Welcome!

Why don't you have a cup of coffee while you're here?

"Mind you, sometimes the angels smoke, hiding it with their sleeves, and when the archangel comes, they throw the cigarettes away: that's when you get shooting stars." -Vladimir Nabokov; written in a letter adressed to his wife as he was still trying to quit smoking.

Welcome to Angelic Conversation! In a state of desperate longing for an authentic emotional outlet and a nostalgia for the old way of down and dirty blogs online, I remembered a certain website existed where you could have your own little homepage. And here we are.

I go by Xavier and I love indulging in anything artsy and/or meaningful. I'm new to Neocities, so please excuse any distant behavior. I hope to personalize this website a little more in future (that is, if I keep up with it).

I hope to document some of my thoughts and creations with this, as well as maybe inspire a few more people to look into their favorite interests a little deeper. I plan to comment on phenomenon and my favorite media here in the Blog. The other pages are pretty much just filled with some extra information I thought people might want to know; I'll be focusing only on keeping up with the blog (consistently, that is). I also tend to ramble, so sorry in advance.

And for anyone wondering, yes, this site is responsive! While I'd prefer you view it on a desktop, you can see this website on a phone (or even a tablet). The banner images will, however, change according to the size of your screen.

The Concept

Angelic Conversation is the name of a song by BUCK-TICK released in 1989 on the ablum Taboo. It's my favorite of the 10 tracks. If you're looking at this website on a desktop, the banner image you see is probably of some weird old guy in a revealing dress singing. That is a picture of Atsushi Sakurai in The Day in Question 2017. The picture was taken on the day that the first disc was recorded—it's one of my favorite visual releases of theirs. He sang the song during that concert. If you're on mobile, then you see a cut off image that says BUCK-TICK and a bunch of Japanese text. They didn't play Angelic Conversation in that concert—and only a couple songs were recorded—but they're nice songs.

In an interview with Imai (who wrote both the music and the lyrics), he said this about the song:

"Well, it's about a dialogue with an angel," Imai began. "I got really into the idea of heaven and angels when we were doing Seventh Heaven. But in this song, the devils look like angels, and they're really tiny, but their wings are devil wings. And you've got lots of angels over here, and then there's a little devil watching them. He's like a bat, and he's stuck in this tower-like place. I saw an illistration like that in a book, and I just felt so sorry for the little devil. Because devils aren't all bad, you know. That's what I thought. So basically, the theme of the song is people, as divine beings."

Isn't that just adorable? The lyrics really feel "in love with the world." I love that song so freaking much. Don't just take my word for it; give it a listen. Oh, and translation by Cayce.

Unfortunately, I don't actually know anything about angels or the Bible. I think biblical references are beautiful, but the Bible is just too big a can of worms for me to open yet. Religion scares me. Sorry!

Coding

I didn't actually make this website. In the Extras section at the bottom of this page, you'll find the credits for this layout. I took a very quick class on HTML and CSS a couple months ago and didn't want the knowledge to go to waste. I had a couple layout ideas for my own little website, but I came across this layout and just couldn't stop thinking about how perfect it was. So I scratched the "I should make it myself! That way I actually understand everything that's going on in the code! Plus, I'll be a lot more proud of it!" idea. Oh, how we change...

Also, if it looks like I really have no idea what I'm doing on this website, it's because I don't. Let me emphasize: I took a short little class. Think of me like one of those fourteen-year-old McDonald's workers shaking during their first day on the job.

Extra:

Thank you, Kalechips, for the layout! I screwed with the colors and fonts a little bit, but they made the layout code. I came across it and realized it was exactly what I was planning to make for my own website, so I went ahead and took it. (From the "Layout Thrift Store" thingy!)

All Buck-Tick lyrics on this site were translated by Cayce at notgreatestsite.net. Please check out its saves on the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine!

Yes, I know the banner image is cut off on mobile. I can't find the original image with space before the "B" anywhere, which means I can't find a version that fits; however, I felt that the colors suited this theme perfectly and subsequently didn't have the heart to change it. If it's too annoying to look at, view this website on a desktop/tablet: there's a different picture.

For anyone curious, my favicon is named Serious Bear. Buck-Tick's bassist, U-ta, has a mascot that he oftentimes produces merch for. His name is Serious Bear. The picture is from one of their sticker sets (it costs about a dollar to use) from Japan's biggest messaging app: Line. The one I used is to the right: