#Plus it might show that there's more interest in marketing the show to a western audience

[marinsawakening]

NATSUME YUUJINCHOU DUB REAL??????????????

[ostrichmonkey-games]

First playtest for Stampede Wasteland is tonight! Only doing minimal prep for it (since, ideally, that's all a regular GM would need to do). The biggest portion of that is rolling on some tables to generate a settlement that I'll be tossing the players into.

Thought it would be fun to show off the results and walk through how things are starting to come together with minimal effort!

Before I started any of this, I had a nugget of an idea about a faction of raiders that have taken over the town being one of the core sources of conflict, and now we're going to see how that might change or permutate based on how the settlement comes together.

Step 1 is rolling for the size of the settlement;

We get a Medium Town. Nice. Nothing too exciting just yet.

Next is to roll a number of Features based on the size we just got.

Medium towns get 3 Features. We get; Crash-Tech & Comms Relay, a Bazaar & Black Market & Foundry, and an Oasis and Stables. Each Feature has some extra options that help flesh them out, plus more specific mechanical things you can do with them, but I'll lave those for another time right now.

So far, this settlement has valuable Crash-Tech that helps keep it operating, a way to communicate with the wider world, places to buy cool things, but I'm paying special attention to the Oasis right now. Maybe that's why the raiders have taken this place over, to control the oasis? Let's see what else comes up.

The remaining tables are all optional details, but I rolled on all of them just to see what happens.

For a Key Figure in town, we get a Merchant "Prince".

Maybe they made a deal with the Raiders involving the oasis? That could be interesting.

Next up is the settlement's general Style;

We ended up with "rustic", I'm thinking very classic spaghetti western. Which is going to contrast very nicely with the town's Signature detail;

A massive, half-broken glass dome! Which also dovetails nicely with the already present Crash-Tech feature. Clearly, this town was built in the remains of one of the ancient seed ships that crash landed on the planet.

So what's Weird about this town?

Turns out the town is a cultic pilgrimage site. The crash site the settlement has been built on must be significant, maybe related to one of the Orbital Saints.

The next detail is about the local geography, giving some details on what the wider region might be like;

And we get perpetual sandstorms! Must make travel difficult, especially for those pilgrims.

Lastly, there's the "What Keeps Them Safe (For Now)" table. Life in the Wasteland is difficult, and any settlement that lasts sticks around for a reason.

We get "geographic quirk", so there's something special about the physical location of the town that keeps it safe. Maybe the town is built into cave systems that were dug out from within the crater of the seed ship, and that glass dome partially obscures the crater and caves from the sandstorms that howl all around.

And with that! The town is complete, aside from a name, but I'll figure that out later. Probably.

Anyways, testing of the tables complete and working as intended! I think a unique story came together with minimal effort and I'm excited to see what's gonna happen next.

[struggle-but-its-all-ocean-floor]

for a second I thought maybe the collabs are because (aside from him probably wanting them) he didn't nearly have enough time to do his own things but that doesn't make sense because

pretty sure a lot of those songs were already made, he just needed to sing them and create/learn the choreography &

yes they're all English and created by other people (not a criticism just an observation) but those could've still been solo songs? Like them being English singles doesn't mean they needed to be collabs

I'm not sure why I had that original thought lol.

I think maybe it's the label's influence (the American label). something to do with the marketing and introducing him to different audiences in America. Plus It's not like JK would be opposed to working with different artists he finds cool.

I am hesitant about his album though. The tracks might not all be collabs but at this point I don't think any of the songs are gonna feel like him at least the him prior to chapter 2. And I think they'll all be English (which isn't necessarily a bad thing because English songs can be meaningful, but I don't think they'll go for that. Hope I'm wrong)

I would've said differently before I discovered 3D and Seven were part of the album, but now I think this is the case.

They want his name out there and known across America as much as possible before military and before he'll literally be absent for almost 2 years.

But then that makes the whole thing so confusing!!

Well, collabs have the obvious advantage of getting fans of the other artists to listen to Jungkook's songs as well, and possibly becoming fans. I think it also helps Western audiences accept Jungkook, since he's already been "accepted" and "vouched for" by American artists. It gives him more credibility? If it was just Jungkook, maybe his solos would be regarded as side projects, and maybe his streams and records would be seen as the BTS fever effect. But with popular artists credited to his songs, I think that confers Jungkook a certain degree of legitimacy, and maybe shows he's interested in reaching a broader audience and in really building a name and career for himself. I can see the pros of the collabs. At the same time, those can quickly become cons if Jungkook just becomes the dude who only does collabs and can't succeed on his own. So far, all of his solos that charted well and had radio play have been collabs - L&R, Seven and 3D. Now that people know who he is he definitely needs to establish himself solo.

Regardless, he did a poor job choosing the collabs. It's obvious that the alternate version of 3D's better than the main one, and the reason why 3D isn't doing nearly as well as Seven is that, apart from Seven being his anticipated solo debut and having a trendier, and I'd say more tasteful, sound, even Armys didn't like Jack Harlow. The fandom itself isn't responding very well to the song. The MV was lackluster compared to Seven, which had made every Army's Y/N fantasy come true, and if the first song about sex shocks people, the second one is just more of the same. Worst of all though is probably Jack's feature. The lyrics are terrible and sexist, he's not a particularly liked rapper, many fans (like me) are only streaming the solo version and the solo and alternate versions doesn't even combine on Spotify. The way Big Hit lets BTS collab with problematic or not very well respected artists is insane. It's like they'll take anyone and don't even bother understanding what fans want. There are tons of respected, liked and very popular artists that would love to work with BTS and they chose Jack Harlow? They could've fucking asked Cardi B (who is problematic too but generally well liked), and she probably would've said yes. They could've brought back Megan.

The thing is that I don't think Jungkook even knows or understands that Jack Harlow ain't shit. He likes him, but not that many people seem to, which actually surprised me because I thought he was a big name. It's Big Hit's job to at least inform Jungkook of that or suggest other artists. With Latto the problem (aside from the racists tweets that I either misinterpreted or everyone chose to ignore) was more that no one knew who she was and he helped her career more than she helped his. However, since she's an up and coming rapper, it's a much more interesting feature, introducing him to a more specific type of audience and also showing that he's serious about music because he noticed her talent and chose to work with her even if she's less known.

The point is, people loved Seven, including Army, and mostly liked Latto, but the response to 3D has been very lackluster, and Jack is a big reason why. I wonder if Bad Decisions wouldn't have done better with different people, even if the song is Benny Blanco's.

I also think the 3D MV was a huge mistake. I saw someone on Reddit say Jack Harlow's parts give Blurred Lines and it tracks. I watched the MV yesterday and even Jungkook's parts aren't great though. The choreography is poorly shot and Jungkook's dancing doesn't look that good, the dance practice video is miles better. After Seven, which was a huge production, with a beautiful, famous actress and Jungkook being the goofy lover boy, the 3D MV is so low effort. It killed the hype for the song. And Jack dominates the track too much, it's ridiculous. I like the alternate version quite a bit, but Big Hit and Jungkook need to be smarter. I think Jungkook lacks self-confidence and is too humble to realize he's better on his own. He still has this mentality of "the more the merrier, I'll take anything", when he should've listened to the alternate version and realized the feature needed to, at least, be shorter.

As for collabs in other artists' tracks, those are an easy way of having more songs and getting his name out there, since he doesn't need to look for the songs or perform them. He just does a bit of work in the recording booth and that's it. Hybe doesn't even need to promote the songs much either, since that falls more on the main artist. However, again, it's not just about having more songs and exposure. His image matters, the kind of discography he cultivates matters. He needs to be choosier. He can't just take anyone, which at this point feels like what he's doing. It gives less "I'm a pop star" and more "I'm just a nobody from Korea who will take anyone who will help me and isn't big enough to attract more high profile names". I don't know how to express that in a non cruel way. This is really the vibe I'm starting to get, despite Jungkook carrying all of those songs and being so big already.

I don't know what to expect of his album, but 3D didn't help build up anticipation for it. I don't even know if 3D will debut on the top 10 of the Hot 100 and Army is way less excited about Golden now. At least Seven is still going strong. I remember when Seven dropped. 3D only had a week's notice which didn't help, but when Seven dropped the timeline was insane. The horniness was off the charts. The explicit version, as cheesy as it was, had everyone grabbing their hair. When 3D dropped, the reaction was much smaller, and a lot more negative. Visuals matter a lot, and 3D didn't have them. Jungkook also showed everything with Seven, so flashing his abs and talking about sex isn't going to shock people anymore.

Anyway, it's a shame, because I like the solo version of 3D a lot, the choreo is much better than Seven, the performance is better too, and I love Jungkook's vocals so much in the alternate version. I pray he does that high note live. I don't even mind the lyrics. 3D needed a much better MV and no Jack Harlow. I won't even complain about Latto anymore, since, in comparison, she fit Seven better, had less screen time and lines, and helped the song be better, and not worse, received. Maybe I'm biased because I only know what's happening in kpop spaces, but...

Thanks for the ask! Sorry for the rant...

[dropintomanga]

How to Find Great Manga to Read

We’re in an awesome time for manga reading in the West. Physical manga volumes are flying off the shelves in a time when digital reading is becoming more prevalent. TikTok videos featuring manga collections have become a thing.  Anime’s now-uber mainstream popularity in geek culture has helped usher in this new golden age. Yet at the same time, a lot of mainstream manga attention is usually on shonen titles with hit anime adaptations - i.e. My Hero Academia, Demon Slayer, Chainsaw Man, Spy x Family, Jujutsu Kaisen, etc. There are outliners like Junji Ito material, but it can sometimes feel like the manga getting recognized by the Western media and comics critics are being highlighted a bit too much over titles full of wonderful stories that aren’t exactly “popular” in the public geek eye.

The manga world’s more than just action series that gets hearts pumping and horror gone viral. There’s many manga titles that not only provide escapism, but provide various perspectives that will make you feel you all kinds of emotions in ways that can make someone a better person. Plus, over time, your tastes and interests may expand and you might look for other manga titles that aren’t mainstream.

I recently read a guide on Psyche called “How to find great films to watch” and in the spirit of that guide (which was really good), I want to do something similar right here.

I will use the tips that the Psyche guide gives for finding great films and apply them for finding great manga. So here we go!

Tip #1 - Start with an open mind.

This sounds like the biggest deal-breaker because there are people who see manga and have many assumptions about it. Some will argue about reading it in a right-to-left format, some may argue about the sexual content that’s sometimes found in it and some will say that manga is only for teens (the biggest market in the West). 

I will argue that manga is influenced from Western culture and comics and that some of the best comics in the entire world, past and present, are manga. Speaking of the past, there’s some older manga (titles like Banana Fish, Lone Wolf and Cub, Rose of Versailles, and Osamu Tezuka’s works come to mind) that hold up well today. The point is - don’t let preconceived notions get in the way of finding a manga that one day, might touch your heart in many ways.

Also, don’t be afraid of trying out other stuff that’s for teenagers (especially on the older teen side) because there are themes and topics that adults can relate to. Beastars is a great example of such a title as it explore societal hierarchies and divisions using anthropomorphic animals to represent human beings. 

Tip #2 - Give manga a chance.

When you’re able to get a 1st volume of a manga, read it in a comfortable spot with good lighting. If it’s digital, definitely read on a tablet. Next, be sure to be patient with it. The first chapter of a series can be a bit rough. Hell, the 1st volume might suck and the story might turn out to be amazing a few volumes later. There will be cases where you will not be hooked right away. The best thing you can do is give a manga series maybe 2-3 volumes to see if this is the right thing for you to read. Every manga series of a decent length has some kind of introduction arc, so you can use this as a litmus test.

Tip #3 - Get some advice.

If you have friends who are bona-fide manga lovers, do not hesitate to talk to them. If you’re lucky to have a bookstore near you that sells manga, definitely ask them for advice on what to read. Manga librarians are also a great source of community on figuring out what manga to check out for those who want to check out libraries. The point is just be around manga connoisseurs as much as possible to get the most out of finding what’s great. 

Also, manga publishers who show up at anime/comic book conventions are willing to help provide recommendations to fans who stop by their booths on what titles to check out. You will also get to meet other manga enthusiasts at conventions as well.

Tip #4 - Play to your strengths and interests.

If you have a favorite genre like shonen action manga, you can explore the history of shonen action manga titles out there. Viz’s Shonen Jump service has a wide category of older shonen action manga titles for fans who want to go beyond just the hit titles of today. If you’re interested in LGBTQ+ culture, you can explore titles like Boys Run the Riot, Our Dreams at Dusk: Shimanami Tasogare, and My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness that cover that perspective. Have a fascination with works from independent creators? Check out manga from publishers like Denpa Books, Star Fruit Books and Glacier Bay Books. Let’s say you’re into world history - titles like Vinland Saga and Golden Kamuy are right up your alley.

It is safe to say that whatever it is you’re into, there’s definitely a manga for it.

Tip #5 - Follow your likes.

Once you manage to find a particular favorite manga, you can decide to learn more about the title itself and the thought process of the mangaka. You can discover what influences drove the mangaka to create what they created. This may lead you to find out similar titles just like your favorite one. Here’s an example I can give - let’s say you’re a fan of Inio Asano’s works and notice that they’re influenced by societal problems regarding youth in Japanese culture. You can do no wrong by checking out works from the likes of authors such as Shuzo Oshimi and Kengo Hanazawa, who have written stories about Japanese youth trying to find themselves in modern society.

Tip #6 - Reflect on how manga is made.

When you read enough manga, you start to pick up on how things are done. There’s so many elements that come into the manga-making process as the manga Bakuman will tell you. There’s the draft process, the number of assistants helping out, the long hours spent drawing, the isolation, the editors checking in to make sure the mangaka doesn’t go wild, etc. You can also think about the story of the title you’re reading and its narrative structure. If there was a huge plot twist that happens, there’s sometimes foreshadowing hints found in earlier volumes. You can think about what the mangaka did in making sure their narrative went according to their liking and read up on fan discussions that point these details out.

The more you read manga, the more you start to appreciate the process of how it happens.

-------------------

I think that’s all I can say about how to find great manga for now. Unfortunately, what I covered here is only just a bit of the whole manga reading picture. If you want to expand your manga horizons further, here’s some books I recommend. These books are available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.

The Art of Osamu Tezuka: The God of Manga by Helen McCarthy

Manga: The Complete Guide by Jason Thompson

Manga in Theory and Practice: The Craft of Creating Manga by Hirohiko Araki

The Citi Exhibition: Manga by Nicole Coolidge Rousmaniere and Matsuba Ryoko

The History of Hentai Manga: An Expressionist Examination of EroManga by Kimi Rito

By Your Side: The First 100 Years of Yuri Anime and Manga by Erica Friedman

1000 Years of Manga by Bridgitte Koyama-Richard

Reframing Disability in Manga by Yoshiko Okuyama

Comics and the Origins of Manga: A Revisionist History by Eike Exner

The Shonen Jump Guide to Making Manga by the Weekly Shonen Jump Editorial Department

You can check out the "Other Sites to Check Out” link on the side for more manga-related websites (I will be updating this with more manga-related links). I hope you enjoyed this guide and happy reading!

[dojae-huh]

The original "Can't take my eyes off of you" is a pop rock? Wouldn't guess. I suppose I mostly know it via jazz covers.

Jaehyun, how dare you make a cover with a live band ahead of the ex-singer of a school pop-rock band? Yeah, I get it, it's for him, but still... lol.

I like the fusion of JaeDo's interests. Thoughtful.

I actually expect Jaehyun to release an album with covers of Western songs in the future, more of jazz/blues direction. He really likes old classics.

I used to think that Doyoung might be the one to target the global market as a solo artist, but he isn't showing improvement in his English. He will be more fluent in Japanese soon. Seems like he will be Asia oriented with Korean and Japanese albums, plus singles in other languages. And now I see Jaehyun being the neo to release English albums. Not due to his language skills and barely there accent, but because he likes Western music and sound.

Unless Doyoung will venture into his rock side, he will have to sing rock in English to have the market.

While fans complained about Jae being sidelined in 127 albums, the boy was working dilligently on his skills. Time to wait for updates from vocal coaches to see if he expanded his lower register.

[sanstropfremir]

pls do talk more about b*s and their current image (censoring because if you don’t have great things to say i don’t want you to be attacked by their crazy stans :))

i always bring this up when i talk about them but it’s really :( that they are the way they are now. like i was a fan because of their hyyh era and their songs about the troubled youth. and of course they can’t stay in that image forever (because we all grow up and it would just be v fake if they tried to continue it given their status and wealth now.) it’s just disappointing that they went down the ‘safe, disney image’ and are releasing generic mainstream pop songs people will forget after a couple listens. i’m no longer a fan of them now but yuh.

also not to mention how they essentially made kpop boring for me now lol i wish companies had fun with their music selections instead of aiming for whatever b*s has. like we will never get a group like orange caramel again (i know wjsn chocome’s concept was similar but it just didn’t feel the same. you talked about it before and i wholeheartedly agree with ur points.)

thank you for the consideration of censoring the name but honestly i'm not that worried about it. i do however find the increasingly creative ways people censor it to be extremely hilarious so keep it up if you would like.

i addressed most of the first part of your ask in the second part of my response here, this is now the third installment in a series, somehow. (the first part is here).

not to level this at you in specific anon, because i know a lot of people share this sentiment of kpop being 'boring' now, and while there is an element of this that is influenced by bts, and although it is true we aren't getting the same level of wild that produced orange caramel, there is actually interesting and kinda weird stuff happening in kpop; it's just not by the groups that are getting the most attention. dreamcatcher has been out here doing horror rock since their debut in 2017. onf has put out two excellent summer pop tracks with fun and stupid genre mvs. i love this recent ghost9 track. i'm obsessed with the instrumental in the chorus of bdc's moon walker. just b debuted last month with a strange bang yongguk track and a very 2013 feeling mv. here's another weird and fun boy group debut, blitzers. a.c.e have put out favourite boys, the fave boyz remix, down, and higher as their last four releases which all have the most coherent and well designed concepts in the last year. and while i'm at it i might as well include take me higher and undercover. oneus put out a mad max themed performance video randomly for no reason like three weeks ago. the rest of the industry were cowards for not following up on to be or not to be with a shakespeare comeback wave. rip onlyoneof but they gave us a whole three week comeback of dick grabs. hanya brought my attention to this weird as shit debut track from a group that has now totally disappeared. knk's sunset exists. we moved on way too fast from the mv because taeyang was being cunty on music shows but sf9's teardrop has probably some of the most interesting shots in a kpop mv in the last several years. and we definitely moved on too fast from my favourite just some guy and goofy movie character woodz's feel like.

i think it's pretty fatalistic to view bts as having singlehandedly made the industry boring because honestly......i don't think they have. if you want to talk about the downturn to plainclothes styling....well that's shinee's fault. and the general trend to less dramatic fashion and visual tastes is not exclusive to the kpop industry, it's been a whole cultural trend. the mid to late 2010s were the rise of 'normcore' and we haven't burst the bubble yet. bts is just reflecting trends happening in the wider world, and in particular the western one. for the most viewed kpop mv of 2020 dynamite did....what exactly? it didn't really spawn any significant copycats in terms of sound or aesthetics, with the exception of maybe superm's we do if you look at it a bit sideways. although this is one of bts' better styled mvs, 70s retro did not make any resurgence in kpop styling, EXCEPT in magazine and fashion shoots, which it was already doing in the west. taemin's criminal was significantly more influential; i can think of at least three different male soloist mvs that borrowed heavily from it. honestly i think stylists and groups are trying to steer as clear as possible of whatever aesthetics bts uses, lest they accidentally doom themselves to a (perceived) slighted fanbase. plus, there's been a pretty sizable resurgence in contemporary hanbok styling, so even though there is a lot more outward attention going to things like international promotions for other groups and whatever the hell sm keeps trying to do with nct, i think a fair amount of companies are interested in maintaining the koreanness of kpop while facilitating broader global access.

and honestly, bigger acts have also put out interesting things in the last year. we did all see taemin's back to back release roster for ngda right? criminal? idea???? advice???????? fuck, chocolate was barely a year ago. whatever your opinions on yunho are, thank u is fucking brilliant mv. sunmi's tail. lie to me and tell me the mv for you can't sit with us isn't fun as fuck. i dunno what the hell the new nct127 song is gonna be like but the teaser photos and mood sampler are weird as hell and i'm absolutely interested. he's only kpop adjacent at the moment but jackson's 100 ways and lmly are really sharply produced low budget mvs with clean and interesting visuals. maniac shot to the top of my most listened immediately after it dropped because lia kim AND those slick horns in the instrumental???? ten's paint me naked was not at all what i was expecting but it's still fun as hell and has a pretty unique aesthetic.

the tldr of this whole three parter is this: bts has always been reactionary to wider cultural trends and that's been how they've made it this far. yes their influence on the industry looms very large because of the predominence of them on the scene, but it's mostly in the perception of kpop rather than in the artistry of it.

i don't think any company is going to be able to achieve what bts and hybe have, which i think is fine. they're the scale tipped too far. hopefully by now most companies have probably noticed that they don't need to cater to the western market so hard, and that it's probably not a good idea to offer their artists up on the racist chopping block of the western pop scene. you can market to an international fanbase without trying to gun for a grammy or for billboard or whatever. creating interesting art should be at the fore, not numbers goals. but we're just gonna have to wait and see what happens in the next year or so.

[darklingichor]

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton *Major Spoilers*

I did not plan to revisit this one because I still have it mostly memorized from when I read it over and over as a teenager.

I loved this book so much, even though my life was worlds away from Ponyboy's, I related to him.

This is probably the most influential book I've ever read. I found out it was written when S.E. Hinton was a teen and I thought "Maybe I can do it too."

I soon found that I was far too sensitive to let people read what I wrote, I couldn't get around the idea of pouring part of myself into something and having someone tell me it sucks.

Now, I realize that's pretty rich considering this blog, but I couldn't do it as a kid and even now it feels a little like saying "please judge my spleen for your liking. If it is found lacking, by all means throw it in the shredder. Fear not, I will feel every cut."

This is why very few people have ever read my fiction.

That's also why, with a couple of exceptions I try to be very respectful of every book I read.

Anyway, what made me return to The Outsiders was that I discovered that there was a 50th anniversary edition. This hardcover has extras, my finger was hitting buy before I even registered it.

So, reread it for the first time in a long time.

I sank into the sweet nostalgia of the story. Reading this book is like sliding on a well worn pair of jeans. This book introduced me to Robert Frost.

I taught myself to type using the poem "Nothing Gold Can Stay" because I had it memorized and would never get tired of it.

I still love the friendships and family bonds presented in the story. I still got a knot in my throat when Johnny died and Dally lost everything. I cried when Ponyboy found Johnny's letter. By God, but I still love this book.

I did notice that some things hit differently now than they did even when I read it once in my 20's.

The first thing I noticed is akin to when you watch The Little Mermaid as an adult and Arial says that she's sixteen and not a kid

and you laugh out loud because, girl, you are a zygote, shush!

When Cherry says to Ponyboy, she could fall in love with Dallas Winston so she hopes she never sees him m again. When I was a kid reading this,familar with The Breakfast Club, Grease, etc, this seemed like a natural statement.

Now? My first thought was "Oh honey, you're more screwed up than I remembered." Because from their first interaction, Cherry would fall in love with a catcalling construction worker.

Ponyboy says that Dallas said something "Really filthy".  In the movie, he asks Cherry howhe was suppose to know if her hair was really red, like her eyebrows were. A roundabout way of asking if the carpet matches the drapes. Bad enough and in the context of the 1960's that might have been dirty enough to be censored from the orginal manuscript, but I always imagined it was worse than that.

I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, after all, Dally wasn't so much a step up or down from Bob, as a step to the side.

Honestly when I was fourteen and reading this for the first time, I didn't think much of Cherry, I thought she was fake, and very stupid. She was older than me, but I knew it was massively fucked up not to admit she dated a bad guy.

  I see her as sad now, and she's a much darker character She's painted as someone with integrity, someone with principles.

She wouldn't take a Coke from Dally.

She tells Bob that it's her or the booze.

Won't take a pop from a hood, threatens to break it off with her boyfriend if he continues to drink. Okay, understandable.

Realize he beat the tar out of, and pschologically scarred a kid for kicks?

He was sweet sometimes.

What?

He was something special.

She says to the kid he and his friends attempted to murder. 

"He wasn't just any boy."

Right you are, Cherry. Incidentally, did you have any pets disappear while you dated him?

She's a mixed up girl.

I had many a head cannon for the characters in this book when I first read it.

I thought Ponyboy would grow up to be a writer, Darryl would open his own roofing business, Soda and Steve would work for him while fixing cars on the side. Two-Bit would work with them when he felt like it, or he would end up hitching to California to be a stand-up comic.

I thought Cherry would end up married to someone who worked for her father, who I imagined was a lawyer.

After this read through? I adjusted that future.

We met Randy again in That was Then, This Is Now. He's a hippie, which makes perfect sense. I see Cherry running off to Haight Ashbury. I don't get farther than losing sight of her red hair on a crowded, sunny sidewalk, but I get the same spooky vibe I always got after reading Rumble Fish.

Something else that hit differently, the relationships between the boys.

It hit differently for me because I know now why I love it so much.

I remember being  in a major reading slump before I picked up this book. See, I couldn't get into the books that were marketed to me. I wasn't in to RL Stine, except for the history of Fear Street books. I couldn't get into Christopher Pike at all.

I was reading mysteries and westerns, but I really wanted something that had people my age in it that wasn't a romance or sick lit. I'd read enough of those, and I thought that if I read one more book where boy meets girl then one of them croaks I would scream.

So I went to my mom's bookshelf, and found her copy.

I really loved that the real connections that are focused on, are between friends and family. These connections were not treated as being less than a romantic relationship. In fact, just the opposite, the gang see each other as their cement relationships. Soda and his girlfriend Sandy break up, he's hurt and it adds to an already rough time, but it is not a focus.

I suppose it could be argued that the reason for the lack of focus on romance has to do with the fact that Pony states that he's not thinking of it yet. But seeing how all of the gang look out for each other from Darryl keeping the Curtis's door unlocked in case one of the boys needed a place to crash, to everyone looking out for Johnny, to Johnny staying with Pony when he was upset after his fight with Darry, and looking out for him when they were in hiding, to Dallas helping them find a place to go after Bob was killed, to Pony sticking by Johnny after the killing, to Two-Bit sticking up for Johnny when his mother came to the hospital  and how broken up he was when Ponyboy got sick, and finally how one of Johnny's last acts was to write Ponyboy a letter that he hoped would help both Pony and Dallas.

These are not friendships that end when everyone starts dating.

This seems like a "duh" statement, but you have to think, so many things show friendships as training wheels. Something you use until you reach the next level and find a romantic partner. And, maybe this was just my small town, but that was very much the way things went around me, it was expected.

It was great to read a book about kids around my age who didn't see friendships as inferior to romantic relationships.

Now, knowing that I'm Aro Ace, I think I liked it because it spoke to what I thought was important without making it seem like something I needed to grow out of.

The extras were cool, letters between the author and the editors when the book was in the works, letters from the actors who played Pony, Johnny, Soda, Dallas, and Randy.

It was interesting to read the actors' feelings about characters they played so early in their careers. I was half hoping Matt Dillon would apologize for choking on, and embodying that gigantic piece of ham during the death scene, but one can't get everything in life.

I could read the other SE Hinton books, and talk about the connections between them, but I will likely skip That was Then, This is Now and Rumble Fish.

See, I didn't like That Was Then This Is Now very much when I first read it. A big reason? I didn't like Bryon. There was just something about the character that rubbed me the wrong way.

He's... I don't know... he's like Two-Bit without the charm. Plus, Ponyboy is featured, but Bryon hates him. It seems out of jelousy because of all the stuff that had happened in The Outsiders. And he hates him even more *because* he's quiet about it. I get distancing the last book from the next and that was an effective way of doing it, but when I was younger it just made me not like the character all the more.

I've read it a few times since I was younger, wondering if it would improve as I aged. It didn't.

Bryon is still mostly unlikeable. Plus, I grew up in the Frying an Egg, Diving into an Empty Swimming Pool, DARE, era of drug awareness. The whole book felt like a PG-13 version of The Buttercream Gang. Now that I have sufficiently aged myself...

Rumble Fish, I loved, but like I said, it's an unsettling story and one that left me oddly unsatisfied.

I really enjoyed the next two, Tex and Taming the Star Runner so I may revisit those.

[404fmdminjung]

headcanon & aesthetic — soloist inspirations

summary: though inspired by groups / bands in general, minjung takes some inspiration from her favorite soloists. there’s power in being alone on stage, and dominating it by storm — something she still has yet to figure out. maybe it’s the western world, and the packaging of it that makes it seem too good to be true, but the powerful nature of keeping an artistic touch while being shamelessly yourself leaves her to admire these soloists from afar. warnings: none wc: 1003

there’s the korean market with few soloists able to make it big, and minjung commends / respects the soloists that do make it in the industry (all the soloists in famed verse). however, it’s the cultural aspect that she sees that leaves her less keen to entering a ‘fandom’ of a soloist and rather just listen from a far.

however, she does join the fandom of the western artist soloists, a few of which have taken a piece of her heart a lot. she’s found enjoyment in their songs — whether it’s the glam pop, pop r&b, or just the weird mixture of every other genre.

over the years, she’s found favorite soloists for different reasons and although she can’t bring elements of their sound to her own sound as it doesn’t clash, she still can admire them and respect how they constantly pop out bangers or have held a strong name in the world

people might find it ironic? considering the imagery of these soloists contrast strongly with what minjung’s personal image is? but opposites attract and in this case, she finds the energy of each soloist magnetizing for all its worth

david bowie — this is an odd one, but she admires the shamelessness he carries in being himself. he was always pushing the barriers of the notions people held still, and really keeping to the performance aspect of the stage

the music was also bopping, and she admires the glam rock. the manner in which he was able to heavily influence the market of his time, all while giving no fucks about what people had to say — that was her big source of keeping the ‘i don’t give a fuck’ mindframe. 

david bowie never appeased the fans / cared about what others though, and in the end, it was the same ambivalence and the self-thinking nature that raised his success in the end

she takes inspiration from his stage presence, his attitude, and avant garde fashion — the creative nature that becomes all encompassing when you see him on stage. she wants to emulate that creative energy, and show off the ideas pricking her brain whole.

plus, adopting an alter ego like he did with ziggy stardust? minjung wishes she could do that.

ariana grande — another odd one, people wouldn’t expect the ‘indie’ sounding lulls of minjung’s personal tastes to relay with ari. however, it is safe to say seo minjung is a HUGE ariana grande fan.

ariana also has that ‘idgaf’ attitude, and does as she pleases. shuts up haters in a brazen attitude that would be unheard of in korea — hence, why minjung loves reading ariana’s twitter and instagram, following up with updates

ariana’s general sound? would be too powerful for minjung to handle as her vocal talents aren’t up there with ariana, but still — she appreciates every single song ariana has put out and the general shift into sultry boppy r&b she’s matured in to

the way ariana’s able to take over the world in terms of fashion, aesthetic, music — that sort of infectious touch is something minjung respects, especially out of a strong female individual.

 there’s something humane about ariana, and how she touches her fans by opening up, spilling the details on her personal status / mental status — minjung still has ways to go on that as she doesn’t think it’s a feasible option to open up to fans in that degree (stumped by the cultural barrier of korea), but she’s at least trying to take that up in her personal life and start opening up to the people around her

every ari song is a bop too!!

ashlee simpson circa 2004

this is a weird one, and minjung doesn’t even know how she started to like ashlee simpson. maybe it was before the scene era she fell into early on, or the interest in avril lavigne during this time that led her to ashlee simpson. however, she’s always had a weird love for ashlee simpson’s music.

it all started with pieces of me, where she heard it inside an american eagle when she was in america — mall shopping with her older sister (she’ll never rid that memory). then, that transpired into her purchasing the ashlee simpson album, learning all the songs such as shadow, boyfriend, etc.

ashlee simpson had a punk image, back in the day? the grittiness of her voice so far different than the voice minjung had herself. ultimately, this catalyzed her rebellion, making her want to step apart? fall free from the social norms of abercrombie kids & hollister as well as agatha hair clips. no more tommy hillfiger or ralph lauren — suddenly, she was into the black eyeliner? 

now ashlee simpson doesn’t make music, but minjung still listens to the oldies because she considers ashlee simpson a timeless piece that everyone should indulge in

hayley wiliams

yes, hayley would be in here. but i reserve to talk about her inside paramore rather than a soloist — still, minjung enjoys the red hair + would love to sit down and have a chat with yelyahwilliams

grimes

grimes music doesn’t resonate as well with minjung, but what does is grimes’ just natural state of living? she seems like an alien out of space, far off marching to the tune of her own beat

(for the sake of this hc, i’m ignoring elon musk)

she creates experimental pieces of art, tries out different style and really just being perceived as an alien out of space is enough for minjung to follow her solo endeavors on insta / twitter

fka twigs

beautiful beautiful beautiful person

minjung admires her artistry in her musical sound, sonically she respects more than anything

but more than anything, she respects fka twigs outspoken nature + how she’s able to navigate and stand strong on her own two feet

(mostly loving her music, minjung also respects the style and wishes she could try out half the things fka twigs gets to do)

[legobiwan]

What do you think Crowley, Loki and Obi Wan would do in each other's places?

WOAH, INTERESTING ASK, ANON

I kept coming back to this one and then closing it because it is one hell of a question, and I really needed to ponder all the possibilities here. (Well done, btw!)

Okay everyone, bear with me here, this is going to get WEIRD and I really have no idea what I’m talking about, hahahahaha. 

Obi-wan Switch

Loki: Okay, so let’s assume Loki is dropped into Obi-wan’s boots. We know Loki feels that he is underappreciated and overshone by his brother, that he has issues stemming from how he perceived his treatment by his father. I don’t see this improving under the tutelage of Qui-gon Jinn. In fact, whatever insecurities Obi-wan had would be intensified ten-fold with a Loki in place, who might have had more time to stew in his emotions than Obi-wan. Loki - who I love dearly - would probably be a far better candidate for the Dark Side under Palpatine, who I could see being a mirror for Thanos post-Thor 1 fall into the abyss. The question would be - would Loki crawl his way out?

Crowley: Now, if Crowley was dropped into Obi-wan’s boots. I think he’d just head for the hills. Crowley was barely skirting by in his work with Hell, and he’s not about to take the weight of the galaxy on his shoulders by trying to influence cosmic events. Except…Anakin is the Chosen and Warlock was kinda of the chosen one, in a way (or so they thought). So I’d imagine Crowley would either peace out to the nearest spice den and get involved in some shady deals with Hondo Ohnaka until he was able to get back to his own reality or he would very, very begrudgingly look after (not train, but check in on, in a more insistent manner) Anakin. But he no quests for good or light or whatever other nonsense. Ultimately, I could see him becoming a bounty hunter-type, helping out when needed but not getting involved.

Crowley Switch

Obi-wan: 

Hastur: *holds out basket* “Here, deliver the Antichrist.” 

Obi-wan: *not knowing anything about Western religion but having a bad feeling about this anyway* No. 

Yeah, I mean…Obes is not delivering the kid. I don’t even think that Obi-wan would have necessarily left Anakin on Tatooine had events gone a little differently in TPM. (I also don’t think Obi-wan would have brought him to the Temple to be trained, but that’s another story for another day.) Now, let’s just say for Narrative Convenience that Obi-wan makes his way to the infamous Soho bookstore with the child in tow. First of all, the accents of these two alone. Hahahahaa! Secondly, I just think everything would get derailed as Aziraphale and Obi-wan talk metaphysics for hours on end and reconciling Heaven/Hell with the Light/Dark. Perhaps Obi-wan gets some insight as to the bureaucratic nature of the Jedi he grew up with and Aziraphale is bolstered by some wise Obi-wan aphorisms. I think…this might be the healthiest environment for Obi-wan, as he can decidedly say “no” to Hell without feeling bad and help out Aziraphale while reading a bunch of books and drinking tea/wine. Obi-wan totally gets his nap in this situation and it is well-deserved.

Loki: Loki would *love* pulling stunts for Hell. I mean, this is his wheelhouse, this kind of semi-petty mischief, and for once he gets rewarded for being who he is instead of being ostracized at the Asgardian court. I could see Loki being pretty close to Crowley in action, but with fewer fucks left to give, and so when it comes to Armageddon, he’d just be like…”nah, nevermind.” Given their natures, I could see Loki being a gigantic pain in the ass to Aziraphale but them becoming friends just due to their mirrored natures and Aziraphale’s book collection, which Lokes really wants a go at. Plus, I imagine Loki would love traversing Midgard and, pulling stunts, and getting to live a semi-free life. Again, this is another best-case scenario for Loki, as it’s essentially an extended vacation. (And can you imagine - Loki, to the four horsepeople, Beezlebub, and Gabriel: “You think you fools know Armageddon, let me introduce you to my children, Fenrir and Jörmungandr. Now get out of here, I have to go mess with the stock market before my reservations.”)

Loki Switch

So I think the Loki switch is interesting because we can see in Crowley and Obi-wan two divergent paths of how things may have been able to go a little differently for Lokes.

Obi-wan: So Obi-wan has some experience being overlooked and I think he’d get really annoyed by Thor and his short-sighted family, even more so after finding out about any secret heritage issues. But! (And as much as I adore dark!Obi-wan), I think an Obi-wan in this situation would negotiate, hard, and even travel down to Earth to help out exiled Thor. In short, he would have been a decent ruler, shown his mettle, and maybe even brokered a legitimate peace with the Frost Giants. It would like…the best possible AU of Loki in Thor 1 (at least, for Loki’s mental health) where everyone just finally gets their shit together and team up to defeat Thanos. 

Crowley: In contrast, I think this situation would be out the worst tendencies in Crowley. He’s already insecure, wants to get into a fistfight with God, and without the stabilizing influence of Aziraphale and his trickster nature being looked down upon in Asgardian society - I think that’s when we’d get dark!Crowley, who just wants to burn shit to the ground, leave Thor to suffer on Earth, and bring the legions of the damned to Asgard and let them feast on the souls of those hypocritical warriors. It would be…the worst possible AU of Loki, in which Loki just lost all of his already tenuous moral compass in Thor 1. Crowley wouldn’t even need Thanos to screw up his mind, he’d be there already and what were once pranks would turn pretty damn malicious-to-murdery. Hell gets overcrowded in this one, for certain. 

What I think it fascinating about going through this exercise is the temperature of the different worlds. The Good Omens universe, by far, holds the most positive outcomes because it is the most upbeat world - I mean, both the TV show and book argue for optimism, which is why I think we get Obi-wan and  Loki in their better forms here. In the Asgard world, we kind of see both - the negative aspects and the redemptive ones and Marvel does tend to balance both, with the light ultimately winning out. Star Wars, however, is by far the most tragic universe, which is hilarious considering that it’s…you know, Star Wars! Luke Skywalker! Obi-wan Kenobi! Our heroes! Mixed with dirty politics, genocide, fascism, broken family bonds, slavery, torture, genetic manipulation, betrayal, etc. I think it’s why I’m so drawn to the Star Wars universe, as it’s so layered and so god damned Shakespearean and no one gets out unscathed. And so we’d see Loki devolve to his worst and Crowley, not devolve but just become totally amoral, a kind of extreme extension of his avoidance of Hell in GO. 

Anyway, this is totally off the top of my head, but thank you for the thought exercise, anon!

[chiseler]

THE CHISELER INTERVIEWS ANDY McCARTHY

Chiseler: Please tell our readers when you began digging into obscurantist concerns -- these strange and neglected corners of New York history. Give us a sense of how it all started, and some idea of the scope here. Andy McCarthy: I worked as a New York City tour guide on the red doubledecker buses between 2004 and 2011, and Times Square was one of the highlights of the tour. The tour began and ended in Times Square — New York begins and ends in Times Square.  The history of the world's entertainment district is a big subject — lots to talk about and always more to learn. Plus everyone hates Times Square.  Elmo probably even hates it. So it was even more inspired to find the appreciation for the experience of it as it is now in the present.  Like going to a Starbucks in the East Village and finding yourself talking to the ghost of Joey Ramone, who loves the Tall Blonde.  West 42nd Street in particular was always a synapse-inducing subject — it isn't that it's obscurantist (except maybe for understanding the real estate chronology), but that there are a million ways of approaching it — it's the brightest neighborhood in America after all — the old theaters, the showbiz history, labor action, smut lore, the "cleanup" and failed redevelopments before the final wrecking ball in the 1990s, etc. Anyhow in 2012, film programming friends were putting together a series that revolved around the history of W. 42nd Street — they called it THE DEUCE, after the nickname for the block between Seventh and Eighth Avenues. The idea was to program a movie that once played in one of the theaters on the Deuce, and I would perform an intro monologue/ slideshow about the history of the theater. We did our first screenings in the backroom of Videology on Bedford Ave in Williamsburg, and then evolved to the proper movie chambers of Nitehawk Cinema in 2013, where as of March 2020 we have done about 80 screenings. Don't call me an expert but the pop legacy and damaged psyche yielded by the Glittering Gulch has consumed my research panascope like a large bucket of stale popcorn you can't stop shoving it in with gulps of fountain Coke during a matinee of Wolfen. For the last six years I've worked as a reference librarian at NYPL at Fifth Ave and W. 42nd (not the Deuce).  My division is US History, Local History, and Genealogy - we get all the NYC history questions.  At NYPL the resources available in researching each month's DEUCE spiel far surpass the amount of tips bagged at the height of tourist season by the Naked Cowboy.

Chiseler: When I was 15 or 16 years old, a suburban Jersey kid, I would occasionally take the bus to Port Authority with $20 in my pocket. It was a magical place in the 70s and 80s. Can you tell us something about the porn scene in those days, maybe its larger history, and how it relates to the evolution of your Nighthawk Cinema?

McCarthy: I’m generalizing, but the porn business in Times Square seems a combination of obscenity laws and the real estate market (versus the city and state imposing change).  Obscenity laws had increasingly loosened since the 1960s and by the 1980s so many cases ruled in favor of pornography that the pursuit of smut peddlers evaporated like dots of old money shots on a mattress at the Elk Hotel. Sure Edwin Meese led a commission against porn in Reagan's Morning in America as a coalition of the religious right against the entire ethos of the 1970s, but it doesn't seem to have achieved anything other than beleaguering feminist activists who opposed the rampant exploitation of women in pornography only to find a black hole of political alignment with right wing morality police. Live sex shows and bestiality periodicals were then the product of free speech.  Meanwhile, big business had no interest in occupying or redeveloping the commercial spaces in Times Square.  But landlords held on to the old buildings and theaters — occupied by movie theaters, sex shops, etc. - waiting for a future time when the demand for Times Square real estate upped the value and they might cash in.  The neighborhood became a sex district mostly because these were the only businesses that would pay rent in the area — which most New Yorkers supposedly avoided. And it was the 1970s — the white middle-class had fled, it was a party town, the city was broke, its own redevelopment efforts continually failing on the Deuce, where the racial patron and hangout demographic was majority Black, and drugs and prostitution were viable business. But the theaters on the Deuce mostly didn't play porn.  The Victory (today the "New Victory") played triple-X and the Harem was a 24 hour porn box — but you had more opportunity to see First Blood or What's Up Doc? in the 8 or 9 other theaters on W. 42nd between 7th and 8th Avenue. XXX theaters were elsewhere in Times Square than the Deuce. Whether it was magical depends on one's experience of it at the time.  Times Square has always been a fantasy factory and the DEUCE movie series we do exalts going to the movies, and even when the experience back then was rough, most reminiscences of people seeing movies on 42nd Street is a memory of great impact.  We do not celebrate that it was so bad it was good (the same way we do not program movies that are "so bad they are good" — that crap is for bored minds who are less able to form an independent thought than the digital diode Coca-Cola sign at 47th and Broadway) — but it is a combination of place and experience in a matrix of moviegoing: there are many stories to tell about each theater, and the movies we program may take on new life in the forgetting chambers of Nitehawk Cinema. If porn ended up characterizing the business of Times Square when obscenity laws and real estate allowed it to, then no surprise — such is history…

Chiseler: I’m with you on “so bad it’s good” — a goddamn disease. I spend years of my life hunting down non-canonical titles, not with the tacky idea of establishing an alternative canon, but with the goal of subverting the very notion of canons. In other words, I’m seeking great films that establish their own criterion for greatness, compelling viewers to recognize them on their own ground. To expand your last answer a bit, would you mind dwelling on a few titles you’ve screened and tell our readers why you selected them?

McCarthy: OK — the DEUCE is a group effort. First off we are thankful for Nitehawk Cinema to have hosted the series for so long. I only do the intro monologue / slideshow on the history of a theater, while my co-jockeys — seasoned film programmers Joe Berger, Max Cavanaugh, and Jeff Cashvan — program the screenings, which are always a 35mm print, sprocketed by boothmaster Pro-Jo Joe Muto.  The 35mm signature touch seems to be one of the ongoing draws for the audience, who routinely sell out the 90 seat theater, ahem...  Cashvan puts together a list and Max tracks down a print (if one exists).  The selections hinge on whether the movie once played in a theater on the Deuce, and the availability of a 35mm print — the experience of history in the screening zeroes down to the technology too.  The movies are chosen because they have creative merit and yield enough for the viewer to determine if they are good or bad — or anything in between, which is much more interesting. Also we gotta honor the faith of the ticket-buyers and uphold any rep of the series, and not hash up some dumb time-wasting crap.  Some of the flicks might be obscure, like Night of the Juggler (a gritty 1980 NYC exegesis on the type of race and class tensions too familiar under the U.S. presidency of the hurrahed bastard) or Teen Lust (bizarre sex romp directed by that-guy character actor James Hong) or Combat Shock (Vietnam vet psychodrama shot in Staten Island, including the Nam scenes), and other flicks are not obscure, like A View to a Kill or Tommy or Luna or Runaway Train...  The crowds continually seem to enjoy a genuine going-to-the-movies experience; there is never any of that ironic insecure brainless hipster douchebag laughter that you get at some of these retro screenings that sizzles my nerves like hamburgers and franks on the grill at Grand Luncheonette at 229 W. 42nd Street next to the old Selwyn Theater — both places long gone.  I saw Lost Weekend at BAM one time and was surrounded by people laughing at Ray Milland suffering from delirium tremens. What kind of loser pays $15 to act like that at a movie?  Anyhow - those types don't come to these screenings.  Some people come no matter what is playing, others for nostalgia or a particular love for a movie, others for whatever.  No one is coming to experience the reenactment of a W. 42nd Street theater in 1982, which is not the intention — if it was we would just play grade-Z spaghetti westerns or Porky's sequels and allow smoking in the theater.

Chiseler: I realize that COVID puts a fairly long-term kaibosh on movie theaters. Where, if anywhere, do your hopes lie for continuing your work? Night of the Juggler ranks among my favorite films, by the way.

McCarthy: I am working on a book that corrals all the research I've done for the last 8 years.  As far as reopening movie theaters, I have no clue. That is up to Nitehawk etc. The series is a theatrical communal thing. We haven't all been in touch about carrying things through the quarantine because there is no virtual alternative. As for Juggler it's too bad the movie is super unfindable. But how and where we obtained a one-time-only print will remain as undisclosed as a Gambino wiseguy taking the fifth.

[mykpopconfession]

k-pop is so very interesting even from a business point of view. there’s no messing about the companies have the reigns over the idols but the idols sign contracts without thinking. I will never get the fuss over an idol? I don’t really care to care about them specifically k-pop as a whole is not music its business. fans need to understand that contracts aren’t permanent even if idol groups didn’t last long, which the majority don’t these days

fans need to understand that they can’t and don’t have possession over their idols no matter who they like or love, no matter if they are sasaeng or not this righteous behavior and claiming of biases is the reason why fans don’t have much interest in their own life, they’d rather pour it into someone from another country in a way it’s oh so interesting because why are the idols surprised? why are fans bothered about stalking? when something like stalking it is bound to happen, come on. but I was watching the stray kids interview with the Australian network out of pure curiosity, the problem is the way “their dreams” have been marketed as is why they have a lack of privacy 

they act like they didn’t have a clue what they were actually signing up for, it’s not a regular 9 to 5 job with night shifts, I don’t really get the pity party they kind of throw in interviews where they say things like oh it’s so hard and tiring to be an idol or the tours are exhausting and taxing or I only got paid this much I had to live with others in a low rented apartment but again did they expect luxury straight away?

no at the beginning especially if they are foreign of course its gonna seem wrong and even toxic or unhealthy working environment it’s business

is they think they can get by with doing just one or two dance routine sand call it a night? no cause there’s so much more than just dance. if young ppl are so easily swayed by this dream then they really need to think about it because it’s not realistic, nothing about doing what any celebrity does is ever going to be realistic and I think it’s one of the things where ppl go oooh I wanna be like that dancing away on stage and doing tours

it's not just about dance, it’s naturally going to be such a hard working environment where the companies are gonna expect more from the frisbees and if they don’t put 100% in well, they’re gonna take years before they debut. they don’t just go yep that guy can earn more than others and get treated differently or better

the idols are just pawns for the companies but obsession for the fans, contracts are gonna end if and when they break them, so i don’t get why idols or fans got so worked up over hyuna and whoever it was when rules are rules if they don’t stick by them then adios 

at the start it would be like any other part time job, bc they going expecting to go straight to the top so they can get well paid enough but get away with doing whatever they like or not be treated so harshly well, then its going to be the opposite approach bc it doesn’t just gravitate to them they might generate some hype but there’s too ,any it’s overbearing and you have to really be so,etching other than another hype train if they want to really go to the top, bts mint be the top but they certainly aren’t all they cracked up to be because they wanted to go for this kind of dream now i feel like they could care less hence awful music that hasnt been up to their usual standard

if they’ve got to give so much to the fans be it online or otherwise the fans are naturally going to be obsessed they’re naturally going to stalk because the idols are part of the problem. they encourage streaming, voting, bullying others for just sharing opinion online, it’s stupid. I feel like the way idols encourage backlash by engaging in it shows to me they don’t really know how to deal with it again, what do idols expect? when this is what they sign up for. the purpose of idol is so the fans feel like they have connection to them in some form of way as twisted as it is, so no one should be shocked that when an idol does something out of the normal behaviour or acts up on social media, then later comes back grovelling and being all self pity just so fans feel bad

it seems that the idols and fans are somewhat alike because the fans easily bash both the idols and others for speaking against the idol if they don’t agree with what is being said or done, but then when it comes to the idol suddenly it’s the other way around and the idol speaks up or tries to be the mediator in the very drama they created and evoked

this is what happens in 2020, kpop might be all about mental health and being respectful of one another but they sure as hell don’t act on it when it really comes down to the things they do and say that could easily be avoided, the idols seem to quickly respond to shit but then get surprised when they get told off? I mean what do you expect? sunshine and rainbows 24/7? I don’t think so the k-pop idols r the reason sasaeng behavior exists, the company can do as much as they like to try and protect but it’s always going to be there because this whole idol fan dynamic where the fans feel they should have every bit of their idol in their life as much as possible 

it’s exactly like me going to my workplace and expecting to get more pay when what I receive at the moment is minimum wage, they don’t shoot to the top, it’s naturally going to be a tiring exhausting environment to be in the public eye, u don’t have to be in it to know that either but this is what they chose for themselves so they can’t expect anything more they can’t have raged on social media whining about fans who follow them around cause again it’s in the contracts that they signed for or did they forget about it? it seems to me idols would rather blame someone or something else for making the choices that they did than to face the music or deal with the public

no one really could see the racism coming from when bts went to the west? do u all really think that western artists actually adore them or it’s because their another hype train to hop in the bandwagon… they mention bts, get articles written, draws in fan's attention equals to that artist trending using bts or any other group 

the thing is it seems that idols don’t know how much they encourage fan behavior be it good or bad, they are the influence over the influenced. they are the driving force for whatever is said and done about them or to them just cause they’re in the system means nothing can go unscathed, the company watches them so if when they decide to do something that could potentially damage the reputation of course the company is going act on it potentially by removing said member from the group but again kpop is business

its not about the fans when it comes to money or reputation it’s about whether the idol is suited enough to be considered part of the group, whether they did anything wrong doesn’t matter, the companies will handle it how they think is best for both the company and group, the fans can be whiny about it but rules are put in place not to be broken 

the other thing is that fans act like they don’t cause any problems either, they never apologise to kaachi for bullying those girls, whom i felt sorry for, when it comes to their precious idols they demand apologies for them whether it’s from company, or some random article writer, radio person, whatever. the double standards both from the fans and idols are the reason why it’s never peaceful or easy going for anyone in the kpop business 

plus it strikes me that for whatever reason the idols that get up to stuff they really should know better about or speak just a little too much about unimportant matters or get shocked and react badly to what’s being said about them when it’s their actions and their choices lead them to be heavily watched so it’s just as much their responsibility as it is the fans, sasaengs whatever whoever, because they’re in the public eye, of course, they’re not gonna get privacy, of course, stalking is gonna occur, and of course there is going to be a backlash and they act like they don’t have a clue about how much of what they do really has the opposite effect and that is why it is the way it is