#i predict there will be Discourse regardless though

[fortheloveofexy]

On the one hand I am delighted at the idea of a Kevin Day duology... on the other hand I know that means Thea will by necessity have more of a presence and a lot of ppl are gonna be assholes about it.

[bdafic]

Have you played Veilguard? Do you plan to?

If yes, what is your opinion on how Solas and solavellan was handled? :)

I did! I actually posted about it, encouraging people not to read reviews and posts and just play the game for them. I chose not to go into any depth other than I liked it. I'm cool with going into it now, though I want to make really clear to anyone reading that I have zero interest in seeing, inviting, or participating in the "everything must be criticized hard and moralized" discourse. The level of hostility around this game is off the charts and I'm super not into it.

(I am very into being hostile as fuck about layoffs, crunch, and execs sabotaging projects, setting impossible "goals" and whipping up anger to justify dissolving studios though. We can do that all day.)

Anyway, back to your question.

Overall, my feelings on how Solas/Solavellan was done mirrors my feelings on the game as a whole: I loved 85% of it, and the other 15% I didn't so much 'not love' as much as I wished it could've been more. That last 15% felt like being a kid finding out there's a whole other floor of your house you've never explored, and once you finally get all prepped to go spelunking you find it in the midst of being demolished. All those little tantalizing peeks you got are gone or waved off like "you can make do with what you have". Technically that's true. You've got a nice house that's pretty and isn't falling apart and everything connects and has all the right things in it... but you can't help being really sad for the loss of experiences you could've had on the mystery floor.

I loved all the insight we got into the history of the Evanuris, ancient elves, and Solas himself. It confirmed a bunch of theories I'd discussed with others for years -- and that felt awesome! I love it when fans are rewarded for noticing the details and putting shit together. (If you're also into that, go watch Severance). There's so much of what we saw in his memories and experiences that deepen the sense of sadness and loss in his character. It made people who hate him, hate him more, and people who love him, sympathize with him more. I think he's honestly one of the most well-written characters I've ever encountered in any media, anywhere, and not just because I'm a sucker for beautiful tragedy.

I'm happy they didn't shy away from Solas' edges, either. I'd predicted Varric's death at his hands during The Missing's run, though I thought it'd play out differently. I think that and the war crimes were good additions to his story. It reinforced his position as an antivillain to the series. Solas is a living, breathing, 'sunk cost fallacy' of a man. He (almost) says it himself: to stop now would make all the horrible things he'd done be for nothing. He has to keep going.

He was Wisdom, twisted into Pride. He wants to still be Wisdom. It's how he sees himself, though he's smart enough to know it isn't true deep down. The planning, the arrogance, the failures, the devotion, they're all aspects of that change. Of course he keeps failing. Of course he keeps trying. And of course falling in love without any of that being known would absolutely caboodle his noodle. One of the things that first drew me was realizing how much of him was only revealed upon romancing. It makes a ton of sense for his character, and gave him a depth and longing that was incredibly compelling. A character who lays it out for everyone regardless is just an NPC, but that made him feel like a person. It speaks to his loneliness; how badly he wants someone to find a way to change his mind, and how resigned he is to the belief that nobody can. Wisdom and Pride.

I'm very pleased that a Solavellan ending even exists, because that's a pretty big nod to fandom and the impact of his character. Of course I'd have loved to see more -- Solavellan hell is eternal and I'll never escape -- but I can be happy with what we got. And I understand why it felt truncated.

(And honestly, my biggest complaint with Lavellan's inclusion is that we cannot modify her appearance later if we fucked it up. My kingdom for her eyeballs to've worked properly in my first run.)

I am a bit sad about how 'well' a lot of it got wrapped up, not just because of the loss of mystery, but because it's pretty clear that was a reflection of the (rather prescient) fears from devs/writers about the future of the franchise. The game's impact and mood suffered from that sense of impending doom. Edges were shaved off, things glossed over, middles discarded so threads could be tied up neater, and that probably really sucked for the people who have lived and breathed this world for the better part of 20 years. It needed more time. Chill time. And freedom to fuck about. People say that audiences don't like it when things end on an uncertain note, and honestly after seeing the discourse this produced as is I'm gonna say that the things I personally wished were included would've probably started much bigger fires and resulted in much more smoke. (People like to jump in here with, "it was going for ten years" but that's kind of disingenuous. It was ten years between releases. The game was scrapped twice and the final iteration was only going for three-ish, and writers and devs kept getting fucking laid off.)

Anyway, there's a lot of stuff it's clear they wanted to go into more and simply weren't able to. That isn't their fault, and I grieve with them. People forget the writers were the original spelunkers. They're also people who have to roll with punches in a way that fans never, ever, have to.

That was a lot of words to say, basically, that I think Solavellan and Solas' story were handled well, and I'm satisfied. I wish there was more -- I'll always mourn whatever was on the mystery floor -- but that's what fanfic is for. It's in our hands now.

[lilliaespi]

Posting this here because it might help some people figure themselves out ☺️

Book: I am ace by Cody daigle-orians

Book text:

Sexual orientation takes a big-picture look at how you, as an individual, relate to sexual attraction over time. If you're reading this book, you've probably been thinking a lot about this relationship. It can be overwhelming trying to sort out the complicated and conflicting feelings we have about attraction: Is this sexual attraction? Is this some other kind of attraction? Will these feelings change down the road? Have my real feelings even started happening yet? Do I even know what I'm feeling and experiencing in the first place?

For our purposes, we'll focus on three key things that help us identify our sexual orientation. First, sexual orientation describes an innate relationship we have to sexual attraction. Second, it describes a pattern of experience we have of sexual attraction throughout our lives. And finally, it describes the gender or genders you feel sexual attraction to.

Some definitions of sexual orientation are more expansive than this and include your romantic or emotional attractions. Those definitions include these things because, for most people, the different attractions they experience all point in the same direction. They experience sexual, emotional, and romantic attraction for the same kind of person in the same kind of way for most of their lives. But as we will explore later when we look deeper into how attraction works, this isn't the reality for everyone. I want to keep things clear and focused, so in our discussion, sexual orientation describes the specifics of sexual attraction only.

Sexual orientation is innate

Most people, when they think about their sexual orientation, think of it as something that comes from someplace deep inside them. It's a feeling that's always been there. It's a thing they discover or recognize about themselves, not something they decide. And this feeling, the innateness of sexual orientation, is felt by people of all sexual orientations. It's not specific to one or a few of them. Sexual orientation, regardless of how we identify, isn't just a choice we make or a phase we go through. It isn't imposed on us by others and it's not

a result of our behaviors. It's part of how we're built. It's fundamental to who we are. You can think of sexual orientation as your "factory settings."

This is a helpful starting place to think about your own sexual orientation. What feelings about sex and attraction feel deeply a part of you? What feelings feel as though they've always been there? What are the feelings that can't get swept aside or decided away into oblivion? Those feelings are where we can begin to look for clarity on sexual orientation.

Now, when you dig into queer theory and other academic thought about gender and sexuality, along with some crowded corners of discourse on the internet, you will find people saying that sexual orientation isn't innate. Most often, you'll find arguments that "it's complicated"-that sexual orientation is a mixture of innate feeling and environmental influence-but you'll also find arguments that you can just choose your orientation. All of this is fair and valid. Human sexuality is extremely complex, and the deeper you dive into the thinking, writing, and research on it, the more complex it reveals itself to be. But most people, particularly people who are in the early parts of figuring out their relationship to their own sexuality, aren't swimming.in that deep end of the theory pool. They're feeling their orientation, not thinking about it. And most people, regardless of where they land on the orientation spectrum, experience sexual orientation as something deeply rooted, original, and not a choice.

Sexual orientation is a pattern of experience

While our relationship to sex and attraction may not always be the most reliable or predictable, we can often take a step back from a moment-to-moment survey of our feelings and find some patterns in our overall experience. We can see that certain things happen again and again. Or we can see that certain things are missing again and again. Those patterns, those repeated motifs in the sum of our experience, are helpful in clarifying our sexual orientation.

Our sexual orientation is not the product of a single encounter or a single feeling. It's not determined by any one point on your timeline. It expresses your repeated experience over time. For many people, figuring out their sexual orientation is a bit like putting together a jigsaw puzzle. It's not simply zeroing in on a single piece. It's the process of putting many pieces, many similar experiences and feelings, together and coming up with one complete picture. The pattern is what makes your orientation.

What patterns exist in your experience around sex and attraction? Are you always attracted to one specific gender? Are you always attracted to a certain aesthetic style a person may have? When you feel attraction, do you always think about doing certain kinds of things with a person? Or is your pattern more about what's not there? Do you find yourself not feeling attracted to any kind of person? Do you find yourself only drawn to being friends or only drawn to holding hands at most? All of these patterns help define your orientation.

That isn't to say that these patterns must remain rigidly unchanging. Over the course of your life, you may find that your patterns of sexual attraction evolve and change. Sometimes, those changes are the result of you growing and changing as a person. Sometimes, those changes occur because of external forces. Trauma is a very common external force that can disrupt these patterns. Regardless of the reason, it's okay that some patterns end and new ones take their place. Change doesn't invalidate new patterns. Who you become doesn't invalidate who you were.

[theetherealshade]

The reason I set in stone that I would become a doctor was fairly simple: there's nothing else you have to do—just take care of people. Of course, I would have to study and might end up having a quite comfortable life financially, but I always believed that would happen to me regardless of my career choice.

If the world ends in shambles, or the USA loses its hegemony, even if the apocalypse falls over the earth, my mission would still be to take care of people no matter what. But there is a perk to this choice—you can also become quite alienated from how people change their political views, and their reasons for existing and keeping on might not align with yours. Your reasons might never have had anything to do with all this noise. Or maybe it’s just me—a plain-minded person.

However, due to recent political events—in Brazil, the USA, Russia, and wherever else—my family’s minds have become so brain-rotted that we might not have common ground anymore. I’m chronically online, but I always save enough time for my mind to reflect upon life (because without this, I cannot function).

They are right-wing (though if you are extreme right-wing, they might look more centrist), and I am not left-wing, for sure. But they no longer seem to have their own opinions. All they know is to defend a certain politician or certain policies, or to find excuses to say the left is wrong just because it doesn’t fit the right-wing agenda.

Recently, I saw a post by a girl I admire (and, why not admit it, feel attracted to) telling people who voted for Trump and are MAGA to go f*** themselves. She’s very woke and very left-wing.

It breaks my heart to see people I love so much choosing sides, believing it will save them from whatever is coming toward us in the future. But I don’t think I actually know anyone with a real opinion anymore. All I see are people repeating themselves—the same lines, the same advertisements, the same discourse over and over again. From their lips or from the internet, in random X posts, TikTok videos, or from Ben Shapiro or ContraPoints.

What terrifies me the most is that you cannot argue back. You cannot find common ground anymore.

Don’t tell me it’s because the stakes are too high to argue about—that’s not it. People don’t seem to have their own point of view anymore. It makes me wonder why Neuralink would want to put chips in people’s brains—they’re already brain-rotted, and you can practically read their thoughts just by listening to them.

For the record, I do not support people going against each other. If anything, both the right and left have treated us like puppets, pulling strings here and there. It’s true that you can always predict the masses but not the individual.

However, we don’t have individuals anymore.

Because people don’t know how to think for themselves anymore.

Anyway, I’ll just keep living my life—taking care of people, hitting the gym, and drinking less. I’m just a small soul trying to get things done fairly and in a way that reflects our shared humanity.

It’s very clear to me that people don’t carry the truth within themselves anymore. You cannot construct your foundation solely on institutions or other people. Build yourself on principles—on things that are good, right, and true! Otherwise, the world crumbles and turns into a copy of a copy.

One of the greatest decisions I ever made was choosing to care for people. It felt like a good idea then, and it still does. It’s exhausting at times, but even if the world ends, I’d still be doing the same thing. If a nuclear war happens—if you lose your reputation, family, friends, and money—I doubt many would still be making decisions based on these fleeting, superficial issues.

I cannot tell people what the right way to live is, but I know this: this is not it.

[beautifulpersonpeach]

why do you think jikook are always alleged to having no backbones? army seem to always think the other 5 members can stand on their own and defend themselves but somehow with jikook there are rhetorics going around that they're puppets of hybe/bang pd or they're company favourites. jikook as individuals are so sure of what they want and who they are though although of course when you work in a company, there will always be trade-offs but that doesn't mean you lose your autonomy. they just really seem like the people who are adamant in living in their own terms. they're just always portrayed as the victims and it's not only solos who spread these - even "OT7" say these things.

***

It's a real shame how people victimize both Jimin and Jungkook. Seven and Golden is because JK is a 'blank slate empty vessel' who has no real spine to refuse carrying out the evil overlord's orders, and Jimin is either a helpless doormat who cannot advocate for himself or the long-suffering principled artist who has chosen not to debase himself for THH playlisting on Spotify even though it's something he rightfully deserves. For both members their careers are happening to them and their own responsibility for their actions is diminished. That's the insidious thing about all the -isms and -ions people like to throw about during fandom 'discourse'. It's that the real life examples of a person infantilizing their grown male faves, victimizing them, otherwise writing up conspiracy theories and peddling fan fiction... these examples never register for the people who most need to see it because they're already sucked in. It doesn't matter how much discourse they participate in, they're already over-invested and are themselves engaging in the -isms and -ions. Regardless of whatever they call themselves, whether or not they even think they're in the fandom, once they're sucked in everything they perceive is twisted and twisted in predictably the same ways. That's what I've observed.

Like I said, a real shame.

[loki-zen]

so re all the HBDer discourse that’s been going around (and i’ll call it HBDer discourse rather than HBD discourse bc to a significant extent it isn’t about the ideas but about whether or not it is cool and right that people should be distrusted for entertaining them/their possibility), i have a few Thoughts

one of which is where was this attitude when it was men and women? bc in ratsphere back when i saw loads of people looking at and speculating about conclusions from population-level trends found in various datasets between men and women, including with reference to IQ, and somehow people had a totally different and a million times milder response to that.

secondly, why is nobody talking about the existing populations with widely-known variance from the baseline in IQ distribution? because they exist. hell, half of you are autistic yourselves.

if you think that speculating on this shit is inevitably an overture to mistreating people - which, one wouldn’t blame you for concluding such after looking at how we deal with neurodivergence in general and intellectual disability in particular - how do you think we should reform the science around neurodivergence?

if you think it doesn’t have to be because all humans should be treated well regardless of any membership in categories deemed more likely to possess, or indeed actual possession of, lower-than-average IQ, how does the current state of affairs wrt the neurodivergent affect your estimation of what needs to change in order to enable that?

does anyone else think that like the real problem is how monkeys (that is, we humans) don’t understand statistics?

i personally don’t have a lot of confidence in ‘IQ’ as a measure possessing the importance and coherence it is implicitly afforded in these conversations. Additionally, i happen to think it’s incredibly unlikely that differences-on-average between ethnic groups in this particular measured attribute (that has some link to but possibly doesn’t quite encompass ‘intelligence’) that are big enough to matter exist.

i also think it’s unlikely that protracted research on the topic would find actually zero variance, in a way that is pretty agnostic to the cause of said variance-on-average, but which doesn’t discount the possibility of it being something that isn’t just environmental or about how we measure IQ (even though I do think that every observed difference in this area that i’ve read about in depth so far was one or both of those things). lots of things like height and hairiness and myopia and age-at-puberty have some differences-on-average between ethnic groups so why not? but it would be the sort of thing where if it even is a real effect, it would be such a very small one that you can’t identify without vast amounts of data.

and if you thought that knowing it told you anything at all that you could usefully use to make predictions regarding real actual people that you might come into contact with, you would be wrong.

the problem is that while in theory a perfectly logical being could believe that there is a statistical difference at the population level between the chances of men and women excelling at Physics and not have that affect the way he treats women who walk into his physics classroom because he understands that they are neither a cross-section of the population nor a big enough group for the effect to show up in, humans basically cannot do this. Certainly the majority of humans cannot do this. the majority of humans would struggle to even understand how it could be possible for the broad population level effect to exist, but also untrue that they can derive any useful information from it in their lives.

And ig that’s my steelman/2c on the impulse to treat this in ways we wouldn’t normally want to act around the Pursuit of Knowledge or whatever. that doesn’t explicitly or implicitly rely on race being Different, but which rather implies that if we do decide it makes sense to treat this in certain ways there are other areas you’d want to apply the same principles to, perhaps.

[makeste]

I saw this take on twitter about Hana & Kacchan having “reverse parallels” and since they both have apologised to Tenko/Deku (but one was more or less sincere and the other was absolutely sincere) and they said that, while Hana moved away from Tenko, Kacchan ran to catch Deku. There was also more to the thread abt Kacchan & Hana’s differences. They were sorta trying to argue that this is a clue that Hori intends for Bkdk to be sibling-like/brotherly. As a bkdk shipped, I’ve accepted that it makes sense.. cause it’s an established fact that Tenko & Deku parallel each other. Tenko having his own “Kacchan” makes sense. Tho yes I am a little sad since I’ve held a little bit of hope for romantic bkdk becoming canon. I just wanted to ask your opinion if Hana was really meant to foil Kacchan or was it just a reach?

okay so I have a couple responses to this.

1. while it's true that Horikoshi has woven a lot of deliberate parallels between Deku and Tenko's characters, that doesn't mean every single thing about their lives and every single person they interact with is a part of those parallels. which is to say that no, I don't really think Hana and Kacchan are meant to mirror each other in any kind of significant way. Hana's apology to Tenko was under completely different circumstances than Kacchan's apology to Deku; I really don't see any connection between the two situations. you might as well be trying to compare Hana to Endeavor, or Deku, or Hawks, or Aizawa, or any other character who's apologized to anyone over the course of the story.

2. please pardon the forthcoming rant, anon -- and I hope you know that none of this is aimed at you in particular -- but for me personally, this whole obsession with ships becoming canon is one of the most exasperating types of discourse there is. like, don't get me wrong, I totally understand people wanting to see their favorite ships validated by the author, and not to mention there's also the issue of having more LGBTQ+ representation. but speaking as someone whose own orientation (aromantic) has almost no representation in fiction whatsoever, it gets frustrating to see so many people dismiss non-romantic relationships as being an inferior type of ship, to the extent that calling a relationship "sibling-like" is now a commonly-used attack in ship wars. so many people view romance as this completely transformative element, to the point where two characters can literally tick every other box on the intimate personal relationship checklist, and none of it will matter to some people unless they actually confess their love and kiss.

and again, I'm not saying I don't understand it, especially since queerbating is a thing. it's one thing if a writer is genuinely just trying to portray a close friendship, especially in series where romance isn't really a focus. but it's another thing entirely if a writer is deliberately hinting at a romance in a blatant bid to attract a larger queer audience, while all the while having no intention whatsoever of having those hints lead anywhere. the issue, I guess, is that it's not always easy to tell which scenarios are the former, and which are the latter. and of course, you also have people who think that the former is a type of cop-out as well, because the thing is that romance is always viewed as the default. so for a lot of people, allosexual and alloromantic relationships are the only ones that get considered as far as representation goes.

but you know what, I'm just gonna say it; even knowing where people are coming from, it's still discouraging to know that so many people are so dismissive of aro and ace relationships that the thought of a favorite ship not becoming romantic in canon is considered a profound disappointment. and it's even more discouraging that the thought of a rival ship becoming canon is considered such an existential threat to some that they will literally use "oh, they're just like siblings" as an argument against the ship, rather than a point in favor of. because siblings are a downgrade. friendship is a downgrade. any kind of close relationship that isn't inherently romantic or sexual in nature is less important, and that's just how it is.

so yeah, that's kind of a pet peeve, ngl. especially since the truth is I actually do think Bakugou and Deku's relationship is very akin to siblings. and so I do sometimes get weary of not being able to just outright say that without having to first pepper the statement with all kinds of disclaimers so that people don't think I'm invalidating the ship. I feel like I have to walk on eggshells if I ever want to talk about their relationship in terms that I can personally relate to.

but I mean, here's how I look at it. they've known each other since they were small children. they call each other exclusively (or almost exclusively) by childhood nicknames. they have an openness and an unspoken, almost taken-for-granted trust in each other to the point where they'll share closely guarded secrets ("I got my quirk from someone else") and personal vulnerabilities ("why was I the one who ended All Might?") with barely a second's hesitation which they would never share with anyone else. they have a comfortable little bickering type of rapport ("I'm getting stronger"; "well I'll just have to get even stronger then"; "you'll never surpass me"; "we'll see about that") which they can fall into with ease and which looks weird af to outsiders, but is "normal" to them and something they're both grateful to have.

they're so intimately familiar with each other's personality and behaviors that they can predict them with perfect accuracy. they're so in tune with each other that they can whip up elaborate coordinated attacks right on the spot in perfect sync. their admiration for each other is so strong that they each think of the other as being the epitome of winning and saving, respectively. their mental images of each other are so vivid that they subconsciously mimic each other's speech patterns whenever they start falling into a particularly strong Win or Save mindset themselves. they take no small amount of pride in showing off for each other. they go apeshit any time the other is in danger or hurt. and each of them would literally die for the other if it ever came to that.

all of that is already canon. on just about every metric imaginable except for "now kiss", the two of them already have a canon intimacy that rivals just about every other great relationship out there. and so to say that none of it actually counts unless there's an actual love confession involved frankly just boggles me. again, maybe it's because I have no personal vested interest in romance myself, though. I'm literally just not wired that way, and so I'm really not the best person to vent to when it comes to these kinds of concerns.

but look, no matter what happens from here on out, these two care about each other on a very deep and personal level. they're going to continue to be a part of each other's lives no matter what. and each of them, no matter what, will continue to occupy a space in each other's lives that no other person can fill, regardless of how we or Horikoshi or anyone else choose to label and define that space. and so in my book, that's already a win.

anyways, apologies again for the impromptu rant. again, this wasn't particularly directed at you in any way; if anything it's mostly just a generic response to the constant shipping discourse in this and every other fandom, and a more detailed explanation for why I personally don't like to get involved in it. this is just one of the myriad reasons why I try my best to stay very far away from BnHA twitter lol.

[purposelynana]

What Did I Watch: #19

What a joy to watch something that was beautiful to look at even though it's still dumb at its center? But even with archetypal story, I love Semantic Error. It was your typical enemies to lovers. It was believable to the point, yeah it could happen to the most of us. Unless well we're not gonna come across somebody like Jang Jaeyoung for god's sake. It was too good to be true.

Despite the conventional trope, I must say this series has one of the most gorgeous frame out there. I'm not only talking about the framing, but the lighting, colors, focus, and the movement, everything seemed had meaning in which correlating with the characters. The colors sometimes in your face and sometimes sneak through and fades away before you know it. I respect those who knows how to deal with their camera regardless of the minimum budget. Super proud of what they did for the entire episode 7. Purple was all over the screen and not once I felt irritated. It was necessary to show audiences their heart eventually leads to one another. Because blue is belong to Sangwoo and Red is Jaeyoung's color. Red plus blue means purple. Genius.

Whoever designed beautiful shots on this deserves to get raise. It was so thought out and you just can feel it every frame has meanings. It could generate discussion, hell you could just use some of its takes into film studies.

And I might say, this is one of the best that Korea offered. It's going to be tough to beat this (fingers crossed on To My Star S2 though).

There had been discourse in here, regarding that twist in Enchanté. You know what I'm talking about. For me personally, I like the twist, it was rational, it brought a new depth to the characters. It certainly a thing that moves the plot forward and now I rather skeptical with how they're going to end the story in 2 episodes.

Back to the twist, I don't really want to call it a twist because I kinda already predicted it would going that way, instead the other way. Because personally if the twist went the other way, it just lazy writing. But, the twist itself it wasn't genius per se. At least, it gave Theo a motivation from the beginning and a realistic reason for him to did that. What I'm trying to convey is at least it does not make us feel stupid and not mocking our brain ah. That's the least a goddamn series should do.

Perhaps the problem was laying on how dialogue evolved after the revealed of the twist. The confession was written badly because it was just too ordinary. I could find hundreds of copycats in straight movies. For 2 people like Force and Book who got the acting chops and explosive chemistry this was easy. Way too easy. Even the kiss, it was hot but got edited in some kind of soap opera-ish and I was like P' Film l, you could have done it better.

Anyway, I don't really have problems with Enchanté except it still fall into the usual BL trope you always watched. It's predictable.

And that's bring me to Cutie Pie. Oh my god. I can choose not to watched it. But sometimes, we people keep making bad decisions for ourselves.

This is yaoi. This is your manga in early 20s, which is not my cup of tea. I prefer my BL when it isn't making an effort to become a proper BL. Not Me for example. Or all the danmei adaptation from China. Because the story can still work even the romance is being subverted. The story does not stand on the usual BL trope. Meanwhile in Cutie Pie, the romance is taking on the front row and when you taking that out, you got nothing left.

Maybe I'm watching too many gritty and realistic stuff but the premise itself is just doesn't make any sense. Unless, come back to point one, you're living in yaoi manga pages. Or you're feeling nostalgic. Yet, I don't grow up in full blown yaoi household. My encounter with yaoi wasn't come from manga. It was from manhwa, which yes a lot of grittier, darker, and full of mentally unstable characters. We know for sure that yaoi was created by straight female and sometimes fetishize the whole gay community and this one probably doesn't have any different. It's clearly written by straight female to cater straight audiences.

I like Zee, he was good in suits and that's my shallow reason why I watched Cutie Pie. But lord, I was struggling to finish it. I'm still on episode 1 3/4 going to 4/4. I wonder, when will I be able to just sit and watch without asking why the fuck this and that happened on the first place?

I mean if you grow up with yaoi manga, you sure want to check this out, either way you're going to end up like me perhaps. It's okay but I have so many conflicted feelings. Maybe if I can resort my feelings in order, perhaps I could resume this. Maybe I just need to watch Zee's face and not feeling so much guilty when the plot literally crashed.

[sanktyastag]

genuinely so confused with people who hate show!darklng. show!darkling is as much of a part of oppressed minority as book!darkling is but with even more 'validation' for his purpose, and i see people still hate show!him saying "oh but he is very bad in book" but then i see them rooting for book m*l LIKE HOWWW [i do kinda understand with those who dislike book!darkling but im still as baffled when when they root for book m*l]

ah, the good old darkling vs mal debate, lol.

in all honesty, i think whether someone prefers mal or the darkling when they watch/read SaB really comes down to how different fans like to engage with media.

i really enjoy politics, moral ambiguity, and fiction as a tool to examine real world oppression. as a result (and incredibly predictably to every single person who knows me) my favorite character is the darkling, because his character is a great lense to examine those different aspects of the series from. but, let's be honest here - both the books and the show only engage in politics, gray morality, and discrimination and oppression against minorities in like... the most surface-level way possible. if you're not already prone to getting over-invested in those fictional aspects, there's very little incentive to do so - because both the books and the show only set the darkling up as a focal point to examine those concepts in book 1, when alina thinks he could possibly be a good person. as soon as the darkling is revealed to be an eViL mAnIpUlAtOr, quite literally all of the nuance is stripped from his character, and we no longer engage with any valid points he may or may not have.

which means, if you're not super interested in socio-political worldbuilding, or you don't really want to examine war from a philosophical or moral standpoint, the books and show won't make you, and so it's nice and easy to just view the darkling as the amoral antagonist who needs to be taken down. i honestly don't blame fans for not liking him in the books, because the books don't... really want you to. and the show does pretty much the same thing. the show stops sympathizing with the darkling the second baghra lets the truth drop, and so every single thing he was previously shown to care about is now framed as the manipulation of an evil, calculating villain. so if a fan looks at the darkling, sees all the evil shit he does, and doesn't want to look past all of that, in order to critically examine his character, and the biased way he's viewed... i mean. yeah. then they wouldn't be a fan of his. they're more than justified in that, in my opinion. "this character is interesting, you just have to look past all the nonsensical extremist, stupid bullshit he does that harms everyone around him" isn't going to be a universal opinion, and i don't blame them for not wanting to go out of their way to sympathize with an uncompromising, murderous bastard who doesn't really respect anyone else's opinions other than his own (which, i think, is true even of show!darkling, although he feels worse about the fact that he's screwing people over. like he might cry about it, but he's still going to go forward with his plan, regardless of who objects). there's a reason darklina fans spend so much time writing about what they think would have been a more satisfying or interesting character arc for the darkling to go through - because canon absolutely doesn't do him any favors. like at all.

and on the other side, there's mal. i actually like both show and book mal, even though i don't think book mal was always handled incredibly well. i think he's a fairly sympathetic character with phenomenally bad coping mechanisms, and that the story spends essentially no time actually exploring his negative character traits in a meaningful way, which means, again, that we're given a character who the audience is tasked with doing most of the legwork for, if they want to like him. just like darkling fans very rarely excuse every single thing he's ever done, i don't actually see mal fans defend all the shit he pulls - beyond when both sides are baiting each other, in which case everyone seems to say the most black and white shit i've ever heard. but that's just kind of how online discourse works, so i won't judge people based off that, lol.

i think most fans of book mal seem to take his character, examine his negative traits and where they stem from, pick how they, personally, would like to see those issues addressed, and then put in the work to give him and alina the breathing room to do go through that character growth together.

so, by and large, i think fans of book mal and show mal just have different concepts that they find interesting or satisfying to explore in the media that they like. i obviously can't speak for others, but generally with mal and alina, i do think it's an interesting coming of age story, and has a smaller-scale, trauma-focused approach to the over-arching, wide-scale moral dilemmas that i focus on when i think about the darkling and alina. they're two flawed characters, thrust into a horrible situation, and they're desperately trying to get through it together, while fighting for the happy, peaceful lives that no one else has ever cared about them achieving.

so, yeah. in the end, i think it's really about what a fan wants from the media they consume. there's not really a wrong answer, in my opinion. it's only when people start judging each other over their fictional preferences that things start getting rocky, which is something that both darkling/alina shippers and mal/alina shippers could probably be better about, as needlessly antagonistic posts are prominent in both ship tags.

[sarahjtv]

BNHA Chapter 327 Spoiler Analysis: Home Sweet Home

OH MY GOD, GUYS!!!  DEKU GETS A BATH!!!! 🎉🛁 🧼   My broccoli boy finally gets squeaky clean, gets some sleep, and we finally get some R&R time with the Class 1-A kids.  It’s not close to the happy-go-lucky days of old, but it’s some time with the kids nonetheless.  I’m glad Horikoshi put some heart and humor in this chapter because god knows we needed it.  But, let’s be real, this is the calm before the storm:

The chapter starts off with what everyone and Horikoshi has been wanting for Deku since he went on his mission: A motherfuckin’ bath 🛀 🧼🛁!   Kaminiari and Kirishima lead the Class 1-A boys to carry Deku into their side of the UA Alliance bathhouse (looks real nice btw) and give him a good power-wash.  The whole sequence is very comical!  The boys are rushing in and poor Deku has this O_O face on him like “what is happening?” 😂 We also see some of the boys butt naked 😳  It’s clear that Horikoshi had fun drawing this thing and it was fun to read 💚

Bakugo is with them of course and you can actually see his scars from when Shigaraki stabbed him.  He’s not bleeding, but you can see those scar patches on his skin.  I’m curious of how fan artist are going to draw him from now on.  I would like to see that fan art 👀

There’s also some bubble sfx coving Bakugo’s crotch and a translator said it might say dick or penis.  I’m curious what the officials will say.

But, Bakugo being Bakugo is still aggressive towards his classmates.  More playfully than before, but still.  He reminds everyone that he still intends on being the best there is and that everyone is still his rivals (also friends, Bakugo).  HE EVEN MAKES AN ATTEMPT TO CALL DEKU IZUKU!  LIKE HE ALMOST SAID “DEKU” BUT HE CHANGED IT TO IZUKU AT THE LAST MINUTE!  AND DEKU SAYS THAT CALLING HIM DEKU IS JUST FINE LIKE THAT ANGER THAT ORIGINATED FROM THE NICKNAME ISN’T THERE ANYMORE AND IT’S A FREINDLY NICKNAME BKDK FRIENDSHIP GROWTH YOU LOVE TO SEE IT 🧡💚  

After Deku’s bath, he’s sitting in the commons talking to the rest of Class 1-A.  Well, most of them.  Mina tells Deku that Ochako and a few other students went to bed after everything became ok again.  So, I definitely didn’t see Tsuyu, and it looks like Shoji, Aoyama, and Hagakare weren’t in this chapter either.  Ochako I understand; her speech must’ve been emotionally taxing.  Aoyama and Hagakare are the top suspects for being the traitor in the fandom and this isn’t helping their cases.  I don’t know about Tsuyu and Shoji though.  They’re both mutant-types, but characters like Ojiro or mutant-like people like Jiro, Mina or Tokoyami didn’t get outcasted.  Horikoshi did hint that Shoji would be getting something soon.  But, I really am just speculating here.

Now that Deku’s back, everyone has questions for him.  Though I understand why, this has gotta be overwhelming for Deku.  At least they’re not mad at him for hiding OFA.  They seem very understanding actually.

Then my ❄️🔥 boy, Shoto Todoroki, comes in all handsome right out of the baths 💙  He’s drying his right side while you can see a steam cloud on his left.  So, it is canon that Shoto drys himself naturally with his heat. His entrance is so pretty that even Mineta’s questioning it (shut up, Mineta, you’ll never be as beautiful as him).  And yes, I might be a Shoto simp, don’t judge me I see y’all too 👀

Anyway, Shoto asks everyone to let Deku sleep since that was pretty much the whole reason they brought him back.  Problem is, Deku can’t because he really needs to apologize to All Might for abandoning him.  AND AFTER HE SAYS THAT THERE’S A DETAILED PANEL OF SHOTO POINTING TO ALL MIGHT LIKE “UH, MIDORIYA? HE’S RIGHT THERE” AND ALL MIGHT LOOKING FROM THE WINDOW LIKE A HORROR VILLAIN WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE 😭

All Might comes in and apologizes to Deku for not being able to support him when he needed it, but Deku says that All Might support him more than enough.  Mina also scolds All Might for not saying anything when he left.  She wants All Might to apologize to everyone for that.  Though I’m glad Deku and All Might have reconciled (I honestly thought that last convo between them was going to be THE LAST for a hot minute), Mina has a point.  All Might did bail on all of them without any warning.  Kinda messed up in general.

All Might apologizes and he is going to fight with everyone regardless of his physical state so that he can see that flame continue to shine.  However, he warns the kids that they got info on the villains and that the final decisive battle is coming soon.  If the whole “Final Arc” thing hasn’t been hammered into your head, there you go.  I’m also glad that Stain’s speech did end up motivating All Might further.  Who knew?

So, All Might is off to help Endeavor since he’s got unfinished business to take care of.  But, the kids are wondering why Endeavor (and probably Hawks) isn’t entering UA entirely yet.  Shot reminds them that Endeavor is still connected to Dabi and that his presence alone would cause more discourse.  People’s minds can’t change that easily.  Shoto of all people would know.  

As Deku FINALLY SLEEPS 💤 and Shoto puts a blanket over him (possibly warmed by his left side 🔥) 💙💚 Shoto acknowledges how his presence might be making people anxious too even though it’s not his fault at all (thank you, Kirishima for doubling down on this btw ❤️🪨).  But, things are different and Shoto’s going to show that so that everyone can be at ease like he wants as a hero.  There’s even this sweet small smile on his beautiful face as he says this.  He’s grown so much and he’s pretty to boot I love him so much *HANDS IN FACE* 💙❄️🔥 

EVEN KIRISHIMA’S CRYING FROM HOW MANLY SHOTO IS I LOVE THESE KIDS!!!!

And now Jiro steps up and says her piece.  That she knows how hard it is to convince everyone to change their minds for the better.  Like with those two critics from the Culture Fest.  Even so, they accomplished this before, so she thinks they can do it again.  She even gathers all the band members to emphasize on this.  I love how Jiro uses her earphone jacks to rally the band and how she literally drags Bakugo by the shirt for a cute group shot.  None of these kids are afraid of Bakugo anymore LOL 😂!  Also, Momo is the tallest out of all of them in this line up shot (except for Bakugo who’s still being dragged on the ground).  I think she’s roughly 5ft 6-7 inches?  She’s the tallest of the girls I know that, but damn.  She towers all of them.  Even me...  She’s also very pretty in this shot and it’s her birthday as I’m posting this, so happy b-day Momo ❤️

And we get a beautiful panel of Jiro leading everyone to make sure that they’ll go beyond with making everything better than it was before.  We get a nice group shot of the rest of the class agreeing with her with a smile including Shoto with a small one (did I mention that I love him?) 💙💙💙 And Deku’s in the center still sleeping away.  I hope he has good dreams *kisses forehead*💚  And go Jiro for stepping up to the plate too 💜!  All these kids have grown so much.  There is a light at the end of the tunnel. 

Finally, the last pages show Endeavor, Hawks, and Best Jeanist going somewhere, maybe Tartarus.  They got info out of Dr. Ujiko via polygraph and the Nomu Research Group at Central Hospital.  They predict that they have 2 months until Shigaraki’s ready to go again, so they’ll need 1 month of preparation.  But, the info Stain gave All Might gave them more info.  His letter ended up being a personal letter to All Might (Stain really is that nuts...), but there was a microchip in the blade Stain left containing the security records from Tartarus.  It’s not stated how this info affected the mission at hand, but it sounds like it has to do something with the time frame.  So, I’m curious if they have less time to prepare or more?  Given how this is the Final Arc, Imma say less.

Finally, the teaser asks “How are the villains moving?”  I wonder if that means we’re switching to the villain’s next week.  I would love to hang out with the kids more, but I would also like to know what our villains are up to.  Like, where the hell is Himiko Toga?  Is Spinner still questioning shit?  What happened to Mr. Compress after he mauled himself to help Shigaraki and the others escape?  Also I think we need more info on this dude’s backstory given he’s the grandson of the famous Robin Hood villain who’s name definitely didn’t escape me... 😐  Is Dabi laughing his ass off from the utter chaos he started?  Is AFO still smiling like the evil mastermind he is?  Is Shigaraki as crispy as he was earlier?  I was going to ask about Twice but... 😭

So, yeah!  Love this chapter.  Really good transition chapter into whatever happens next.  I’m kinda sad we didn’t see Deku fight off more past villains during his vigilante days.  We got Muscular and Overhaul and I think that’s it?  Didn’t see any of Overhaul’s minions or that teeth-blade villain (Fish-something?; he broke out, but we haven’t seen him since) or Re-Destro or his goons.  I don’t count as Gentle or LaBrava as villains anymore and they were never truly evil to begin with.  Regardless, it was a really cool arc to see a more dark side of Deku.  I’m really glad Horikoshi made great use of his bunny hood and metal mask finally.  Deku really did look demonic for some time.  Also, seeing Deku badass is always a plus.  And seeing the deconstruction of hero society and the possible reconstruction of it was really good too.  Not everything is sunshine and rainbows, unfortunately, but we can do our best to make it that way.

I’m also glad that we finally got our kids back in top form.  Not just being heroes, but being teenagers too.  They all had great moments especially Iida, Ochako, and now Shoto as they should.  But, Bakugo’s apology was peak for me.  Over 320 chapters of development and build-up lead to that moment and it really is one of the best in the series.  It lives in my head rent free.

So, we got 1-2 months in-manga-time until what is probably the final battle of the series.  God, I can’t believe we’re actually nearing the end of this series.  I started reading it back in 2018 when shit was rough for me. I found this series after listening to the music and reading the hype around it.  I watched the show then I read the manga and it really helped me.  Saved me from a dark place actually.  I will miss this series when it’s done and I will be greatly for the joy Horikoshi has gifted us.  I’ll try to save the farewells for later.  I’d say this series has at least 1-1 1/2 years to go.

Me @ the kids and All Might:

[tsu9live]

Before I start, this is in no offence to anyone else’s opinion. You are all valid and probably make more sense than me. This is a bit of a rant and then a short character study.

Warning: This got too long.

I tend to come online for manga updates and ended up reading through opinion posts because I am a curious cat. Most of the time I come across really well-thought out posts, really valid points. But then MHA is also a soap opera/family drama where the main character is not supposed to have any progress in his story unless its to bolster or move along the other favs . But then they shouldn’t be bolstering his story either because why is a story about Deku’s journey all about Deku?

But then there are people who are happy Deku is finally edgy and they want him to wipe the floor with his classmates who love him and are willing to fight him if only to get through to him. So there are both extremes and honestly there is validity in all these thoughts because despite the writer’s intentions, a reader brings the story to life.

I personally hate making my own predictions because most of the time I feel it ruins the experience of reading a work for me. I go in with different expectations and when the story goes a different way I don’t enjoy it as much but I feel its more my fault.

So I do understand and respect the difference of opinion because there is no fandom without discourse.

In my opinion though, this Deku solo arc was a long time coming and I think Horikoshi has handled it really weird. I’m still trying to understand what he wants us to think about.

A story about heroes and putting your life on the line for someone else is controversial, but, I thought it was a given. Recklessness had been part of Deku’s character but an overly-cautious character would do nothing. Deku’s lack of self-preservation wasn’t unnatural for a hero, he rushed in to save Bakugo from the slime-villain when Pros stood by putting himself at risk but it spurred AM to act. Katsuki experienced it as well during the war arc, when his body moved to save Deku.

Going to Kamino to save Bakugo was suicidal, reckless and potentially flawed but story-wise it made sense. How is hero-work anything than risky? Kirishima and Todoroki initiated it.

Disclaimer: Deku, Bakugo, Uraraka, Momo, Toga and Shigaraki are characters that are very dear to me because they have had me extremely invested since the beginning of the story. This is my personal opinion, flaws, rant... basically me working through my feelings about this manga I had been obsessed with recently.

1) There is an opinion where Bakugo had a right to be upset/angry/bully Deku because he wanted to be a hero but did nothing for it. Firstly, I don’t understand the need to justify his behaviour when he himself has expressed regret on it. People want others to move on from the “go jump off the roof comment” but won’t stop talking about how everything about Bully Bakugo was justified. Deku was weaker, but he had the same dreams, dreams that were the basis of their friendship earlier on. Regardless of how Deku wanted to achieve them, Bakugo had no right to keep trying to stop him from doing so. No, 5, 10, 14 year old Bakugo did not do so because he had the brilliant foresight that Deku would be self-sacrificial and it was for his sake, he was an angry kid and Deku was a timid, wannabe that confused him, intimidated him even. Taking out his anger was a way of working through those feelings. He was in Deku’s words “a punching bag”. In a world where the powerful reign, Bakugo couldn’t understand how a quirk less, weak little boy could think he could stand shoulder to shoulder with someone as gifted as Bakugo. Yeah, society is very much to blame. The change and maturity Bakugo goes through where he is humbled by a cast of amazing hero students who are just as gifted yet with inspiring personalities and then traumatic consequences of being kidnapped, watching his hero use the last of his powers to hold back a great evil, having that fight with Deku where he bared himself open, failing the licensing exam, training with todoroki, the internship... the war has changed him in a way that has brought out his full potential as a hero and a person. There is a lot to admire about him yet I see so many people fixate on headcanons that glorify his every action/word instead of praising the amazing person he has become/how well written his growth has been.

2) “Deku wanted to be a hero and he did nothing for it���. “He could have been a quirkless hero like Batman.” Listen, the story is about AFO vs OFA first and foremost. Hori has done a good job of worldbuilding and adding a cast of interesting characters that its easy to forget what the main plot point of the story is. But it really is about a weak/timid boy who was born with a sort of handicap who dared to dream to be someone strong enough to have others rely on him instead. A lot of the times people want to become something they feel they needed, someone who gave people hope just by existing. Its natural for someone who is ‘considered useless’ to want to be the most useful person ever. His mother didn’t believe he could do it, Bakugo told him repeatedly he shouldn’t even try, everyone else made fun of him, and his hero gave him a wake-up call, no... you can’t be a hero without a quirk. Deku studied heroes and quirks all his life, hoping he’d find something that could work for his advantage. Not every hero relies on physical strength, their bodies are adapted to the nature of their quirks. Deku’s analysis, quick-thinking and impulsive nature is what helped him progress even after getting the quirk because he didn’t gain control until really late. People act like he was handed power, seem to forget he has just learned to use it without consequences. His studies of quirks also made him the best candidate to get new quirks, quirks that he has learned to utilise as tools quickly and efficiently. He was doing what he thought was going to help him become a hero without guidance, without backing and constant discouragements. Its admirable and relatable. If you don’t relate to him that’s fine, your life was different.

Batman was loaded. Deku is not an inventor. The Editors shot that idea down because it would not have survived in a genre where power fantasies are the main hooks. Aizawa, sure he’s training Shinso because he sees his potential now but he would have either expelled Deku/moved him to General studies on that first day for scoring the least in that test. He changed his mind not because of Deku’s quirk but because of Deku’s ingenuity.

When Deku did find his guidance, he tried to do years of work/training in a short period of time. He acknowledges how far behind he is, that the rest are leagues above him and all he wants is to be able to stand side by side with those incredible people and he would go to all lengths to do so. DEKU has never said he wants to be the number one hero. He always says he wants to be one so reliable he saves people with a smile and later on, he wants to be a hero that can save without having other people worry about him. Bakugo works hard, he’s not just exceptional he works hard for it, all of 1A do but saying Deku does nothing when he is constantly shown, studying, training his body, understanding his shortcomings and working on it is just petty. You don’t like him because of his saviour complex, newsflash, that is a hero thing. Hero course is about that, Deku’s is just highlighted because of how often he gets hurt. How can you be a Todoroki stan and hate Deku (although to be fair its your right, I’m just making a point), the kid saw Shouto and decided that it was more important for Shouto to stop hurting and gave him a hell of a fight. I still remember Shouto’s smile, it gave me goose bumps.

Deku’s lack of self-preservation is a part of his programming so much that he hasn’t noticed it yet. Deku broke his bones, but he didn’t realise the permanent damage. When Deku got injured with Muscular, he was never intending to fight him alone. He wanted backup, his phone was broken and he wanted to get Kouta out and tried but Muscular gave him no opening. He was driven into a corner and fought his way out. Like Aizawa said, “He got that injured because he has no intention of dying.” Before rushing to find Bakugo, he informed his superior first, knowing she can spread the message.

The fight with Stain, he messaged his location to all his classmates, didn’t intend to fight Stain alone, just defend Iida long enough for help to come along. Fight with overhaul, he just wanted to get Eri away and when he understood Eri’s power, he gave her the opportunity to fight back against her oppressor by teaming up with him, keeping her secure with the cape made out of Lemillion’s hair. During the whole fight he was present-minded enough to take the fight away from civilians and managed to prevent damage and casualties. During Natsuo’s rescue he played support.

During the war arc, he realised with despair that Shigaraki was coming in all his destructive glory for him and tried to stop him before but he didn’t object to Bakugo joining him. In the movie Heroes Rising (the initially planned ending) he willingly gave OFA to Bakugo, because he trusts him with his life, and was willing to be quirkless again if that’s what it took to keep the kids safe, and himself and Bakugo alive. Its mostly been good decisions on his part.

Its the war arc that’s been his downfall. Watching his childhood friend/rival almost die, his best friend, his mentors almost die while he could barely hold Shigaraki back set off a fight or flight response in him. The seriousness of how Shigaraki came for him and left such death and destruction in his wake because he was not strong enough and AFO is a monster and the sight of Shigaraki and the reality of his situation pushed him down the current path. His solo arc started well because constantly training in the field has helped him master his quirk, and he had the backup of the vestiges who trained and guided him in learning to use it as a toolset instead of a one-punch solution. Then coming face to face with the flaws of hero society and the power, manipulative nature and destructive intentions of AFO has prepared him emotionally. He is not acting like AM, he hasn’t in a while. He is acting like NANA and i don’t blame him because she’s in his head. No adult stopped him from doing this, instead using him as bait to lure out the league.

When they started realising he’s spiralling out of control, that’s when they realised they messed up.

He’s running on adrenaline/fumes alone and I think he’s actually terrified.

“AFO is OFA’s responsibility” “Tell the world I am here” “You’re not as strong as me yet,” “You are not a worthy successor”

Deku isn’t self-centered and but I agree with the screw loose comment (its years of “you are useless, not good enough, not worthy and I bet a dozen or so concussions, bloodloss, dehydration lol). I know Bakugo means well and that’s how he talks. At the moment, he’s probably the only one whose sole goal is Deku’s survival. Deku’s like a wild animal, terrified, lost and as always backed into a corner. AFO has him where he wants him and I am curious to see how class 1 A are going to get through to him. I don’t want them to fight, all those fanarts of Bakugo reaching his hand out to Deku and then maybe punching him in the face would have been a lot better then the mocking (the slow clap was a little triggering for me) but again maybe it just bothers me and Deku needs it. I’ll just have to wait and see. Deku and his class together would be an unstopabble force and I am waiting for that to finally happen.

P.S. Class 1 A looks so mature, everyone going crazy about Bakugo and his tie and I’m here like, look at baby Kirishima and his roots <3

I’m sorry if I gave anyone a headache lol.

[beautifulpersonpeach]

What do you think of new jean’s’ latest EP?

*

Ask 2 (quick ask):

Last year you said XG is a group you like. What do you think of their comeback? Grl Gvng is my fav from them rn. Then Tippy Toes. Do you still like New jeans btw? Ever since you said to watch how kpop stans treat NJ I've been checking the reactions and discourse and you've been right on the money. Again. You could make real dough from predicting how things play out in kpop fandoms.

***

Hi Anon(s),

Get Up by NewJeans is a solid 8/10.

Every song on the EP is an earworm and I've been streaming the album since it dropped. There's no other 4th gen girl group that gets me excited for new music lately, more than NewJeans. XG is a distant second (anon in ask 2, all they've put out so far is a couple of singles which I think are very good, but the actual comeback is in late September so we'll see).

The stand-out songs on the EP for me are Cool With You, New Jeans, and ASAP, but every song on the EP is doing very well (except ASAP that most people seem to hate right now. But I suspect that will change with time.)

My theory of NewJeans' overarching concept being Alice in Wonderland, was confirmed for me in their visual album as that's the throughline idea in all the MVs, despite their very different themes.

The Powerpuff Girls / New Jeans intro being the most obvious analog, starting the EP with taking bunnies inside the imaginary world of NewJeans' townsville, reiterating that they aim to "make you feel like you're in a game", that this sound and vibe is what to expect, etc.

Super Shy which follows the girls within their universe where they're already known and loved (the callback to Attention at the start of the MV which people are already dancing to)

ETA is the first obvious reference to the parasocial attachment that NewJeans continues to highlight in their music. Just as in Ditto, it's self-aware with a morbid and surreal undertone to it. The MV director Shin Woo-seok, has also said the MV plot lesson is centered on how rumours can be used and weaponized regardless of whether they're based in fact. Which... again, just brilliant considering everything about how k-pop stans operate in general.

Cool With You & Get Up are the climax of the EP in my opinion, and in them we see the most interesting and sophisticated expression of identity conflict and reconciliation in parasocial attachments, using the story of Eros/Cupid and Psyche. Get Up, according to Ador, is only an interlude in this EP but will serve as the sonic blueprint for their next album. And this also confirms another pattern I've noticed. Min Heejin has been using one song from each album to hint/tease the dominant sound for the next. So, what I mean is:

1 - In NewJeans (debut EP) Cookie was a slight departure sonically from the other songs on the album, but sounds very similar to OMG which followed.

2 - In OMG (singles album) Ditto sounded nothing really like OMG (the song) but its UK garage + Baltimore Club combo sounds more like the full fledged expression of D&B that we see in Super Shy, Cool with You, and other songs in Get Up.

3 - And now in Get Up (2nd mini album) we hear that their next album project will sound a lot like Get Up (the song).

ASAP is easily my favourite song on the album. It reminds me a lot of Close Your Eyes. As the outro, here NewJeans doesn't hint at it anymore, they show you that you're Alice, and that you're already well and deep within their beautifully fantastical wonderland. There's just enough horror elements in the MV to keep you alert even though everything about the song is meant to lull you into a dreamlike illusionary state. It feels childlike and nostalgic.

If it were up to me, I'd nominate Get Up for every Album of the Year award. And I have to give kudos to Ador for not just collaborating with PPG by borrowing their trademarked characters and visuals, (which is where most k-pop groups and companies would've stopped at), but by finding a way to incorporate even the PPG theme song into their music. Whoever realized that a nostalgic cartoon has one of the most recognizable beats in the Drum & Bass genre and thought to repurpose it in their music, that person should get a raise.

I'm aware k-pop stans have tabled their usual complaints, tried getting various controversies to stick, from claiming Min Heejin was pushing terrorism to claiming that Hoyeon (the respected South Korean actress most known from Squid Game) was involved in making porn in front of minors... thankfully, the facts won (in more sane corners of k-pop fandom) and none of that bullshit really stuck. Now the only complaint I'm still seeing around is that the songs are too short, but again, it just drives home the fact as I keep saying, k-pop stans really have no idea what they're talking about. It's one thing to wish the songs were longer for your own enjoyment, but one of the characteristics of the D&B and Garage genres is their length, because they are percussion-driven and repetitive, songs in those genres are typically shorter.

Also, aside from a handful of other girl groups, NewJeans is producing some of the most fun, interesting, and engaging choreographies I've seen in a hot minute.

*

My favourite still in the entire visual album:

Hoyeon is built like a goddess, my gosh.

*

Ador needs to be given their due. They know what they're doing and I hope they continue having the freedom and cash to fully flesh out each of the girls' talents in NewJeans, because all five girls are incredibly talented. I'd love for Jimin to work with them somehow, Yoongi too (both as a collaborator and in a production capacity). I'm looking forward to seeing more from them in every possible way.

[upthehillask]

If someone only bullies one single person - especially when that person turnes out to be pretty ass, calling people slurs and coming up with fun little murder spells while still in school - can they even be called a bully?

Ha. First of all, I didn't call James "a bully" or intended to say that he is ("bully" implies a defining quality), I only stated the fact that he DID engage in bullying (as an act), and I stand by that, but I do not consider him to be a bully!

And secondly, this is actually a reaaally loaded (and interesting) question, there could be a lot to discuss here! :) Like: what is bullying, what isn't, is it ever justified (and if so, at what point or in what circumstances?), does the fact that a person had only ever bullied one other person somehow cancel out the fact that it's bullying (if so, again, in what circumstances and why?), etc. Like, your question is entering a real grey moral area (even though some people that might pose it actually mean it from a place of righteousness), so that's interesting and the answers to these questions would differ person to person based on their personal values! Which is cool, since we all have differing ones.

But I can share my take if you want to know! Even if it pains me because discourse stressed me out :'D

So my answer to your question is pretty predictable: yes, they can (again, I wouldn't call James "a bully" but whatever, let's be more reductionist and go with it). Yes they can IF they bullied knowingly what it is they were doing and still believing that there's nothing wrong with that despite it causing harm or whatever. Like... Do you ever consider that perhaps Snape wouldn't have become such a dick if he wasn't outcasted and ridiculed during formative years? I'm not saying that James is therefore responsible for how Snape turned out to be - obviously not, that's not fair, Snape's responsible for himself. BUT to say that "it's justified that James bullied Snape because Snape turned out to be a dick" kinda ignores the possible cause and effect chain that might have happened prior? Like... I think it's fair to say that Snape started coming up with murder spells AFTER they started bullying him. Sure, he was always interested in Dark Arts, but I don't see that as a crime?? I like dark shit too, doesn't make me a criminal or deserving of being bullied?? So it begs the question if Snape would have still been creating murder curses "for enemies" if he wasn't taught that he has enemies to begin with... maybe yes, maybe no. Regardless, Snape WAS a bigot, but bigotry is learned and therefore can be unlearned, so I don't see it as evil (it's the actions that can be evil), and it's hard to blame him from identifying with the dark side of Slytherin when it was the only place he found empowerment in and it was literally all he had (partly to his own fault). It's really unfortunate and I do wish he had known better.

The reason I am saying all of this is not to start arguing who did what and when, because that's very difficult to do considering how little we know about this backstory. We're judging their entire characters and lives based on a few scenes, so things are suuuper up to interpretation. But I just want to explain my take just to make that exact point, that things aren't black and white, at least in my opinion! And to, again, confirm that, yes, James DID bully, and yes, Snape IS a super duper dicky bigot :)

[passionate-reply]

Great Albums is back for a third time! This week, we discuss Dazzle Ships, the avant-garde masterpiece that was so infamously weird, it almost “sank” the pop career of Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. Or did it? As usual, you can find a full transcript of the video under the break, if you’d like to read it instead.

Welcome to Passionate Reply, and welcome to Great Albums. Today, I’ll be talking about an album that many would consider OMD’s best, and many would consider the last great album they ever made: 1983’s Dazzle Ships, their fourth studio LP. It has a reputation that precedes it, as a strange, experimental, and avant-garde album. And I can’t argue with that too much, when it has tracks that sound like "ABC Auto-Industry."

The most obvious thing one can say about Dazzle Ships is that it’s dense and rich with samples. You’ll hear found sounds ranging from a “Speak and Spell” toy to a radio broadcast from Czechoslovakia. It’s a magpie’s nest constructed of garbage and baubles, collage-like and conscientiously artificial. And OMD’s Paul Humphreys and Andy McCluskey managed to make it before sampling became easier and hence more widespread later in the 1980s, thanks to advancements in digital technology. In its own day, it was, famously, a huge flop, baffling even the critics, which makes it tempting to argue that the world simply wasn’t ready for it. Popular legend says that Humphreys and McCluskey were essentially forced to make increasingly soft, pop-oriented music for years afterward, usually at the hands of their label’s higher-ups.

Is that story really true? Well, I don’t know, and I’m not sure if anybody really does. But I think it’s important that we entertain some doubt. Regardless of its actual veracity, this legend is offering us a simplistic narrative of art and capital butting heads, and one that we see repeated all too often in music journalism. It’s a story that expects us to believe that experimental music is good by default, and the natural goal of music and all the people who make it--and, conversely, that accessible music is bad, and anyone who writes a song you can dance to is always after profit, never craft.

Ultimately, though, the most important reason why I’m asking you to leave this question at the gate is that it’s simply a less interesting way to think about art. What I think is truly ingenious about OMD is their ability to combine a pop sensibility with that bleeding-edge experimentation, and vice versa. I don’t think of Dazzle Ships as just an inscrutable, esoteric musical ready-made, but rather something capable of animating and enriching a bunch of otherwise mundane sounds. A word I might use for it is "challenging," because it isn't simply off-putting--it has a certain charm that invites you to stick around and work through it, and you don't feel like it's a waste of your time. I think the underlying pop DNA offered by Dazzle Ships is a big part of that.

In “Genetic Engineering,” the samples from that Speak & Spell are contrasted with a more traditional chorus, which rises above the chaos, stirring and anthemic. It’s a song full of friction, not only between these musical ideas, but in ideas about technology and our future. Like many great works of electronic music, especially earlier in its history, Dazzle Ships is deeply concerned with science and technology, and the ways they’ve structured our world. These guys wrote “Enola Gay” a few years earlier, sure, but there’s much more than Luddite, dystopian thinking here! Dazzle Ships walks a tightrope between romantic adoration of the promise of a better tomorrow, and the tempered uncertainty we’re forced to develop, when we witness the devastation our most horrifying inventions have wrought already. Something that helps sell the former is the motif of childhood: in addition to the Speak & Spell, “Genetic Engineering” also features a children’s toy piano, and prominently references “children” in its lyrics. And “Telegraph,” the album’s other single, sees fit to reference “Daddy.”

Touches like these, and the centering of not-so-new technologies like telegraphy and radio, carry us backward in time. Dazzle Ships has a sense of nostalgia for the technological explosion of the Midcentury, when household technologies were improving in ways that saved time and labour, and faith in “better living through science” was high. It’s not a wistful or introspective nostalgia, but rather one that taps into the bustling excitement of living through that era. That retro styling helps us situate ourselves in a childlike mindset: optimistic, but somewhat naive. Children are highly imaginative, and become enthralled with possibility, but don’t always understand every implication their actions have.

But, as I said, “Telegraph” and “Genetic Engineering” were the album’s singles; the typical track on *Dazzle Ships* sounds more like “ABC Auto-Industry.” The track listing is structured such that these more conventional songs are surrounded by briefer, and more abrasive, intrusions. They become signals in the noise, as though we’re listening to them on the radio--or ships, rising above some stormy seas. Several tracks, such as “International,” also feature a more dissonant intro, on top of that, crowding their main melodies inward.

Over the years, many critics have been quick to contrast Dazzle Ships with OMD’s other albums, but I actually think it has a lot in common with their preceding LP, 1981’s Architecture & Morality, and seems to me to flow naturally from the direction the band had already been going in. Architecture & Morality is a lively mix, with moody instrumentals like “Sealand,” guitar-driven numbers like “The New Stone Age,” and catchy, intuitive pop songs like “Souvenir.” Architecture and Morality proved to be their most successful album, when its title track sounds like this. I fail to see how it’s tremendously different than the title track of Dazzle Ships, which leads us on a harrowing sea chase, with radar pings quickly closing in.

That nautical theme is a great segue to discuss the album’s visual motif. Like all of OMD's first five albums, its sleeve was designed by Peter Saville, most famous for his stunning work for New Order. The cover and title were inspired by a painting Saville had seen, Edward Wadsworth’s *Dazzle Ships in Drydock at Liverpool,* which portrays WWI warships painted in striking, zebra-like geometric patterns. These sharply contrasting “razzle dazzle” designs weren’t “camouflage,” but rather served to confuse enemy forces’ attempts to track them, and predict their motions. Dazzle ships were killing machines that fought dirty...and they were also beautiful. It’s a potent, complex symbol, and it’s a natural fit for an album that’s also capricious, perplexing, and captivating in its uniquely modern terror. Saville’s sleeve design features both a die-cut design as well as a gatefold; peeking through the cover’s “portholes” reveals the interior, where we find a map of the world, divided by time zones. It’s yet another reminder of how technology has reshaped the planet, connecting the human race while also creating divisions.

Earlier, I argued that Dazzle Ships isn’t that different from OMD’s preceding LP, and I’d also suggest that their follow-ups to it aren’t all that different, either. It’s easy to see the influence of Dazzle Ships on their most recent work, made after reforming the group in the late 00s, and informed by the critical re-evaluation and cult acclaim of their alleged masterpiece. But even in the 80s, they basically continued the pattern of layering easy to love, “obvious single choice” tracks alongside more experimental, sample-heavy ones. Compare the title track of their sixth LP, 1985's *Crush.*

Even the greatest of pop hitmakers can't maintain a streak in the charts forever--it's not the nature of mainstream pop charts. Not even in the 1980s, when you could get away with quite a lot of electronic weirdness...at least for a while. Looking back and listening to "Maid of Orleans," it's almost hard to believe it was one of OMD's biggest hits. Is it really less weird than something like "Telegraph"? Perhaps they had simply reached the end of their imperial phase...whether they really had that stern talking-to or not.

It's not so much that Dazzle Ships isn't weird, so much as it is foreseeable that a nerdy, left-of-center band like OMD would have come up with it. Dazzle Ships IS excellent--it’s a Great Album! But it's good enough that I think it deserves to be heard and valued on its own terms. The album is too goddamn good--too compelling, too spell-binding--to be reduced to "that one album the plebs were too dumb to really get." I'm not clearing the air because I think this album is overrated, but because I think it deserves better, deeper discourse than it gets. A truly great album is great whether it sells or it doesn't, right? My advice is to never let art intimidate you, no matter how obtuse people say it is. Send your ship on that plunge into the dark waters of the unknown--you might find something beautiful.

That said...my favourite track overall is “Radio Waves,” an irresistibly fun cut that could easily have become a third single. Since “Genetic Engineering” and “Telegraph” live on side one of the record, “Radio Waves” is really the only “reprieve” we get on side two, smack in its middle. It really stands out, in context--almost like the opposite of how a more conventional album might have one out-there track that catches you off guard. Aside from all of that, though, the song also stands perfectly well alone. I have a real soft spot for music about music, how it’s made and transmitted, and “Radio Waves” is simply one hell of a ride.

Thanks for reading!

[nneefa]

What do you think about people that say Rinshi is forced and cliche? I know you don't like shipping discourse but I wanted your opinion since I saw that you really liked the ship.

You're right, anon, I don't like shipping discourse, but I'll answer anyway, since you asked and I'm in a good mood. :]

Let's see...

I don't think anything of the people who say those things. People are entitled to their opinion, and while I may not agree with them, I can certainly respect them. As for the opinion itself, since I get the feeling that's what you're referring to, I completely disagree with it. At least, the part about it being "forced."

The term "cliche" is typically used to express the overuse of something, lacking originality, like themes, characterizations, etc.; and while this can totally be applied to RinShi, in the sense that they're a "main boy/main girl" pairing, the term "cliche" can honestly be applied to, well, majority of the ships, since all ship-types have been used thousands of times in the past in all different sorts of media from shounen to shoujo. If we're going to apply "cliche" to RinShi, we have to be transparent and apply it to all of them, otherwise it comes off as hypocritical.

There are tons of manga where the main boy does not end up with the main girl; however, even those types of pairings can fall under "cliche" since nothing is original nowadays. Keep in mind too that Kazue Katou said out of her own mouth that every single last one of her characters at their base are stereotypes/cliches (i.e. Izumo is a tsundere, Yukio is the smart guy, Rin is the goofy, happy protagonist, etc.), so while I agree with the sentiment, at the same time, I don't see how that matters. For example, in terms of ships, Kenshin and Kaoru from Rurouni Kenshin are a "main girl/main boy" pairing, same with Yoh and Anna from Shaman King, but they're absolutely nothing like Rin/Shiemi. The characters are what shape the ship itself, not that it falls under a certain category. Even pairings who share the same similarities ("outgoing boy/shy girl" trope) like Naruto/Hinata from Naruto or Ichigo/Orihime from Bleach are nothing like them. Again, none of it is original in terms of themes, and yet all three have their own differences, so none of them can really be compared to each other. It all boils down to personal preference, as there are people who like one and not the other, and personal preference does not a bad ship make.

Now, to say that RinShi is "forced," I really don't see how that can be true. How is it forced? What makes it forced? I would like to know. I can see if Kazue had only developed the pairing from Rin's perspective or that Rin's feelings were shallow or that if Shiemi was in love with someone else (or no one) for the entirety of the manga and somehow ended up with Rin even though she never reciprocated his feelings or that Shiemi was a satelite love interest who had no goals or aspirations outside of being an accessory for Rin, but none of that even remotely applies to them.

Yes, they were immediately established as "the canon ship," but Kazue Katou actually took time and effort to develop them as characters, first and foremost, then as friends/mutual love interests so that by the time they did confess/realize their feelings, it made sense within the context of the narrative and didn't come out of nowhere. To call it "forced" in light of their development is to undermine and discredit the amount of work, time, energy, and effort Kazue put into writing them, regardless of whether or not we prefer them as a ship, and that, quite frankly, is wrong. If they're obvious/predictable, it's because Kazue wanted to establish it early, but the fact that she actually developed the ship over the course of the narrative was and is good writing. Our personal preference, in that, just because we don't like or ship them, does not take away from this fact.

tldr; RinShi is cliche, in terms of their theme as the "main boy/main girl" and/or "outgoing boy/shy girl" pairing, but so is every shounen couple ever, regardless of its theme, because everything lacks originality to some degree. But them being cliche, imo, doesn't inherently make it a bad ship. RinShi, however, is not "forced," because Kazue, upon establishing them, actually developed their relationship over the course of the narrative so that by the time they realized their feelings, it made sense within the context of the narrative. To call them "forced" in lieu of this undermines and discredits her writing, whether we personally ship RinShi or not.

[60b3r]

Memes Kill Creativity?

Memes vs. Genes

In the 1976 book The Selfish Gene, Richard Dawkins coined the term 'meme' to describe something with symbolic meaning that spreads by imitation from person to person within a culture. This idea is an analogue to the nature of selfish gene, described similarly as a piece of genetic material possessing information required to be able to replicate themselves inside a living. The only key difference in both terms is that the gene is natural, while memes are artificial. The rest of memes' operating schemes completely mimic the genes perfectly. In our current timeline, memes as we know today are taking many forms: as image macros, short videos, and rick-rollicking music. Memes in imageboards and forums have been pushing internet porn traffic into a stalemate and putting our power grid into unnecessary burden. Of course, memes are not to be regretted, but otherwise need to be taken seriously, since they are able to put our current understanding of media industry and economic system into shame.

As with every other thing that have existed, memes are not exempt in its dualistic nature. If you ever venture to the depths of dark web, you may know that memes also took part in the infamous mimetic Tumblr-4chan War. Not only that, some memes are reportedly causing harm towards some users, even though it is often disguised or said to be a dank joke or mere sarcasm. Memes have seen its share of use in online bullying, mass shootings, and hate crimes, cowering behind the freedom of expression tag. Regardless, memes are also an extremely effective form of information transmission. Like all living systems with no set moral standards, memes do evolve and are subject to natural selection. Memes, like genes, actually work like a mindless machine. Again, this is eerily like the performance of DNA in living systems. The last thing we want from this thing is virulence.

Every day, something went viral on Twitter. Hashtags are flaring into the top trends, some videos are being watched billions of times, and another cat vs. cucumber pic garnered thousands of likes. Viral properties of a virus (duh) is defined as the capability to multiply quickly in relatively short amount of time. The term saw a huge increase in usage during the dawn of the internet age and the rise of computer malwares spread through unsecured ports of network protocol. This term is being applied to memes, as it is like a virus (which is a pure embodiment of a selfish gene). Now, a lot of people are utilizing memes to create art, because it enables them to cater the short-attention spans of current internet users. They create shorts, illustrations, inside jokes, and small comic strips. Some of you might not agree with me on this one, but stay with me now and I will explain to you why I would like to treat memes and art as a single unit of interest in this argument.

The dawn of meme-technology

Viral memes and their popularity are now often considered important in defining a time period in the internet culture. Now every netizen can somewhat distinguish the approximate age, sex, and political views of other users from the usage of rage comics, meme songs, and meme platforms they use. Intuitively we can make a generalized difference between the userbase of Reddit, 4chan, 9gag, Vine, and now Tiktok. Others, by the share of relatability with sub-genres of different areas of interest (film memes and game memes). Some others, even, in the perspectives of different social and economic class system (first world problems and third world success memes). Meme preferences to us netizens are ironically giving away our anonymous identity. Identity which the media companies are vying to get their hands on. That's where I would like to come into my opening argument: both memes and genes which originally possesses no intrinsic value, suddenly become a subject of value with technology.

How do we draw the logic, I say? The ones and zeros inside electrical systems are value-free, so does DNA in living cells. As we meddle ourselves with biotechnology to manipulate genetic material for profit, we also simmer ourselves in the computer sciences and tweak physical computation to perform better. We give value in the inanimate object by manipulating them. In our world, we often heard these expressions: that communication is key, sometimes silence is golden, and those who control the information wields the power. What’s these three statements have in common? Yes, information and expression. Memes are the simplest form of both. This is the beginning of the logic: memes are no longer in and on itself independent of external values. The infusion of utilitarian properties in memes as artificial constructs are seemingly inevitable, and for the better or worse shapes our current society.

We might have heard that somewhere somehow, the so called ‘global elites’ with their power and wealth are constantly controlling biotech research and information technology—or, in the contrary, they control these knowledge and resources to keep shovelling money and consolidate their power. Memes are one of their tools to ‘steer’ the world according to their 'progressive agenda', seemingly driving the world ‘forward’ towards innovation and openness. Nah, I am just joking. But, stay with me now. It is actually not them (the so-called global elites) who you should be worried about. It is us—you and I, ourselves—and our own way of unwittingly enjoying memes that are both toxic and fuelling the age-old capitalism. Funny, isn't it? We blame society, but we are society. But how are be becoming the culprits yet also be the prey at the same time?

Middle-class artists are hurt

Now, aggressive marketing tactics using memes are soaring. Media companies are no doubt cashing in the internet and viral memes to their own benefit. Streaming and cataloguing are putting up a good fight compared to their retail, classic ways of content delivery. This is quite true with the strategies of Spotify and YouTube, other media companies alike. They can secure rights to provide high-quality content from big time artists and filmmakers and target these works directly to the end consumer, effectively cutting the cost of distribution which usually goes to the several layers of distribution line like vinyl products, radio contracts, and Blu-ray DVDs. I believe this is good, since it is like an affirmative action for amateur artists to start a career in the art industry. Or is it? Does it really encourage small-time artists to begin? Yes. How about the middle-class artists? Not necessarily.

You might sometimes wonder, “how the hell did I get somewhere just by following the trending or hot section in the feed?”. This toxicity of memes often brings some bad things to our tables. Social media algorithms handle contents (like viral memes) by putting those with high views or likes to the front page, effectively ‘promoting’ the already popular post and creating a positive feedback cycle. By doing so, they could capitalize on ad profits on just few ‘quality’ contents over huge amounts of audience in a very short amount of time. The problem is most of the time, these ‘quality’ contents have no quality at all. They just happen to possess the correct formula to be viral, with the correct SEO keywords and click-bait titles with no real leverage in the art movement. This way, I often find both the talented and the lucky—of which the boundaries between them are always blurred—overshadow the aspiring ‘middle-class’ artists who work hard to perfect their craft.

If you are already a famous guitarist with large fanbase, lucky you, you are almost guaranteed to top the billboards. What, you have no skills? Post a video of you playing ‘air guitar’ and… affirmative actions to the rescue. Keep on riding the hype wave and suddenly you get to top trending with minimal effort, thanks to your weird haircut. Those haters will surely make a meme out of your silly haircut, not even your non-existent guitar skills. But still, hype is still a hype, and there’s no such thing as a bad publication. This also answers why simple account who reposts other people’s content could get much more followers than the hard-working creators. Not only being outperformed by the already famous artists taking social media by storm, now the ‘middle-class’ artists are also dealing with widespread content theft and repost accounts because of the unfair, bot grading system. It is unimaginable how many nobodies got the spotlight they don’t deserve just because they look or act stupid and the whole internet cheers around them. Remember, this is not always about the artist, but also the quality of the art itself. I believe a good art should be meaningful to the beholder.

Why capitalism kills creativity

The problem in current art industry is that we are feeling exhausted with the same, generic, and recycled stuff. We indeed already see there’s less discourse about art now. Sure, the problem lies not in the artist or medium, but is in the viewers—the consumer of the art form—and how the capitalist system reacts to it. The hyper efficient capitalist system doesn’t want to waste any more time and money trying to figure out what’s new or what’s next for you. What we love to see, what is familiar to us, the market delivers them. The rise of viral memes phenomenon in the social media pushes the market system to the point where they demand artists to create the same, redundant, easy art form. Listen to some of The Chainsmokers’ work and we'll see what music have become: the identical 4-chord progression, the same drop, the predictable riser, and the absence of meaningful lyrics. We sat down and watch over the same superhero movies trying hard to be the next Marvel blockbuster. The production companies are also happy not to pay writers extra to come up with new ideas and instead settle with borrowed old scripts from decades old TV drama. Disney's The Lion King and its heavy use of the earlier Japanese Kimba The White Lion storyline is one guilty example.

Despite it initially being an economic system and not a political ideology, it is untrue that many Marxist philosophers usher the suppression of art. While it is ironic that Stalinist policy intends to curb ‘counter-revolutionaries’—in this case his enemies—by limiting freedom of press and media; American propaganda added further so that it seems that the ideology is also limiting art and kill creativity. We all know the Red Scare in the U.S. during the Cold War saw a popular narrative of communism and socialism that is devoid of freedom of expression. This state propaganda then further become ‘dehumanization’ and make freedom of expression invalid under the guise of equality. Marx argue that total equality is not possible, and the uniqueness is being celebrated by having them doing what they do best and provide the best for their community. Thus, an individual's interests should be indistinguishable from the society's interest. Freedom is granted when the whole society is likely to benefit from an action. According to Mao in his Little Red Book, freedom of expression in art and literature, after all, is what initially drive the class consciousness. It is capitalism, not communism, that kills creativity.

If left unchecked, the threat of this feedback loop is going to cause a lack of diversity, resulting in stale content, less art critique, and overall decline in our artistic senses. Artists’ creativity that are supposedly protected by the free internet are destroyed within itself through the sheer overuse of viral memes. Capitalism has successfully turned the supposedly open, free-for-all, value-free platform that is the internet against the people into a media in which they are undeniably shaping new values on its own: the art culture that's not geared towards aesthetics and appreciation, but towards more views and personalized clicks. How social media and media industry caters to the demands of the consumer are, in Marx's own words, “digging its own grave”.

Spare nothing, not even the nostalgia

Well, people romanticize the oldies. The good old days, when everything is seen as better and easier. Look at the new art installations that uses the aesthetics of naughty 90s graphic design to become new, the posters released in this decade but with an art deco of the egregious 80s pop artist Andy Warhol, or the special agent-spy movies set frozen in the Nifty Fifties. Nostalgia offers us a way to escape from the hectic choices of our contemporary: different genres of music, dozens of movies to watch, and different fashion to consider. We choose to settle with our old habits, that we know just works. Remember how do we throw our money on sequels and reboots and remakes of old movies we used to watch during our younger days? We don’t even care about new releases at the cinema! Did you remember how Transformers 2 and their subsequent sequels perform at the box office at their opening week?

The huge sales of figurines and toys of Star Wars franchise—if we could scrutinize them enough—came from the old loyal fanbase of the late Lucasfilm series, not primarily from new viewers. Then suddenly, surprise-surprise. Our love for an old franchise deemed dead enough to be remembered and treasure soon must be destroyed to pave way for three new outrageous sequels (the ones with Kylo Ren and Snoke) by the grace of our beloved capitalism. Sadly, nothing is left untouched by the capitalism’s unforgiving corruption. Nostalgia has become a gimmick that makes people like some art more than they should, because it’s familiar. It is another way of squeezing your pocket dry.

Not that it is bad to make derivatives like covers or remixes, but the trade-offs are far too high. Consequentially, the number of original arts is now very little, because artists don’t bother making new stuff if they just aim for a quick buck. Most of the young adult novels are essentially the same lazy story progression with only different time setting and different character names. Most of them even have the same ending! No more a beautiful journey like the thrillers of Dan Brown or the epic adventures of Tolkien’s Lord of The Rings, which defines their respective times. Do we seriously want to consider Twilight and 50 Shades of Grey as a unique work? Isn’t the Hunger Games and the Maze Runner essentially the same?

If you play video games, you must have known that the trend always starts over. Game developers are making gazillions of sequels, and only a few of them that are actually good. Most are outright trash. Oh, wait, old video games like Homeworld are also getting remasters to cater the demand of nostalgic consumers. No new Command and Conquer release from EA Games? Re-release the 25 years old Red Alert because people will re-buy it! Profit!

15 June 2020 8.03 PM