collecting: #5
King Arthur and pop perfection
Legendborn by Tracy Deonn
Spoilers for book one below
Art from mageofspace924 on Tumblr
Look, I’m behind the times. I’ve had this book on my TBR since it came out almost six years ago, but I was saving it for the proper moment and mood.
If you don’t know, Legendborn is a YA urban fantasy series about a black girl who attends Carolina after her mother’s death and discovers that there is a secret society of demon fighters that are magically tied to King Arthur and his round table of knights. It’s a fall 2020 backlist title, and there are three (of four?) books out right now.
It’s exactly as fantastic as it sounds.
Truthfully, I’ve been reading this book and this series very slowly. I was listening to the audio and then jumped into the ebook to read it faster, and the last chunk of book one had my jaw on the floor. It’s somehow so quintessentially YA in a way that reminds me just how it felt to read The Mortal Instruments when I was seventeen, and yet it’s more mature and more complex than other YA fantasy I’ve read in the past. It’s a complicated magic system (that’s the main critique you’ll see in reviews), but it’s a series that comments on grief, on racism, on family and ancestry. It’s deep.
I’ve always been indifferent towards Arthurian legend - it’s fun when done well, but it’s never been my special interest - and yet while I was reading this book, I started to get really invested, so much so that it led me to more Arthur content (below). But still, none of those other explorations compare to the way Deonn intertwines her own history, her own Blackness, into this legend. It takes a white man’s mythology, flips it on its head, and does its best to convince you that it never belonged to the white man in the first place. And convince me it did.
I’m so curious to see where this story goes (I’m a Nick-Sel-Bree poly-queer-ship truther, argue with the wall), and I cannot wait to see Bree come into her own as this series progresses.
The Sword in the Stone (1963)
Stills from cyberbabka on Tumblr
If you’ve never seen this ancient Disney classic, I cannot recommend it enough. (Although, stop watching old animated Disney movies on Disney+ because you’re not only supporting a vile corporation but, almost more importantly, the digital remasters that they have on streaming are an offense to the art of animation.) I had to turn this on because of Legendborn - because this movie is all about Arthur just before he pulls the sword out of the stone.
The film is gorgeous, 2-D animation from the 60s at its best, but it’s also endearing and silly and fun. Merlin is an old wizard who knows all, even the future of electricity and planes and Bermuda, and Arthur is just a boy training to be a squire. It has a cranky talking owl, an evil witch with purple hair, and an assortment of animals causing trouble.
I can’t say why I became so attached to it as a kid. It was one of the first Disney DVDs I bought for myself when I came of age. It has a special place in my lineup with Atlantis and The Great Mouse Detective. It’s just such a comforting film to me.
“dirty wedding dress” by Bleachers
So, I already wrote a whole piece inspired by this song, although it’s mostly a twenty minute rant about why I’m so angry about AI, but I am forcing it upon you again because it’s just that good. It’s on its way to becoming my top played song of the year, and I am really stoked to get to hear it live in October. (Even if Bleach is playing at the new Nashville venue that is owned by Live Nation boooo…)
Something about this song feels very old school. Like something Billy Joel would put out. The lyrics are fast, Jack manages to fit a lot of commentary into one five minute song, but the song still manages to be coherent and effective. I think what I like about it is that it channels a lot of anger and frustration into something fun and freeing. Like yes, I’m sick of it all and no, we can’t really do anything, but I made a promise to be true to myself and to call out all the assholes who are making life work, and that’s something to celebrate.
I can’t do much about my frustration right now, but I can scream this song in my car, so that has to count for something.
Amanda Lee Tromp
from Camp Notes
If you aren’t following Amanda Lee Tromp, I need you to do that immediately. I stumbled on her work a few weeks ago, and it has brought me insurmountable joy ever since.
Camp Notes is a project Amanda started in 2025 as a way to explore USAmerican girls’ summer camps on film. She’s documented a number of different camps, and the photos she’s shared from her experience are absolutely incredible.
From a photography standpoint, they make me want to eat my own arm. The film colors are stunning, but the composition and subjects themselves are equally breath-taking. Looking at these images makes me so insanely jealous, and yet they also are spurring me to work harder on my own craft.
Mostly I think they’re so moving because they feel like you’ve just been transported to The Parent Trap (1998). I never got to go to an all-girls summer camp - probably because that was never my vibe - although one time, me and my mom did go to a camp for a week where we learned how to do archery and went on hikes and ate in a mess hall. The feelings in these images take me back to that experience, but more than that, they remind me what it felt like to be a young girl.
The images look like they belong in a 1990s catalogue for L.L. Bean, which is most definitely high praise, and I think I’d pay good money to buy the photobook so I can flip through these anytime I want offscreen.
“Untouched” for Like a Version
I have to put this on here. When I listened to this recording for the first time, I actually screamed.
Still the best song from one of the best albums of the 2000s. And this performance is scream-worthy because of that extended ending. They also covered “12 to 12” which is great, but come on, you can’t beat the song of all time.
Excalibur (1981)
Next on our list of Arthur content, this is a film that I’ve had on my watchlist ever since I saw a gifset of it on Tumblr many moons ago. It’s a monster - over two and a half hours - but it’s one of the most stunningly beautiful films I’ve ever seen. Even if it’s nonsensical, even if it drags just a little, it’s really impressive from a film perspective, and it makes me so upset that we’ve lost this kind of art in the race for more CGI and AI content.
Recently the film was restored to 4k, though I don’t think I’m invested enough to spend $50 on it, and that was the first thing that spurred me to turn this on. It just so happened that I had already watched Sword in the Stone over the same weekend I was finishing Legendborn, so I figured now was the time to fully commit.
This story begins right around where Sword in the Stone ends. It opens with Uther, Arthur’s father, slaying his enemies and falling prey to lust. The result of that lust, the baby Arthur, is taken by Merlin to be raised by commoners, and then he pulls Excalibur from the stone and becomes king. The other 2 hours of the film explore Arthur’s reign as he rallies his knights, then as Morgana rises to power, and then as his knights seek for the Holy Grail to save the kingdom. (There’s also some incest to keep things spicy.)
I can’t speak to accuracy or authenticity in regards to the Arthurian legend itself, but as far as fantasy films from the 80s go, this one is a wonder to behold. The practical effects, the lighting, the costumes, all of them are spectacular. A film like this would never be made now because Hollywood relies too heavily on their CGI to make things fantastic. There’s a level of earnestness in this because everything feels so real.
And the colors. Whew. That green light really makes me want to weep.
RAYE
I’ve known about RAYE1 for years, ever since one of my friends told me to listen to “Oscar Winning Tears.” when it was released in 2023, and while I recognized her talent then, it never really HIT ME until recently. And shame on me because she’s one of the coolest pop girls in the industry right now.
For those who aren’t familiar with her sound (maybe you know her viral hit “WHERE IS MY HUSBAND!”), she walks a line between pop, R&B, rap, hip-hop, soul, and jazz. Sometimes all at once. Her voice is smooth and silky, but she isn’t afraid to spit out some spoken-word poetry. She plays around with orchestral arrangements. She’s unique and innovative and unafraid to break the rules of pop music.
If you want to cry, watch “Ice Cream Man.”
“Click Clack Symphony”
Truthfully, this rabbit hole started with this music video. I got roped in by the Hans Zimmer feature, but I stayed for RAYE’s genius.
Not only is the song itself smart, but the video is a work of art. (I’m going to politely ignore the insanely bad CGI at the end when she zooms around on her music note.) The first half when she’s trapped inside the house is a collection of incredible setups and choreographed moments. It evokes the feeling of being a depressing homebody sinking into the couch, while also feeling fresh and alive and fun.
The piece really reminds me a lot of 2010s pop, which is, I think, what makes it so effective. It reminds me of “Salute” by Little Mix in some ways, a call to arms for women everywhere, and yet it’s about fighting the depression and heartbreak rather than the patriarchy. It’s anthemic while also feeling cinematic (thanks Hans). It feels very GIRLPOWER in a way that might have felt obnoxious five or six years ago, but now in an era where feminism is fading fast, it seems like it’s taking us back to the roots of 2015-feminist-cringe, and it’s a life-raft.
The orchestra does a lot of heavy lifting, giving the song its intense atmosphere, but the lyrics and melody carry it to the heights of pop perfection. It’s almost cheesy, but it’s meant to be. WE DON’T SETTLE FOR DEPRESSION ON A FRIDAY NIGHT!
“Black Mascara.”
As I dived deeper into RAYE’s discography, I clicked on this one because it’s popular, and the first time I gave it my full attention, I felt like I saw god.
I’m giving you the link to the Royal Albert Hall recording because of the live choir and orchestra, but know that the original studio recording is what made me shriek on the highway.
After “Click Clack” I made a playlist called RAYE LOCKDOWN which currently has three songs on it. I cycle through it on repeat: 1) WHERE IS MY HUSBAND! 2) Click Clack Symphony 3) Black Mascara.
Simply put: RAYE makes damn good pop music. She understands instrumentation in a way that few moderns artists do, and that’s how you can tell she’s a good songwriter. She’s clever — the lyrical transition from “Try to understand just what you / Done to me, you done to me, you done to me / You’re done to me, you’re done to me, you’re done to me” sends me into euphoria every time I hear it — but she’s also just another woman singing about heartbreak and love and the difficulties of being a woman.
I hope she gets every good thing that’s coming for her.
“Hard Out Here.”
And one more for good measure.
I listened to this for the first time the other day as I was rolling through the full concert album, and this song made me feel like I saw god. Much like “Black Mascara.”, the studio version is fantastic, but something about the full orchestra and the choir going, “BABY I BOUNCE, BABY I BOUNCE, BABY I BOUNCE BACK, NO WEAPON FORMED AGAINST ME SHALL EVER PROSPER” makes me ascend.
To bring everything full circle, this song feels like Bree Matthews (Legendborn).
“alzheimer as a slow euthanasia” by daphne
As much as the algorithm makes me want to scream, sometimes it leads you exactly where you need to go.
This is a quick piece on Alzheimer’s, and I couldn’t help but feel every sentence as it unfolded. It’s such a personal piece by daphne, and even though it’s different than my experience with the disease (I lost my grandfather to it in high school), everything about it resonated with me.
NOTE: I wrote this piece before listening to her new album THIS MUSIC MAY CONTAIN HOPE. but I need you all to know that I was weeping on the plane while I listened to that beautiful gorgeous masterpiece. Album of the Year. Put your headphones and listen uninterrupted.