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Picks: May

Hello everyone! It's May now, which means like April and March, I am still reading the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. My themes for the last two months have been Nature and War based on the last two books in the series, the theme for this month is Gods and Kings.

Book: Lord of the Rings: Return of the King

Author: J.R.R Tolkien

Why I chose this theme: Alright since obviously I was going to read this book since it is the third book in the trilogy, let's talk about the theme itself. Obviously "Kings" makes sense since the book is literally titled "Return of the King", but why Gods? Well there are Gods in Lord of the Rings, and the game I wanted to play this month is about a God so I pulled some strings to be able to play it. Plus, "Gods and Kings" isn't a stretch, they do fit well together as a package deal.

Album: In the Court of the Crimson King

Artist: King Crimson


Why I chose this album: One of the most influential Prog-Rock albums of all time. It has Jazz and Classical influences, and carries along with it a title that relates it to the theme. (Especially considering its original title was "An Observation by the Crimson King"). It seems like a great pick theme-wise and will allow me to listen to another super famous, super influential album.

Film: The King's Speech

Director: Tim Hooper


Why I chose this Film: This is sort of the black sheep among my choices for this month. It doesn't exude the aesthetic that a lot of the other choices do, but what it lacks in aesthetic it makes up for in themeing. What it means to be a great leader is something that all of the choices seem to explore to some extent or another, and is something this film will likely explore to a greater extent than any of my other picks. As well this is a super popular and famous film that I have yet to check off my list of movies to watch.

Game: Okami

Studio: Capcom


Why I chose this game: I have been trying to play this game for sooooo long. I originally got the game for the Wii in 2014 but was not a big fan of the motion controls at the time. I then got a PS2 copy in 2015 that vanished before my eyes. I doubt anyone would have taken it from me, but then I am not sure of any other way it could disappear from my collection entirely. Now that it has been released for the Switch and I have been given a physical copy of it for Christmas, It seems like it's finally time to play this game. I was going to play it in March, but decided on playing Yoshi's Island instead to diversify the types of games I chose up until that point. Now it seems like it's fair enough to return to Action RPG genre, and what better month to play it than one where the theme is "Gods and Kings" (Not that I partially shaped the theme around this game or anything...) I have heard this game takes anywhere from 30 to 60 hours to complete, so you may not hear from me much this month until I have completed it.

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And those are my picks for May! Join me next time where I will be sharing my thoughts on the metal album Neurosis, until then!

- Malachi Allen

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