women on the cover (only Mary’s one of em)

There’s also a stern looking woman at reception which is Lady B.

As she exits the hospital there’s a hippie chap tryna advertise flyers with conspiracies and alternative medicine. That’s Robin (ft the Larry Rickard Destiny’s Angel voice)

As they’re driving home she spots a variant of the Captain on the street selling poppies & dressed in uniform. A girl buys one, smiling (it’s Kitty)

She also spots a guy in a long dark coat coming out of a library (Thomas)

They’re home (in that flat from the pilot) - unnerved, Alison turns on the TV to highlights from a commons debate (Julian is the PM) & the news is talking about another scandal.

She changes sides to Pat presenting blue Peter.

A final click & it’s Humphrey in an old Tudor cathedral in some sort-of interview.

All of these snippets are flashed between the modern variant & the ghost version in a glitchy/fragmented fashion. The scene ends with Alison on the couch, the shot zooms out to reveal the ghosts watching her from behind the sofa.

#1 ONEW, Circle - The 1st Album

While it’s somewhat criminal to think that 15 years after ONEW’s debut with SHINee in 2008 we only just received his first full Korean album, the singer-songwriter himself would say that now was the perfect time for Circle. A musical journey unlike anything released this year, ONEW shared that he had attempted to record the album’s title track before dropping his Dice EP in early 2022, but felt it wasn’t at the level of perfection it deserved and held onto the song. ONEW then involved himself in every aspect of Circle‘s production process, from meticulous mixing and mastering to tuning, beats, recording and mastering, attesting to the singer-songwriter’s dedication to artistic expression.

The single “O (Circle)” opens the album with an intriguing blend of electronica and strings, while its gospel-tinged chorus emphasizes lyrics about the circular nature of life and how memories, feelings and dreams are all fleeting. The 10 tracks on Circle develop unique transformations from start to finish: the breezy melodies in “Cough” are paired with loneliness-themed lyrics and a melancholy instrumental breakdown, while “Rain on Me” starts with aggressive acoustic guitar strumming before transitioning into an atmospheric, percussive ballad. Sweet surprises abound, too: ONEW scats on the jazz-rap hybrid “Caramel” and gives a glimpse into his indie-rock side on “Parachute.”

The album’s effortless flow is anchored by ONEW’s famously solid yet understated vocals. As Circle concludes with the tender piano ballad “Always” which addresses themes of loyalty and resilience, the listener wonders if it’s an allegory for ONEW’s public journey through health challenges, including vocal cord surgery. Even without any writing credits on Circle, ONEW’s presence is undeniably felt in this seamless collection that boasts an emotional depth brought on by 15 years in the game. That’s the kind of introspection you can’t rush or doctor through A&R but need to cycle through and arrive at when the moment is right. From scheduling this album’s release to the messages on the final track, time is definitely on ONEW’s side to deliver such a project. 

#1 ONEW, Circle - The 1st Album!!!!

Congratulations Jinki on having your album listed as the #1 kpop album of the year by Billboard Magazine! AS IT DESERVES!

reading doctor who episode guides and seeing the cowardice the foolishness the tastelessness on display from these writhing pitiful worms who think their bad taste their lack of an opinion their deferral to the results of magazine best of lists qualifies them to say things like oh i hate the cheetah people ruined doctor who oh i hate when its weird oh you should skip something cuz the costumes are silly and the actings over the top like sorry if you cant handle doctor who at her candy colored fascism allegories and guys in silly suits oh you hate the giant snake monster that ruined it for you? why do you even watch doctor who PATHETIC