Nooks & Crannies #7 · 6:44pm Mar 23rd, 2016
Oh dear. March is ending.
I should've guessed 2016 was bound to be fast, especially after knowing it was going to be a leap year. 
It's my blog, I don't need to show myself out!!
Anyways, enough bad jokes. Time for the weekly Crooks & Nannies!!
Still my blog!!!
The Pick Of The News
It's pretty hard to understand what we've come to when I looked at the news and saw what happened in Brussels.
Much like Paris last year, the Belgian capital was hit by the IS right after the capture of Salah Abdeslam in the suburbs, one of the people involved in the Paris attacks. This attack involved three suicide bombers: two of them attacked the Brussels Airport while the other attack took place at one of the metro stations. As of writing this, at least 34 people were killed with 271 others critically injured.
To all those who are in Belgium or know any friends or relatives living there, this message may not do as much as I would wish, but my thoughts go out to you. Stay safe over there and remember, don't ever give in, no matter what. What they do would not make sense and they never will, but in the end, that is what they all are trying to achieve. They will try their best to confuse, to instill fear and hatred, but I know as a human being that we are much better than that. We are so much more than that. I will never give in to such derision; I'm certain that many of you would do the same.
My Little Study
Scary ponitomes time!
babytails was the sort of horror that I would indulge in. It stars Sweetie Belle who one night discovers that her tail was, for lack of a better description, becoming diseased. She then finds out from Rarity that in a week, she was about to shed her tail; it was a process that every single pony would have to go through and it will be painless as long as she follows the rules.
I recalled when I read it the first and second time, I felt a little squeamish. Kitsune really did a good job of illustrating the changes that were happening throughout the week that Sweetie Belle had to toil through and left out just enough to keep us guessing, even at the end. I personally loved it when an author uses what's not there to their advantage; it really makes much more of a provoking read than most people would believe. In addition to that, since Diamond Tiara was going through the same process, we get to see the changes happening to her as well, albeit with notable differences. Either way, both sides made me squirm a little in my seat, which only makes what I'm about to mention next a little weirder.
What really earned this story's creepy award was how the adults in the story were acting around it: Rarity treats it almost a little too lightly, even though she was completely ready when it comes to preparing what Sweetie Belle was about to go through. Cheerilee gave the class a lesson about it and even provided handouts that has the 'rules' mentioned in them. Rainbow Dash, however, differed in the sense that she demanded Sweetie Belle to follow the rules and avoided the questions that the filly had to ask. The fact that this was all shown in Sweetie's perspective did little to alleviate the tension that builds as the story progresses, which will then culminate into an understanding of why it is what it is.
Of course, apart from it being creepy, I find the exchange between the adults and children really interesting. If you were told to follow the rules without never knowing why, would you do it? How much were we told to just 'follow' something for the best? Would you 'follow' something just because someone told you to, or would you reject that? In this story, we see the outcomes of both choices, we learn why it happens and, though the process on both ends was gratifyingly horrific, it was the result that really struck the nail down.
babytails was horror done masterfully and done right at a Lovecraftian degree. I do not recommend this with any meal of the day, especially one that concerns seafood. If you read it, you'd know why.
Updates
Just got out the latest chapter of Mamihlapinatapai and with it, the final plot points I needed to nail down the story. Do know that if you have been an extra careful reader with a keen eye in the seven chapters, all the hints were there to reveal the answer to the mystery. It will be much more complex to unravel that with my writing, but fingers crossed I'll get the eighth entry out by the weekend again. Hopefully, there wouldn't be blackouts and such distractions to ever bother me.
As I mentioned before, I finally have been making progress on Worlds, though admittedly it's coming in a little slower than one would hope. For the other stories, they're at a complete halt. I haven't started on any of them yet, but I did have the ideas on what progress is there to make already, so be ready once Mamihlapinatapai finishes!
Music Of The Week
The Epic
Kamasi Washington
Album, released on May 5th, 2015Jazz, Saxophone
American saxophonist Kamasi Washington's title for his debut album does not hold any punches. Simply put, The Epic is epic, with powerful beats, a broad and eclectic choice of arrangements and an outstanding maelstrom of wonderful instruments. Like many of the others I featured here, it is one album that I would recommend listening to from start to finish, though seeing how long the songs actually are, which clocks in at almost 3 hours, it will be quite a long ride. Prepare yourselves: get something to work on while this turns on and you'd be speeding down the jazz freeway before you even realize it!
So, that's it for Nooks & Crannies #7!
Before I go, I want to add in a little somewhat of an interaction to the whole My Little Study thing.
Basically, if you have something that you want me to really look into — be it a story, a show, a movie, an album, anything really — just leave a comment or PM me if you think that it's something deserving of attention. I'm pretty open-minded to any suggestions and I would, of course, credit you for introducing it to me. Do note that it may take a while for me if I did not encounter it before, so it may not come out immediately. So if you find something you think best deserves at least a special mention, lemme know and I'll be glad to have a look!
If you have an opinion on anything about the things I've mentioned, please don't hesitate to comment about it below. I would love to have a chat about it. Also, once again, if you have something to recommend, leave me a note! With that, I shall finish it up with a lovely rendition of a tea party! WritingSpirit, signing out!
