While Cronenberg has several films inspired by or adapting the work of various authors (Dead Ringers being based on Twins by Bari Wood, Crash being an adaptation of the J. G. Ballard novel, and Naked Lunch being an adaptation of William S. Burroughs's novel of the same title), Videodrome is an original work of his. Despite being released over forty years ago, many of the themes of Videodrome ring true today, notably the line "We live in overstimulated times". It follows the story of the president of a sensationalist television station as he searches for something new and shocking to broadcast, finds a plotless show consisting of people being tortured and murdered, and gets involved in the world of people who believe the way to solve the cultural decay of the western world is to kill anyone obsessed with sex and violence. While the plot of the film itself is surreal and feels like a fever dream, its visual spectacle and imagery is unique and striking. The surreal nature of the film lends itself to the recurring elements of dreams and hallucinations, and the boundary between reality, the mind, and the digital.

This film has been a major inspiration for my art since the first time I saw it. The perverse obsessions with violence and sci-fi surrealist setting investigate things I've always been interested in, and the look of practical effects being not quite hyper-realistic but not quite uncanny either, and using that to create bizarre scenes of corrupted, distorted flesh are not only awesome in the literal definition of the word, but grotesquely beautiful.

The duck stamp competition is judged in two days. The first day is deciding who will advance to the second round. During the first day the judges decide if they will vote "in" or "out" if the piece gets at least 3 ins it advances to the next day. The second day of judging, the ducks get a numerical score from each judge and the duck with the highest score wins.

Kira Sabin has always been "real" on social media with their struggles. I like following them because they never portray that working on art is easy. I think they are definitely an inspiration for me.

I find Toshiko Takaezu’s ceramic works uniquely fascinating. While most of us tend to think of ceramic objects as solely functional, Takaezu challenged that assumption by creating her signature massive, often rotund closed vessels solely for aesthetic purposes. The Japanese-American ceramicist from Hawaii even drew inspiration from her travels to her home country of Japan, which she then applied to her abstract artwork. According to the Toshiko Takaezu Foundation's website, she saw “correspondences between Abstract Expressionism and the spiritually infused traditions of East Asia, such as calligraphy and the tea ceremony. She combined these cross-cultural influences into a powerfully resolved synthesis”. What I find most inspiring about Takaezu is that she didn’t hesitate to take risks and experiment with her creative processes, something I strive for myself as an artist and budding ceramicist.

(Spoilers from here :) PLEASE READ THIS I AM SO NORMAL ABOUT THIS MANGAKA)

There are three species in this mangaka who represent the bones, the flesh, and the spirit/soul of the human body. The gem people are the representation of bones, shown through the lack of natural death and the lack of empathy. As Phos tries to alter themselves, they collect bits and pieces of the other species. They have a leg from the flesh and the eye from the spirit/soul. Slowly, they continue to alter themselves to find out more about their world but they lose who they originally were. There is so much about the depth of Phos that people have compared it to many things, such as Icarus, Judas to Jesus, Lucifer’s betrayal, the hanged man, and the sin of sloth, just to name a few.

If you don’t wanna read the entire mangaka, they did get part of the series animated, but I would highly recommend reading the mangaka. And I would also recommend looking at the analysis of Phos’ character in this TikTok post. https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTMLj54Wh/

DON'T WATCH A VIDEO ESSAY, JUST PLAY IT, TRUST ME!

also, im crashing out, the tiktok that i linked for land of the lustrous got taken down and i cannot find it anymore.

The cohesive artistic visions that Brand New brings to all of their full-length albums is extremely inspirational for me, as is the dark and moody atmosphere. I'm especially compelled by the way Jesse Lacey portrays guilt across his work, as it's something I'm interested in depicting in my own art as well.

Van Gogh's battle with mental illness is what truly had me incapsulated in his work. Especially after seeing his work in the MFA and reading the letters his friend sent to Van Gogh's brother updating him, I saw a different side to this artist that most don't get to see. I also find it interesting that he was not recognized as a good artist when he was alive. Only after he passed away, his art became recognized as something more than just paintings. Also the way that he uses the oil paint amazes me. A lot of his paintings aren't very blended which is something I hadn't considered to do while using oil paints. In general I am a huge fan of not only his work, but the stories behind it as well.

James Turner previously worked at the studio Genius Sorority for 8 years, a team most famous for developing the game Pokemon Colosseum on the GameCube. He landed a job at Game Freak in between the release of Pokemon Platinum and Pokemon Black and White. He would go on to create some of what I would call some of the most interesting and unique designs in the series, such as Golurk, Trevenant, and Obstagoon, as well as act as the art director for Pokemon Sword and Shield.

He left Game Freak in 2022 to start his own game studio called All Possible Futures and released a successful game called The Plucky Squire.

I really admire how much care they have in this game. They focus a lot on the story and it shows. Each of the characters’ stories are very touching and it’s a very nice game.

I grew up with Burton's books, notably Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, The Little House, Katy and the Big Snow, and Life Story. My favorite out of these has always been Life Story, which is a natural history of life on earth presented to the reader as if it's a theater production. The colorful illustrations and vivid descriptions of ancient plants and animals were a significant contributing factor to my lifelong interest in natural history and the natural world in general.

It was only a few years ago that I discovered Burton's work with the Folly Cove Designers. They printed with linoleum blocks, mostly on textiles, and mostly creating repeating patterns. However, there are some Burton prints that are more illustrative. Many of her works and the works of the other Designers are now housed at the Cape Ann Museum. The designs are beautifully intricate, yet simplistic enough to be successfully carved into and printed from linoleum.

Epithet Erased on it's own is kind of just my favorite thing. It's a story in world where about 1 in 5 people have an Epithet, a random word attached to their soul that gives them powers based on how they interpret that word. The main character is 12-year-old Molly Blyndeff, who's Epithet is Dumb. It's the best kind of story, one that knows how to jump back and forth between silly and serious at the drop of a hat while still keeping you engaged.

Honestly, I can't even really name a particular way Smooth McGroove has inspired me, but his videos have always brought me joy. I remember my dad showing me his covers of Pokemon songs when I was a kid. I do sing nowadays, but I'd say Smooth was just one of many factors pushing towards passion.

Dana Terrace decided to make this show after Disney wouldn’t allow her to expand on her story of “The Owl House” because of the queer representation in it. Guinevere, or Gwen for short, is a play on Disney princesses and is used to mass produce merchandise for cash grabs.

It’s about half an hour to watch the whole pilot. You should watch it. :)

The magical world of Witch Hat Atelier is radically inclusive and diverse compared to many famous anime and manga series, featuring a rich cast of characters from different ethnic backgrounds (not real countries, since the story doesn't take place in the real world), disabled characters, and queer themes. Shirahama's vocal support of the LGBT+ community as well as her thoughtful narratives on disability and accessibility make her work particularly beloved among readers.

Now that I am older I focus less on the story and more on the artwork that was used to create it. When I started to get into gauche painting, I learned that some of the backgrounds in the movies are gauche paintings. This movie brings me a lot of nostalgia and brings back happy memories from my childhood.

What I specifically liked about the game was the quality of the story and how much depth was added to it, even though its core is just a puzzle co-op game.

The main story is about the two children’s weird dynamic with their town and their own parents, but also touches on exceeding past the expectations placed onto them by others. The game also expresses nostalgia through the contrast from their life in the past and present.

If unaware, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is an anthology series following the bloodline of Johnathan Joestar as they grapple with Dio Brando and the consequences of his vampiric shenanigans. Each arc or "part" takes place in a different time period, often with an entirely new cast of characters. While it does maintain an over-arcing story, each part is largely self-contained. Couple that with it initially being on a weekly release schedule, and you'll find that behind the initial shock value hooks and badass climaxes, the characters can be surprisingly flat and spends a bit too long just being... gross. Not the body horror gross, the obnoxiously sexual gross.

This series has run for almost 40 years now. While Araki briefly tried to end the series after part 6, he seems to have become exceedingly attached to this series. In an interview in 2022, Araki said, "If JoJo ends up being the only notable series I work on, I'm okay with that. You know how there are pottery makers who still work even after turning 90? That's something I admire. I'd like to keep writing JoJo forever." I think to Araki, JoJo is his little writer's playground where he can make whatever he fancies at the time. I may question his process at times, but I respect his dedication to his craft. Part 4 is the best one btw.

Recently, I have started a story called Where There Is Evil by Sandra Brown, and the macabre and raw tale I think overall influences my outlook on the world and furthers my own literary knowledge.

This is an artist I found on Instagram, and I just enjoy the style, use of color, and rich environmental details.

My favorite part is the musical incorporation. The music and the songs have a special place in my heart and I can’t think of something that enacts the same feeling as it. Another part that I absolutely love is that each character has a different soundtrack to signify their personality: Pearl has a piano and I believe Amethyst has a bass, just to name a couple. Not to mention, the soundtracks for when the characters fuse combines the instruments. It’s very admirable how there was so much love and care for the music.

The dynamic, graphical and colorful nature of Mucha's work reminds me of the "vectorflourish" style of graphics that were popular in the late 2000's. DIY web design is something that also inspires me, even and especially when it's a little silly or tacky. Mucha's work, however, uses flourishes like that in a way that's neither silly nor tacky, but tasteful and elegant.

The gameplay is incredibly fun as it features the best mechanic in any RPG: action commands. Nothing breaks up the potential monotony of basic RPG combat better than letting me push more buttons. It also wouldn't be a Like A Dragon game without an absurd amount of minigames and side quests to do around town.

The story and setting is also immaculate. I consider it the premier example of the urban RPG, an idea originated by EarthBound. Like A Dragon is fantastic at highlighting certain "unseemly" groups in society (criminals, sex workers, homeless people), but usually not caricaturizing them. Often it will initially present them in very archetypical ways before going deeper and discussing the real circumstances that put them in that position. Ichiban himself I will put on a pedestal as the best protagonist ever written. His somewhat convoluted backstory is perfectly tied into his personality, worldview, and role in the story, and he's simply a joy to watch.

All in all Yakuza: Like A Dragon is a masterpiece of a game. I recently replayed it just to write a paper about it's main villain, and I'm glad I get to keep talking about it for a grade.