Song of the Falcon

OTT Gothic Lolita: #0 Why is OTT (over-the-top) gothic lolita so rare? If you do an internet search on OTT lolita fashion, you will quickly see that sweet lolita is by far and away the most popular for OTT outfits. True, there are some OTT gothic outfits, and OTT classic outfits too, but I can't help but feel like gothic lolita is severely underrepresented in over-the-top outfits. Why is this? I've seen people say that OTT gothic lolita tends to look like a pileup of gothic elements until it "turns into a cliche goth mess", but when I look at (for an example from sweet lolita) giant pastel ponytail wigs topped with a collection of "kawaii" hair decorations, well, I can't help but see it as a "cliche sweet mess". And besides, I'm not afraid of being cliche. This is going to be a blog series about what OTT gothic lolita could look like. I'll be providing examples of my suggestions, to show that OTT gothic lolita is possible and ther...

One Hundredth Armistice Day This is the first serious post I've made on this blog. Today is November Eleventh, Two Thousand Eighteen. It is the one hundredth anniversary of the end of World War One. World War One was a truly pointless war. It was fought over nothing, accomplished nothing, and left millions dead, wounded, or broken. After World War One, the poppies that grew in the fields where the war was fought on the Western Front came to be embraced as a symbol of mourning for the soldiers. The beautiful red poppies grew in spite of the warfare, and flourished in the middle of the fighting. Because of this, they came to be used as a symbol of remembrance. As time passed, the meaning of the red poppy expanded to represent the remembrance of those killed, wounded, or traumatized in any and all modern wars. Today, I want to post some images of poppy fields as something to meditate on. When you look at them, remember those who fought and were killed, wounded or traumatized in ...

A Track-By-Track Review of Let There Be Fire by Aviators 1. Painted Ashes (Overture): A lovely, melancholy opening track. While there are no lyrics, its title is a reference to the Painted World of Ariandel: A snowy, dreamlike land hidden inside a painting, its rot waiting to be burned away. The Painted World of Ariandel. This is an appropriate name, as the next song, the first full song on the album, is about Ariandel's ruler: Sister Friede. Rating: 7/10 2. Angel of the Dark: This song is glorious goth rock with distorted yet dreamy guitars accented by bell-like synths and moody percussion. The strings that dominate the bridge are also lovely. The lyrics are about a strange and tragic woman named Sister Friede. Sister Friede presides over her domain. Sister Friede was one of three sisters who founded the Sable Church of Londor, but she had a falling out with her sisters. She left her home for the Painted World of Ariandel, and she became its ruler. When the Pain...

Black Metal Cats! I can't believe I've never seen this before. This is genius. Black Metal Cats is a twitter page that pairs cat photos with angstsy or aggressive lines in the style of black metal lyrics. And it's perfect (purr-fect?). It's just brilliant.

“As Above, So Below” and Bloodborne I realized something about the “Make Contact” gesture from Bloodborne. First, what is the “Make Contact” gesture? This is a gesture in Bloodborne used to communicate with the Great Ones. The Great Ones are powerful, multidimensional, cosmic beings. The description of the Moon Rune, one of many runes that hunters can memorize, tells us that the Great Ones “are sympathetic in spirit, and often answer when called upon”. One way to call upon the Great Ones is to make the “Make Contact” gesture. This gesture consists of raising one arm straight up and holding one arm straight out, resembling a right triangle.                                                                                   Like so. What I realized ...