The Blasé Brain Expands: Say Hello to More Hot Nerds

A New Season of Rairities

Blasé Raire, Aishwarya Khanduja, Jenna Movsowitz, and 4 others

May 01, 2024

If you’ve been here for a minute, you know it’s been a minute.

You ALSO know that Blasé began as a sandbox for curiosity. Some friends having an existential crisis in the club. Deciding to make time every Tuesday to unpack it. (It’s giving real life shit post.)

Weekly hangs turned into weekly writing. Then giving the writing a home to live under. A place to continue playing and welcome others into this childlike wonder in an adult flesh suit.

Aaaaand after almost a year of hanging out online, we’re excited to welcome other writers to our lil savant sandbox.

Please give a digital squeeze to our new Blasé babes….

Bios are boring. Tell me your past life. Please also let this replace “show me your Costar” on first dates.

Aishwarya Khanduja

—> Describe yourself in a past life.

It is difficult to imagine my past life in the continent I wasn’t born and raised in for the formative years of my life. I am 26 today, which means I have now spent exactly half my life flying kites in the East and the other half untangling knots in the West.

I can vividly see myself in pre-independence India, partly because watching the movie Purab aur Pachhim (transl. East and West) with my dad is one of my strongest core childhood memories.

I see myself listening to indian jazz, deeply in touch with my culture, being a logician studying vedic philosophy, hosting intellectual socratic debates in the town square, experimenting with purva paksha and other ways of learning.

The vibes are Dishoom, experimenting with Bombay modern art, hanging out at Gymkhana (assuming they allow women).

—> What would your NPC be wearing?

Christoph Grosse

—> Describe yourself in a past life.

In a past life, as in this life, my consciousness is bifurcated. Dualities inherent in the heritage of both parents, made manifest in a child of third-culture.

One side resides about 2 hours east of Shenzhen and Hong Kong in Xiasha (Cantonese Pinyin: Ha Sha) Village. This is where my po po grew up, a woman I wish I knew, I wish could know me, where I feel the vestiges of former lived experience. Ha Sha Village no longer exists - it is buried under a diffusion of new development; an upscale amusement park and resort, not unlike the tide of development unrecognizably altering the small pocket of Chinatown Manhattan where my family secured a foothold in the United States. Xiàshā translates to “Lower Sands”, and its idyllic location on Mirs Bay and proximity to two major cities ripened it to the point that this was an all but inevitable prospect.

The other resides in West Berlin, pining for reconnection with another half to the East - a wall erected, a clandestine war of information and oppression, families and love connections sundered. Ich kann mich nicht bewegen. Each half split yet further apart by the last winning team. A grey town in a grey time. Ich trage Grau. Ich fühle mich grau. Alles ist grau.

—> What would your NPC be wearing?

Canton

Long dark hair tied up in pigtails, secured with red string
Gold chain with a jade Budai charm
White tee
Brown denim
Sandals

Deutschland

Wool overcoat
Wool balaclava
Dark grey wool fisherman’s sweater
Washed black denim
Combat boots

Alyson Chatterjee

—> Describe yourself in a past life.

In a past life, I was a witch. I say this with nearly 100% certainty as I feel the vestigial pulse of witchery deep in my bones almost every day. But I wasn’t always this way. Witches have always been seen as nasty women, obviously by society at large but also by themselves. They knew that they were operating outside of social bounds, but there was a purpose to their practice. Witches were helping women with all sorts of things that the social order prohibited, and because of this they were sequestered to the margins of society. For daring to be bold and be different, they were deemed otherworldly, scary, hideous, and straight from hell.

My journey to understanding these things as positive traits has been long and convoluted, yet my teenaged viewing of Girl Interrupted may have something to do with it. I think we all feel this internal tug-of-war as we come of age and as we come of age again and again throughout our lives, because I refuse to believe that operating in that Lady Bird era of my life was the only fuel for my fire. We want to fit in but we want to be different. I always wanted to be different, but I feel like everyone does. I just didn’t care as much about what people thought. But don’t we all to an extent? I sometimes wonder if being different means just being yourself. Do we all feel like we are different? I truly hope so. But I do sometimes actively choose to eschew norms on purpose. Because sometimes I want people to know that I am angry or confused or sad. That I’m trying my best and I am expressing myself through how I live and what I consume. We all perform versions of ourselves online and in real life. How do we portray our emotions through our very existence?

A bit meta. But yes, I’m a Scorpio. I’m not well-versed in astrology, but when my life gets hard I will text my best friend Riley and ask her if it all makes sense for me according to the stars. Without a doubt, she will reassure me within seconds. Somewhere nestled between my pandemic realization that cottagecore was a space I felt safe within and my omnipresent passion for American History and classic holidays came this obsession with simplicity and a yearning to “return” to “normal times”. I found cottagecore imagery to be altogether healing. Within that framework, I found this alternative moody poet energy that became known as dark academia in the zeitgeist. I had not watched Harry Potter or Twilight growing up, and so at age 21 I began diving in to these fantasy worlds cloaked in darkness and mystery. It sounds silly but it felt so aligned with my soul and my spirit.

Rooting myself in the changing months and seasons has always felt grounding and exciting. Let us celebrate October, a month that feels like thick bubbles in my mouth! Or April, a word that looks like something is dripping and cleansing, renewing. For as long as I can remember, I’ve hosted little holiday parties for my friends to mark the months. Pink everything for Galentine’s Day, moody florals for my November birthday, bright blues and reds and yellows in the summer. The passage of time and holidays and colors and emotions feels correct to me. I try to celebrate everything a little bit.

So yes. On Halloween, I paint my nails black and bake cakes the color of charcoal and light my taper candles and sit in the dark watching Harry Potter or Twilight or maybe even A Tale of Autumn. To me, a witch represents this very particular time of the year, but she also represents daring to be different, helping others, reinventing femininity, and the idea that embodying fear is much less a reflection of oneself than a reflection of how other’s fit you into their worlds.

Witches represent the intention to be different on purpose coupled with being othered by the social order. We are all part of the social fabric of this world, whether it accepts us or not. Witches are scary and spooky, on purpose and accidentally. They are mysterious, intentional, interesting, and accidental. They are omnipotent and constantly learning. Or in other words, they are spooky and they are the divine feminine! That is me right there. I like being a little scary. Is that bad? I like to surprise myself through my constant curiosity, try new things, ask questions, feel every emotion, and wonder where I am heading next. I try to harness my witchiness as much as I can, but alas that was a past life, one I have no power over, one I just have to let happen to me.

—> What would your NPC be wearing?

My NPC is truly just Amelie. It’s wearing: red cardigans and long skirts and stomping around in chunky black loafers.

Mivin Mathew

—> Describe yourself in a past life.

In this life, I am fortunate to remember two previous stays on Earth.

The first was a dark time. This stay helped me train and battle test my soul.

The second was very light. Almost like a breather. I spent my days with loved ones, the ocean and the land. I created, and experienced Heaven.

In both these lifetimes, I remained as I am now - wandering, watching, and wary.

Aware that I am not from here.

But here is where I am.

I keep returning.

And so I keep wondering.

—> What would your NPC be wearing?

breathable shorts that don’t touch my kneecaps, for optimal movement.
a loose and light top that drapes from my shoulders and chest, and sways in the wind.
wooden sandals that are moulded to my feet, with straps and ankle support for maneuverability.
silver hoop earrings that store the memories of all I hear.

Jenna Movsowitz

—> Describe yourself in a past life.

I have to be honest: I’m not sure I had a past life. Not because I’m a non-believer (that’d be no fun) but because—on a scale of eternity—I feel so, so young. I feel like naiveté drips out of me. I feel like I inhale everything as brand-new. I feel like everyone I meet has practiced their script and I’m sight-reading, still choking on my words.

It might sound uncomfortable to live in such fresh skin. It’s still so sensitive, so raw, that anything could cause a reaction. And all of this is true: I emote quickly, visibly, and often.

But being newly incarnated is also my favorite thing about myself. It means that the tiniest things bring me the greatest joy. It means that I can’t take a bite of something delicious without yelling about it—too loudly—and insisting that anyone with me “freaks out” too. It means that I hear every single instrument that makes up every song. It means that I think every person I meet is the most interesting person in the room, that I’m easy to hurt but quick to forgive, that I’m antsy for change but afraid to let go, and—on a scale of eternity—I’ve got a long line of future past-lives to look forward to.

—> What would your NPC be wearing?

My NPC is wearing…

a plain white shirt with an oversized, sage green corduroy jacket
light-wash straight jeans that hug my thighs
white Reeboks
a thin gold chain (sans pendant) and gold hoops

Amber Theurer

—> Describe yourself in a past life.

I am walking back from a well in step with other women from my village. Forget walking. We glide. In sisterhood. Just as we have in girlhood, in motherhood, in womanhood.

I am wearing white linen clothing, my figure highlighted by colored fabrics, some corseted, some draping. A form of worship in itself. I’m wearing delicate gold hoops, textured instead of perfect. Imprinted by their maker’s dedication.

My skin is honey - similar to present day - kissed by the Mediterranean sun. My days are familiar in a nourishing way - also honey, smooth, rich, inviting in their repetition.

I worship the language of the earth, and I was put here to live in rhythm with her wisdom.

I love being an (ancient) woman.

(It’s giving Édouard Sain’s Excavations at Pompeii…this found me at Musée d'Orsay last year. Immediately when I saw it I was taken over…tears.)

Edouard-Alexandre-Sain-Excavations-at-Pompei-1865-Paris-Musee-d-Orsay

—> What would your NPC be wearing?

Honestly a form of what I wear most days, which is:

Linen maxi skirt, tight fit around the waist line, airy and flowing tiered around the length of the leg - natural creme flax color vibes
Soft leather calf height boots - slight, slight heel - dark brown
Plunging knitted brown top
Thin gold hoops earrings + delicate gold chain necklaces
Chunky rings
CURLY CURLY LONG MANE!!!!
Also giving Édouard Sain lmao