Tag: spider-man

My tastes are changing

This post originally started as a lyrical bitch against Spider-Man: No Way Home. A Marvel movie which induced a 24-hour identity crisis between the current self and my teenage idolisation of Alfred Molina’s Doctor Octopus. Harmless fun is what I expected, but I left embarrassed. Why does this feel so icky? Like a creepy executive so desperate to tickle my generation’s nostalgia glands he’s dangling Dip Dab sherbet and Flumps to distract everyone from creative bankruptcy.  

Zooming out from this hyper-specific reaction, 2021 was a year where I’ve noticed a shift in interests. I’ve preferred more obscure games (Loop Hero! Demon Turf!). I’ve jumped back into books, consuming fiction YouTubers on the regular (shout out to Daniel Greene). Musically, I’m rolling into the past – whether The Beatles, The Isley Brothers or something else your mum loves. I also want to wear different clothes, broaden what I’m writing about, flirt like a cheeky fucker, and generally indulge into the person I think I am. 

You might cross reference this with the fact I turned 30 last year. A milestone that raised the mortality alarm but also provided a comforting reset button. The messy, exciting twenties are packed away, now I can own everything better and shake off the hesitancy. I like these things, I don’t like these things. He looks like a nice shag, I’ll inform his ass. I’m not enjoying social media, I’ll piss off for a while. I don’t feel obliged to make do with situations I’m not happy with – something that’s liberating as a long-time people-pleaser. 

There’s the possibility I’ll evolve into a massive cunt. Slowking instead of Slowbro. This might be the ‘new year, new me’ talk I’ll scoff at when I’m laying in the same room, doom-scrolling the same apps, slurping the same noodles off my chin. Even with potential cunt behaviour though, everything feels new again, which has a special kind of thrill. 

So here’s to changing tastes and changing faces. I’m over Spider-Man and ready to indulge in weird hats or an extensive chat about The Expanse novels. I’ll round this off with my top tens from 2021, which might expose this as performative BS. Evolution is a process people, we all start basic. 

TV

  1. It’s A Sin
  2. The Underground Railroad
  3. The White Lotus
  4. We Are Lady Parts
  5. Succession S3
  6. For All Mankind S2
  7. The Expanse S5
  8. The North Water
  9. Squid Game
  10. Mare Of Easttown

Games

  1. Metroid Dread
  2. Guilty Gear Strive
  3. Hitman 3
  4. Solar Ash
  5. Chicory: A Colorful Tale
  6. Loop Hero
  7. Before Your Eyes
  8. Lost Judgment
  9. Knockout City
  10. Guardians Of The Galaxy

Music (in no particular order) 

  1. Genesis Owusu – Smiling With No Teeth
  2. Billie Eilish – Happier Than Ever
  3. The Killers – Pressure Machine
  4. Tyler, The Creator – Call Me If You Get Lost
  5. James Blake – Friends That Break Your Heart
  6. Wolf Alice – Blue Weekend
  7. JPEGMAFIA – LP!
  8. Sam Fender – Seventeen Going Under
  9. Silk Sonic – An Evening With Silk Sonic
  10. St Vincent – Daddy’s Home