#but yeah so many different influences. all of these come from ppl studying and understanding fundamentals in someway

[archangeldyke-all]

There’s so many things you noticed that I didn’t lol. I think that yes, the guy pulling the chain was ekko. He looks different cuz of no paint and new hairstyle but that him I’ve stared at it for hours.

Okay, I think I’ll just do that lol. It’s just that I prefer to talk with ppl person to person instead of like I’m groups with reboots and stuff. And arcane is going to make me sooo anxious? Excited ? Idk it’s gonna make my heart race and I want to rant about it really well knowing someone is reading yk ? I’m an anxious person and so many things happen in fandom that I barely interact when things are intense. I usually just wait for it to chill. But I can try that; watching as it comes out. It will be good cuz I also won’t be able to keep my excitement at bay hahaha.

This might be annoying, but I’m not a huge fan of Caitlyn, so I get what you mean by how she’ll probably be the character to annoy you the most this new season. I don’t hate her; I just really cannot stand her ignorance and naivety. It really irritates me how she really genuinely has not clue if he reality of things; while being overconfident in her opinions lol (like, “it looks like they bury dead ppl in there” when looking at VI’s home; or “what ? You don’t have parents ?”. Very small examples but the others are too long to talk about lol).

I won’t blame her for wanting to kill Jinx though. But if Ambessa really is manipulating her, I’ll never see her as anything more than a victim. An annoying victim lmao. I don’t know how to ignore abusive behavior, so it’ll be Ambessa then cait cuz despite being manipulated she’ll be doing some horrible shot that won’t help anything at all and it’ll be so frustrating to watch cuz that’s just one of the consequences of her naivety. (Also, how did you get the idea that Ambessa would ? I’ve seen ppl saying that too, but like I don’t notice all these small details all the time :(

And Viiii. There was this physical event organized by like RIOT or sth where they showed an exclusive sneak peak of Vi in her street fighter era (these are not the leaks since they’re official but it was a private viewing and no devices were allowed) and a YouTuber (schnee) that watched it talked about the clip and like made his predictions for the season. I’ve been so excited to see her since I saw his video (again, these are not the leaks but a sneak peak where the vibe was a you-had-to-be-there type vibe). I feel so bad for Vi, she doesn’t deserve anything that’s happening to her😪

I’m not a CaitVi shipper, but yeah I think I’d love to see their kiss too; or like, the start of their relationship being more than yearning. I don’t understand their ship fully but I’d like to see how they decide to be together after all this chaos. It would be very interesting cuz both of ‘em are entangled emotionally in a mostly negative way. What with the whole ‘my sister killed your mother and now you wanna kill her’ thing.

And ouuuu, I know Ambessa is hot but I hope she dies😞. She’s too obsessed with war smh. (I just thought of like, doing a character study on that lol. Like, why didn’t she think to actually do sth peaceful and productive? Why was her first thought ‘they’re must be war for peace to rain’ lol.)

Anyway, ppl were saying on the YouTube video that they aren’t showing Victor, Jayce and Mel to keep ppl in suspense or sth.

I really hope they don’t kill sevika off cuz I will actually also not want to watch much. Though I love the characters so I’d have to take a break if they do that. Even if they do, she’ll never be dead to me.

I don’t have any predictions for the season cuz I hate being wrong about them and wi to bathe way things are going, one can never be so sure tbh. I love your prediction though. It makes sense.

yes!!! i think the most fascinating thing about cait's character is her whole personality is trying to get out from under her parent's control, wealth, and influence-- but she's always falling victim to someone else's control, wealth and influence. whether it's by joining the enforcers-- piltover's military, essentially, where the lower levels are constantly controlled by their bosses, who are controlled by the council-- or by teaming up with ambessa!!! the writers are so fucking good at making characters make sense-- of course a naive rich girl would run from one system of corrupt power to another-- she doesn't know that they're all corrupt, she hasn't been hurt by them enough to see through the different facades because she's rich!! (but she will always have a special place in my heart... that scene where cait's out in the rain talking to jayce and she goes 'i suppose i've always been an outcast too' or something?? gets me everytime. tears streaming down my cheeks. that little lonely rich lesbian :( )

HAHAHAHA i agree with you 100% about ambessa, but i think unfortunately, she's the least likely to die this season. she's just too powerful and domineering and influential. but idk!! we'll see, arcane has a good way of killing off important, powerful characters.

i feel really bad for vi :( i wish she just had a few minutes to, like, breathe. she literally gets busted out of prison after 10ish years just to track down her sister, and the only reason she's not thrown back in is because of her relation to cait, which means she's indebted to her forever, but then cait goes and tries to kill her sister and her sister tries to kill cait and she's only been out of jail for like 72 hours!!! she needs a spa day. and some weed. give her a break omg.

i'm not a super big caitvi shipper either (mostly for the reasons said above, their relationship is so rushed and co-dependent) but i feel like i gotta root for lesbians life gives me lasjdflksa;dlfj. and i think it would be refreshing to see a show with writing like arcane's do a lesbian sex scene (or something intimate)-- because i have confidence the writer's wouldn't make it a cheesy lesbian porno hahaha

[claymotif]

spare wip essay pls??? i would LOVE to hear more about sasha + co and also relatedly what the tsh casts various perspectives on fate + free will are

YES oh my god thank u for asking <3 sorry it took me so long to answer again <3

first up the main trio's thoughts on fate/free will (more or less):

delwyn literally does not believe in fate. "he's the chosen one" yeah whatever. he understands in theory how prophets' magic and divination witchcraft works, but as far as he's concerned those magics show a very rough draft of the future which can be influenced and changed by any number of ppl and decisions a la the butterfly effect

for obvious reasons he starts to question this as the story progresses and they keep getting closer to the apocalypse despite their efforts to stop it. for him this presents as a lot of "maybe we're just making the wrong choices" (which. not a great feeling) but it eventually culminates in him accepting and embracing his foretold destiny

chan is a little more complex. he knows on an instinctual level that his visions are. like. the most probable set of events based on the choices that everyone's currently making/most likely to make. it's not necessarily set in stone, and chan's changed the outcome of his visions before, but he's never in his life had a vision about an event on such a large scale. usually his visions are like "you get an F on the next math exam" and he says oh shit and actually studies therefore changes the story and doesn't get an F. for an apocalypse-scale vision he's not even sure how that would work. how many ppl's choices would he have to change? how far in advance are the key choices made, if there are any at all? he's literally never done this before but he has to try!! he would never forgive himself if he had the ability to stop it and didn't

junhee is. to put it lightly. completely unhinged. he doesn't really believe in fate so much as he believes in magic. and, like, he can see magic. so magic is, according to him, sort of akin to a distant god. it's this all-powerful force that could completely sap humanity of its free will, but most of the time it doesn't care to. by and large, daily human lives go on unremarked and unimportant. but if the magic wants* something, all it has to do is pull, and humans are powerless to resist it.

( "want" is a very human feeling and magic as a force is very much not human, but we're approximating here )

tl;dr junhee believes in free will given to humanity by merit of an apathetic guardian. sort of. he doesn't really think magic is a guardian to humanity, because of, like, all the fucked up visions and stuff. but whatever.

this also leads to an interesting dynamic between the three of them b/c chan is digging in his heels, kicking and screaming and fighting the whole way down whereas junhee has accepted that all of this is inevitable. they fight a lot and delwyn is like "guys PLEASE i am trying not to cause an apocalypse over here"

on to sasha and co.:

except im actually starting w/kei first because i think that's simpler. kei is a divination witch, and as i mentioned before that means her magic is less precise than chan's. it's sort of the difference between chan seeing "a hurricane is coming" and kei seeing "a natural disaster is coming" or, worse, "something terrible is coming". a lot of the time it gets her the info she needs, but it's not an exact science. because of the imperfections of her system, she's never seen a prediction followed by an event that she couldn't rationalize as having been predicted, which means she is a firm believer in fate and has had several existential crises over the concept of free will. seriously don't mention it to her she'll start crying again

(aside from her weird obsession with divination magic in particular, kei is actually like a completely normal person. like she has friends and a social life and interests besides her magic and studies. it's weird)

sasha is a they/them from southern cali who is like insanely good at blood witchcraft. they spend like 50% of their time volunteering at hospitals and free health clinics and blood drives and such, but they can also put their magic to more sinister uses (including tracking rituals which they use multiple times to find delwyn's crew). sasha has Seen Some Shit, and that includes watching ppl make bad decisions that had some pretty dire consequences. thus they fully believe that delwyn will cause the apocalypse (although to start with kei's divinations aren't that precise) even if it's by accident, even if maybe he's the kind of person who would never normally cause an apocalypse. it's sort of like. good people make bad choices sometimes. that sort of philosophy.

hana is one of sasha's dearest friends; she doesn't actually have any magic of her own, which is part of the reason she ended up in socal despite originally hailing from georgia; when they realized she wasn't born a mage/seer, her parents tried to encourage her to study witchcraft in one form or another. she refused, cut all contact w/them the second she turned 18, and skipped town the moment she graduated and she got herself a nice degree in cs/ux design. she hasn't seen or heard from her family in 6 years lol

anyway she does not believe in fate (she hates the idea that some grand plan for the universe could be okay with individuals suffering so greatly for it) but she tags along anyway when sasha announces their plan to find the source of kei's divinations. the only reason she's okay with it at all is b/c sasha literally lies to her about their intentions lmao.

everything comes to a head when sasha reveals their plan to like actually kill delwyn around the same time that they. u know. find him. and hana learns that one of delwyn's "world-ending psycho friends" is her baby brother (chan), for whom she harbors incredibly complex eldest-daughter-trauma type feelings.

so the three of them are like. "sasha and co." they're the three who are in on the plan (insofar as sasha feels like letting on to them) and the ones traveling across the country for sasha.

so YES this has been "tsh cast's thoughts on fate" as well as a (relatively) quick and dirty intro to sasha and their friends!! thank u again for asking i love you <3

[papers4me]

Fruits Basket Manga Review (ch 90-91)

Since I discussed the first few pages of ch-90 that contains kyo & tohru in my previous preview, this one will only be kyoko’s story.

Kyoko’s story brilliantly explores the effects of unhealthy domestic environment on children without the use of the zodiac curse as a metaphor for abuse. My first-reaction of kyoko’s story is the following:

I really enjoyed how kyoko’s descend into darkness was explored & how the psychologically-informed writing of her behavior was depicted.

I was troubled by how Katsuya was presented as the magical solution to all her problems. Kyoko was saved by romantic love in a more basic writing than machi. Both girls just needed a guy to listen to them vent abt their family issues once & tada~ they’re in love.

Kyoko’s story made me realize that Arisa is just a more modern & healthier kyoko.. The only difference is that Kureno didn’t save Arisa. She herself changed gradually due to kyoko & tohru’s influence.

1) Kyoko’s descend into Darkness:

Kyokyo told kyo that she was already “out of control delinquent before she got to middle school”, “ fell into the wrong crowd”, “ enjoyed beating innocent ppl”. subtly citing the influence of “delinquent peers” & the innate desire be noticed at home. I’m bad, notice me! love me, listen to me!

There are some elements in her story that faintly reminds me of yuki & strongly reminds me of kyo:

Kyoko’s parents gave her a treatment similar to “ yuki’s parents”: cold, neglect & devoid of love. Her dad, similar to kyo’s dad, felt ashamed & disgraced by her.

Kyoko similarly to kyo was angry, full of self-loath & self-destruction. However, kyo was never violent like she was. I believe kyo’d have turned like her if he didn’t have Kazuma to discipline him with love, care & attention. Hence, we saw kyo carry on a code of “ not beating girls, or ppl who aren’t hurting them, or don’t know martial arts”, like Arisa or the student council guy whop loves yuki.

Kyoko’s mom similarly of kyo’s mom talked abt the dad venting his anger on her after being pissed off with kyoko. So, a hint of domestic violence between husband & wife.

Kyoko described herself as “ made of shattered glass”. Tohru once said both kyo & yuki are very sensitive. yuki blocks the world behind the prince mask & kyo puts on the annoyed attitude to push ppl away from hurting him.

Society thinks that “delinquent/bad ppl” are always happy with what they’ve become. Satisfied with their destructive choices. When in most of the times... they’re as bewildered & confused as the community around them..

I really don’t blame the teachers for being defensive. Teachers aren’t supposed to be “life-coaches” or “saviors of students”. That’s sth the educators with their research gush abt & what society demands & what families wish for. The fixer-teacher!!!! Teachers are ppl teaching a subject, doing a specific job, underpaid & overworked most of the times, also, they come from various backgrounds, beliefs, & sometimes even if they meant good & wanted to “ save” a student, they aren’t equipped with the suitable psychological training. Yeah, there are ppl for that in schools, but so many students with lots of issues. Also, let’s be real, we love kyoko cuz she’s the “epic mother of tohru, we grew on her teachings thro out 3 seasons” but if you meet a loud, delinquent, gangster head, violent chair throwing student who rarely comes anyway, would you wanna deal with them?

2- Katsuya “ the magical savior”:

so, why did teacher katsuya helped a screaming delinquent? cuz he IS interested in kyoko. He said so. He approached her, talked & tried to help cuz he intended to “never let her go since he saw her honesty” ~ romantic? maybe to some.. I find it weird & creepy. him eyeing her & getting interested & approaching her & earning her trust. It is true that he has no intention of hurting her or forcing her & he DID save her in more ways than one. But why is this all wrapped in romance. He DID flirt with her intentionally many times from the moment he saw her until then.

If Im being honest, had he not be her teacher (trainee or not), & had she not be very veeeeery young! I’d be enjoying his flirting so much. He’s so smooth, playful & cool (not looking head over heels in love) which is normally such a fun dynamics. She was so head over heels, tho. Finally found someone who noticed her tiny efforts “ drawing eyebrows”, someone who listened & someone who didn’t forced her to do her “duties”. She tells him (her teacher) that she is ditching classes & he’s okay with that~ not lecturing, not urging. why? cuz He only wants HER. she comes to see him in the lunch break everyday. school? classes? that’s her choice~ not his business~ In a way, Katsuya is intentionally made not morally correct. Why? cuz a good moral adult wouldn’t be in love with a middle schooler & would care for her future as an independent person from him. He must be written with intentional desire to NOT care for morals or right or the likes. Yes, he later helps her to study & graduate but ONLY when that is HER choice & she made it ONLY to catch up with him. To cleanse herself & be “ like the other girls” . Kyoko deemed katsuya “ good person” &  herself “ bad person”. That’s why she was motivated to be good to catch up with him since she can NO LONGER see him everyday in lunch break. He fixed that. How? teach her in the weekends & provide better chances to flirt since he’s no longer a teacher & she’s his student. The issue is not teacher-student love... it is adult-kid love!! but hey~ they’re cute (they’re written to be, so they are) so it’s cool ( it isn’t at all..eww).. oh the dilemma that is Takaya-san’s love for weird big age gaps where one is an underage teenager...

Furuba’s has this big theme of “ love doesn’t heal or save”. yuki took tohru’s love & grew up by himself. Kyo’s love for tohru didn’t save tohru, she was scared to be in love & forget her mom. Tohru made the decision to be free from her past, herself.  Tohru’s love to kyo made his trauma 10 times more complicated & he acted based on his love for her & decided to leave her. It wasnt until he decided to face his trauma, past & bio dad by himself, that he accepted tohru’s love. Only two characters were totally saved by love:

Machi: has the excuse of being solely created to be yuki’s reward for acknowledging platonic love for tohru & everything abt her is rushed & made as a lighter copy of all yuki’s issues to quickly create shared grounds for them to connect. Machi needed to vent her issues to yuki once & all her issues were never brought back to the service again. She was happier, calmer & healed.

I expected more for kyoko. She IS a bigger character than half of the zodiacs! but she just needed katsuya to listen to her & she was in love & her issues solved.

I don’t deny that it IS true that sometimes all we need is someone to listen to us. Tohru herself said so & even yuki said it to kyo. But Even if someone listen to us & we love them, the issues that troubled us dont magically disappear until we face them or do sth abt them aided by those who love us. Kyo’s issues remained even with his love until he faced them, tohru’s too!

Katsuya:

had off-screen issues with expressing himself. He said that he loved kyoko cuz she was “honest abt her ugly feelings” while he pretended to “humor & please his dad”. He gave a wonderful speech to her parents abt the expectations of parents on their kids & the refusal of their “human weakness” again furuba’s main vision. Unfortunately, this was followed with confessing, marriage proposal & kissing her on the lips all while the whole issue is abt kids/ parents exceptions of middle schooler/ neglect & his own acknowledgement that she’s minor while he was “in love”.

Like the author wants to tie kyoko’s issues & katsuya’s issues so bad & present him as her ONLY chance for normal life. Kyoko was just repenting & understanding that her actions got consequences which is an epic moment! but romance triumphant & saved the day~ yay~! marriage!

The story would’ve been better romantically if it was given time for kyoko to “ grow up” just like katsuya himself said when they were at the beach. He said “ grow up, middle school is not the world”. He continued meeting her but never confessed & never crossed the line despite the flirting. But he KNEW what he was doing “ i never planned to let you go since I saw you”. He was cementing his place as the ONLY one in her world.

Had kyoko grew up, saw the real world, kept taps with katsuya, he helped her broaden her world, then they’ll marry without needing her dad to sign papers, then that would be a better love story than this.

Side Notes:

The writer didn’t shy away from confessing that pairing Katsuya & kyoko is problematic & stated it in canon (kyoko called katsuya “pedo”). She did the same with Arisa & kureno (Arisa thought the age gap is big & hana questioned if kureno is a married man). However, making the story acknowledge that as an issues doesn’t make it less uncomfortable, but at least, I respect when writers do what they plan to do regardless of fans. even if I dont agree with the writer. It’s way better than when writer becoming fans toy/ fans pleaser.

Still, couldn’t the author state that kyoko was held back few years in jmiddle school & failed & repeated school years? like make her i duno 17 or sth... this would at least lessen the big age gap... but no~~~ kyoko is what? 14? ... -_-’.

You bet this won’t change a bit in the upcoming anime spinoff abt kyoko. Just this year an anime abt an adult man & his high school love interest that he pursued stubbornly was highly popular & my real life friends were gushing abt “ him finally winning her/ being respectful & only kissing her lips once or sth/waiting for her to “catch up” with him”/ consent age differ in X & Y countries..I’m not dictating my beliefs on anybody or any country or saying my way of thinking is the just way. I’m saying, Personally, I think, there are better romantic stories than adults & kids couples.. The fact that this trope of (adults & kids romance) is still popular even today is sad~~

I dont mind HUGE age gaps as long as BOTH characters are adults. If any of them makes a crime, they’ll be held responsible by the law. & sometimes the younger adult is the one dominating the relationship. but “kids or teenagers” can’t. They’re easily groomed & manipulated, so it bothers me when a love story between an adult & a kid is portrayed as  “equal”. it isn’t.

I’m not judging whoever loves such trope in “ fiction”. it IS fiction, & as long as you don't pursue a real kid/teenager in real life, you can like whatever in fiction. moving on~

kyoko’s delinquent life is well-written & if done right, would send a powerful message of being able to start over. But the romantic love aspect will steal the spotlight by (a) directing uncomfortable hate/disgust towards the story & hence all the discussions will abt the “pedo” aspect. (which is fair). (b) Perceived as so lovable romance since katsuya is the prince who to saved the neglected princess which is a trope that has stood thro time garnering lots of support & attention always, so all the discussion would be abt their “cute romance”. (which is fair since the author weaved elements that endeared their romance, such as: cute nicknames “miss no-eyebrows”, him giving her space, home & respect, saving her from the streets & poverty & having the most endearing tohru”. So, yeah, the romance will be the center of attention regardless.

I like katsuya’s character type in fiction generally: the flirty, mischievous & a bit cool guy who is so aware he’s wrong most times & plays his cards smart to not get caught red-handed. He’s a cooler version of shigure. It’s just the blatant fact that he’s been planning to “get” a middle schooler from the first glance & that she is wayyyy young for this, that is bothering me so so much~~ T_T.

I wont expect the anime to change their age gap cuz it is the essence of their story that she’s a lost kid with no protection against the world & he’s the savior providing everything at once!~ Remember kyoko went on to be the savior of an entire clan tho tohru~ So in a way, katsuya saved the sohmas by saving kyoko....

“ i’m like a stray cat that he looked after instead of chasing away”. kyoko with katsuya is like kyo with kazuma! >_<!. When kyo met tohru, he wasn’t a stray cat, most of how he dealt with her was cuz he already knew her & was tormented by remembering kyoko’s death & feeling guilty towards tohru’s constant pain. That’s why when kyo started falling in love with tohru, he unconsciously stopped pushing her away little by little & just wanted to be with her until akito said “ i’ll hurt her” that’s when he totally gave up.

the way katsiya appeared in the right moment to save kyoko from her dad~ oh the drama. XD

Hospital Discharge & chase. like mom like daughter~ but thank God the kids got a more balanced love story.

Comparing kyoko/katsuya to Arisa/kureno in the broad writing of their romance without diving into details: (a) I hate the age gap in both but at least Arisa is older & nothing happened until she graduates & become an official adult. (b) Kyoko/katsuya are more fleshed out & if you forget the age gap,m their dynamic is so cute & endearing. (c) the love at first glance, never meeting afterwards yet still sickly in love to the extinct of screaming made Arisa/kureno shallower. (d) now that I saw teenage kyoko, Arisa is really just her clone! I hate that this steals from Arisa’s uniqueness. (e) both couples ate ramen in their first meeting/first unofficial date signalling their blooming love.

I’ve said this more than once, but I was the high-schooler that fancied adult independent men growing up, I never pursued anyone tho cuz I understood it was a crush even tho I’m pretty sure my “ *_*” face was clear to one or two, but I’m definitely lucky none of them tried to woo me or influence me. Now that I’m a grown woman, I think back & laugh at my self. I fancied them cuz they were independent & mature compared to the silly high school boys, which is what those men are supposed to be (adults) & what those boys are supposed to be (living their young age). lol. Still, I wish I found someone somehow to be my life’s partner since then, it would’ve made my life less lonely~ T_T.

[byeoltan]

Hi!! Let me say at first how much I appreciate you, your blog is my favourite one!! Thank you for keeping it interesting and diverse! I have a question. Do you by any chance understand what bts comeback concept has to do with words 'love yourself'?? I got that album is about falling in love, being special for someone and unique moments in one's life etc. But i still can't get why they imply that the concept is about loving one's self if this issue barely was touched upon? Am i missing on smth?

but it was written in every breath they took in producing the album bby TT 

their comeback stage showed it all, they could’ve started with intro: serendipity, but no, they straight up went with ‘i need u’ the song that took them to where they are now. they mentioned how everyone cried so much when they had their very first win with i need u, especially jimin. it was in i need u that they realized they might just.. have made it, a step further. if you’ve been with them for a while, you’d know how dirty bangtan and army were treated, like really we were dissed left and right it was really a tough situation especially for k-armys they can’t even be proud of our boys or even mention their names in articles without getting ridiculed just cos they’re not ‘big’ TT and even when we had our first win, bangtan still get called out for ridiculous reasons that’s just. the fact that they made their comeback with i need u shows just how much they treasure the moment the fans that made it possible at that time, i need u was the breakthrough, i need u made them realize that they can actually be… happy now, and move forward. and maybe love themselves more, and performing mic drop afterwards shows exactly that :)

honestly love yourself album is in every sense, calls you to love yourself, if not, more, even when you don’t think you can, just look at the lyrics

just let me love yousince the time the universe was first formedeverything has been decidedjust let me love you–intro: serendipity

and when they say

don’t worry, lovebecause all of this is isn’t a coincidence(even when) we are totally different, babybecause (of that still) destiny is found in the two of ussince the day the universe came into existence, it has continuously been soand transcending for infinite centuries, it will continuously be sofrom our past lives too, perhaps, and even the next lives to comebecause we will still be together forever (no matter)–DNA

doesn’t that encourage you to embrace yourself, despite our differences? and

when you say that you love mefeels like i’m treading on the sky/heavenstell me about forever just one more timewhen you say that you love mei, i’ll be fine even if just those wordsthat you would never change, just one more time–best of me

bangtan treasures us so much as they treasure themselves that they wish for our love to never change no matter how bad things might get 

i wonder if it’s a mistake an angel left behindif not that then, a deep kiss?that dimple is illegalbut I want it anyway anyway anyway–보조개 (dimple)

did you know? that dimples are a medical flaw, a genetic defect that is caused by shortened facial muscles, which is why when we smile, the shorten muscle pulls the skin on our face causing a dimple. but somehow in our society, dimples are embraced and carries a mark of beauty and loveliness the contradiction is fascinating how human perception can override facts, and i personally think this is what makes the song more meaningful despite the casual pop tune, because what ever flaw you think you have, might not be a flaw at all. you can chose to hide it by not smiling, but isn’t it lovely when you smile? love yourself.

stopnow stop watching (and) start studying for (your) examsyour parents and your manager/boss they dislike meall those video clips you’ve watched, twitter photos,v app, bon voyage i know they’re so good, what should we dostop. the music video, (i’m saying) interpret (it) lateraren’t there plenty of my photos in your room, anywaywhat is an hour even? a year passes by just like thatthis song is a reward i’m giving (it) to you.good girl/good boy–pied piper

btw 착해 is an expression, a good compliment you usually receive from an elderly person/grown up when if you do well in something, its not sexual guys idk why some ppl imply it is lmao

so when bangtan says this they mean it wholeheartedly like a friend, like an older brother because they know how bad we have it for them, they know how much influence they have on us, as much as we ahve on them. despite scolding us, albeit, in a loving manner, they really want the best for us. unlike the original story where the pied piper drove the children away from the town of hamelin when the town ppl refuse to pay for his service in luring the plague causing rats away, bangtna isn’t set to lure us away, they in fact, want us to go to them, be with them, love with them, but in addition, we have to set our priorities in real life straight, so that, everyone can appreciate our love too, and maybe, the society won’t put much hate on us anymore.

please army remember what we say, love myself, love yourself, i really love you, and thank you

–skit: billboard music awards speech

this says everything hnnggghh

yeah? who said my ‘spoon was dirty’i don’t care, when i grab the mic i own those whole lot of ‘gold spoons’all of a sudden, those that didn’t cook well are in rage, those lot of steaks i’ll chew on y’all over and over again, on the star’s dinner table–mic drop

oh man i need another post dedicated to mic drop there’s so many things to talk about in this 

the thing i earn with hard work, my paygonna spend it all on my tummy all the pennies i collect/count just to waste it all (on my tummy)leave me be, even if i overspendor come tomorrow morning and like a crazy guymy savings, if i cash them all out (leave me be)woo there’s no tomorrowmy future’s been seized for collateral  woo my money’s all further spent friends, wassup?do you want some?–고민보다 Go (rather than worrying, go)

this whole song is satirical critique tbh even the dance choreography pls appreciate them

and then the outro, which reiterates everything about love and sacrifice, about being the best of yourself, about loving yourself first and foremost

the world is a complexwe was lookin’ for lovei am too, just one of those pplhonestly even i didn’t believe in real lovelike a habit i said i want to love, just babbling like thatbut i found myselfthe whole new myselfeven if i’m confused, which am i is the real meme meeting you makes me wonder, aren’t i a book?or is it you, who are the turning pages (of my book)?damn–outro: her

PLEASE LISTEN TO THIS SKIT THERES ENG SUB AND CRY WITH ME HOW ARE THEY SO PUREE THEY WERE REMEMBERING OLD DAYS AND HOW THEY DONT EVEN KNOW WHAT BILLBOARD IS NAD JIMIN HE JIMIN THOUGHT GRAMMY WAS A PERSON’S NAME AJSHD

theres a reason why bangtan made the skit and sea as hidden tracks, you have to undertsand that bangtan has come a longg way. and one of the reasons why they were finally able to get their first win the last time was through purchase of physical copies, which helped tremendously raise the sales. bangtan may be celebrated and loved wordlwide but back in their home ground, they were nobodies, which is why buying physical copy always meant more even (especially for k-fandoms) since you’re willing to go for an extra mile, its part of kfandom culture for fans to invest a lot of time and money for their group supports and projects to help get their fave name out there, sure you can like/listen to other groups but ultimately, hundreds of idols debut eveyr year so in order to make sure your group lasts a long time, korean fans consider it very important to pledge their loyalty to a single group and support them with all you have, this is why it was even harder for karmys because we come from small company :’)

and now that they are getting success tremendously over the past year (BANGTAN’S #7 ON BILLBOARD 200 GUYS PLEASE GIVE YOURSELFVES A PAT WE DID THAT), love yourself is to be quite honest, an album dedicated to armys all round, and those two tracks are just a little bit more intimate, and more on a personal level, which is why it was hidden from the rest of the world, i’d like to think that the reason they kept it hidden in a physical copy because they know for certain that only their fans would purchase a physical copy, and that they want us to be the first ppl to hear it, to listen to their laments, their grieves, their happiness, their love, they just wanna them share with us first and foremost, because they know only we would get it, because we’ve been there

in the end the mirage is caught andit becomes reality, andthe desert i was once afraidbecame the sea with our blood, sweat, and tearsbut then amongst all this happiness,what are these fears?because this place is originally a desert, we know this too well–sea

[lvlsrvryhigh]

LVLSRVRYHI-053: Dirty K

Introductions first: for anyone who doesn't know, who are you / where are you from? Hi, I'm James (Dirty K) from Nanjing city in China. I'm a producer & DJ.

How did you get started making music and getting into DJing? Is there a defining memory which cemented your interest? Well，I began to make music when I was a freshman in college and my major was music recording. The DJing seemed easier to me so I got into it earlier. I solidified the idea when I played in Shelter with Genome last year. Tbh I learned a lot in that club.

The first time I came across your music was when you had a track featured on the Guangzhou Underground "East West Bass Test" compilation towards the end of last year, so I wanted to ask about your relationship to that label's ideals when it comes to the give and take between Chinese and international dance music. Where do you draw the most influence from? I think communication is the most important thing. First, due to the lack of resources in my hometown, I had to go to multi-cultural cities to get more knowledge about Grime music. I also wanted to make sure my tracks got heard worldwide too, cuz people should know there is someone trying to make these kind of tunes in China.

How did you first get involved with Genome 6.66mbp? Has being part of a close-knit group of likeminded producers had an impact on you? It's not quite that serious - for real. We just know each other at parties. But having a mutual preference for this kind of music is also necessary.

The press release for Exsciccation gives its definition as "the complete removal of moisture, to a state of absolute dryness" something representative of "an attempt to thematise the contradiction between [your] fecund online life and the atrophied reality of [your] surroundings". Was making the EP a cathartic process for you? Does the music represent a metaphorical rejection / destruction of that dry IRL environment or do you think your life offline came to have more of a constructive influence? Yeah, I think you can call it a kind of cathartic process. The word 'dry' is sometimes used to describe 'boring' in some slang. Currently I don't have to worry about the economic problem in reality tbh cuz i'm still studying, due to this most ppl think that i should have nothing to complain about, however very few people around me can understand my music and my taste and that makes me feel isolated and anxious lol. In contrast, I can interact with a lot of like-minded people on the internet and that helps to make me feel substantial.

In terms of both music and aesthetic, GENOME operates along this Organic / Technological axis, which the narrative behind your EP obviously refers to, but I wanted to ask where exactly you think your music lies on that axis: are you thinking organically or technologically when you're making a track? Does that position shift at all when you're in a club environment and you're DJing or dancing? Actually I don't quite have much of a sense of technological things. But i'm really conscious about some ecological aesthetics in my music, but I think your word organic is more accurate. Exsciccation is a term in biology yeah. Tavi's visuals inspire me too, cuz she often takes pictures with different kinds of plants which have withered.

On Exsciccation there's a track called Pyroclasm, a title which I remember as an attack from FF XII but it turns out there's also a MAGIC card with the same name. Were those fantasy elements a deliberate reflection of what you put into the production? Or just your way of easily referencing an atmosphere of destruction and unrest/chaos? The cover on the magic card was the main reason I decided to use 'Pyroclasm' as a title, what's more, Noctilucent's suggested it, cuz i wanted to used a word to express a sense of conflict.

Did you set out with a particular idea for the mix? Alright, It's fairly simple. I just wanted to share the music I've listened to recently, especially the fresh materials i got from talents like Xin, Gil, Cash From Hash, Rui Ho, Murlo, WULFFLUW XCIV etc.

What do you have planned for the rest of the year? Currently I need to get a reasonable grade in IELTS. It's the most crucial thing for me right now. Although it will mean a loss of time to make music :(

If you had to pick something for people to listen to immediately after this mix what would it be? There are too many good tunes in my mind. But, if I have to, I would give a shout to my friends: Yongfu Rd from Zean (released by Push & Pull).

And the two amazing remix tracks from Hyph11E and Yikii that are on my EP are a favourite too.

[imanes]

do you think that "influencers" and celebs should speak out about "political issues"? (putting it in brackets bc. it's clearly an understatement n not accurate but idk how to word it) re: palestine? cause i've seen a lot of people be like "yeah they shouldn't talk about it if they're not educated or if they're just doing it for the trend" (even tho at this point its been so all over social media that ppl cant use the "im not educated enough" excuse anymore) n all and i guess it's a fair point and all but also? idk when i'm on social media and i see ppl talking about what's happening in palestine, and then i scroll down and see ppl be like omg new haul uwu! vlog with my friends! and thats just so???? idk. idk what to think bc on the other hand ofc performative activism is bad ykw? (like....re: blm ppl just posting a black square on their ig....) but i don't know what to think about it and i would love to hear your thoughts!!!

inchresting question to which i have no concrete answer to provide (except a lot of ramblings) because it is a thorny subject related to the ubiquity of digital society and the social weight we give to a certain class of people who frame their existence as something that could represent us but actually doesn't at all. and everybody and their mother - including me - has an opinion on it but at the end of the day it's just an opinion, not an empirical fact to be presented, and not even one i think about a lot bc it isn't a primary concern of mine on a day to day basis. so i'm like not looking for a debate with some random tumblr user (not talking about u anon, but talking about whoever might care too much about my inconsequential opinion) bc this is a question i'm answering, not a question i'm asking so to anyone tempted to "well according to the encyclopedia of pfppspfpsp" me, make ur own post!

i guess we can start with "should influencers/celebrities/people who are famous by virtue of being well-known even exist and should we lend weight to their words?" the answer to that may vary from person to person but social media accounts with a very large following can indeed turn tides with regard to socio-political crises, such as demonstrated by bella hadid who single-handedly educated a whole generation of south-korean netizens through her posts on palestine so we can see the good effects of that. now obviously bella hadid is personally concerned by the ethnic cleansing of palestine and has a lot more at stake than say rihanna with her all lives matter bullshit statement (someone said "saudi dick must be potent" but i think it has more to do with her contract with puma who is actually on the BDS list) or even jameela jamil who has a terminal case of "everything must be about me always".

people can say whatever they want about what well-known ppl are allowed to speak about or not but i'll just remind that these "influencers" and whatnot are people and they're bound to want to talk about stuff, especially when it is relevant or when prompted by their own following, because literally everybody with an account on a social media platform expresses their opinions about smt at one point or another in time. that includes random ppl on facebook commenting under news with their stale hot takes. famous ppl or "influencers" are no different.

I'll also say that "influence" only goes so far so I'm not *particulary* concerned with whatever whoever that i don't take seriously says. let me take the queen of talking out of her ass jameela jamil as a case study for this. people who agreed with her bizarre and narcissistic takes are already bound to agree with her because people flock to opinions that are similar to theirs. in my opinion that is not influence, that is attracting similar weirdos in your sphere and consequently creating impenetrable echo chambers of idiocy. did her stale ass take become a "consensus" amongst the indecisive? i don't know for sure bc i haven't run a survey but my assumption is that people who have critical thinking skills were rightfully put off by her rancid take and called her out publicly for it, providing sources and information, which i think is visible enough for anyone 2 look through. and people who like her talk and think out of their asses were like "wow preach i've been saying!" so they are themselves inconsequential.

so in my opinion it is less about influencing - because at this point i think someone can be influenced by a single person into buying a product but your fave singer is not going to make you buy into their ideology just because they released one lukewarm-at-best statement - and more about signaling where you stand. when viola davis and idris elba (amongst many others) stated that they stood by palestine, they made it clear that they stood against apartheid and ethnic cleansing and people who already agreed on these basic principles saluted their stance. do i believe they changed anybody's mind? not really, that is the job of well-informed people such as activists disseminating information and other people sharing the info. do i think that mark ruffalo lost all credibility with his flip-flopping? absolutely, and it doesn't reflect back on palestine, it reflects badly on HIM. we're in an era where people are bombarded with so much information from all sides that one person saying something is a drop in a bucket no matter how famous they are. this is also why we say that israhell lost the PR war. we were and are too loud 2 be ignored now and a few celebrities showcasing how inane they are doesn't change anything. the famous-ppl-market is too saturated for their opinion to matter a whoooole lot. support is appreciated but not hailed as the second-coming jesus u know what i mean?

to address ur final point about finding it weird that some people flat-out ignore some stuff while you are neck-deep into it, I think it's an understandable situation to find yourself in and as subhi taha said, it just looks tacky. i think it should be your cue to just unfollow whoever doesn't align with your interest content-wise. i unfollowed a loooot of people lately because of that like I really didn't give a fuck about Michelle phan's cryptocurrency peddling (which was already yikes on principle) in the midst of real-time live-stream decolonisation and liberation struggles against apartheid and ethnic cleansing, and at this point I don't think I can go back to caring about using social media for frivolous things (except cats and memes account bc they bring me joy) and following bigger accounts that are trying 2 sell me some shit, because I've changed in the past weeks, one could say I've become more "radical" (lol) and I'm ready to sustain an online space that caters to my concerns and abandon all content that I indeed find tacky in between two posts that talk about some serious shit. it's not to say I'll never post a pic of the sunset on Instagram again or that I don't consume content that has literally nothing to do with informing myself and disseminating information on decolonisation and anti-capitalism (I literally watch study vlogs from med students to unwind lol), or that "everybody should use their account in this specific way because it's the only one that is valid" (it's not and i don't care what other ppl do) but u are obviously dissatisfied with ur feed for valid reasons and while some ppl may not share your opinion it doesn't mean that you shouldn't take steps to make ur user experience less jarring.

it's again just an *opinion*, not a to-do list or smt that i'd ever want 2 present as a "fact", at the end of the day everybody curates their online spaces the way they want to and if you find your current configuration to be distasteful, that's understandable. and everybody is entitled to believe that celebrities/influencers/glorified sellers of products and lifestyles and disorders talking or not talking about certain things can be harmful or beneficial, as there are arguments and examples for and against it and i am personally not interested in participating the debate even tho i wrote a long ass text about it akjdlkfjgd I'm sorry about this u might be regretting ever asking me this question. hope i made sense!