#making references to memes from 2007

[i-m-b-l-u-e]

God is my Poor Little Meow Meow

[weaselandfriends]

Lucky☆Star (Anime)

How does art age?

There's a joke in Lucky☆Star where the four main characters fill out a questionnaire that asks them what they want to be when they grow up. Konata, the otaku, puts down "Brigade Leader," which draws as punchline an eyeroll from her sarcastic friend, Kagami.

The core of this joke is that Konata has taken a serious question and answered it with a fictional "occupation" from an anime she likes -- specifically, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, which was monstrously popular at the time. Almost everyone watching Lucky☆Star in 2007, when it first aired, would understand this reference. That understanding would then foster a sense of kinship with the work, the feeling of "being seen," the long yearned-for ideal of niche nerd subcultures laughed at by society at large.

Despite its incredible influence on moe aesthetics and anime culture in 2006, Haruhi Suzumiya is virtually forgotten now, unwatched even by diehards and unrecommended by the old weebs who were around in its heyday. I've never seen it myself. It's my next watch, with another friend who is even more of an anime neophyte than I am; our third friend, who did watch it in 2006, refuses to rewatch with us. It's too cringe, she says. The suggestion I get is that, if we were to modernize the what-you-want-to-be-when-you-grow-up joke, Konata might instead put that she wants to become a Skibidi Toilet.

Haruhi Suzumiya haunts Lucky☆Star like a ghost. She is in almost every episode, as either a poster or figurine or manga cover or cosplay or karaoke rendition or even, once, a voiced commercial. She has more presence than most of the supporting cast, the majority of whom do not appear until the 14th episode (but who also haunt the show via their unexplained presence in the OP). Konata is voiced by the same actress who voiced Haruhi, a fact that launches an armada of arcane metafictional injokes, including a scene where Konata sees said voice actress in concert. The sheer magnitude of these references wash over the 2025 viewer. They are meaningless. Haruhi Suzumiya is dead and buried. She is seen more by the shadow she casts in this show than anywhere else.

The inscrutability of this massive swath of the show suggests that Lucky☆Star itself has not aged particularly well. Indeed, compared to its zenith in 2007, it's not faring much better than Haruhi today. The sole advantage Lucky☆Star has, in fact, might stem from the "Out Of Touch Thursday" meme, which keeps some small shard of it alive in the anime community's consciousness. Even if you take the time to research the references, needing to research them at all gives the ultimate impression is that Konata is no longer the trendy otaku she once was, but passe, lame, dated, cringe, Out Of Touch. It's only the thin line of competent verbal skills that keeps her from becoming her dark mirror, Tomoko Kuroki.

But Haruhi Suzumiya is by no means the only obscure reference the show flings out, and some of these references I can only imagine were unknown even to the teenage-skewing anglosphere anime culture of 2007. At one point, Konata makes a reference (Timotei, Timotei) to a Japanese commercial for a Finnish shampoo brand from the 1980s. Karaoke segments feature Japanese pop songs from the 70s (with Kagami sarcastically asking Konata "How old are you?" whenever she puts them on). The entire Lucky Channel bit that appears at the end of each episode is an extended reference to a Japanese-only radio show that ran concurrent to the original airing. Even within that context, the fact that Lucky Channel co-host Minoru Shiraishi is a real person playing himself (and the other co-host, Akira Kogami, is not) is lost on anyone without highly specialized knowledge. That the credits sequences of the show's second half feature the real Minoru Shiraishi in live action is equally easy to miss. The bleeding edge transience of the references culminates with the show recursively referring to its own fame. In one scene, Konata reads a fortune at a Kyoto temple that says "Konata is my wife"; this is a reference to real-life otaku going to a temple in Saitama, where Lucky☆Star is set, and leaving the same prayer.

The show requires footnotes. It had them, on the 2007 anime forums where the show accrued so much buzz, entire Bibles breaking down every reference; it truly wasn't understood even when it aired. It makes perfect sense why Lucky☆Star wouldn't age well.

Yet, watching the show for the first time in 2014, long after its cultural moment, and again in 2025, I have found it extraordinarily timeless. In fact, I liked it better in 2025 than 2014, despite an additional 11 years of watching anime that enabled me to understand exactly 0 things I didn't get the first time around. And there are a lot of things I didn't get. The references I detailed earlier are only the ones, in complete befuddlement, I bothered to look up; so many more continue to elude me.

In many ways, Lucky☆Star is aware of how inscrutable it is and compensates for itself. Wikipedia describes Konata as the "main character" of the show, and to the otaku audiences of 2007 she was the most relatable of the cast and by extension the most popular character by far (something outright stated in one of the Lucky Channel segments, which reveals the results of an actual character popularity poll), but in terms of screen time, she is not appreciably more present than either of the Hiiragi twins, Kagami and Tsukasa. It's not as though Lucky☆Star has anything resembling a plot, either, that would frame a particular character as the "protagonist"; at best the cast can be described as ensemble. This decentralization of perspective enables a wide variety of ways for the viewer to connect with the show. Konata's authentic (in 2007) otakuism made her the darling of that audience, but the show itself does not innately weigh her so highly. In fact, even when her references are inscrutable, it's the confused response of Tsukasa, or the sarcastic response of Kagami (who tends to call Konata the 2007 equivalent of "cringe"), that provide a contextual framework for what the joke is supposed to be. I don't need to know what the SOS Brigade is when Konata expresses her desire to grow up and become a Brigade Leader, because I can understand through Kagami's biting remark that it is some frivolous anime horseshit.

More importantly, the show's equivocation in terms of perspective makes it possible to empathize with Kagami's position over Konata's. The simplest comedy dynamic is the comedian/straight man, but the reliance of most narrative comedy on some form of social stakes -- either in the form of argument, humiliation, physical or psychological pain, or so on -- generally leads to empathy with one of the duo over the other. The straight man might be a put-upon everyman who is unfairly forced to deal with an obnoxious oaf, or a too-serious curmudgeon who is getting what they deserve from a guy who's just having a little fun. In the first case, the straight man is the point of audience empathy; in the second, the comedian is.

Konata and Kagami follow this comedy dynamic to a T, with Konata an aimless slacker and Kagami the uptight perfectionist. But in Lucky☆Star, divorced entirely from anything resembling a narrative -- episodic, situational, or otherwise -- there are zero social stakes to their conversations. Nobody ever "loses." Nobody is ever hurt. Nobody is wrong or right. Nothing happens at the expense of one character or another. As such, it is possible to watch the show and see the joke from the perspective of any given character at any time. If Konata says some arcane reference you don't get, Kagami's clapback becomes the joke. If Konata says something and you do understand it, the reference itself is the joke.

This comedic ambivalence is structurally remarkable (jokes typically have rigidly defined punchlines, moments you are "supposed" to laugh at), but comes with the price of the jokes not really being very funny. What it does do is create comprehensible and even "relatable" situations out of incomprehensible bits of referential information. Not understanding the reference is not an impediment to understanding Lucky☆Star. As such, Lucky☆Star functions as both a hyper-specific time capsule of 2007 anime subculture and a work that can be engaged with on its own terms even when completely divorced from that context.

The advent of the internet has led to an explosion in the spread of information and the ascendancy of the niche. It has also led to shorter shelf lives for information and an increased focus on the immediate. Memes burst into prominence, linger a month or two, vanish. Media is buzzed about in some section of society, is unknown everywhere else. A social media influencer has millions of followers and yet is a complete blank in the wider cultural eye. How can a work of art reflect this reality without rendering itself incomprehensible in a year, ten years, twenty? Is it possible to make timeless art in such a milieu, without stripping away as many signifiers of the world we live in to rely solely on "universal" and thus generic themes such as love, death, etc.?

I've seen many ways of attacking this problem. Infinite Jest's famous footnotes are one, as is the genre of "hysterical realism" itself, which attempts to create the suggestion of information density via massive novels with tons of characters spanning many countries and even time periods. Homestuck builds its own internal language of memes (I warned you about stairs bro!) that the reader will always understand no matter how many arcane applications those memes receive throughout the work. (Hence why an audience of teens in the 2010s were able to laugh uproariously at jokes about the 90s action flick Con Air that none of them had ever seen.) Multiverse movies, from Everything Everywhere All at Once to Into the Spider-Verse, depict the density of information horizontally rather than vertically, with unlimited variations on the same core theme. Even if you have never read whatever obscure comic run Noir Spider-Man comes from, you can understand him immediately based on his relationship to a sort of Platonic ideal of "Spider-Man".

These are all highly controlled forms of conveying the idea of "current day information density" without actually wallowing in actual current day information density. What's remarkable about Lucky☆Star is both that it actually does engage with the incredibly niche memes of its exact moment in time, but that it does so through the complete ceding of narrative control. Lucky☆Star functions because, not in spite of, the fact that it has no protagonist, no plot. It doesn't even have situations, like an episodic sitcom. It is not especially concerned with being funny, or dramatic, or heartwarming, or any particular emotion.

As a sort of thesis statement for the show, its first episode opens with a six-minute scene in which Konata, Tsukasa, and Miyuki discuss various ways of eating different types of food. There is no buildup, no joke, no emotional payoff, not even any of the references I've spent this entire essay talking about. There is no progression. The girls discuss how to eat one type of food, then move onto the next. In a way, this scene is a more aggressive challenge to the viewer than the niche references it employs later on. It is a complete surrender to banality.

Even within the context of the slice of life genre, which is full of comfy shows about Cute Girls Doing Cute Things, Lucky☆Star achieves phenomenal laxity. Other popular examples revolve around a specific theme that creates a sense of progression toward an ultimate goal; in K-On!, for instance, the girls are members of a band and work toward a successful performance, even if they spend a lot of their practices slacking off. Alternatively, without a clear theme, these shows might use surreal characters and situations to elevate the show above the mundane, such as in Azumanga Daioh, where a main character is a 10-year-old genius in high school. Or, in the case of Clannad, there might be a romantic angle to the laid-back character interactions.

This is all gone in Lucky☆Star. It has been stripped down past the basics of storytelling, akin to an abstract work of art that is three colors on a canvas. (Or four, in this case.) In this context, even Konata's deep cut animanga references sink to the level of banality, their impenetrability both an abstract confusion and a level of verisimilitude that other works can usually only suggest or evoke when they attempt to grapple with the reality of subculture. (To this end, Lucky☆Star is massively advantaged by its adaptation, as studio Kyoto Animation also made Haruhi Suzumiya and was able to mine its cultural relevance without the usual fear of copyright reprisals, in a prognostication of Ready Player One/Space Jam 2-style pan-brand media crossovers.) Similar to the best abstract art, there is an odd, ungraspable power to the starkness of Lucky☆Star's composition; also similar, much of this power emerges out of the work's context. Not simply its hyper-specific 2007 cultural context, which I've already discussed, but also the way it contextualizes itself internally.

Because I lied when I said the first episode of Lucky☆Star opens with a scene of three girls talking about how they eat different types of food. I'm not even talking about the actual first scene, which is a 10-second quick gag where Konata tells Tsukasa she doesn't join a sports team because it would cut into her free time to watch anime. No, Lucky☆Star opens in episode 1 the same way it opens every episode, with this:

The ambiguous 3 cm? Does that mean it's plushy? Wait! The wrapping is a uniform, argh, it's not an act, pooh Gotta do your best, gotta just do it That's time to catch n' release, eek Between sweat (whoop) sweat (whoop) Darlin', darlin' FREEZE! Kinda lethargic, something's kinda comin' out I love you... oh wait, one of those was different Worrywarts, high metal bars Tasty thoughts... and that's enough! The heated body of that flying you-know-who It's what you'd call a normal girlie Am I the only one surprised? Seconds on pork-bone broth ramen with wire-hard noodles Da da da da da! [Several seconds of indistinguishable chatter] Pom-poms cheer squad Let's get cherry pie [this line is in English] Happy fun welcoming party Look up! Sensation [also English] Yeah! Feeling of existence, dot dot small planet Collided and it melted away, in total awe Go all out to sing, shi-ranger! Take it away! I should be the one who'll be laughing in the end Because I have the sailor suit ← This is my conclusion It's only Monday! Already in a bad mood? What to do? I really prefer the summer outfits ← kya! Wah! Good! (cute!) <3 Until we approach 3 pixels, no hesitations please ☆ Do your best, be energetic My darlin' darlin' please!

The lyrics of Lucky☆Star's OP are nonsense, both in translation and in the original Japanese (and if you don't believe that, the English line "Let's get cherry pie" should be evidence enough). At best, they are a mishmash of schoolgirl concepts and oblique anime references, which at the very least is an accurate reflection of the content of the show. But the presentation is frenetic, erratic, aggressively at odds with the show's lassitude, without any contextualizing remark from Kagami to make it make, even in the abstract, any sort of sense.

Likewise, on the opposite end of the show is its concluding bookend, the Lucky Channel segment. This segment also sharply juxtaposes the show's core content, first in tone -- being far more cynical and meanspirited -- but also in structure. Lucky Channel engages in the exact stakes-driven comedian/straight man dynamic that the show eschews. When the Lucky Channel co-hosts Akira Kogami and Minoru Shiraishi banter, the results are either Minoru's physical or emotional abuse at the hands of Akira, or Akira's humiliation as a failed but narcissistic idol constantly upstaged by the unassuming Minoru. Lucky Channel also has another concept anathema to Lucky☆Star: narrative progression. Minoru grows bolder as the episodes draw on, Akira more violent; in a late episode, a mental breakdown leads to the destruction of the set, which remains destroyed in the final few episodes as Minoru and Akira finally and without reconciliation descend into blistering hatred of one another. At the same time, these segments are the location of some of the show's most indecipherable and multilayered injokes, injokes almost defined by their transience as most stem from a real-life radio show lost to time if you weren't right there listening to them as they went live. This segment is probably the most consistently funny part of Lucky☆Star; that's not because its jokes make sense, but rather the blunt slapstick and Akira's dramatic shifts from ultra-cutesy child idol to chain-smoking world-weary industry cynic.

The effect of the OP and the Lucky Channel segment is to sandwich the sedate, relaxed, mundane central content of Lucky☆Star between chaos, nonsense, and irony. Thus, the inner show contextualizes itself as a retreat from the storm of information and self-reflexivity, despite the fact that it deals directly with these topics. The show's indolence renders them harmless, comprehensible, and nonthreatening. Lucky☆Star is a world where the unknown can be easily and pleasantly demystified; the show's fourth character, Miyuki -- sometimes nicknamed Miwiki -- is an encyclopedic fountain of knowledge whose primary role is to exhaustively explain oddities on the fringes of Japanese culture with a polite and friendly smile. Miyuki is clearly secondary to Konata and the Hiiragi twins in terms of screen time, which gives her the feel of a supporting character despite her main cast billing, with an emphasis on the word "supporting"; like a servant, the other three will, after a conversation among themselves, call her to define some term or idiom. (That this obliging sense of service comes from the richest and most aristocratic character of the cast is another matter.) In Lucky☆Star, information is not chaotic and confusing, the way it is at the show's fringes, or in the "real world", but something that stimulates curiosity and kinship. So many scenes begin with a character saying, "I wonder why...?" followed by speculation and finally an answer. In the absence of plot, progression, or even humor, it's this sense of curiosity that renders Lucky☆Star's mundane scenes compelling. And it is their tonal juxtaposition against chaos that renders them so comfortable, so soothing.

As the internet grows older and more central to everyone's lives, as the headlines everyone talked about last week are forgotten today, Lucky☆Star's expression of retreat and reorder will only continue to become more emotionally satisfying, even as its 2007 references become more dated. What I find most potent in Lucky☆Star, though, is the steadily growing sense of wistfulness it fosters, not through any one scene or tone shift, but through a collection of tiny ones. New cast members are introduced in the second half, which dilutes the presence of the main characters and thins the tight-knit sense of friendship that unified the work. The characters increasingly ruminate on their futures (despite the lack of progression, time does pass linearly, and the show ends with the end of high school on the horizon), always suggesting a "real world" of adulthood lurking behind the corner. The show's artifice is explicitly exposed by the Lucky Channel segments, which metafictionally describe the show as "the show" and the characters as "actors." ("They must all hate each other once the camera stops rolling," Akira cynically suggests.) The ED of the show's first half features the four main girls in a karaoke bar; in the second half, though, this is replaced with live-action footage of the real-life actor Minoru Shiraishi from the Lucky Channel segments. Reality infringes on Lucky☆Star at its corners, slowly creeping inward. Its calm fantasy, a fantasy founded on verisimilitude rather than imagination, is gradually exposed as fake, a production. (Which it always was, no matter how real, how relatable it felt. For all the verisimilitude in its tone, these are characters who are more moe than moe, blobs of cuteness and distorted proportions beyond even the average CGDCT anime.) It ends, in the final episode, as the characters diegetically recreate the frenetic nonsense OP, with them all arrayed on a stage, the curtain rising to white light. And even more ominously, its final ED ends with Minoru Shiraishi intoning a few plaintive notes as he faces a lone and level plain.

This is Lucky☆Star's final shot. This what awaits outside of the show's dewy comfort. Bye-ni.

[the-warlock-syndicate]

I like to think that Contessa is an urban legend in pop culture. Like, rumors of the fedora wielding lady have got to abound. She makes for such a great foil for pop culture. Like, she covers the John Wick secret assassin conspiracy perfectly (because it is true). Baba Yaga, the Boogiewoman. Because woke.

Ah, but also, the fedora is her most recognizable trait. All those fedora tipping nice guys from the early internet circa 2006-2007? We have a foil in the mysterious fedora tipping woman. Because of woke.

Hell, you can easily make jokey references to her in internet memes. 4Chan poster takes 40 doses of benadryl and claims to have seen the hatwoman, the hatman but woke. And then posts a news article about missing people in his apmt complex after getting relentlessly mocked.

Yes I know Path to Victory could easily suppress it, but I don't think rumors are enough to warrant the time and energy to actually suppress properly unless Contessa genuinely cared about that.

[punkeropercyjackson]

Robin!Duke Thomas headcanons/rewrite because i'm in my feelings about him.If you think Duke's not a 'core Batkid' DNI and take your segregation somewhere else

He's the 5th Robin instead of Damian and The Riddler plot still happened but Elaine and Doug got jokerized during it so Bruce adopted Duke way earlier and he was 11 at the time

He is also trans,autistic,femme and afropunk!!2nd and 4th are canon coding but it's explicit here.Egg cracked pre-meeting Bruce so trans Batdad gets trans Batson gender affirming care like puberty blockers and makes sure nobody misgenders him.His Robin suit is Tim's Btas suit for proper repurposing,though it's adjusted from tighties to shorts and the pants/leg parts are ripped and the gloves are fingerless for that alt look

Alfred loves feeding him sweets and Duke always gives him the most adorable star eyes and thanks him because he may be rude but he'll be damned if he's mean to his granddad(his favorite sweets are lemon flavored frosted animal crackers)

He was pretty traumatized by loosing his parents and resisted Bruce's parentage at first due to it but came to embrace it as ultimately he's still a little boy who needs a parent to love and care for him.Bruce's reveal of his own orphan status certainly opted him to give him more of a chance but like a true Batkid,he never stops rebelling despite his unstoppable love for him

He arrives post-Under The Red Hood(movie compliant)but during Batgirl 2000(less racist and gayer)timeline wise so he bonds with Cass,Stephanie and Tim and they invite him on hangouts with 'the big kids' and Young Justice takes in Duke as an honorary little brother similarly to how Traya is treated as their little sister.Stephanie shows Duke all kinds of cool funky/cutesy/edgy things she's into which rub off on him per black siblings bonding and Cass seeks to protect Duke in addition and in thanks to him for teaching her some stuff about 'normalcy',like introducing her to arts and crafts and candy bars.Duke's Batgirl is not Babs,although they do get along-It's Tam and we'll get to that in a bit

Duke employs his powers in his Robin work and it earns him the nickname 'The Robin Signal' in reference to how often he uses his light to guide citizens to safety after him and Bruce take out the danger

His first solo/Year One Run is 'Robin 2007',literally,to distinct from Tim's run that wouldn't end for two more years.They got a crossover mini ofc ofc and it was called 'Robins 2009'

Robin 2007 had 53 issues and featured the introduction of Duke's love interest,albiet her debut as her own character was a good while before it in Aquaman:Luna 'Aquagal' Vásquez!!Luna is the Starfire to Duke's Robin i.e a black non-human girl who's bubbly,soft and princess-y but also extremely hardcore,well-hardend and lowkey mean and his longtime best friend from his sidekick days he's a slowburn perfect MADE soulmateisms couple with!!Their ship name is Thomquez but they're purely platonic until their mid-teens when new feelings ignite and riple into existense.Luna had her own run,Aquagal 2007 <3 Robin/Aquagal:Pals in Disguise was a super cute jumbo issue too!!(Notes:Luna is afro-argentinian,half atlantean half human and has white parts in black hair in a pattern that make her look like she has a constant moonglow halo on her)

Also Duke ships Stephcass so hard😭He was ooo'ing and making cheeky comments as soon as he figured out what was going on when Tim pointed it out to him and NEVER stops until they actually get together,which dosen't happen until Duke-yes,11-12 year old Duke-is an adult.He gives Cass tips on how to rizz up Stephanie after talking to Stephanie to figure out what would work best(turns out Stephanie really likes goth x pastel couples tingz,mocking cheesy flirty memes,whimsical romantic tactics and X-Ray Spex lyrics)

Duke owns a walkman Tim gifted him and talks into it as a 'Robinlog' and it pops up frequently throught his entire existense as a character as soon as he gets it.Duke is also a big fan of My Chemical Romance,hip hop and disco music,black indie shit,classical literature(canon),video games,writing poetry and 'cutesy' diy(bedazzling,scrapbooking,homemade stickers,etc)!!As he grows up he takes up solarpunk bit by bit and same with glamrock!

Duke got exactly one year as Batman's Robin.On his one year adoption anniversary,him and Bruce had a fight over a case that scared him so bad he thought he was gonna fire him like he'd done to Stephanie so he ran away in the dead of night,straightup out of Gotham City(he was also smart enough to pack an oversized backpack of essentials to carry with him).He was found as the sun set as he tried to sleep in a cat alley with a family of fat calico cats he'd been taking care of on his lap by a 20 year old Jason,his departure taking place during Volume 2 of Red Hood and The Outlaws,a 2010-2020 release 120 issues run that takes place over 3 in-universe years.They have a short conversation that leads to Jason finding out Duke is his brother and combined with knowing he has nowhere else to go at the moment and Summer's(my dcsona)yapping about him thanks to their friendship,takes him with him to The Fortress,The Outlaws' base.Duke joins the team and finally makes friends his age in the other Kid Outlaws(which includes other black kids of all genders!!)but Jason is the member he's closest to

Luna comes in a significant amount of Rhato issues and even enough to be an honorary Kid Outlaw but mostly sticks to Aquafam stuff to avoid reducing her down to Duke's love interest.Duke isn't forced to kill but is a brutalist in his tactics thanks to growing up beating up bullies,Bruce's training and the influences around him and it scares him sometimes so he vents and asks for reassurance and they all gladly give it to him,including Luna,who tells him:'You could never be a monster or evil,Duke.You'll always be my best friend in the ENTIREST MULTIVERSE.And even if you were a monster or evil?I'd save you.You saved me when i didn't know i needed somebody to be heroes with to go on.I'd go there-ANYWHERE! for you too'Least to say,Duke is pretty sure this is the point he started seeing Luna in a different light(a girlfriend light.From 'I need her' to 'I need her to be my babygirl')(in the aave way.don't be weird)

The Kid Outlaws are a bunch of punk ass kids with a thirst for anarchistic justice,the fall of the crime system and extra thick milkshakes.They got the punk drips(including piercings done by the adult Outlaws!!)and everything and call eachother siblings and Duke is their leader despite being the youngest as he's the most capable and suited for the job.The KO includes Thad so they're kinda a 'sparkly sunshine boy/bad but sad boy' buddies duo and their inhereted powers and legacies are a source of bonding along with just liking eachother as people.Duke calls him 'The Thadman' and Thad had no choice but to warm up to it and Thad gets Duke to try out energy drinks with him and they collect trinkets and graffiti public property together and them and Jason are Prime Earth's variant of that picture of three black trans guys who just got their top surgeries all smiling together with bandages on their upper bodies

Duke and Jason are so inseperable.They do soul bounding over soul/dominican food(their 'this and yap' /hj),help eachother with hair care(Duke has a twists out and Jason is a dreadhead),are inside jokes lockout between them and their girlfriends,share a bed more often than not,play Animal Crossing religiously together and even got matching icons in The Outlaws group chat(set to Aang and Zuko because they're literally them!!'If we knew eachother back then,do you think we could have been friends,too?' is how Duke feels about Robin!Jason to Red Hood!Jason,,,,,).Jason loves Duke so fucking much and can't stop himself from doting on him and hyping him up nonstop and encouraging him to stop holding back his rage and impulses and jumping people for him and stealing/diy'ing gifts for him a lot and Duke does the classic 'i make fun of you to show you i think you're the coolest ever and how important you are to me' little brother moves to Jason and is protective of him back as he feels he deserves it after all he's done for him and will eternally do for him,most of all making him feel secure in his Robinhood(ha!!)

All the overexposure to so much and such intense science-y proterties and magic jazz and trazz caused Duke's powers to mutate from just dark and light powers to straight up reality warping(to add onto them-he still has his og power palette,it's too iconic to leave out).He gets stuck in a pocket dimension for a hot sec but Summer and Jason pull him out with Thad's help as an expert on that situation.The universe was trying to create the New 52 but Duke's Robinhood was stopping it so in a 20 issue arc to symbolize the 20 core Outlaws aka the 'Outlawed Robin Arc',even the slimest posibility of the N52 ever happening is erased headfirst headon by our titulary gang!Including Honorary Outlaw for two and a half months at the time Tam aka Batgyal!She awoke from her RR2009 coma and it lead to escapades of adventures with both Tim and Stephanie and she was given her own mantle by Luke,who thought it was about time she joined him officially and was her secret keeper on her vigilante life and sneak offs to reunite with Duke as her initial only motivation

In issue 39,Jason snarks he was just 'The Replacement Robin' and Duke defensively cuts him off with 'You were always my favorite Robin when i was little!I never even got to see you in action but you're my favorite for good now!' and Jason is struck clueless,completely unable to come up with a response but touched beyond words on top of his shock.And in issue 110,Duke sadly says '.........I was never a real Robin.I've been with you guys way longer than i ever was with Bruce-' and Jason cuts him off with 'Yeah,no shit you were never Batman's Robin.You're The Outlaws' Robin-You're my Robin and you always have been and you always will be' and Duke gets extremely teary but does a toothy grin too as they're happy tears so Jason smothers him in a hug in comfort and Duke's face takes up most of the final page and a text box reads on the same one:'Duke Thomas is happy.Jason Todd is happy again,thanks to him.They're eachother's Robin,on purpose and by choice'

When Rhato concludes(and The Outlaws stay in touch forever),Duke comes back to Gotham to discover Damian's now Robin and literally laughs at the ridicilousness of the situation,quipping he's glad he already had a new mantle in mind and offers him a hat he thrifted when they meet,along with a smile and affection in his eyes.Damian snatches it from him,huffy and embarrased over the unexpected warm welcome by him but appreciate it and liking the hat only in secret(a yellow one with floppy cat ears strings and an edgy styled strawberry charm).Robins and Batgirls(2022-2023)was a helluva run starring Dick,Jason,Tim,Stephanie,Duke,Damian,Maps,Babs,Cass,Tam,Alysia and Nell and Jason's the only one who got thirst trap covers as it should be(Okay that's a lie,there were Stephcass thirst trap covers too LMAO.Faggot rights!!)

Duke has two core runs post-Robin:The Signal(2020-)and The Lights(2021-),the latter of which is his own team!!The members are Luna as Moonguide and his right-handwoman,Kiran Singh from the Wonderfam,Tanya Spears aka Power Girl ||,Jenni Ognats/XS,Mar'i Grayson/Nightstar,Jennifer Williams/Batika,Sin Harper as Arrowette ||| and the team baby,Darla Dudley as Shazam Girl and two upcoming ocs,a black male Star Sapphire who had his heart broken by a white girl💔and an X-Gene mutant from Earth 616 who ran away from their home dimension!!Duke's reputation as Robin proceeds him as it increases the shenanigans both in his civillian life and as The Signal and Thomquez are my fave classic black love tropes:'Thick baddie who stays keeping her mans fed' and 'Cocky ahh and playful but sweet and soft black dude who accidentally comes across as mocking x Nerdy feminine black girl who's not mean but pretends to be annoyed by his flirting with her because she's too embarrased to admit she actually likes him'.They do matching superhero names as adults to show they're married:Eris(Duke)and Selene(Luna)

Naturally,Duke is enrolled at Gotham Academy at now 15 and he mentors Maps when she comes along,including playing his game of Batwingman for her and Damian.Big hit with the GA girlies but unfortunately for them he only likes Luna and dudes who're mean to him(Woah,he's bisexual!I knew that!Also a Sonic The Hedgehog fan and his faves are Amy Rose,Shadow The Hedgehog and Sticks The Badger and he stans Penny Parker and draws gijinka fanart.Before i forget he also had his own youtube channel pre-Rhato and all his subscribers thought he died and he became a Creepypasta-)

And Batburger is his childhood happy place dating back to pre-Jokerization.He still visits Doug and Elaine and met Gnonom in Rhato only to pull a Percy Jackson and be spiteful and tell him off for his abandonment with zero forgiveness but realistically was still sad and hurt over his neglect so he let himself cry when he got back to The Fortress so Jason and Summer took him to Batburger to cheer him up and that led to his first visit to his parents in a long ass time.It and Batburger trips are part of his lifestyle obligatorily bi-monthly now

Oh the Gotham Police still hate him btw.He does all the work they gaslight people into thinking they do and none of the racism and assaults😔

[pamithebunterfly2007]

I suck at intro posts, anyways…

😈🩸🐇WELCOME BUNNIES TO MY BLOG FILLED WITH THE MOST RANDOM SHIT YOU’LL FIND!!!!!!!🐇🩸😈

Sup Bunnies, I’m Pamela. feel free to call me Pam for short. I’m was summoned on June 11, 2007 and I’m an autistic 18 year old Mexican-American and I’m also pansexual and genderfluid so feel free to call me any pronouns you desire. I also tend to vent at some points and I also have bad anxiety that sucks ass and I get pretty emotional so pls be patient with me. I’m also know as the creator of my OC/FurSona Pami

Meet the Artist/Creator of this blog, Yes That’s me, as a Hellhound:

And Meet Pami (My Main OC/Fursona), she’s considered to be the mascot of my blog (also born on June 11, 2007), she’s a rebellious and cheerful anthropomorphic hybrid between a rabbit, butterfly, and of course, a DEMON (which explains why she’s born having half black and half white hair and only can transform into a huge one when enraged) She loves raw meat as well as blood and bugs (gross) and she has a mischievous tendency to bite others only when they’re mean to her, and when enraged, she’s turns into a giant demon that go full beast mode and would either kill or eat anyone that dares to belittle her so try to get on her nice side:

C O D E : MI3JYLEI7

What I do in this blog: I do gacha stuff and sometimes I do art stuff. I’ll either draw it digitally on my phone, make edits, fanfics, spoofs, or traditional on paper so feel free to go in my ask box for a request or art trade, pls don’t spam too many or send me any inappropriate request cuz I’ll either delete it or block you.

💖🌈 What I allow: blueberry or Fruit inflation, regular body inflation, monster v0r3, fake screenshots, OCs, Gacha, characters from shows and movies I love, werewolf tf, human to animal tf, snake hypnosis, movies and Show references, Blood and gore, fursonas, demons, memes, fanfics, LGBTQ ships, fluff, edits, 🌈💖

💀🚫What I DON’T allow: P0rn0, H3nt41, Hate Art of a user or character, L0l1c0n, Sh0t4c0n, Feet Fetish, Fart fetish, incest, p3d0ph1l1a, diaper fetish, any fetish related arts out of fictional minors, Z00ph1l1a, AI-generated shit, political stuff, N3cr0ph1l1a, Sexual Gore/Guro, Male pregnancy, Ships that involve a HUGE age gap, Gr4p3, N@z1 related, slob art, breast inflation, pen15 inflation, cum inflation 🚫💀

⚠️ALSO A FAIR WARNING TO BUNNIES⚠️: I do some pretty suggestive stuff such as blueberry inflation content as well as snake hypnosis and other quirky shit, so if you don’t like blueberry and other quirks, I respect your opinion on it and just scroll away.

🦋Here are some of my Fav medias🦋

Superjail

Spy vs Spy

Helluva Boss (I Don’t support Vivziepop nor I don’t condone her actions)

Hazbin Hotel (Diddo, I Don’t support Vivziepop nor I don’t condone her actions)

Chikn Nuggit

FNAF

Invader Zim

The amazing world of gumball

Unikitty

Happy Tree Friends

Smiling Friends

Making Fiends

Mr. Trance

Dan Vs.

Eddsworld

The Owl House

Gravity Falls

Bluey

Robot Chicken

South Park

Moral Orel

Johnny the homicidal maniac

My Little Pony

I Hate Fairyland

Creepypastas

The Amazing Digital Circus

Wednesday Netflix series

Tim Burton Movies (Charlie and the chocolate factory, Frankenweenie, Alice in Wonderland 2010, Mars Attacks, Beetlejuice and its sequel, etc.)

Turning Red

Analog Horror

Lego Movie and sequel

DogMan

Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus

Inside Out and sequel

Ice Age franchise

Rio

Wicked

Carrie 2013

Coraline

Strange Magic 2015

Arthur and the invisibles trilogy

South Park: Bigger, Longer, Uncut

Scooby Doo franchise

Krampus 2015

Wolfwalkers

Nimona

FNAF movie

The Babysitter 2017

Venom Trilogy

Midsommar 2019

Hereditary 2018

Pearl 2022

Alien franchise

The Banana Splits Movie

K-Pop Demon Hunters

Gacha Life

Roblox

Ashnikko

Jazmine Bean

Dorian Electra

Banshee (Rachel Dorothea Knight)

Melanie Martinez

Danny Elfman

Scene Queen

Fall Out Boy

My Chemical Romance

Green Day

Shrillex

Kesha

Lady Gaga

Lana Del Rey

Snowblood

Lil Mariko

Odetari

Avril Lavigne

P!nk

Ennaria

6arelyhuman

Ayesha Erotica

Sub Urban

Zheani

Ghostemane

🚫DNI (DO NOT INTERACT) and I will block you if you’re a:🚫

P3d0ph1le, Z00ph1le, N3cr0ph1le, Radqueer, Proshippers, TransID, sexists, Endo system, Homophobe, Transphobe, LGBTQ-phobe, anti furry, anti therian, racists, ableists, Pro Ai, Ai Artist and Writers, Art thief, Trump supporters, Elon Musk supporters, N4z1 and KKK supporters, J.K Rowling defenders, Tori Woods Defenders, Rhyliethecaterfly supporters/stans, CreatingChimera Supporters/stans, Those who mock and/or make fun of religion, those who constantly spam my ask box, P0rn Bot, TERFS.

MY COMFORT KINNIES >w<

❤️All time Favorite❤️:

❤️Other Favs❤️:

🐰Others🐰:

My Playlist (I make cool bangers):

R O B L O S S:

[sunshine-zenith]

Aight this is the third time I’m trying to make this post. If tumblr breaks on me again I’m breaking into Glitch and personally breaking the character models

So. There were a few lines that sounded like references that didn’t quite get but I for sure got the Breaking Bad and Willy Wonka ones. BrBa ran from 2008 to 2013, CatCF had two adaptations — one in the 70s, one in 2005

Notably, Jax made the BrBa reference, Zooble got it, and Ragatha didn’t

Jax had no idea who Queenie was. We don’t get anyone else’s reactions

I’m admittedly not the best at IDing when specifically an anime was made, and I’m especially not great at guessing what era of anime an anime parody is meant to invoke, but Gangle’s specific art style and the style of the SOL anime parody section looked 90s-00s to me

Ragatha looks just like Raggedy Ann and quotes the 1977 animated musical

In episode three you can see a tombstone with the year 2024 written on it

The show has an intentional 90s Edutainment aesthetic

Before Pomni, Gooseworks said Gangle was the most recent to join the circus

Jax said in the pilot they had all been there for years

So here’s a POSSIBLE timeline for ya

Kinger probably worked at C&A in the 90s and he and his wife were trapped in the 90s-00s. He’s been trapped for approximately 30 years

It’s hard to say when Gangle, Ragatha, and Jax joined (I don’t remember Gooseworks saying), but it’s likely Ragatha was the second of the current cast to join (not the second over all, of course, but likely after Kinger she’s been there the longest. I’m guessing since she brings a very specific character to mind (Raggedy Ann) while everyone else is kinda their own thing, and she clearly was quoting the movie when high and thinking of her old life, she probably has a lot of emotional attachment to the character and movie. I’m guessing she was born in the 70s-80s — let’s say 1977 to reference the movie — and it was a big comfort for her as a little kid. I’m pretty sure she was stated to be 30, so she likely got trapped around 2007, no later than 2008 since she didn’t get the BrBa reference at all

(The 70s were fifty years ago. Ragatha, obviously, does not age and will be 30 forever, but she was still born around fifty years ago. Assuming Ragatha’s mother was in her twenties when Ragatha was born, then she’s likely in her 70s herself, maybe even her 80s. Ragatha’s mother may very well have died of old age by the time the show takes place. Also — Kinger and Queenie would also be in their 80s if they hadn’t been trapped, and are therefore technically old enough to be Ragatha’s parents)

(It’s possible that if anyone met Queenie, it was Ragatha, but Queenie likely abstracted a looooong time ago)

Gangle’s art looks 90s, but I don’t think she was from the 90s specifically, more like she was taking inspiration from what she grew up watching. She had a webcomic, and tbh her art makes me think of deviant art doodles I saw as a kid. Deviant art was most popular around 2011ish. Given she did end up dropping out of school, and the fact that she was 26 when she was trapped, I’m guessing she was trapped between 2010-2015

Jax was 22 when he was trapped. We don’t get his backstory, but he is aware of memes, YouTubers, a show references. I’m gonna guess he was trapped around 2009-2014 — something about that specific era of YouTube culture matches his attitude to Pomni (it’s just becoming a Thing in pop culture awareness, something not everyone is Aware of but it’s growing, and a lot of classic YouTubers — Markiplier, Dan and Phil, JennaMarbles — were most popular in this era. The tone he called her a YouTuber with made it sound like he thought it was a novel thing, something that clearly still isn’t a “Real Job” but also something Some Lucky People are getting rich doing). Also, while BrBa remains popular and iconic to this day, the way he and Zooble treat it just Feels different — they treat it like Jax was referencing something old, something that maybe not everyone would get right away since enough time has passed, while Jax described it like it was a recent thing for him, if that makes sense — like Zooble hasn’t actually watched it and only knows it though cultural osmosis but Jax totally has. Plus, I dunno, he’s an asshole and a troll who doesn’t take things seriously, but he doesn’t seem Gen Alpha specifically in his assholery

Jax reacts to Pomni like he isn’t sure if she’s a human or an NPC when she first appears, which means humans joining the circus isn’t a totally frequent occurrence. He also includes Zooble in his “we’ve been here for years” comment, so it’s likely they’ve been there for a few years. Zooble is also 22, but they somehow do seem to carry the harsh no-sale cynicism classic to how Gen Z/older Gen Alphas carry themselves. They mention they specifically used to bartend and did tattoos for years. In some states, it’s completely legal to get a bartending license at 18. I’m guessing they were trapped around 2021/2022 — they just have the vibe of someone who went through quarantine and the cultural shift it caused with their Fuck This attitude. Quarantine put a stop to their in-person jobs, which they clearly enjoyed but couldn’t safely do at the time (hence why they treat it as such a past tense part of their backstory) giving them time to explore abandoned buildings. Zooble and Pomni aren’t technically the same age since no one ages in the circus, they could’ve easily been born in the same year in the real world

(Jax’s friend Ribbit, and possibly one other person before them, probably abstracted between Zooble and Pomni, hence why Zooble fully Understands abstraction and how to put together a funeral for it)

Pomni probably joined around 2023 when the pilot first aired or 2024, given the grave stone) She’s 25

[mediawhatwiveswatch]

The Wives Watch: Supernatural S2 E11-E13

Passing the halfway point! Things are heating up at the Winchesters!

E11 - Stop demolishing pretty buildings

The house is so pretty who cares about the ghosts

Haunted dolls!!

Everytime the boys talk emotions we gotta break the meme back out

Brits insulted, scooby doo mentioned, voodoo spotted, hotel trivago

So like everyone assumes their dating? It's like 2007 were people this chill about sharing beds?

"You look the type" - Gay or Antiquers? Basically the same thing. ('but antiquing is so fun!' 'we aren't breaking the stereotype')

Very pretty dress nailed to the wall. Thats not how decor works

Butler: "All my family has lived here and I'm very sad that I might have to leave" Dean: "I wonder who would want to do hoodoo to keep this place open"

Homophobe Dean vs Ally Sam. Who will win

The truest of sibling behaviour: Making up lies to embarrass your little bro

Who puts their grandma in the attic?? That is asking for evil spirits

On the ghost's side again, demolishing pretty house should be a crime

Every so often they swap Dean and Sam's opinions on whether dad is a dick. This time dean gets to right

Sam sleeping on his front is the most evil thing he's done

Do people not like hearing old people tell stories? It's fun!

"I've never had a home" DEAN STOP TRAUMADUMPING TO THE MAYBE EVIL BUTLER

We went from secret evil twin to secret evil fake sibling

If we had a nickel for every time there was a haunted evil car on this show we'd have two nickels. That's one each

You don't get to call the boys insane after witnessing the most stereotypical haunting ever

Maggie is a Little Freak (derogatory)

This pool is so pretty!!!

This house is really well built?? Very strong glass??

None of these morons know to do CPR on a newly drowned girl

Good to know this little girl can dress normally when not being haunted by her evil great aunt who just murdered attic grandma

E12 - Mandroids Play Among Us

Do we fear the FBI more than the demons? Yes

Dean says ACABATJ (All Cops Are Bad At Their Jobs)

Ronnie boy knows whats up

Cybermen!! Doctor Who Reference!!

MANDROIDS?? Kit Pedler and Gerry Davis are playing copyright games

Poor Ronnie getting his dreams crushed

Sam too good at being a cop. He was made for this. Pre Law babyy

"I like him, he says okie dokie"

This hostage is a snitch. Let the guy keep his knife

Locked in a safe with a girl who's got a crush on your brother is Sam's idea of Hell

Free Goop! Yum!

The boys once again run into amateur hunters and teaching them basics

The cops continue to be useless <3

Rip to Ronnie. He was built different

ඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞ

Honestly feel bad for the Winchester assigned FBI agent. Must be a hard life

NGL telling the hostage takers that you don't wanna be released and will just vibe in the vault is a powermove even if its because your a shapeshifting murderer

Its even more of a powermove when you aren't a shapeshifting murderer!!

Mr FBI agent giving FHJY Agent Clark Energy

NGL telling the hostage takers that you don't wanna be released and will just vibe in the vault is a powermove even if its because your a shapeshifting murderer

Its even more of a powermove when you aren't a shapreshifting murderer!!

Mr FBI agent giving FHJY Agent Clark Energy. He's on the hunt for the most elusive german shepard and will never win

Sam and Dean said "Free disguises!"

E13 - Priests Fail To Understand Theology

Spent most of the time trying to guess if this is a Protestant thing or if they're just wrong

The Whole Episode:

Televangelism is scary and we're right for saying it

Sam you are not a medical professional PLEASE STOP GIVING THERAPY

ANGEL EPISODE?? IS IT TIME???

The brothers can't get mad at being considered gay when their booking rooms together at sex hotels. You can afford separate rooms please!

Insane bed. Are those real??

Can you have demons without angels? Does Dean consider demons non-religious?

Love finding some fingernails in the walls. A great thing to happen in a murdered guys cellar

Supernatural implying that demons are front line workers and angels are line managers

Good Omens crossover continues

Is the B plot going to be about the sex bed??

Hacker man Sam

All these guys went to church? How shocking!

In todays episode we learn about being innocent until proven guilty

Hard turn into religion from Closet Christian Sam!

They have implied that Spongebob is holy

Dean really said only one person gets to murder strangers

This priest didn't study. You ain't holy you just got shot. Men don't become angels, they get sainted, which you didn't

B Plot (C Plot?) of Dean getting to do a car chase!

Creep got final destinationed. Good.

In todays episode we learn about being innocent until proven guilty

Hard turn into religion from Closet Christian Sam!

They have implied that Spongebob is holy

Dean really said only one person gets to murder strangers

This priest didn't study. You ain't holy you just got shot. Men don't become angels, they get sainted, which you didn't

B Plot (C Plot?) of Dean getting to do a car chase!

Creep got final destinationed. Good.

{{11% through}}

Spent way too long making that among meme. Paint crashed and had to redo it all. Deserves more respect

Looking forward to the boys getting FBI'd again soon

[duhragonball]

Stardust Crusaders Liveblog: JJBA Ch. 183-192

Last time, the boys finally made it to Egypt. So they're home free, right? Well, not really, because they crossed the Red Sea into the southeastern tip of Egypt, and now they have to cross the entire country to get to Cairo.

But that shouldn't take too long, right? After all, the Tarot-themed bad guys are pretty much all defeated. Right? You're shaking your head, are you saying they added more Major Arcana?

One of the things I really enjoyed about Part 7 were all the wide shots of scenery, but I should have known Part 3 had plenty of the same.

All right, so first thing's first, the boys meet up with some guys from the Speedwagon Foundation, who provide them with some provisions, a new robot hand for Joseph, and a new ally. Only Joseph and Avdol know who it is, and everyone else is astonished to find out it's a dog. Say hello to Iggy, whose Stand is named after the Fool card. Iggy immediately starts dry humping Polnareff's face and farting. Come get this work, Dio.

Speaking of Dio, the Speedwagon guys have some intel on him. They spotted nine people leaving a building where Dio is suspected to be hiding, but that's about all they know. It's a safe bet that they're Stand users, but the only Tarot cards left are the Emperor (Hol Horse) and The World, which Kakyoin presumes to be Dio's Stand. Avdol has no idea what to make of this.

Okay, time out, real quick.

So I think this is kind of a mistake. The Tarot thing in Part 3 was a neat idea, and it seems like a good way to organize and name all the major characters in the story. Six good guys versus Dio and fifteen henchmen. It works.

But now we're down to the end and suddenly Araki pulls the rug out from under the audience and reveals nine more henchmen we have to deal with. They have a whole other theme, and when we get through with them, there's still another henchman we have to deal with, and that guy's just named after pop music references because Araki was over it, I guess.

So we end up with six good guys taking on twenty-six bad guys. Is that a problem? Well, I can't complain much, since Part 3 is one of my favorites, and a lot of these Egyptian Stand battles are classics.

Still, it feels like we're dragging things out for no particular reason. Most of these battles are really short and simple, and maybe if there were fewer of them, there'd be more room for the characters to develop a bit before they get beaten down. Hell, Avdol's only been in two Stand battles since the story started. Kakyoin's helped out a few times, but his only solo wins are Tower of Grey and Death Thirteen. It just seems weird to have so many enemies in this story only to use most of them as fodder for Jotaro.

Then again, that may be the point of Part 3. Araki introduced the Stand concept with this story, and it does feel like much of the action is designed to demonstrate the width and breadth of what a Stand could be. So rather than have a handful of Stands in longer battles, Araki crammed as many Stands as possible into Part 3, just to showcase the variety.

But getting back to the Tarot, somewhere in the middle of watching the anime series, I realized that one of the Enemy Stands would be named "The World", and that's when it finally hit me that Dio was the Za Warudo Guy from various memes in 2006-2007. Back then, I used to see stuff from the Stardust Crusaders OVA, as well as the video games, with Dio's over-the-top offense. The time-stopping, the road-roller throwing, the knife tossing, the WRYYYYYYYYYY-screaming, etc.

What I didn't know was how in the hell anyone was supposed to beat the guy. The memes were all about how insanely OP the guy was, and it seemed like a joke instead of a serious story. And yet here's Joseph Joestar and his pals marching off to Egypt to pick a fight with this guy. They're doomed. They're fighting their way to Cairo just to die.

And that's the kind of tone that was set for my introduction to Stardust Crusaders. It kind of fucking rules.

As for the mysterious new Stand Users, the gang doesn't have to go far to learn more about them, since one of them has already been preparing an ambush. His Stand moves water around. It makes a water-hand to attack this Speedwagon guy, but usually it just slashes at people like a knife. For example...

Kakyoin gets taken out first, and he barely had a chance to do anything. This looks pretty horrific, and it does take him out of the story for a while, but he miraculously recovers. We'll go into that later, but for now, say goodbye to Kakyoin, because he'll be riding the pine for the next several arcs.

The enemy doesn't introduce himself until the end, but for the sake of clarity, this guy's name is N'Doul, and his Stand is called Geb. He's blind, but that doesn't slow him down much, since he uses some sort of echolocation to detect his targets. You take a step, and he can somehow hear that and knows to send Geb to attack that spot. I assume this is part of Geb's ability.

However, Geb has a weakness, in that Iggy can smell it coming before it attacks. I suppose this is because it uses water to hit things, and dogs are good at smelling water. So getting the drop on Iggy might be impossible for N'Doul. On the other hand, Iggy's not much of a team player, and he seems fine with leaving the others to die.

Avdol nearly figures out how to beat Geb by dropping his bracelets on the sand to simulate footsteps. When Geb attacks, he singes it with Magician's Red, but doesn't score a clean hit. Geb, however, slashes Avdol's throat, which looks like a fatality, but no, he's fine after this.

So with two men down and no idea where to find the Stand User, Jotaro makes a break for it and grabs Iggy. N'doul doesn't understand what he's up to, but Jotaro has figured out that Iggy can smell Geb before he attacks. So he's hoping to use that to his advantage. Even if Iggy doesn't want to cooperate, he'll have to warn Jotaro or they'll both get killed.

But Iggy tries to escape using his Stand, the Fool. It's kind of like Geb except it uses sand instead of water, and it seems a lot more versatile. Maybe Iggy's just more creative. Here, he makes a pair of sandy wings to glide over the desert. This way, N'Doul can't find him, and Jotaro has a harder time keeping up with him.

N'Doul is confused for a while, until the Fool loses altitude, and Jotaro has to use Star Platinum to bounce them back up into the air. That's enough for N'Doul to figure out that they're airborne.

All N'doul has to do is wait for them to come back down again, but Iggy isn't going to make him wait that long. He drops sand down to the ground, which allows N'Doul to guage Jotaro's exact position and altitude.

But before Geb can attack, Jotaro goes on the offensive. He's already gotten close enough to spot N'Doul, so now he just grabs Iggy and throws him at N'Doul using Star Platinum.

This forces both of them to use their Stands to protect themselves from the collision, which gives Jotaro time to get close to N'Doul without getting attacked.

And so, once N'Doul gets his bearings, he discovers that Jotaro is right behind him. From here, it's just a matter of which one can strike first.

But Star Platinum is all about speed and precision, so it's not too surprising to see Jotaro win this. Geb manages to knock off Jotaro's hat, but that's all.

Jotaro doesn't hit N'Doul hard enough to kill him, but N'Doul attacks himself with Geb to kill himself anyway. He expects Jotaro to interrogate him using Joseph's Hermit Purple, and N'Doul prefers to die than to betray Dio's confidence. As N'Doul explains it, his Stand allowed him to commit crimes at will, and he was totally free to do as he pleased, but Dio was the first person to see value in N'Doul, and he seems to take this very seriously.

Before he dies, N'Doul gives Jotaro his name, and the name of his Stand, and explains the theme behind his group. The nine Stand Users are named for the Egyptian Gods of Prosperity, known as the Ennead. N'Doul claims that the Ennead mythology was the basis for the Tarot, but the connection seems kind of flimsy to me.

The best link I could find is the French occultist Ettailia (real name Jean-Baptiste Alliette). I thought his psuedonym was kind of cool until I realized it was just his last name spelled backwards. It looks like Ettailia was the one who got the ball rolling on using Tarot decks for divination and occult purposes, and he took inspiration from contemporaries who claimed the Tarot was the Book of Thoth, i.e. a mystical tome of ancient Egyptian wisdom. But this all happened in the 18th century A.D. millennia after the Ennead were worshiped in Egypt.

Then again, the characters in Stardust Crusaders who take the Tarot seriously would probably buy into the Egyptian connection, even if the Tarot deck itself seems to have originated in Europe. And it would certainly suit Dio's aesthetic, since he clearly enjoys living in Egypt and the counsel of fortunetellers like Enya Geil.

Anyway, the fight's over, Jotaro wins again, and Iggy is nice enough to fetch his lost hat. But Iggy made sure to spit out his gum all over the hat as a last "fuck you" to Jotaro for forcing him to fight N'Doul.

Speaking of the Book of Thoth, we meet the next two Ennead guys when the Joestar Group takes Kakyoin and Avdol to the hospital. These are Oingo and Boingo, and they're brothers. Boingo, the younger brother, has a Stand called Thoth which takes the form of a comic book that predicts the future. Together they use this to do various shenanigans.

For example, Boingo's comic predicts that Joseph, Jotaro, and Polnareff will go to a cafe and drink poisoned tea, so all Oingo has to do is infiltrate a cafe and make sure to poison the tea when they inevitably show up.

This is a weird arc, because the two sides never actually fight each other. This is more of an exploration by Araki of the concept of Fate. It's a recurring theme throughout JoJo's Bizarre Adventure that Fate is more than an abstract philosophical construct. Rather, Fate is a genuine, tangible force of nature, and it cannot be denied for long. The villains try to cheat or manipulate Fate, because Fate always seems to bend towards justice.

For example, there's plenty of cafes in this town, so there's no reason for the good guys to pick the one in Boingo's comic. Indeed, Polnareff chooses one at random by tossing his cigarette on the ground and seeing which one it points towards. But this leads them right to the cafe in Boingo's comics, where Oingo is waiting for them, disguised as a waiter.

But why should they drink tea? I mean, they order it at first, but suddenly Joseph gets paranoid, and suggests they avoid drinking anything unless it comes out of a can or a bottle. So he changes the order to three Cokes, and he specifies three cans just to be extra sure no one poisoned them.

But Polnareff doesn't see how anyone could possibly have been expecting them to come to this particular cafe. After all, they chose it at random, and if Joseph's that worried about it, they can just go to another one. Except... the one they go to is on fire, thanks to Polnareff's misplaced cigarette. This convinces Joseph to just go back in and order the tea like they were going to do from the start.

Again, there's no conflict here. Everything proceeds exactly as Boingo predicted. The only tension is with Oingo, who knows Boingo's Stand always tells the truth, but he still has to live with the suspense.

In any event, Oingo and Boingo's plot is foiled when Iggy starts a ruckus nearby, and the Joestar party goes to deal with that before they can drink enough poisoned tea to get killed. The comic book only showed them holding the cups to their lips. It never actually said they would die.

This is the main weakness of Boingo's Stand. Thoth's predictions are absolute, but they leave a lot of wiggle room in the interpretation, and they only show so much of the future. If you want to know what happens next, you have to wait for more images to appear, and you might miss an opportunity. For example, another sequence in the comic predicts that the boys will meet a guy and decide to mug him for no good reason. This turns out to be a huge mistake, but Thoth doesn't tell them that until later.

In the meantime, they go ahead and mug the guy when they meet him in real life. I mean, why not?

When I watched this arc in the anime, I wondered why the scenes from the Thoth comic were rendered in such a wildly different art style. It seemed eccentric at first, more of a whimsical choice than anything else. But now that I'm reading the comic version, it seems much more obvious. Araki has to draw the prediction, then draw the same events all over again when the prediction comes to pass. So the change in style is to keep things from getting too repetitive. Also, it's clear which panels are the prediction and which ones are "real" life.

Finally, the boys hit paydirt, as Thoth shows them planting a bomb in an orange and using it to blow up Jotaro. The comic even shows Jotaro getting exploded, so that's it, right? They're guaranteed to win now! All Oingo has to do is prepare a bomb and hide it in the good guys' car while they're not looking.

However, Joseph and Polnareff catch him in the car, so Oingo's only chance is to use his Stand, Khnum, which lets him change shape.

The good news is that Oingo fools them without any trouble. His disguise sucks, but Joseph and Polnareff are dumbasses, so they fall for it anyway. The bad news is that it works too well, because now they want Oingo to get in the car and ride with them. You know, in the car, where Oingo planted the bomb. The bomb that's destined to blow up in Jotaro's face. Or maybe, just a guy who looks like Jotaro. Uh-oh.

So now Oingo is in deep shit. He can't convince them to let him out of the car without arousing suspicion, and Polnareff keeps making his anxiety worse with his usual himbo banter. He asks Jotaro to do his cigarette trick, and Oingo freaks out because he doesn't know if he can. Fortunately, Pol demonstrates. You just flip a cigarette into your mouth. That sounds really painful, but doable.

Except Jotaro can do the trick with five cigarettes at once. This is a pretty awesome scene, because it immediately sets up the lore that this is what the Stardust Crusaders have been doing on all those long days of travel. Jotaro does tricks with cigarettes and teaches Polnareff how to do them too. Anyway, Oingo manages to pull it off, but just barely.

Finally, Polnareff starts getting ready to eat the booby-trapped orange, and Oingo panics and claims he has to go poop. He runs out of the car, and he seems to be home free, when Polnareff decides he doesn't want the orange after all and tosses it out of the car.

And Oingo steps on the orange before he can change back to normal, so it blows up in his face, his Jotaro-like face, thereby fulfilling the prophecy. Joseph and Polnareff don't even notice.

Boingo rushes to his brother's side, and swears revenge. Oingo pleads for him to reconsider, since Boingo is so timid, especially on his own. But before they can do anything else, that guy they mugged comes back with a posse. Turns out he's rich and he hired some guys to help him get revenge.

Eventually, Polnareff and Joseph arrive to meet the real Jotaro, who has no idea what's been going on. They're meeting up at the hospital to visit Kakyoin, and an ambulance pulls up with Oingo and Boingo in it. Joseph and Pol sort of recognize Oingo's clothes, but they don't really want to know, and they just move on with their day.

[yesterdays-xkcd]

I'm waiting for the day when, if you tell someone 'I'm from the internet', instead of laughing they just ask 'oh, what part?'

Online Communities [Explained]

Transcript

[Hand-drawn fantasy style map with land and sea areas representing populations of online communities, plus some fictious jokes and references. Each area or item is labeled.] Map of Online Communities and related points of interest Geographic area represents estimated size of membership

[A giant continent with:] The Icy North (Yahoo, Windows Live) containing the Mountains of Web 1.0, AOL, Qwghlm, Yahoo Games, Reunion dot Com, Classmates do Com, Faceparty, E-Harmony, Friendster (off the coast of which is the The Lonely Island), My Space containing The Series of Tubes, MySpace Bands, and the much smaller Attractive MySpace Pages, Blurty, O.K. Cupid, Cyworld, Orkut, Facebook, and Livejournal & Xanga - the coasts of which form the Bay Of Angst.

[The Noob Sea is bordered by AOL, the Icy North, MySpace, and an island system off the coast of Yahoo Games consisting of:] Second Life (and the much smaller island Third Life), Lineage, World of Warcraft, Runscape, Ultima Online, EverQuest, Final Fantasy 11, and further off, 2Channel and 4Chan. [To the east is labelled "Here be anthopomorphic Dragons].

[The Gulf of Youtube is bordered by Facebook, Myspace, and the island continents of:] Piczo, Broadcaster, the river Bit Torrent, Flickr, Last.FM, and DeviantArt with the subsection Gays of Web 2.0, and off the south coast and between another island is the Straits of Web 2.0.

[Off the pennisula of MySpace, island of Second Life, and island continents of Broadcaster et al is the Sea of Culture which hoasts the Peer-to-Peer Shoals. The Sea of Culture is separated from the Ocean of Subculture by and island system consisting of:] Digg, Fark, Reddit, Slash Dot, Soviet Russia, and Something Awful, which surround the Bay of Trolls, and Spaaarta (You're The Man Now Dog), Stumble Upon, and Delicious on the south end of the Viral Straits and the north end of the Sea of Memes, the Isle of Slash, Numa, and Your Base.]

[On the south end of the Sea of Memes, mostly made up of the IRC isles with a dotted outline where Usenet is located, is:] Stallman's Airship, Google's Volcano Fortress, Sourceforge, and the Wikipedia Project bridged island system that connects to M.I.T., EnGadget, Gizmodo, and Make Blog.

[West of the Wikipedia Project lies the Blogipelago with:] BoingBoing, Technorati, [something that can be read as T.W.B. or T.M.Z.], Cory Doctorow's Balloon, Sulawesi, Xu Jinglei, Post Secret, the Shipwreck of the S.S. Howard Dean, the Huffington Post, and the Wet Sea.

[North of the Blogipelago lies the Compass Rose-Shaped Island, with the north arm labelled Practicals (Noob), the south Intellectuals (Pi), west Focus on Real Life (I.R.L.), and the east Focus on Web (dot Com).]

(Not a complete survey. Sizes based on the best figures I could find but involved some guesswork. Do not use for navigation.) Spring 2007

[arthurscarnival]

Something silly for today!

I redrew that one meme with the girl holding the guy and pointing with Antony and Johanna, specifically from the 2007 movie ! (side note; I hate the movie but Alan Rickman is in it and the costumes are amazing so… also I drew Judge Turpin with 0 reference bc he makes me extremely uncomfortable so yeah uh ignore if he’s not 100% accurate bahahah)

[a-robot]

Remember Longcat? I remember Longcat. Fuck the house, I want to talk about Longcat. Memes were simpler back then, in 2006. They stood for something. And that something was nothing. Memes just were. “Longcat is long.” An undeniably true, self-reflexive statement. Water is wet, fire is hot, Longcat is long. Memes were floating signifiers without signifieds, meaningful in their meaninglessness. Nobody made memes, they just arose through spontaneous generation; Athena being birthed, fully formed, from her own skull.

You could talk about them around the proverbial water cooler, taking comfort in their absurdity. “Hey, Johnston, have you seen the picture of that cat? They call it Longcat because it’s long!” “Ha ha, sounds like good fun, Stevenson! That reminds me, I need to show you this webpage I found the other day; it contains numerous animated dancing hamsters. It’s called — you’ll never believe this — hamsterdance!” And then Johnston and Stevenson went on to have a wonderful friendship based on the comfortable banality of self-evident digitized animals.

But then 2007 came, and along with it came I Can Has, and everything was forever ruined. It was hubris. We did it to ourselves. The minute we added written language beyond the reflexive, it all went to shit. Suddenly memes had an excess of information to be parsed. It wasn’t just a picture of a cat, perhaps with a simple description appended to it; now the cat spoke to us via a written caption on the picture itself. It referred to an item of food that existed in our world but not in the world of the meme, rupturing the boundary between the two. The cat wanted something. Which forced us to recognize that what it wanted was us, was our attention. WE are the cheezburger, and we always were. But by the time we realized this, it was too late. We were slaves to the very memes that we had created. We toiled to earn the privilege of being distracted by them. They fiddled while Rome burned, and we threw ourselves into the fire so that we might listen to the music. The memes had us. Or, rather, they could has us.

And it just got worse from there. Soon the cats had invisible bicycles and played keyboards. They gained complex identities, and so we hollowed out our own identities to accommodate them. We prayed to return to the simple days when we would admire a cat for its exceptional length alone, the days when the cat itself was the meme and not merely a vehicle for the complex memetic text. And the fact that this text was so sparse, informal, and broken ironically made it even more demanding. The intentional grammatical and syntactical flaws drew attention to themselves, making the meme even more about the captioning words and less about the pictures. Words, words, words. Wurds werds wordz. Stumbling through a crooked, dead-end hallway of a mangled clause describing a simple feline sentiment was a torture that we inflicted on ourselves daily. Let’s not forget where the word “caption” itself comes from: capio, Latin for both “I understand” and “I capture.” We thought that by captioning the memes, we were understanding them. Instead, our captions allowed them to capture us. The memes that had once been a cure for our cultural ills were now the illness itself.

It goes right back to the Phaedrus, really. Think about it. Back in the innocent days of 2006, we naïvely thought that the grapheme had subjugated the phoneme, that the belief in the primacy of the spoken word was an ancient and backwards folly on par with burning witches or practicing phrenology or thinking that Smash Mouth was good. Fucking Smash Mouth. But we were wrong. About the phoneme, I mean. Theuth came to us again, this time in the guise of a grinning grey cat. The cat hungered, and so did Theuth. He offered us an updated choice, and we greedily took it, oblivious to the consequences. To borrow the parlance of a contemporary meme, he baked us a pharmakon, and we eated it.

Pharmakon, φάρμακον, the Greek word that means both “poison” and “cure,” but, because of the limitations of the English language, can only be translated one way or the other depending on the context and the translator’s whims. No possible translation can capture the full implications of a Greek text including this word. In the Phaedrus, writing is the pharmakon that the trickster god Theuth offers, the toxin and remedy in one. With writing, man will no longer forget; but he will also no longer think. A double-edged (s)word, if you will. But the new iteration of the pharmakon is the meme. Specifically, the post-I-Can-Has memescape of 2007 onward. And it was the language that did it,. The addition of written language twisted the remedy into a poison, flipped the pharmakon on its invisible axis.

In retrospect, it was in front of our eyes all along. Meme. The noxious word was given to us by who else but those wily ancient Greeks themselves. μίμημα, or mīmēma. Defined as an imitation, a copy. The exact thing Plato warned us against in the Republic. Remember? The simulacrum that is two steps removed from the perfection of the original by the process of — note the root of the word — mimesis. The Platonic ideal of an object is the source: the father, the sun, the ghostly whole. The corporeal manifestation of the object is one step removed from perfection. The image of the object (be it in letters or in pigments) is two steps removed. The author is inferior to the craftsman is inferior to God.

But we’ll go farther than Plato. Longcat, a photograph, is a textbook example of a second-degree mimesis. (We might promote it to the third degree since the image on the internet is a digital copy of the original photograph of the physical cat which is itself a copy of Platonic ideal of a cat (the Godcat, if you will); but this line of thought doesn’t change anything in the argument.) The text-supplemented meme, on the other hand, the captioned cat, is at an infinite remove from the Godcat, the ultimate mimesis, copying the copy of itself eternally, the written language and the image echoing off each other, until it finally loops back around to the truth by virtue of being so far from it. It becomes its own truth, the fidelity of the eternal copy. It becomes a God.

Writing itself is the archetypical pharmakon and the archetypical copy, if you’ll come back with me to the Phaedrus (if we ever really left it). Speech is the real deal, Socrates says, with a smug little wink to his (written) dialogic buddy. Speech is alive, it can defend itself, it can adapt and change. Writing is its bastard son, the mimic, the dead, rigid simulacrum. Writing is a copy, a mīmēma, of truth in speech. To return to our analogous issue: the image of the cheezburger cat, the copy of the picture-copy-copy, is so much closer to the original Platonic ideal than the written language that accompanies it. (“Pharmakon” can also mean “paint.” Think about it. Just think about it.) The image is still fake, but it’s the caption on the cat that is the downfall of the republic, the real fakeness, which is both realer and faker than whatever original it is that it represents. Men and gods abhor the lie, Plato says in sections 382 a and b of the Republic.

οὐκ οἶσθα, ἦν δ᾽ ἐγώ, ὅτι τό γε ὡς ἀληθῶς ψεῦδος, εἰ οἷόν τε τοῦτο εἰπεῖν, πάντες θεοί τε καὶ ἄνθρωποι μισοῦσιν; πῶς, ἔφη, λέγεις; οὕτως, ἦν δ᾽ ἐγώ, ὅτι τῷ κυριωτάτῳ που ἑαυτῶν ψεύδεσθαι καὶ περὶ τὰ κυριώτατα οὐδεὶς ἑκὼν ἐθέλει, ἀλλὰ πάντων μάλιστα φοβεῖται ἐκεῖ αὐτὸ κεκτῆσθαι.1

Man’s worst fear is that he will hold existential falsehood within himself. And the verbal lies that he tells are a copy of this feared dishonesty in the soul. Plato goes on to elaborate: “the falsehood in words is a copy of the affection in the soul, an after-rising image of it and not an altogether unmixed falsehood.” A copy of man’s false internal copy of truth. And what word does Plato use for “copy” in this sentence? That’s fucking right, μίμημα. Mīmēma. Mimesis. Meme. The new meme is a lie, manifested in (written) words, that reflects the lack of truth, the emptiness, within the very soul of a human. The meme is now not only an inferior copy, it is a deceptive copy.

But just wait, it gets better. Plato continues in the very next section of the Republic, 382 c. Sometimes, he says, the lie, the meme, is appropriate, even moral. It is not abhorrent to lie to your enemy, or to your friend in order to keep him from harm. “Does it [the lie] not then become useful to avert the evil—as a medicine?” You get one fucking guess for what Greek word is being translated as “medicine” in this passage. Ding ding motherfucking ding, you got it, φάρμακον, pharmakon. The μίμημα is a φάρμακον, the lie is a medicine/poison, the meme is a pharmakon.

But I’m sure that by now you’ve realized the (intentional) mistake in my argument that brought us to this point. I said earlier that the addition of written language to the meme flipped the pharmakon on its axis. But the pharmakon didn’t flip, it doesn’t have an axis. It was always both remedy and poison. The fact that this isn’t obvious to us from the very beginning of the discussion is the fault of, you guessed it, language. The initial lie (writing) clouds our vision and keeps us from realizing how false the second-order lie (the meme) is.

The very structure of the lying meme mirrors the structure of the written word that defines and corrupts it. Once you try to identify an “outside” in order to reveal the lie, the whole framework turns itself inside-out so that you can never escape it. The cat wants the cheezburger that exists outside the meme, but only through the meme do we become aware of the presumed existence of the cheezburger — we can’t point out the absurdity of the world of the meme without also indicting our own world. We can’t talk about language without language, we can’t meme without mimesis. Memes didn’t change between ‘06 and ‘07, it was us who changed. Or rather, our understanding of what we had always been changed. The lie became truth, the remedy became the poison, the outside became the inside. Which is to say that the truth became lie, the pharmakon was always the remedy and the poison, and the inside retreated further inside. It all came full circle. Because here’s the secret. Language ruined the meme, yes. But language itself had already been ruined. By that initial poisonous, lying copy. Writing.

The First Pharmakon.

The First Meme.

Language didn’t attack the meme in 2007 out of spite. It attacked it to get revenge.

Longcat is long. Language is language. Pharmakon is pharmakon. The phoneme topples the grapheme, witches ride through the night sky, our skulls hide secret messages on their surfaces, Smash Mouth is good after all. Hey now, you’re an all-star. Get your game on. Go play.2.

1. “Don’t you know,” said I, “that the veritable lie, if the expression is permissible, is a thing that all gods and men abhor?” “What do you mean?” he said. “This,” said I, “that falsehood in the most vital part of themselves, and about their most vital concerns, is something that no one willingly accepts, but it is there above all that everyone fears it.” - ED

2. I have just realized everything that led up to this moment has been a colossal waste of time.

[seventhdoctor]

For the yugioh character ask meme: Supreme King Judai!

Oh boy is this an interesting one.

Why I like them/why I don’t I'll be honest, at first I didn't like him. Back in 2007 when I was experiencing GX through Photobucket screencaps and forum discussion, I was like "Wait. Why is Judai evil now. What's going on. I don't like this. Also the Evil Heroes look ugly."

[Haunted voice] I understand now.

Supreme King Judai says a lot about Judai Yuki, how he deals with his guilt and his fear and his trauma, and what he'll do to try and...feel safe? Regain control? I bet he'd like to know the end to that sentence, too. And I came back to GX after one of the worst periods of my life so uh, that part really got me when I was rewatching GX last year!

I love love love his little monologue about how "I won, and I kept winning, but still [all of this happened, I lost everything, etc.]" and how it parallels early S1 Manjoume. We heard that lesson and learned nothing! It says a lot about both Judai (who failed to internalize it) and the way he's treated (because yeah that feels emptier when everyone and their mother and even the bad guy is depending on you to beat the bad guy, SAIOU I SEE YOU WITH THAT SATELLITE KEY). I even appreciate the symbolism of the Evil Heroes: to defeat evil he did indeed become evil, and yet defeating evil makes you the hero doesn't it?

He also raises questions about Judai and his past life. Like...how did this guy:

...become this guy?

He came like this. Judai lost himself in the darkness of his heart and out came a side of himself buried underneath a life he doesn't remember, and this is how he came out. The little boy who made a tearful promise in response to another's self-sacrifice turned into a tyrant who believes power is the only way to achieve anything, and how did that happen?

Obviously this is a question that's driving me to write a 40k word prequel fanfic. Help.

What I like about their appearance

Hey, do you think those shoulder spikes were originally meant to match Yubel's? :'D But also, the cape. Of course in that black and gold armor, he's got a red cape.

If I can give voice acting a shout for appearance, KENN's work was amazing too. I recorded his debut monologue to show a friend who watched the dub and sometimes it's nice to revisit that clip because damn.

Do I prefer their dub names or original names? There really isn't much that isn't carried over from the original Judai -> Jaden change; Haou is just Supreme King. (I use Supreme King as a title and Haou to refer to the character but that is extremely a personal thing for my brain only.) As with Asuka I'm neutral on the name change here aside from being ehhhhh on localizing names to Western ones as a broad trend but that's for another kind of post entirely.

OTP What Haou are we talking about here. Probably with Yubel or Johan but it EXTREMELY depends on time point and circumstances.

NOTP IDK man. Any ship with him is probably a little fucked up but we enjoy that here.

OT3 See above.

Favourite card they use

CHOU YUUGOU

Favourite moment they were in

Definitely his debut in episode 136. That monologue about "In order to defeat evil, one must become evil" and "In this world with the rule of the jungle, one must rule with power" is iconic.

Least favourite moment

Is there a moment that qualifies? His scenes are bangers.

[dayjmz19]

Blog Post #10 Week 13

Do you think the Patriot Act violates our privacy ?

I think the Patriot act does violate our privacy when not used to target people who are actually a threat to the nation. In the reading Fear as Institution by Parenti they pointed out that investigators can pick a judge to approve their warrant. This is concerning because it leads me to question the integrity of their investigation. I feel like they can use their power to target people based on biased ideas and get access to all of our digital information. I also found it concerning how universities are expected to provide free student information without a court order and how they can turn in their students for immigration purposes. I feel like an act that started to prevent terrorist is now used to often target innocent people. 

Has surveillance affected our mental health?

I feel like surveillance has affected some people's mental health for the wrong reasons. We often care about who's watching us due to looks rather than privacy, especially with younger generations. Or people are worried others will find out what they said about someone else online. But others also feel mentally affected by surveillance because the government uses it against them. People who belong to minority groups also get really paranoid thinking they are being watched or targeted in the streets simply because they belong to a minority group.In which oftentimes is true. They are aware that many government officials are simply able to tap into their phone or social media without their knowledge. This affects how they might feel during their day to day life as they might restrict themselves due to fear of being accused or accused he's a threat due to his physical features. 

Should you trust your social media or your digital devices?

I think today with such advanced technology like AI or programs similar to pegasus we shouldn't trust our devices or social media. As mentioned before everything said or posted on social media is never deleted and always resurfaces. For example there have been many influencers who are at the peak of their career and suddenly a video of them making a rude comment resurfaces and loses all their brand deals and supporters. With so many apps tracking your data it becomes easier for you to become a target. Everything online is often being monitored and can be used against you and land you in jail.

Why do you think although many people are aware of the risks of the digital world they continue to participate?

Personally, although I am aware of the risks of the digital world, it's very hard to opt out when it has become part of my daily life for the past 15 years of my life since I got an ipod. Especially since I grew up during the developing stages and it was always desired to have the latest device. Another factor is FOMO, to be completely honest I think I would feel left out not knowing the latest threads or what new memes are going on. I think this is a general problem. Most can rebut and say they can live without social media or devices, but realistically most people my age will not do it. Convenience is also a factor people would opt in without even reading the terms just to get the answers they need or see the film they did not want to pay for for free, even to get that 10% off in that store we like, most would risk their personal data.

References:

Power, M. (2010, March 11). How Your Twitter Account Could Land You in Jail. Mother Jones. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2010/03/police-twitter-riots-social-media-activists/ Parenti, C. (2007). The soft cage: surveillance in America: from slavery to the war on terror. Basic Books.

[elsword-nostalgia]

A little bit about this blog in case anyone sees this:

This is a sideblog for stuff related to the 2007 Korean MMORPG Elsword, especially anything I can find that strikes a sense of nostalgia for me.

Mod is an adult and uses she/they pronouns. Entirely free player, and recently started maining Lu/Ciel though I haven't had a lot of time with them yet. (Also I know this is kind of contradictory to canon but I like to headcanon Ciel as a butch ace lesbian, because I am and it makes me happy. <3)

Tag List (subject to change as I get used to this blog):

#elsword gameplay - Any pictures, videos, or text posts of or about playing the game itself.

#elsword lore - Posts about character backstories or the main plot.

#mod's fan stuff - Fanart, fics, edits, headcanons, etc. by yours truly.

#fan stuff - Fanart, fics, edits, headcanons, etc. by other people.

#elsword memes - Memes, jokes, and other posts meant to be funny.

#incorrect quotes - Text posts with quotes that the characters didn't say but probably would. These tickle my brain idk lol.

#kog corporate greed - Content referring to KOG's treatment of both workers and players, contributing to the game's decline over the past several years.

#eltype archive - For when I finally get around to doing this.

#not elsword - Not sure if or when I'll use this tag, but for anything that isn't directly related to Elsword.

If a post mentions any characters or regions, I will tag those too.

Long rambly backstory below the cut:

I started playing when I was 12 in like 2017 (I know you're supposed to be 13 but I lied about my age, as all 12 year olds with unrestricted internet access do). Obviously, this was ten years after the game was made and it was already kind of past its prime, and I think this is around the point at which older players started to leave. Still, since this is when I started, this is the time period associated with nostalgia for me. I mained Rena and spent a lot of time on Elsword Amino and Deviantart, sharing bad fanart. I was practically obsessed with the game, to the point of reading ElWiki constantly for fun, until I was maybe around 15 and became too busy with life circumstances.

I returned a bit recently and found it mostly abandoned, at least in NA, even in areas that used to hold tons of players. Trying to find and reread ElType issues has also been a challenge, as most of the links on ElWiki lead to broken Imgur pages.

Though "pay to win" and greedy corporate practices were already there when I started, I've found all sorts of posts by older Elsword players that show that it's gotten even worse, likely contributing to the game's decline.

Even though the game is far from what I knew it as and even farther from what older players knew it as, I still feel nostalgia for the characters and story, so I'm trying to gather as much as I can in one place before the game inevitably shuts down. I hope it gets taken from KOG by a studio that will care for the game and listen to the players, but I doubt that's going to happen. I'm busy with university and other circumstances, but sometime soon I want to get ahold of as much of ElType as I can and create a digital archive of it since so many of the links on ElWiki don't work anymore.

[daiduongdinh]

Digital Community and Fandom: A Reality TV Case Study

Digital communities and fandoms have been greatly influenced by reality television, resulting in a complex network of engagement that goes beyond ordinary viewership. Since the introduction of Web 2.0 technologies, viewers have evolved from being passive observers to active participants in show conversations, offering commentary on participants and conjecturing about the veracity of what they see. This discussion transcends private areas and reaches forums, blogs, and social media, where sites like Instagram and Twitter have developed into active hubs for fan interaction.

Particularly during reality shows, Twitter has become the preferred tool for live tweeting. Tweets' instantaneous nature makes for an improved viewing experience since viewers can express their opinions in real time. Hashtags that are used during broadcasts and host invitations to join conversations are what drive this connection. The website fosters a humorous community in addition to encouraging viewers to remark on episodes. Social media conversations are dominated by memes, puns, and GIFs, which let fans perform for likes and shares. Numerous humorous fan accounts are devoted to shows like Drag Race and Love Island, and viewers and cast members frequently join in on the fun by sharing jokes and memes.

Humor and self-referentiality are crucial components of the reality TV experience, allowing spectators to critique shows while developing a sense of community. But it's important to remember that these online debates are about actual individuals, whose lives may be damaged by the remarks made about them. Long after its initial broadcast, viewers may revisit their old favorites and carry on the discourse thanks to the growing popularity of these shows on streaming services.

Moreover, the rise of microcelebrity has revolutionized how people exploit social media. Reality TV competitors frequently communicate directly with their fans by avoiding traditional media channels and using social media sites like Twitter. The distinction between private and public life is becoming more hazy as a result of this change, providing views into previously forbidden "backstage" moments. Celebrities have the ability to show a more genuine side of themselves, but this entails balancing their subjective interpretations of their experiences with the factual depictions of events that are recorded on camera.

Reality TV will probably become more and more influential in online communities as it develops. Technology, comedy, and audience participation come together to create a dynamic environment that supports reality shows and their fan bases, illuminating the intricate relationship between digital culture and entertainment. In the end, this case study highlights how reality TV shapes online interactions, community building, and the dynamic nature of stardom in the digital world.

REFERENCES

Booth, P 2024, ‘Digital Fandom’, Google Books, viewed 4 October 2024, <https://books.google.com.vn/books?hl=en&lr=&id=9LdS5WwGOvwC&oi=fnd&pg=PP13&dq=Digital+Community+and+Fandom:+A+Reality+TV+Case+Study&ots=V7cBVgbqqP&sig=etkinGr2pzQWQstxiWtVKR-pdKI&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Digital%20Community%20and%20Fandom%3A%20A%20Reality%20TV%20Case%20Study&f=false>.

Kusuma, A, Purbantina, A & Nahdiyah, V 2020, ‘A Virtual Ethnography Study: Fandom and Social Impact in Digital Era | ETNOSIA : Jurnal Etnografi Indonesia’, journal.unhas.ac.id, viewed <http://journal.unhas.ac.id/index.php/etnosia/article/view/10898>.

Monaco 2007, Title: Performing fandom, performing community : a case study of The Sopranos and its online fandom General rights, viewed 20 April 2024, <https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/34504461/504528.pdf>.

[datasoong47]

Hunh, always wondered where "based" came from

Based comes from the slang basehead, a term from the 1980s to describe people addicted to freebasing cocaine, a method which makes the drug smokable. The term basehead became synonymous with the crack epidemic that swept the United States at the time. Over time, calling someone based was a way of saying that they were a crack addict, or acting like one, especially in West Coast street slang.

In the way slang things go, people acting eccentric or abnormal were labelled based. At least that’s what seems to have happened with quirky West Coast rapper Brandon “Lil B” McCartney. In reaction to people calling him based, Lil B decided to redefine the term. In 2007, his group, The Pack, released their debut album, Based Boys. In a 2010 interview in Complex magazine, Lil B described his new definition of based: “Based means being yourself. Not being scared of what people think about you. Not being afraid to do what you wanna do.”

It’s not clear when Lil B started calling himself Based God, but by 2011 that nickname was firmly associated with him. Eventually, a cosmology of Based God (or BasedGod) emerged, referring to becoming a sort of higher power that Lil B could access, allowing him special abilities, such as the power to curse basketball player Kevin Durant.

The re-invented based, as a signal of power and swagger, was picked up by the alt-right/white nationalist community online in the 2010s. In 2014, during a controversy over female video-game reviewers known as Gamergate, conservative commentator Christina Hoff Sommers was referred to as Based Mom for pushing back against criticisms that video games and their culture are sexist. Since then, referring to alt-right or right-wing conservative figures as based has become a sign of approval in online social-media forums like the pro-Trump subreddit, r/The_Donald.

Who uses based?

Being based is a core part of Lil B’s brand, and so it’s no wonder he—and his fans—are all about that based life. In this hip-hop subculture, it’s all about being a based God—someone with “maximum swagger, a mansion, sports cars, wonton soup, and the inherent ability to fuck your bitch,” as one user on Quora put it. Not sure if the wonton soup bit is universal, but we think the point is that you can have whatever you want.

A catch phrase for Lil B fans is Thank You Based God—a sort of tongue-in-cheek conflation of a sincere thanks to God and an expression of Based God fandom. It even has its own acronym: TYBG. This catchphrase is a popular meme, typically shown over image macros of someone crying dramatically.

On the other side of the spectrum, alt-right, white nationalist, and other Trump supporters online have, incongruously, adopted based for their own purposes. They routinely post on forums like Reddit with headlines describing someone whose actions they approve of as based (e.g. “Based Boris Johnson refuses to apologize for saying women in burkas look like letterboxes.”).

In 2016, Slate writer Ben Mathis-Lilley perhaps best summed up this strange turn of events with based, worth quoting at length:

“So what we have here, then, is a word that was created amid an addiction epidemic in urban communities being adopted by bigoted fans of a presidential candidate who was demonstrated unprecedented contempt for, and ignorance of, said communities.”