#i also like to call it the failed artist convention conversation

[basofy]

playing the entirety of mother3's chapters 2 and 3 as fast as i could cuz my cousin was playing claus journey and i was trying to help her get to chapter 4 to play as claus only to be welcomed by that ionia scene gave me the same feeling like when lisa DE released and i played thru area 1 at the speed of light only to be welcomed with grooming campfire conversation

[theshedding]

Lil Nas X: Country Music, Christianity & Reclaiming HELL

I don’t typically bother myself to follow what Lil Nas X is doing from day to day, or even month to month but I do know that his “Old Town Road” hit became one of the biggest selling/streamed records in Country Music Business history (by a Black Country & Queer artist). “Black” is key because for 75+ years Country music has unsuspiciously evolved into a solidly White-identified genre (despite mixed and Indian & Black roots). Regrettably, Country music is also widely known for anti-black, misogynoir, reliably homophobic (Trans isn’t really a conversation yet), Christian and Hard Right sentiments on the political spectrum. Some other day I will venture into more; there is a whole analysis dying to be done on this exclusive practice in the music industry with its implications on ‘access’ to equity and opportunity for both Black/POC’s and Whites artists/songwriters alike. More commentary on this rigid homogeneous field is needed and how it prohibits certain talent(s) for the sake of perpetuating homogeneity (e.g. “social determinants” of diversity & viable artistic careers). I’ll refrain from discussing that fully here, though suffice it to say that for those reasons X’s “Old Town Road” was monumental and vindicating. 

As for Lil Nas X, I’m not particularly a big fan of his music; but I see him, what he’s doing, his impact on music + culture and I celebrate him using these moments to affirm his Black, Queer self, and lifting up others. Believe it or not, even in the 2020′s, being “out” in the music business is still a costly choice. As an artist it remains much easier to just “play straight”. And despite appearances, the business (particularly Country) has been dragged kicking and screaming into developing, promoting and advancing openly-affirming LGBTQ 🏳️‍🌈 artists in the board room or on-stage. Though things are ‘better’ we have not yet arrived at a place of equity or opportunity for queer artists; for the road of music biz history is littered with stunted careers, bodies and limitations on artists who had no option but to follow conventional ways, fail or never be heard of in the first place. With few exceptions, record labels, radio and press/media have successfully used fear, intimidation, innuendo and coercion to dilute, downplay or erase any hint of queer identity from its performers. This was true even for obvious talents like Little Richard.

(Note: I’m particularly speaking of artists in this regard, not so much the hairstylists, make-up artists, PA’s, etc.)

_____

Which is why...in regard to Lil Nas X, whether you like, hate or love his music, the young brother is a trailblazer. His very existence protests (at least) decades of inequity, oppression and erasure. X aptly critiques a Neo-Christian Fascist Heteropatriarchy; not just in American society but throughout the Music Business and with Black people. That is no small deal. His unapologetic outness holds a mirror up to Christianity at-large, as an institution, theology and practice. The problem is they just don’t like what they see in that mirror.

In actuality, “Call Me By Your Name”, Lil Nas X’s new video, is a twist on classic mythology and religious memes that are less reprehensible or vulgar than the Biblical narratives most of us grew up on vís-a-vís indoctrinating smiles of Sunday school teachers and family prior to the “age of reason”. Think about the narratives blithely describing Satan’s friendly wager with God regarding Job (42:1-6); the horrific “prophecies” in St. John’s Book of Revelation (i.e. skies will rain fire, angels will spit swords, mankind will be forced to retreat into caves for shelter, and we will be harassed by at least three terrifying dragons and beasts. Angels will sound seven trumpets of warning, and later on, seven plagues will be dumped on the world), or Jesus’s own clarifying words of violent intent in Matthew (re: “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.” 10:34). Whether literal or metaphor, these age old stories pale in comparison to a three minute allegorical rap video. Conservatives: say what you will, I’m pretty confident X doesn’t take himself as seriously as “The true and living God” from the book of Job.

A little known fact as it is, people have debunked the story and evolution of Satan and already offered compelling research showing [he] is more of a literary device than an actual entity or “spirit” (Spoiler: In the Bible, Satan does not take shape as an actual “bad” person until the New Testament). In fact, modern Christianity’s impression of the “Devil” is shaped by conflating Hellenized mythology with a literary tradition rooted in Dante’s Inferno and accompanying spooks and superstitions going back thousands of years. Whether Catholic, Protestant, Mormon, Scientologist, Atheist or Agnostic, we’ve spent a lifetime with these predominant icons and clichés. (Resource: Prof. Bart D. Erhman, “Heaven & Hell”).

So Here’s THE PROBLEM: The current level of fear and outrage is: 

(1) Unjust, imposing and irrational. 

(2) Disproportionate when taken into account a lifetime of harmful Christian propaganda, anti-gay preaching and political advocacy.

(3) Historically inaccurate concerning the existence of “Hell” and who should be scared of going there. 

Think I’m overreacting? 

Examples: 

Institutionalized Homophobia (rhetoric + policy)

Anti-Gay Ministers In Life And Death: Bishop Eddie Long And Rev. Bernice King

Black, gay and Christian, Marylanders struggle with Conflicts

Harlem pastor: 'Obama has released the homo demons on the black man'

Joel Olsteen: Homosexuality is “Not God’s Best”

Bishop Brandon Porter: Gays “Perverted & Lost...The Church of God in Christ Convocation appears like a ‘coming out party’ for members of the gay community.”

Kim Burrell: “That perverted homosexual spirit is a spirit of delusion & confusion and has deceived many men & women, and it has caused a strain on the body of Christ”

Falwell Suggests Gays to Blame for 9-11 Attacks

Pope Francis Blames The Devil For Sexual Abuse By Catholic Church

Pope Francis: Gay People Not Welcome in Clergy

Pope Francis Blames The Devil For Sexual Abuse By Catholic Church

The Pope and Gay People: Nothing’s Changed

The Catholic church silently lobbied against a suicide prevention hotline in the US because it included LGBT resources

Mormon church prohibits Children of LGBT parents to be baptized

Catholic Charity Ends Adoptions Rather Than Place Kid With Same-Sex Couple

I Was a Religious Zealot That Hurt People-Coming Out as Gay: A Former Conversion Therapy Leader Is Apologizing to the LGBTQ Community

The above short list chronicles a consistent, literal, demonization of LGBTQ people, contempt for their gender presentation, objectification of their bodies/sexuality and a coordinated pollution of media and culture over the last 50+ years by clergy since integration and Civil Rights legislation. Basically terrorism. Popes, Bishops, Pastors, Evangelists, Politicians, Television hosts, US Presidents, Camp Leaders, Teachers, Singers & Entertainers, Coaches, Athletes and Christians of all types all around the world have confused and confounded these issues, suppressed dissent, and confidently lied about LGBT people-including fellow Queer Christians with impunity for generations (i.e. “thou shall not bear false witness against they neighbor” Ex. 23:1-3). Christian majority viewpoints about “laws” and “nature” have run the table in discussions about LGBTQ people in society-so much that we collectively must first consider their religious views in all discussions and the specter of Christian approval -at best or Christian condescension -at worst. That is Christian (and straight) privilege. People are tired of this undue deference to religious opinions. 

That is what is so deliciously bothersome about Lil Nas X being loud, proud and “in your face” about his sexuality. If for just a moment, he not only disrupts the American hetero-patriarchy but specifically the Black hetero-patriarchy, the so-called “Black Church Industrial Complex”, Neo-Christian Fascism and a mostly uneducated (and/or miseducated) public concerning Ancient Near East and European history, superstitions-and (by extension) White Supremacy. To round up: people are losing their minds because the victim decided to speak out against his victimizer. 

Additionally, on some level I believe people are mad at him being just twenty years old, out and FREE as a self-assured, affirming & affirmed QUEER Black male entertainer with money and fame in the PRIME of his life. We’ve never, or rarely, seen that before in a Black man in the music business and popular culture. But that’s just too bad for them. With my own eyes I’ve watched straight people, friends, Christians, enjoy their sexuality from their elementary youth to adolescence, up and through college and later marriages, often times independently of their spouses (repeatedly). Meanwhile Queer/Gay/SGL/LGBTQ people are expected to put their lives on hold while the ‘blessed’ straight people run around exploring premarital/post-marital/extra-marital sex, love and affection, unbound & un-convicted by their “sin” or God...only to proudly rebrand themselves later in life as a good, moral “wholesome Christian” via the ‘sacred’ institution of marriage with no questions asked. 

Inequality defined.

For Lil Nas X, everything about the society we've created for him in the last 100+ years (re: links above) has explicitly been designed for his life not to be his own. According to these and other Christians (see above), his identity is essentially supposed to be an endless rat fuck of internal confusion, suicide-ideation, depression, long-suffering, faux masculinity, heterosexism, groveling towards heaven, respectability politics, failed prayer and supplication to a heteronormative earthly and celestial hierarchy unbothered in affording LGBT people like him a healthy, sane human development. It’s almost as if the Conservative establishment (Black included) needs Lil Nas X to be like others before him: “private”, mysteriously single, suicidal, suspiciously straight or worse, dead of HIV/AIDS ...anything but driving down the street enjoying his youth as a Black Queer artist and man. So they mad about that?

Well those days are over.  

-Rogiérs is a writer, international recording artist, performer and indie label manager with 25+ years in the music industry. He also directs Black Nonbelievers of DC, a non-profit org affiliated with the AHA supporting Black skeptics, Atheists, Agnostics & Humanists. He holds a B.A. in Music Business & Mgmt and a M.A. in Global Entertainment & Music Business from Berklee College of Music and Berklee Valencia, Spain. www.FibbyMusic.net Twitter/IG: @Rogiers1

[joon-ipersgirl]

“inked heart” - jjk oneshot

genre: friends to lovers!au, fluff, a teensy dash of angst

pairing: tattoo artist!guk x tattoo artist!reader (f)

summary: jeon jungkook, a rising star in the tattoing world, is looking to take home best large black and white piece at the 25th annual milano tattoo convention. already one to watch from his previous wins as a young artist, pressures rise when his model for the competition cancels half an hour before the show. 

always there when he needs you, you offer to be his model but jungkook is reluctant, especially when the piece is in a more... intimate place. and the fact that he’s been in love with you for the better part of two years. jungkook isn’t too sure how he’s going to survive the next three hours, not when you ask him if he thinks you’re attractive. 

caught between a rock and a hard place, does he lie to you and himself when the prize is on the line? it’s go big or go home...

word count: 5.9k

warnings: some guk pining, cursing, mentions of heartbreaker jimin, the smallest dash of angst about not winning, tattoo artist yoongi

a/n: my first guk piece! thank you guys so much for the love on the preview, especially your comments. they honestly make my day. i hope this lives up to your expectations and you enjoy it just as much. this was a random idea i had and i love tattooed guk so here we are. i tried my best to make sure all the tattoo things were accurate so if they aren’t sorry in advance 😭 this was a lot of fun to write and i’m actually debating on writing some other things for this couple (especially for guk’s birthday), but i’m not sure yet. let me know if y’all are interested though and i’ll see what i can come up with. as always, thank you vi for supporting my shenanigans and reading this like four times lmao. feedback is always welcomed and highly appreciated. enjoy everyone! 

full masterlist // drabbles

Jungkook’s body buzzed with excitement as he squeezed past the bustling bodies at the 25th annual Milano Tattoo Convention. His fourth year at the world’s largest tattooing competition with a chance to take home the prize for “Best Large Black & White” piece against four hundred incredible artists had Jungkook amped up and ready to go. Some of his inspirations - legends in the game - were mere feet away from him as he browsed the almost endless stations filled with merchandise, displays of new tattoo designs, and occupied benches with models. There was almost nothing he enjoyed more than being around the sound of buzzing guns and filling sheets of half-filled paper with sketches his brain had no issues conjuring up but sometimes struggled to complete. Well, except food. And video games. And you. Not really the point though.

He’d been tattooing for almost six years now, from the moment he’d been able to convince Yoongi to let him be his apprentice. Jungkook had wasted no time in starting his own personal tattoo collection, quickly filling in a full sleeve on his right arm going across his right pectoral and another upper half sleeve on his left. Now, he was making his own name in the art world, commissioning pieces solely off his ability to execute various styles well with very little practice. Jungkook was a jack of all trades and very nearly a master of all. He was a risk-taker and it had paid off for him during his time at Milano, taking home “Best Small Black & White” his second year at the ripe age of twenty, and then “Best Medium Black & White” the following year. Yoongi could barely believe it when the judges called his name and announced him the winner but Jungkook knew his mentor’s chest was swollen with pride. This time, though, there were bigger fish to fry - “Best Large Black & White” in a style Jungkook had just begun feeling comfortable with: fine line tattoos.

He paused at the Killer Ink booth where Hori Kashi was working on a beautiful traditional koi fish upper half sleeve design as his phone buzzed. An Instagram notification.

_petuniablooms: hey jungkook! im so sorry this is last minute but i won’t be able to make the convention to be your model. I got a bad case of food poisoning from dinner last night. i hope this doesn’t cost you the comp. but when you’re back in the country, maybe i can schedule an appt? sorry again!

Jungkook blinked slowly. She couldn’t make it? This was not part of his plan. She was supposed to be here in the next half an hour so he would have enough time to complete his piece for judging in four hours. As one of the younger artists at the convention and with immense amounts of talent, people wondered how long Jungkook would be able to sustain his efforts, especially after taking home prizes in one of the major categories two years in a row. Most of them thought he would burn out after his second year or third year, but here he was. Competitive by nature, Jungkook wanted to prove them wrong - that he really did have what it took to be one of the best in the game. A legend in his own right. He shoved his phone back into his black cargo pants pocket and tugged on his curling brown locks. What was he going to do now?

“Guk! Hey, Guk!” He could barely make out your petite frame as you shoved and elbowed your way through the throngs of folk gathered around booths. You were set on getting to him though, your smaller form not holding you back from covering the distance, your brow set in determination whenever he did get glimpses of your face in the crowd.

That was something Jungkook admired about you: your no-nonsense-get-it-done attitude. Friends for almost three years now, he’d seen the way you’d taken charge of almost every opportunity that came your way. You didn’t take no as the final answer and if you couldn’t find a way to make it happen, you created your own. Either way, you got it done. As the first lead female tattoo artist at your shop, Sin City, you’d also made a name for yourself in the tattooing world as a specialist in black and white shading. Your signature though was the three-color-combination color style you developed for your color tattoos. That’s how the two of you had met - the year he’d won “Best Small Black & White”, you’d taken home “Best Medium Color” - and the two of you hadn’t looked back since.

“Gosh, there’s so many people here. It was so hard to find you. I knew I should have checked the Kashi booth first,” you said after finding a pocket of space next to him and hugging his torso.

“Y/N, it’s a convention. Of course there’s going to be a lot of people here,” he replied, wrapping his arms around you, subconsciously looking for comfort in your touch.

Though the two of you mostly had conflicting schedules due to the demand for your work, you did your best to make time for one another. Jungkook had grown accustomed to seeing you every few weeks for lunch or on Friday nights with beer and chicken for Marvel movie marathon weekends. He didn’t dwell on it too much - how ridiculously domestic a lot of your traditions were - not wanting to shake the table and send the precariously perched house of cards pyramid the two of you had created crashing to the ground, upsetting the balance of your friendship. No, Jungkook would leave those thoughts right where they were.

He more felt than saw you roll your eyes as you said, “Yes, Guk. Conventions have lots of people. This just seems like a health and safety hazard though.” Jungkook squeezed you as you pressed closer to him, slightly uncomfortable as more people gathered in the area.

“Alright, let’s go,” he replied, reminding himself to search for the finished koi design afterward as the two of you walked away. “How’d your piece go?”

“So fucking good!” you beamed and turned your face towards him. He couldn’t help but smile back. “Though I don’t know if it’ll win this year, the guy seemed to be really pleased and that’s all that matters. Plus, t-shirt sales have gone up. Like way up! Speaking of which, you should buy one. My t-shirt design on your body?” you did the chef’s kiss, “Impeccable!” you exclaimed and grinned.

Your smile was another thing Jungkook admired about you. The faintest dimples appeared when you did and there was almost never a moment when he couldn’t not smile with you. It was a smile that reached your twinkling eyes and illuminated your face with a glow. Like right now, as you’re striking poses and modeling your black and white cityscape background covered with your shop’s name in a candy red color, a tattoo gun positioned to finish the last line of the last letter on the white tee in the middle of the crowded aisle in some of the shortest shorts he’s ever seen you wear in public. When did you get those?

“You know what would look good on my body?” you asked as the pair of you carried on walking. Me, he thought, but knew where this conversation was really going. “One of your tattoo designs!”

Jungkook sighed. “Y/N, we’ve already talked about this -”

“I know, Guk, but you literally have no reason to not tattoo me,” you whined. “You’ve tattooed every single one of your other friends! Hell, even Yoongi has a tattoo by you.”

“Yoongi has what?” the older man asked as he bumped into you two as you passed the registration booth.

“A tattoo by Jungkook,” you pouted, arms crossed.

It wasn’t that Jungkook didn’t want to tattoo you. He just didn’t want to fuck up a design that would be permanently etched into your skin for the rest of your life. He wanted to create something that was beautiful for you, something that really conveyed the importance of your presence in his life, but every time he sat down to do so, nothing seemed good enough. You’d been seriously begging him for the better part of a year to do something - anything - but he’d refused saying that he didn’t have the time. Secretly, he just didn’t want to fail and let you down.

“Ah, that age-old debate. It’ll happen one day, kid,” Yoongi said as he patted your shoulder gently. “What time are you setting up, Jeon? Your model’s supposed to be here soon, right?” Yoongi asked.

“Fuck!” Jungkook shouted, tugging on his hair and startling a few people around him. “Fuck, fuck, fuck! I don’t have one. She can’t make it. I have to find someone else,” he yelled as he took off, no destination really in mind.

“Wait! Guk -” you called after him but he didn’t stop.

Sometimes, being around you was dangerous as Jungkook could quite literally forget what it was he needed to be doing. There was just something about you that made him lose focus, just a little bit. He couldn’t have that right now. Jungkook needed to be on his A-game, scouting a model that would give him consent in - he checked his phone - twelve minutes.

The one time Jungkook needed someone to be interested in his work, there wasn’t a single soul around. Where had all the people who were begging him to schedule them in for a quick session disappeared to? None of the people passing by were interested in getting a random, floral design done by Jeon Jungkook today, unfortunately. It was as though the devil of the tattoo underworld had cursed him the one time he could have used some luck for the sole purpose of being entertained. Circling back to the D-Town Tattoos booth, Jungkook was running out of options. Shit.

“There you are!” you wheezed as you came to a halt and rested your hands on the table in front of you. “Fuck, I forgot how fast you are.”

“Y/N, I don’t have time. I have to find a model -”

“Why don’t you just use Y/N?” Yoongi asked as he calmly took a seat next to his bench, a tall young man following behind him.

“I couldn’t -” Jungkook spluttered, eyes wide.

“Like you said, Jeon, you don’t have time,” Yoongi reminded him, setting up his work station for his client.

Jungkook looked over at you, still slightly hunched over and trying to catch your breath. This was not how he’d wanted to do this. “Are you sure, Y/N? I don’t know if -”

“Fuck yeah, dude!” you said interrupting him. “100%. Let’s do this!”

Jungkook watched as you made yourself comfortable on his workbench, waiting for him to get started. The fact that you weren’t nervous only added to his apprehension, the fear of potentially disappointing you resurfacing and rising in his gut. It felt like he was taking a risk with stakes much higher than he was willing to bet on, but the trust you had in him had him saying, “Okay. Fill out the consent forms and I’ll pull up the design.”

“What are we working with?” you asked curiously, handing the clipboard back over to him, not really reading it and only signing your name in the designated spots.

“Thigh piece,” he murmured, concentrating on finding the correct sketch on his iPad.

“Sounds fun. I know it’s going to be amazing, Guk. Don’t worry,” you reassured him. He smiled warily as you gave his shoulder a tender squeeze.

Nodding more to himself than you, he showed you the design. @_petuninablooms, like her name suggested, loved flowers. So much so, she’d wanted a full piece dedicated to that specific flower as well as whatever other floral arrangements she thought Jungkook could make look pretty against her skin. She’d won his Instagram contest to be his model for free at the convention because of her sentimental design and background as a botanist, something that piqued Jungkook’s interest. Though he was proud of the design, it didn’t seem to fit you.

“I don’t know, Y/N. I don’t know if it’ll fit your style,” he said, gesturing to your upper half sleeve. The three faces of Frida Khalo, Nefertiti, and Tomoe Gozen were beautifully designed and organized by you as a symbol of feminine unity - embodying passion, leadership, and grace. A much edgier piece than what currently sat on the screen of his iPad designed for his winner, he wasn’t sure how you’d feel about the softer image.

“I told you, Guk. You could tattoo anything on me and I’d be happy. Maybe even more happy than if you’d let me tattoo you. I just want to have something of yours on me - support your craft, you know? Besides,” you said zooming in on the flowers, your gold rings shining in the light, “I like petunias.” Jungkook wasn’t sure if you were only saying this to make him feel better, but he was grateful for your encouragement anyway.

“Uh, I’m going to need you to take your shorts off,” he said hesitantly. “Yoongi, this isn’t against the rules, right? Like having another artist sit for you?” Jungkook asked, turning to give you some privacy though anyone walking past would be able to see you shimmy out of them as there was no curtain or door to shield you.

“Nope. Not that I’ve read,” Yoongi replied, concentrating on his design. Jungkook nodded, steeling himself to focus and get the job done. What he wasn’t expecting was to see you adjusting the band of some very high-waisted, very skimpy, black panties. He nearly choked.

“Does this need to be further up? If not, I can take them off for you. I don’t -”

“No!” Jungkook cried out as he tore his eyes away from the curve of your ass. “I can just move the stencil. It’ll be fine,” he continued after clearing his throat.

“Okay,” you said awkwardly. Jungkook apologized for his outburst as he wheeled himself over to sit in front of you on his little stool. He was making a much bigger deal of this entire situation that it needed to be. He’d seen you in a bikini before, but something about seeing you in your underwear sitting before him was different.

“Relax, Jeon. It’s only a thigh!” Yoongi teased, his head down but his shit-eating grin very much present as he worked on the shading on his client’s forearm. Though Yoongi would never say anything to you out of respect for Jungkook, Jungkook knew Yoongi enjoyed putting him through the wringer whenever you were around.

“Not just a thigh! It belongs to me. My thigh is prime real estate, Min Yoongi. There’s a lot of artists that have been wanting to get in on this,” you joked. Jungkook laughed as he prepped your skin for placing the stencil with rubbing alcohol, hating the fact that he couldn’t feel your skin through the latex gloves but also grateful for the sensory blocker. He knew you were right though - lots of artists did want to work on you and have you walk around with their work as free endorsement of their skill. Honestly, this was a prime opportunity and he should make the most of it.

“Would you be okay with me changing this larger petunia into a mandala? I know you like those,” Jungkook suggested.

“Guk, this is your piece. I told you, I’m good with whatever,” you said cheerfully.

“Keep talking like that I’ll tattoo my name on your ass,” he quipped as he adjusted the design before placing it.

“Make it your face and we just may have a deal,” you shot back and Yoongi gagged from his corner. Jungkook did not want to think about the potential implication of those words.

He wasn’t sure if he’d be able to survive the next three and a half hours with you making suggestive comments while standing in your barely-there underwear, but he was going to have to. Of course, as friends, you’d always had the occasional flirty banter but the “Best Large Black & White” prize was calling his name and God did he want to win. He double-checked the placement of the design as it stretched from just above your hip bone to finish in the middle of your thigh. His adjustments were so precise, it covered the expanse of your thigh damn near perfectly. Jungkook grinned.

“Ready?” he asked, holding up a mirror as you checked out the placement, twisting from side to side.

“Yeah, looks great. How do you want me?”

Jungkook paused as he set up his rolling tray filled with his ink caps and laid out his sterilized needles. There were more than a few ways he could answer that but he settled on, “However you’re most comfortable. You’re going to be here for a while.”

You laughed and climbed onto the bench, giving Jungkook a perfect view of your ass, before you settled against the leather on your left side. Jungkook adjusted the height of his seat so he could position on your thigh with your bent knee resting against the bench and angled towards him. Confirming you were indeed comfortable, Jungkook gently rubbed the A&D ointment across the first section of the design, taking slightly longer than necessary, and got to work. There was a little over three hours to get it done.

He worked diligently as he traced the fine lines of the flower petals, slipping into his professional mode. A small crowd had gathered around the booth, intrigued to see him work on you. Most of the folks there knew about your friendship from social media and mutual community-work settings, how the two of you had bonded over your shared love of tattoos, but seeing the two of you together like this was a real treat. He didn’t feel any pressure as the cameras fought to get a glimpse of him working though. Jungkook did well under pressure but there was a lot riding on this one piece. For him and for you. He wouldn’t disappoint you though. He couldn’t. Not when you looked so peaceful as he worked on the tattoo. Jungkook would win and make you proud.

“Guk, I have a question.”

“What’s up?”

“Would you fuck me?” Jungkook was thankful he’d removed the needle from your skin to wipe off the extra ointment as there was no doubt in his mind he would have fucked up had it been there.

“What?” he asked, slightly breathless.

“Okay, maybe that was a bit vulgar. I guess what I mean is do you think I’m attractive? Like -” you tucked a loose strand of your hair behind your ear, “- a woman you’d spend the night with. Date long-term. That sort of thing,” you finished. Jungkook swallowed before he spoke.

“Uh, yeah. You’re an attractive person.” Jungkook replied, avoiding eye contact with you as he went back to tracing the lines and tried not to think of you under him, around him, on top of - “Why do you ask?”

“I don’t know. It’s been a while since I’ve been in a relationship - since anyone has even asked me on a date. Seokjin never called me back after we went for drinks that one time and Jimin - nevermind actually,” you sighed and Jungkook re-lived the memory of Park Jimin with you - the second man to break your heart in a matter of months. His face soured as he remembered how inconsolable you were the first few months after the breakup and how badly he’d wanted to take a baseball bat to Jimin’s very nice, very expensive car. “Maybe I’m unapproachable. Yoongi, am I unapproachable?” you called over to him.

“Yes,” he said dryly, not bothering to look at you. You scoffed in response.

“You’re never the best person to ask, you old man! People barely talk to you,” you murmured.

“Y/N, you’re great,” Jungkook said in response. “You’re more than great actually, but maybe now isn’t the time to get into a relationship?”

“Why not? I have a stable job, I’m cool -”

“Barely!” Yoongi called over. Jungkook watched you shoot Yoongi the finger before you began speaking again.

“- and I’m charming. It would be nice if someone could appreciate that too, someone that wasn’t only me.”

“Hey! I appreciate you!” Jungkook blurted out, slightly offended.

“Yeah, like a friend. Guk, you know you don’t -”

“Don’t say it. Don’t tell me I don’t count, Y/N.”

“But Jungkook -”

Jungkook paused and set his gun down. “No. No ‘but Guk’, Y/N. I appreciate you, more than you know or understand. I get that we’re friends and I know you value our friendship, but you don’t get to tell me I don’t count because you think you know how I feel about you. Please don’t let your perception of my words and actions let you label them “friendly” when they’re something else.” Jungkook picked his gun back up, avoiding your gaze again, slightly alarmed by his unplanned confession.

“What? What do you mean ‘something different’?” you asked, confused. “Was I supposed to read this any differently after you said -”

“You weren’t supposed to know. You weren’t supposed to find out - not like this at least,” he muttered. Taking a deep breath, he said, “Just don’t count me out okay, Y/N? Not this time. Can we talk about this later though? I just -”

Before he could finish, Jungkook’s alarm went off, signaling only an hour and a half left before he needed to be taking you for judgement. “Okay, Guk. I won’t count you out. Finish,” you said softly as you nodded to your tattoo and chewed your lip in thought.

With time against him, you and Jungkook no longer conversed, though the conversation rattled in his brain like loose change in a tin can. He would need much more than a penny for his thoughts if he wanted to get out of this situation. The hasty confession had Jungkook wondering if he’s said too much too soon. Had he finally sent the house of cards tumbling down? It’s not that he hadn’t wanted to say anything, but the fear of you not meaning what you’d said frightened him. Memories of the two of you curled up on his aging leather sofa flickered across his mind’s eye and he wondered if this fuck up was worse than the time he’d quickly denied having any romantic feelings for you the morning after a drunk confession and you’d reciprocated the feelings. It had taken a few months for things to return back to any type of normal, an uneasy tension having over you both whenever you’d met up. Every few seconds his eyes flitted to your face, hoping to catch a glimpse of whatever you were thinking sprawled across your forehead in your big, looping handwriting but your eyes were closed and your face fairly serene as you let him work in silence.

And work he did, shoving the thoughts to the back of his mind, finishing the last lines of the final petunia and filling in the mandala with various degrees of shading. He admired the delicacy of his work against your smooth skin, deciding it did suit you, much more than he could have hoped. Jungkook was actually slightly disappointed he was close to finishing, already missing the intimacy of working on you, but also eager to get you on stage so people could see his work. He’d gotten lost in the act like he usually did, concentration never breaking as the rest of the Milano Convention continued in full effect around him. Why had he waited so long to do this? You were a dream to work on, never flinching even as he finished up the minute shading of your tattoo, the worst part for many people. A true tattoo veteran with a hell of a pain tolerance. Roughly ten minutes left in the session, Jungkook wrapped up the piece.

“All done,” he said softly, wiping away the excess ointment and admiring his work briefly.

He heard you gasp as you propped yourself up to get a better view of it. “Holy fuck, Jungkook! It’s perfect. I love it!” you whispered in amazement and Jungkook smiled, relieved to not have disappointed you.

“Let me get some pictures, yeah?” You nodded and Jungkook snapped a few shots, promising to send them to you after the convention ended.

“Looks good, Jeon. And you got it done in time. You learned well,” Yoongi chuckled as Jungkook weakly punched his shoulder. “Are you happy, Y/N?” Yoongi asked as he packed up his spare equipment while his client waited patiently to be escorted to judging.

“Happy?” you scoffed, checking the tattoo out again in the mirror. “How about fucking ecstatic? I’m absolutely in love. Seriously Guk, thank you,” you beamed and launched yourself at him for a hug. Jungkook made eye contact with Yoongi as he held you tight in his arms, the older man relaying a silent message to his younger apprentice through raised eyebrows and crossed arms.

“Alright, alright. You can stare at it more later. We have to get to the judges and make it through all these people so,” Jungkook trailed off, letting you go while simultaneously ushering you out of their designated little space. Agreeing, you grabbed your teeny shorts and shoved your feet back into your sneakers. Jungkook stayed close behind you in an effort to cover your very visible, very exposed ass from peering eyes as you moved through the crowd. As much as he hated to admit it, he was really protective of you.

The trek to the judging station wasn’t as official as the name made it sound. It was really just a small stage raised a few inches above the ground with a table and enough chairs to seat the three judges as artists and their models were scored based on design, complexity, and overall execution. This year’s judges were Jung Hoseok of J’s Tailored Tattoos, Kim Namjoon of Mono & Moon, and Kim Taehyung of Vintage Vante. The three of them were rightfully deemed the gods of the tattoo world and Jungkook looked up to them immensely, each of them having numerous titles on the world stage in countries like Brasil, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Nerves rolled in Jungkook’s belly as he waited in the crowd with you for the host to call his name. A win with these guys as the judges would really put some of those naysayers in their place and Jungkook shuffled in place behind you, antsy.

“What’s wrong, Guk?’ you whispered to him as another artist and model headed on stage.

“What if they don’t like it?” he murmured anxiously.

“Do you like it?” Jungkook nodded. “Then that’s all that really matters. You’re insanely talented and I know they’re some of your role models, but they’re fucked if they don’t see how incredible you are. You’ve got this, Guk,” you said in a hushed tone as Yoongi took the stage with his model from earlier. Jungkook smiled into the back of your head as you stood in front of him and gave his hand a squeeze. Jungkook could always count on you.

It was now his turn. Standing with one hand tucked into his pocket and the other firmly gripping your shorts, Jungkook watched as the judges made their notes on their scoring sheets. You turned graciously to give all three of them the best view of the tattoo. And while he knows that there are probably a few people who’d be overjoyed at the challenges he faced to get to this moment, Jungkook didn’t care. Not when your uplifting words still wrapped around him, affirming his skill and talents. He was proud of what he’d accomplished today and while winning was the ultimate goal, he was also at ease because he’d succeeded in fulfilling one of your wishes and you were happy. Jungkook could only smile as you showered him with praise and tried to convince him to tattoo you again as the judging continued.

The two of you stood with Yoongi, chatting as the judges tallied up the scores. He tried to stay still as he watched the host organize the names of the winning artists, losing interest in the conversation as the judges confirmed the final results. One by one, the host read the categories and its corresponding champion. “For Best Medium Color,” the host paused for dramatic effect, “Min Yoongi!” Jungkook cheered loudly with you as his mentor took the stage with his model showing off the antique pocket watch and a royal flush poker hand on top of a wispy background.

Jungkook’s heart hammered in his chest, the sensation almost worse than his first year at the convention as Best Large Black & White was read out. Though he wanted to look calm and collected on the outside, Jungkook was sure he looked anything but. The audience created their own drumroll as the anticipation built - “Jeon Jungkook!”

Your squeal kickstarted Jungkook’s brain as he processed his win. He’d really done it? A few people around him clapped him on the shoulders in congratulations as he was pushed towards the stage to collect his prize and take his place beside the host. “Congratulations, Jungkook! One of the few artists to take home all three wins in one category,” the host announced. If only they knew what it took to get there. Jungkook felt like he was on cloud nine as he shook hands with the judges and took his picture with you and them, prize in hand. He knew he was positively glowing with pride.

“Guk, you did it! I told you that you could!” you cheered as you bounced up and down in happiness and excitement as they moved onto Best Large Color. He smiled down at you and unable to help himself any longer, he scooped you up into his arms, burying his face in your neck.

“Thank you, Y/N!” He repeated the phrase earnestly as if saying it over and over again would finally let you understand just how grateful he was but all it really did was make you giggle as his breath tickled your skin. “Seriously, I really couldn’t have done this without you.”

“I know,” you joked and flipped your hair. You both laughed and you pulled him in for another hug as you said, “Of course, Guk. I’m always here for you. Always,” you punctuated with a squeeze and a smile.

“Yeah, yeah,” he agreed. “You are always here for me,” he said vaguely as he stared down at you in his arms.

“Guk?” you queried as he stared off into the distance.

“This isn’t happening because I won. I don’t want you to think that I only do things like this when I’m any sort of intoxicated, okay?” Jungkook clarified as his confidence grew.

“Things like what?”

“Like confess and kiss you,” he stated.

“Kiss me? You’ve never-”

“Yes, I know I’ve never kissed you. But I want to. Is that okay?” Jungkook asked seriously.

“Yes. More than okay,” you whispered.

It was all Jungkook needed to hear. He was finally kissing you. A soft kiss that grew the longer you stood pressed together in the middle of the convention floor. Jungkook had had his fair share of first kisses, but yours was the one he’d remember for the rest of his life. Maybe because it was you. Maybe that’s why it would always be his favorite. He’d always refrained from putting himself in any situation where he’d be even the slightest bit tempted but now, after having you, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to let you go. The overwhelming sensation that it was actually happening was quickly quelled by the insurmountable joy he felt as you kissed because it was actually happening.

Jungkook may have ascended into another plane as your fingers curled into the hair at the base of his neck and you pulled him further into you. Though he really didn’t want you to think he was only doing this because he’d won, the courage it gave him really did help. The feeling of winning nearly paled in comparison from the brief, sweet taste that was you. Even if he’d never won tonight, he would have considered himself a winner regardless from the kiss alone. Jungkook sighed into you as he savored the moment. Through the pounding of blood in his ears, he could vaguely make out the hoots and hollers of passerbyers as he held you close. Lost in you once again, Jungkook forced himself to remember your earlier conversation.

“Did you really mean it though?” he asked, one arm still wrapped tightly around your waist and the other holding onto his golden plaque.

“Mean what?”

“Not counting me out.”

“Did you mean what you said?” you countered. “Even if I wasn’t supposed to find out this way.”

“Yes, and all the times before then,” he answered truthfully. “So, does this mean you’ll have me?”

“Absolutely. Totally. With my entire hea-” He pressed repeated kisses against your mouth, your teeth clashing as you both smiled, neither of you willing to break apart until a familiar voice cleared its throat.

“I leave for five minutes and this is how I find you. Took you long enough though. Be that as it may, are you done?” Yoongi asked, expression wry and his own prize peeking out of his duffle bag. “I could use some food before we head back to the hotel and Y/N is going to need that tattoo bandaged.”

“Right, right,” Jungkook answered and let you go albeit reluctantly. “We’ll meet you at the car?” Yoongi nodded.

“Don’t take forever. I will leave you. Both of you,” Yoongi warned as he headed off to the exit without any further questions.

Back at the booth, Jungkook applied a generous amount of ointment to the piece before securing it with a bandage and double-checking the tape. Helping you step into your shorts, he smiled at the tattoo. Not only would it be a great reminder of a great win, it would also signify the milestone in your friendship - relationship? - was taking. “Told you that you should’ve tattooed me sooner,” you quipped as you gingerly pulled up your shorts.

“Oh yeah? Why’s that?” he asked, playing along as he quickly packed up his things.

“You would have won much sooner,” you murmured, standing before him.

“Really? What would have been my prize instead? Because that plaque is pretty great.” Jungkook sat his bag on the ground and rested his hands on your hips.

“Better than me?” you grinned and he pressed his lips to yours again.

“Looks like I’ll have to come up with another design then,” he hummed.

“Or you can let me and I can tattoo you,” you suggested with a devilish grin.

“And what do you propose?”

“My name. Right here,” you pointed to the empty space on the left side of his chest.

“Only if you let me tattoo my face on your ass,” he joked and gave it a gentle squeeze.

“Deal,” you laughed.

Jungkook said nothing further, only smiled as he laced his fingers between yours and tugged you in the direction of the exit. “Great. I’ll have everything arranged,” he replied. Laughing with you in these moments meant so much to him and while he wasn’t sure what would happen between you after you left the convention and headed home, he would take pleasure in these moments for as long as you’d let him. As the two of you exited the building and hustled across the busy street to the parking garage so Yoongi wouldn’t have an excuse to leave you, Jungkook wondered if you’d known that your name had been inked over his heart a long, long time ago.

full masterlist // drabbles

ⓒ joon-ipersgirl, 2020

[grazieschillivera]

A day off

Authors note: filled with randomness and comfort here and there, just wrote this to escape from studying

Word count: ca.2400

The third bang on your door, made you give up on getting your sleep.With sloopy steps you made it to your door, only to find Frenchie,Hughie and Butcher happily standing in front of you, once you your eyes could focus propberly.

,,There she is.Morning sunshine.'' said Butcher stepping past you into your dorm.

,,Is that a Star Wars poster?'' asked Hughie following Butcher.

You were far too tired to reacte, too overwhelmed with this situation.The long sleeves of your hodie hid your yawn.

,,Naww petite Y/N.All sleepy and cute.'' said Frenchie bringing you in his embrace petting your messy bun.

,,Guys!Its fucking Sunday what are you doing here?'' you asked with raspy voice, still hiding your face from the sunlight that came in, due to Butcher shoving the curtains away.

,,Right.Perfect timing for some quality time for the group.What could be better for that than a Comic Book Con?'' asked Butcher joining Hughie with getting through your stuff.

,,Fuck off boys.I need sleep.I finished my essays just four hours ago.'' you whined not at all convinced of that idea and resting in Frenchies arms.

,,Shut up Y/N I thought you were into this stuff.'' said Hughie while looking through your merchandise.

,,Can't I just go back to sleep and bring you some waffles later?That would have way more quality.'' you said but already gave in and pulled away from Frenchie.

,,Nope.Actually we have a little mission to do there.'' said Hughie turning with your lightsaber in his hands to you, looking amazed at it , when it turned out to be a green one.

,,Besides Frenchie makes the better ones.You were the one who wanted to join us, go get dressed.'' said Butcher taking the lightsaber from Hughie.

,,Fine.Just give me second.'' you said gathering up some clothes, your lightsaber from Butcher and your washbag and left your room.Only to come back after a moment to throw your weapon onto your bed, when you realised that you still had it in your hands.

,,Hey did you guys ever heard of privacy?'' you asked when you had entered your dorm again and saw Butcher at your laptop and Hughie still going through your merchandise stuff on your shelves.Frenchie layed in your bed, almost half asleep.

You walked strictly to Butcher and looked at your laptop's screen, seeing the text of your essay, but you could swear you saw the screen just had changed.Giving Butcher a daring gaze while you brought your washbag back into your vanity, trying to analyse his hidden grin.

,,What is that?I don't even know that.'' said Hughie looking at your gallyfreyan writing.

,,What ever this might be proves that Y/N is more of a fucking nerd than you are.'' said Butcher.

,,Its Gallyfreyan for fuck off.'' you said when you took the papers from Hughie to put them back into their box.

,,Can we go now?'' Butcher asked standing up from your desk and clapping on Frenchie's shoulder when he walked past him.

,,Just a second.'' you said, when you reminded yourself to do something you insisted on, now that you had Butcher here at your dorm.

You showed him a news article from the university, about your litertature club, writing about their performed works from last weekend praising especially your work.

,,Behind her creativity always lies an interesting critic to several current topics, that is clearly structured and could even knock out Homelander.'' you read out loud, while doing an awful job of hiding your pride.,,See I was right when I said I could at least put you over my knees rhetorically.Appearingly I can do that even with Homelander.'' you added.

Butcher continued to read the article.,,Homelander is a stupid cunt, who somehow managed to get taking serious while wearing latex.'' said he when he had enough of the reading.

,,I don't care about Homelander, I care about you Butcher.'' you said when you took the article and laid it back on your desk.

,,Now you're becoming soft on me again Y/N.'' said Butcher while walking outside of your dorm with the rest.

,,I mean it.Did someone wrote something like this ever about you?'' you said, insisting that this got accpreciated by him, since his critic on your arguments left you frustrated last time.

,,Listen love.I don't need an article that tells me I'm good in putting everyone over my knee.Even though I start to think you wouldn't mind if I did that to you – rhetorically of course.'' he added with a grin leaving you a bit irritated behind him,when he walked further down the hallway.

You were thankful for yourself bringing sunglasses for today to hide your tired eyes, since Hughie listened loudly the radio during the whole trip to the Convention, taking the last chance of sleep from you.

The plan was to talk with a supe about some former actions form Vought he should know of.Frenchie and Hughie were send to do this, while you and Butcher waited for them on the convention, that reminded you of a graveyard that came halfheartedly back to life.

,,Seriously ,did I really need to come with you guys for this?Its not that we do something helpful.'' you said still looking around.

,,We do.We stay here until Frenchie and Hughie are done with their part, I'll do the driving part and you can just take a break from studying.'' Butcher said.

,,Writing.About what?Failed artists or sexual frustrated fans?'' you asked not very convinced.

,,Funny that you mention that.'' said Butcher while he took out his mobile to show you something.

,,You asshole.How?'' you only managed to ask, mouth opened in disbelieve when you recognised your account with your posts.

,,I have my sources.'' said Butcher with a grin and started to scroll through your account.

,,I stayed logged in from last night.'' you said already knowing the answer while palming your face.

,,That answers my first question.All those thirsty posts from you are current?'' asked he while grinning down at his mobile.

,,No!They are in fact very old.Almost as old as you are.'' you said trying to stop Butcher from reading your stuff.

,,Screw this stupid article and you for that - I'm not that old.This is just pure smut- or is there also a perfectly argumented critic behind getting fucked by Eddie Vedder.I can't believe it you're writing texts to jack off to. '' said Billy still amused.,,Our sweet and intellectual Y/N does such naughty things in her spare time.''

,,My only texts to jack off to are my works, once they are approved by my professors.'' you said not interested in talking about your dark past.

,,And thats the problem.You need a day off, even I noticed that you have been fucking tense lately.'' Butcher said, you could tell that the last part was truly concerned.

,,With spending my day at this sad convention.Thank you Butcher.'' you said playing it down.

,,I can't let the guys be alone by themselves love.Besides I think I might can help with that, getting rid of some tension, you know?'' he said in his cocky voice.You eyed him up with a strange grin.

,,Is that an offer? I never thought you could be so generous yet so romantic.'' you said with a snort.

,,Same goes for you, in all this dirty talk and kink stuff I still can find your romantic side between the lines.Even though many seemed not to think so, according to your likes.'' said Butcher with a last look at his mobile while you gave him a last warning look.

,,That was not written from my heart nor my head, and I'm lucky my libido is not supposed to generate likes.'' you said.Butcher had to laugh at this genuily, before both of you continued you walk.

,,This is just fucking sad.When you read all those comics you can clearly read what people need right now and if you compare it to our reality it makes this whole shit even more worse.I hope Frenchie and Hughie can handle this guy.'' you said when you had stoped by a booth with comic books and looked over them.Butcher humed.

,,I guess they will be fine.The only special thing he can do his talk to animals.'' said Butcher and you noded with a chuckle, now you knew what Supe they wanted to meet here.

,,I thought you like this stuff, at least according to your shelves.'' said Butcher looking over your shoulder into the comic you held in your hands.

,,Since when do you look for people to interriogate that I could possibly like?'' you asked with smirk, before you put the comic back.

,,I'm not.That was just a lucky coincidence.Or unlucky - you still seem pissed.What's wrong?'' Butcher asked.

,,Honey I have work to do.Sundays are planed for studying.'' you explained tired but still had to smile since you thanked Butcher for his effort.

,,Honey huh? You really start to become soft with me.'' said Butcher with a smirk and followed you when you turned away from him to continue your walk.

,,You should know by now that I use those names when I just don't want to call you something mean.'' you said.

,,Well if you hate it here we can at least have a bit fun with your writing.'' Butcher said putting his mobile out again.

In the next minutes Butcher managed to get to know about all your preferences that your posts could reveal and he clearly seemed to enjoy that.You would also start to ask him out since you wanted to keep this interriogation fair, that leaded to the both of you having a very open conversation about sex and some weird stories about some experiences, almost in the middle of a convention.But you didn't care this entertained you clearly more than the comic books.

You got interrupted by a call you had to answer.After some time you came back to Butcher to tell him that you needed to go back to your dorm since a friend reminded you of the upcoming test next next week.

You already wanted to turn on your heel and call your friend back again, when Butcher reached out for your hand.A discussion started about wether you would leave this convention or not.

,,Are you mad you can't just forbid me to stay.'' you said after you gave up on explaining yourself properly.

,,When was the last time you just did nothing?You're completly stressed out Y/N.Have you at least eaten something today?'' asked Butcher.

,,No.Thanks to you guys I got kicked out of bed.'' you said, having Butcher cursing under his breath when he realised that.

,,I will make it up for you, just try to stay calm now.Your lips look terrible already.'' said Butcher still holding your hand in his.

,,What?'' you asked clearly a bit confused at this remark.

,,You always chew your lips when you're stressed out and they look awful right now.'' said he and you had to praise him again for being sensitive, recieving an grumpy look.But he was right when you gave him a smile in response you noticed how chapped they were.Great now you looked tired and terrible.

,,Maybe next Sunday.I still need to get a job once this whole detective thing with us is done.'' you said, tears started to fill your eyes caused by your rising stress level and even with the sunglasses Butcher could tell how you felt right now.

In the same moment Hughie and Frenchie ran to you , being completly out of breath but still managed to tell you that they messed up.The Supe had no interest messing around with Vought and called the security.You tried took calm down, that your tears would stay in your eyes and focused on the conversation between the boys.

,,This stupid eco- fucker.'' said Butcher.

,,Did you just asked him nicely or did you also brought some good arguments with you.'' you asked.

,,What should we havve against him? Sometimes you just have to hope that some people still have the balls to do something good.'' said Hughie.

,,Or you have to hope that they also just assholes.'' you said and pulled your phone out to search for something.

,,Here that's a list of women , who accuse him of sexual harassment, there are even videos and pictures on this side to prove their accusations.I thought you were prepared.'' you said and handed Hughie your mobile.

,,Where did you get this from?'' asked Butcher.

,,I have my sources.No matter how stupid the fandom we nerds stay together.'' you said a bit exaggerated.

,,At least something for today.'' you said now a bit satisfied when you looked after Frenchie and Hughie who walked back to the supes booth.

You even allowed Butcher to lay an arm over your should to pull you close to him.

,,That was fucking diabolical.Don't you ever think less of you love.'' said Butcher.

You pressed yourself against him and hid your face in his jacket, afraid that someone would see you start crying otherwise.A deep breath came from him and you could hear his smile out of it, while his hand stroked your hair softly.

,,Thanks.'' you said once you found your voice again, with your head buried in his shirt.

,,Come on lets get you back home.Guess the boys won't take long now.'' said Butcher and brought you to the car with his arm still around you.

While you were driving back you fell asleep.Butcher had decided to take you with them despite your saying but when you woke up after some nice hours of sleep and all cuddled up in your blanket you didn't mind at all.Frenchie had even made some waffles before he and Kimiko went away to spend the rest of the day together.

,,You know when you aren't tired or hungry you actually look kinda hot, even with those chapped lips.'' said Butcher when you stood next to him to you lay your empty plate on the kitchen island.

You gave him a smirk.,,Do you always flirt with women like this?'' you asked.Your gaze on him tried to stay unimpressed, when he pressed you against the table with his familiar smirk on.

,,Only if they are also into quickies on kitchen tables.'' said Butcher, his hands roamed over your curves carefully to test the waters.

,,You really needed my bad writing for this?'' you asked in disbelieve, when you already were sat on the table and started to kiss Butcher.

,,Don't worry love I myself have plenty of ideas for us.'' said Butcher before he started to kiss you again.

[passionate-reply]

This week on Great Albums: they’ve been called Duran Duran for art school nerds, and a whole lot worse, but you probably know them as...Japan! Find out what made their last album their best work, and how they landed one of the most unusual and experimental pop hits in history. Transcript after the break!

Welcome to Passionate Reply, and welcome to Great Albums! Today, I’ll be taking a look at an album that proved to be its creators’ hard-earned mainstream breakthrough, as well as their final release as a group: Tin Drum, by Japan. Japan had gotten their start in the mid-1970s, as a glam rock act, and as the 70s melted into the 80s, they kept up with the times, gradually sidling into the “New Romantic” scene--a movement which, in turn, owed many debts to glam pioneers like Roxy Music and David Bowie. By their fourth LP, 1980’s Gentlemen Take Polaroids, they had arrived at a lightly electronic pop sound that fit right in with the musical landscape of the early 80s.

Music: “Gentlemen Take Polaroids”

The following year, Japan would release Tin Drum, but it’s not exactly the album you would expect it to be--at least, not entirely.

Music: “The Art of Parties”

The most immediately striking feature of Tin Drum is its unique instrumentation. The rich and distinctive sounds of Chinese horns and African flutes jump out immediately, producing a powerful and distinctive accent upon what’s otherwise a somewhat conventional rock band arrangement. I feel like the “exotic” instruments here actually function in a similar manner to how the bands of this era who remained grounded in rock often approached synthesisers--that is, they add flourish and flair to the hooks, and bring an inherent timbral interest to the music, but ultimately, they’re used in a more condimental manner. Underneath all of this exoticism lurk the bones of pop excellence: the ineffable brilliance of a great hook, and some wondrously groovy basslines--the contribution of core member Mick Karn, on his distinctive fretless bass. Artsy as it is, it’s not so hard to believe that Tin Drum was the album that finally pushed Japan from cult darlings to artists with a major hit single to their name. But, when you hear what that single was, you may well be surprised.

Music: “Ghosts”

“Ghosts” is certainly a singular track, that stands out even on this fairly unconventional album. Its complete lack of percussion contributes immensely to its uncertain, unpredictable atmosphere of invisible menace--a bold move, for sure, but one that really delivers on the song’s premise. While “Ghosts” is fascinating and unforgettable, it’s far from the most obvious hit single you’ll find on Tin Drum. If I had to guess, I’d probably have pegged the lead single, “Visions of China,” as most likely to succeed.

Music: “Visions of China”

The dreamy “Visions of China” seems to center the idea that what we’re experiencing is a fantasy vision of Asia and not the real thing. Japan may have been a bunch of White, British guys playing around with Oriental aesthetics, but at least they appear to have been somewhat self-aware about it. Or, at least, we can come to that conclusion if we read the lyrics closely. It’s also very possible for a more casual listener to gloss over that aspect, especially when it’s so easy to get swept up in that triumphant refrain. While some critics might describe Tin Drum’s Orientalism as wholly or partially “ironic,” I think that idea forms the beginning of a conversation on how these themes are used, and not the end of one. The album’s closing track, “Cantonese Boy,” is much harder to take at face value.

Music: “Cantonese Boy”

Just how do you write a compelling song about a subject as controversial as Maoism? Many artistic portrayals of totalitarian regimes fail to resist the urge to play up their clownish and absurd appearances--Laibach being a prominent musical example. That can be valuable, but it’s also, comparatively, somewhat easy. “Cantonese Boy” is designed to lead us to sympathize with the beauty of the Communist dream, and presents an insidiously stirring vision of glory. But it’s hard to imagine listeners nodding along with it, and singing about the Red Army, despite its anthemic charms and driving, martial percussion. I think “Cantonese Boy” is the track that most successfully balances irony and sincerity, and it pays off.

Tin Drum’s cover features frontman David Sylvian in a lonely, austere dwelling. The New Romantic movement is often dismissed on the grounds of being style over substance, for its elabourate wardrobe and makeup aesthetics, but much as the music breaks expectations, the sparse surroundings here set this album apart as something more subtle or contemplative. The first thing one notices is this drab colour palette, which is particularly ascetic by 1980s standards, but the more you look at it, the more the little details of this interior scene stand out: the bare lightbulb, and the tears at the edges of this portrait of Mao, make it feel particularly threadbare.

It’s somewhat ironic that this album is most famous for a song with no drums at all, but is titled “Tin Drum.” That aside, though, I think it’s an interesting title overall. The expression “to bang a tin drum” signifies creating clamour and commotion to call attention to something, most often, a social or political cause. It seems to be used in that sense in the lyrics of “Cantonese Boy,” and straightforwardly so. But the title also calls attention to the album’s instrumentation, which is of course one of its most noteworthy qualities, and it centers the instrument itself, as a physical object. A thing is simply a thing, an inanimate object to be used and abused however human beings see fit. In a way, the title gives tacit permission for the album’s re-interpretations of exotic instruments.

Ultimately, I do think it’s hard to reckon with the impact of Tin Drum without asking some difficult questions about culture and race. In the early 1980s, Orientalism was all over pop, particularly in the New Wave and New Romantic scenes. A lot of hit singles from this era contain much more overtly upsetting caricatures and stereotypes of Asian people and their culture than anything you’ll find here. But just because Tin Drum is a bit better than that, and sells us what it does with more class and panache, doesn’t render it above criticism. Nor does the fact that Japan were well received by listeners in the country of Japan, and collaborated (elsewhere) with Japanese artists like Ryuichi Sakamoto. It’s still essentially an album that uses instruments and themes perceived as foreign and exotic, in an attempt to whisk us away to the world of the Other, and I don’t think it could possibly be made in this day and age. While I do think Tin Drum is a Great Album, and simply tossing it aside as “problematic” is no solution, I think it’s worth examining the ideas and associations underpinning how and why these artistic decisions were made. This isn’t an easy conversation to have, but it’s a necessary one, and one that I wish wasn’t so markedly absent among fans of the music.

As I mentioned in the introduction, Tin Drum would prove to be Japan’s final studio album as a group, and they would split up to pursue their separate ambitions shortly after. Percussionist Steve Jansen and synthesist Richard Barbieri would form “The Dolphin Brothers,” and take more influence from the synth-pop stylings of Gentlemen Take Polaroids, but Tin Drum’s evocative, experimental soundscapes would serve as the blueprint for the solo work of both Mick Karn and David Sylvian.

Music: “Pop Song”

My favourite track on Tin Drum is “Still Life in Mobile Homes.” It’s a track with a hell of a hook, and probably the single song that drifts through my mind at random times more than any other, which is saying something. But what really pushes it over the top for me is its eerie, surprisingly dissonant breakdown. In one track, it seems to distill all of the tension between avant-garde strangeness and pop par excellence that wrestle one another throughout the album. As always, thanks for listening!

Music: “Still Life in Mobile Homes”

[robhorninginternalexile]

museum minimalism

Since everyone has social media space to fill, everyone has come to operate like a museum, “curating” experiences and memories as images of their lives as deliberate, unfolding works of art. This in turn has inverted the conventional role of the art museum: It functions less as the repository of precious works meant to ground efforts to periodize and regionalize the history of cultural production and more as a place where visitors can stage their interactions with that history and appropriate it in various ways that the museum could ideally profit from. Museums have had to reorient themselves to become more photogenic, to announce themselves as iconic and immediately recognizable tourist attractions, in order to maximize the value of the images that visitors take and circulate of their visits.

But this is not some abrupt about-face trigger by phone cameras. It extends a trend that Rosalind Krauss discussed in her 1990 essay “The Cultural Logic of the Late Capitalist Museum,” when she pointed out a “bizarre Gestalt-switch from regarding the collection as a form of cultural patrimony or as specific and irreplaceable embodiments of cultural knowledge to one of eying the collection's contents as so much capital—as stocks or assets whose value is one of pure exchange and thus only truly realized when they are put in circulation.” 

Then, under “late capitalism,” “capital” was understood primarily as the works themselves as appreciating assets. Now, under what I guess must be “later capitalism,” capital takes the form of the tourist images the institutions can facilitate — the “experiences” it can commodify for the “experience economy.” But this too was incipient in the 1980s. 

Krauss cites a claim made by Ernest Mandel (if only everyone who mentioned “late capitalism” had to do this) that “overcapitalization (or noninvested surplus capital) that is the hallmark of late capitalism,” and suggests that art museums became sinks for that noninvested surplus. But the idea that there is all this surplus capital needing a harmless place to nest also explains the emergence of artists like Damien Hirst and Jeff Koons, whose main function is to make conspicuously expensive objects — under the alibi that this itself is an ironic social comment. 

But Krauss has a different kind of bloated and pretentious art in mind in her essay: Minimalism, which was being taken up as the pretense for museums’ vast expansion programs in the 1980s and 1990s. (She is writing about the genesis of MassMoCA.) Minimalism as an art movement  purportedly aimed to re-center viewing subjects in the uniqueness of their bodily perceptions of an object, yet it came to be the pretense for art museums’ conversion into massive Disneyland-like spaces devoted to art commodities. 

For Krauss, Minimalism undermines itself by using industrial processes to fabricate work that presuppose an ability to manufacture any number of pieces on the same specifications. The pieces — copies without “originals” — have no aura, which allows them to function as commodities, as tradeable assets rather than “irreplaceable embodiments of cultural knowledge.”   

But at the same time Minimalist works are announcing themselves as interchangeable, they are also taking up more and more space. Krauss cites then Guggenheim director Tom Krens, who posited that museums should cease being art historical and aim instead at inspiring the special aesthetic subjectivity in viewers:

The encyclopedic museum is intent on telling a story, by arraying before its visitor a particular version of the history of art. The synchronic museum — if we can call it that — would forego history in the name of a kind of intensity of experience, an aesthetic charge that is not so much temporal (historical) as it is now radically spatial, the model for which, in Krens's own account, was, in fact, Minimalism.

Minimalist art, in Krauss’s account, was devoted to an “idea of a perception that would break with what it saw as the decorporealized and therefore bloodless, algebraicized condition of abstract painting.” It hoped to exist in some space beyond commodification, where the works were protected by being site-specific and devoid of semiotic content. By making viewers participants in the work, activating it by recognizing their limits in perceiving it, minimalist art supposedly restored an “immediacy of experience” in a world full of phony mass culture and programmed laugh-track responsiveness.     

This move is, we could say, compensatory, an act of reparations to a subject whose everyday experience is one of increasing isolation, reification, specialization, a subject who lives under the conditions of advanced industrial culture as an increasingly instrumentalized being.

That makes me think of this essay by Drew Austin, which argues that tech companies have succeeded in making the digital “space” we inhabit more instrumentalized, more centered on exchange rather than social reciprocity. And it makes me think of the contemporary turn to crypto-minimalism in social media that Kyle Chayka describes in The Longing for Less as a misguided attempt to mitigate that instrumentalization. Most of all, though, it is hard to read of a "subject whose everyday experience is one of increasing isolation” without thinking of quarantine conditions and our current renegotiations of space. If Minimalism was conceived as a rejection of relational aesthetics, as Krauss notes, then I can’t think of a less suitable kind of art for this moment, when people seem desperate for ways to relate to one another. 

Krauss argues how Minimalism failed in its own time; it constructed the museum as “hyperspace” and the viewer as a fragmented postmodern subject who is for some reason held to be incapable of “real” experience — they supposedly suffer from what Jameson called a “waning of affect,” the inability to maintain a sense of identity with any depth or continuity. 

The post-postmodern condition seems different. The problem is not a subject who has traded “affect” for “intensity” in a vast field of surfaces and signs. The Minimalist project hasn’t been betrayed by the decentered subject’s vertiginous fall into commodification and commercialization. It now succeeds on its own terms too well: The “perceiving subject” that Minimalism aimed to foreground has become the self-documenting subject that populates social media feeds — the viewer is not a body is space but a camera. The phone camera has given viewers the ability to reify their own gaze and circulate it as a commodity. Minimalist art has become Instagram cliche. 

In other words, the problem with postmodernism was not the decentered subject but the kinds of media that were invented to reconsolidate the subject under the sign of a rising neoliberalism, and the possibilities for image-driven “human capital.”

When Krauss’s essay ran in October, it was illustrated (presumably with a heavy dose of irony) with an image of a James Turrell light installation, the whole point of which is its experiential unphotographability. The work is not the light itself but how your eyes adjust to it and your perception of it changes over time. Now Drake can make a video inside a copy of a Turrell work, and no one can doubt that he is in earnest.

[cinema-tv-etc]

‘Bridgerton’ Isn’t Bad Austen — It’s An Entirely Different Genre

Critics and viewers have dinged the show for being a cliché-ridden period piece or a sloppy historical drama. But it’s neither: It’s Regency romance, and it’s spectacular.

By Claire Fallon

I was deep in a Regency romance binge a few years ago when I pitched a highly self-interested piece to my editor: an investigation into why this didn’t exist onscreen.

This was a creature apart from the Jane Austen adaptations and sedate period pieces I already enjoyed, or sexy but bloody cable costume dramas. A Regency romance is set in a fantasy version of British high society in the early 19th century, and the central action revolves around the courtship between a woman (often a well-bred beauty) and a man (often a rakish peer). They consummate their attraction in improbably acrobatic sexual encounters, and then they live happily ever after.

In the post-2016 election malaise, these novels became my anxiety palliative of choice. They piled up next to my bed and in my e-reader. But sometimes I wanted more, wanted to see the gossamer petticoats and lingering glances and gently unfastened bodices. The piece I pitched never materialized, but the object of my longing did. On Christmas Day 2020, Shondaland’s “Bridgerton” arrived on Netflix.

What ensued was both somewhat exhilarating — getting to see my Regency escapism come to life — and unnerving. My private indulgence, one generally viewed with dismissiveness if not contempt by non-romance readers, had become the target of a full-blown cultural discourse. “Bridgerton” was met with valid and vital critiques, especially over its treatment of consent, but also ones that made me wince: that it was formulaic, predictable, vapid, historically inaccurate, best suited for teens.

Many of the critiques, understandably, seemed rooted in unfamiliarity with the genre’s conventions, or in the expectation that “Bridgerton,” which is based on a series of books by Julia Quinn, would resemble a “Pride and Prejudice” remake. “You don’t get it!” I wanted to shout. “That’s not what this is!” The historical romance has finally gone mainstream — and that means a whole new audience is learning how to read a genre so long relegated to the margins. Sometimes that can be a bumpy ride.

With its bounty of sherbet-hued satin gowns, scandal rags full of malicious gossip, unblinkingly earnest romance, and on-screen lovemaking, “Bridgerton” seems to defy easy categorization for many critics, journalists and viewers — and even Regé-Jean Page, who stars as the smoldering Duke of Hastings.

“It’s a little bit of Jane Austen meets ‘Gossip Girl’ with maybe ‘49 Shades [of Grey’],” he told The Wrap in a December interview. Critics and viewers, at their wits’ ends trying to make sense of this sexy, gossipy, frothy Regency costume drama, also tried to characterize it in terms of beloved on-screen classics: “Pride and Prejudice,” “Downton Abbey,” and, yes, “Gossip Girl.” These comparisons convey some bafflement, an uncertainty about how to categorize a show that isn’t really a realist historical drama, nor an edgy satire, nor a campy soap.

Though it’s true that Austen was the inspiration behind the whole subgenre — the first Regency romance novelist, Georgette Heyer, was emulating Austen’s work — it has evolved into a well-established genre with its own tropes, conventions and standards.

“There’s a way that those kinds of incredibly popular adaptations of Austen will make you, I think, expect that you’re watching a certain kind of thing, and romance novels are not trying to do the same thing at all,” critic Aaron Bady said in a phone conversation. “If you go in watching ‘Bridgerton’ and say, ‘I think I’m watching Jane Austen,’ you’re going to be disappointed. It feels a little Jane Austen-y, but it doesn’t work like a Jane Austen novel.”

Nor is period romance merely a form of realist period fiction. In her review of the show, Patricia Matthew, an associate professor of English at Montclair State University, placed it in a long artistic tradition of Black women depicted in Regency settings. But ultimately, she said in a phone interview, “Nobody’s reading Julia Quinn because they’re looking for disquisitions on historical precedent.”

Bursting though a romance novel may be with carefully researched, period-accurate details about Vauxhall entertainments, Almack’s vouchers or ribboned chemises, these novels really aren’t about the Regency era, or at least not primarily.

“Historical romance does a different kind of work than historical fiction,” Sarah MacLean, a popular historical romance author, told me during a phone call. “The work of the romance novel is not to tell the story of the past. It is to hold a mirror to the present.”

By building a love story between the primary couple, one that is guaranteed to end “happily ever after” or “happy for now,” a romance novel not only provides escapism and the heart-pounding rush of vicarious passion, but a space in which to explore how romantic relationships can and should be, and how women can find fulfillment and happiness. And that means these stories have little to do with how the marriage market of Regency high society actually functioned; they’re about what readers — predominantly women — want to see in their lives today.

“The appeal of the time period for readers is very much about being able to distance readers from certain kinds of social issues and then reframe them as a reflection of society now,” MacLean explained. In the 1970s, novels typically featured brooding alpha males who took what they wanted sexually ― a narrative device, MacLean argued, for the fictional heroines of the time to have plenty of sex without being seen as loose and deserving of punishment. Historical romance novels today often feature heroes and heroines having what seem like rather anachronistically tender exchanges about consent.

Ella Dawson, a sex and culture critic, sees period romance as a way to provide a balm — an experience in which violence and trauma are, if not absent, superseded by a reassurance of ultimate well-being — while also walking readers through more thorny questions.

“Romance as a genre is really interested in consent, in diversity representation, in political issues,” she said. “Romances are so infused with these issues that I [am] really passionate about, and they explore it through this really fun, romantic, swoony, but still very intellectual, thoughtful, accessible lens.”

As odd as it felt to see a straightforward romance adaptation dissected as if it were a failed attempt at matching Jane Austen, it makes sense. Because the genre is generally regarded with such disdain in mainstream culture, it occupies a rather marginalized niche. A non-romance reader is unlikely to have a firm grasp of many things about the genre, outside of well-worn jokes about throbbing members and Fabio’s flowing hair, and though romance is among the bestselling genres in the book industry, it’s rarely adapted for TV or film.

Why has this omission persisted for so long? “I can’t imagine that it isn’t a huge amount [due to] patriarchy, in the sense that for the same reason it gets disdained on the page, it gets disdained on the screen,” said MacLean. To this day, the people deciding which films and shows to finance are almost entirely men. Shonda Rhimes is that rare exception — a woman with creative control over a TV empire, and a fan of the Quinn series.

Practical obstacles to adapting romance also pop up. A novel stuffed with sex scenes and building toward a tidy happy ending may be tricky to adapt for network TV, which needs to keep things a bit cleaner — and keep the narrative drama going indefinitely.

And it’s not just the network TV standards and the tidy endings. The heightened reality and bodice-unclasping of the genre, Matthew said, rely on an intimacy between the reader and the page that’s difficult to translate to the screen.

“I think the plot lines are bananas. I think they’re so extreme that they strain credulity,” she said, laughing. “You have to believe that a sane man, an adult, would say, ‘Oh, I’m just not going to have children so I can spite my father.’ It only works if it’s you with a glass of wine, kind of throwing yourself over to the world of romance.” It’s awkward to sit with someone else, knowing they’re watching the same melodramatic story unfold, partaking in a pleasure that feels somewhat private, if not embarrassing. “We all have these fan worlds that when they’re exposed to other people that aren’t a part of that world we might feel protective of, or feel bashful,” she said.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/bridgerton-netflix-romance-genre_n_60086fd5c5b6ffcab969dafa?utm_source=pocket-newtab

[mthought-s]

The Truth Behind Unpopular K-pop Opinions (video essay transcript)

[Voices voicing unpopular K-pop opinions]

[Unpopular k-pop opinions in robot voices] x3

An unpopular K-pop opinion is made up of three things:

An opinion

K-pop

And asking: Is it unpopular?

If a statement checks these three boxes, congratulations you have an unpopular K-pop opinion.

They started off being posted on anonymous confession blogs and forums. Some of the oldest Tumblr blogs and posts for these opinions are from 2011 to 2012, documenting over a decade of K-pop opinions. Unpopular opinions and confession blogs aren’t anything new. It's been a practice in online spaces for a long time for people to anonymously share opinions that could potentially be problematic or offensive towards others. Sometimes the opinions are completely neutral. Websites like Tumblr even have these anonymous options built into their websites with anon asks. It’s an opinion with no consequences, a statement for people to debate and discuss.

Today, they have spread to Twitter threads and YouTube videos. And they’re super popular. Actually, popular isn’t the right word. They’re super controversial. They’re provoking—not necessarily thought provoking—just provoking. They garner hundreds of thousands of views, if not millions, on YouTube. Then for Twitter threads, these opinions are capable of starting fanwars and conversation with possibly thousands of quote retweets.

Many fan accounts use them to stir up views and engagement, having thumbnails and threads that feature controversial topics. At times, these unpopular opinions aren’t actually unpopular. Unpopular becomes synonymous with negative where these pieces of fan content and engagement contain negative opinions to discuss, not necessarily ones that are unpopular and go against the majority opinion. For these opinions, it is also difficult to actually determine if an opinion is unpopular because K-pop fandoms are so large and diverse. In a way, these opinions are incorrectly labeled as unpopular. Instead, they are controversial. These are controversial K-pop opinions. For the sake of simplicity though, I will continue to refer to them as unpopular for the remainder of this video. Unpopular K-pop opinions are our gateway into conversation in K-pop spaces.

There’s many pros to these opinions.

They provide a place for people to express an opinion opposing the majority opinion. The majority opinion is very powerful because it leads to agreement and consensus. Unpopular opinions shake things up. They go against the majority. They cause people to question their biases and further research for reasons to defend their own personal opinion. That opposition against the majority can create conversation, leading to fleshing out people’s thoughts on their stances and deepening the understanding behind the topic that those opinions are based on.

Unpopular opinions can also bring light to issues. It provides a platform to be honest. At times, people don’t want to challenge the majority opinion in fear of being witch hunted and dogpiled on for pointing out an issue. For example, people in the fandom space might be using a potentially offensive term. The anonymity of unpopular opinions can provide a spark to a conversation where alternatives to a term can be found and the community can educate themselves further.

One more reason is that unpopular opinion Twitter threads, YouTube videos, blogs, and forums all provide avenues for people with similar opinions to find each other. People can build relationships with each other and create long, lasting friendships. It enhances the community experience of a fandom, providing a sense of commaderite between fans.

There’s also many cons to these opinions and platforms though.

These opinions are essentially gossip. Gossip has a thrill to it. It feels good, but it can be harmful to others. At times, unpopular opinions can begin to cross personal boundaries where they discuss the mental health, sexuality, political opinions, and other invasive topics of K-pop idols and the K-pop industry. Many people in K-pop communities find unpopular opinions invasive of the privacy of idols and disrespectful of their personal lives. Unpopular opinion accounts and blogs encourage people to speculate and possibly spread mis- or dis-information around the online space. This can harm the perception of a celebrity, causing discourse within the fandom.

Unpopular K-pop opinions can make people feel like they’re right for having the opinion they have too. These opinions are no longer viewed as opinions, but as facts for many people. They confirm biases and can create echo chambers where people say the same thing again and again. There’s no deeper thinking, only confirmation bias and ostracization of people who disagree.

While these anonymous platforms can be used to shed light on issues, they can also be abused to say things that are genuinely problematic and offensive without consequences. In some instances, unpopular opinion blogs have been automated where opinions are not reviewed by an actual person or a moderator before being posted. This can lead to opinions being posted that have slurs in them and viewpoints promoting harm to others.

Unpopular K-pop opinions exist in a limbo where there is both good and bad to them. They will always exist for a hot take rant or a structured essay. Although, there’s something shifting and changing in fandom spaces that has changed the view on them in recent years. There’s a new truth to what these opinions represent and why there’s so much push back against them now in particular. Let’s break down the truth behind unpopular K-pop opinions.

The current state of fandom is not ideal for these opinions to exist in. In the past, fandoms have been largely disconnected from each other. Instead of a fandom being one, cohesive group of people that coexists in one space, fandoms look more like this:

Online fandoms are separated by websites. There is overlap of users, but fans are usually mostly active on one website or platform for fannish activities. This would be called their main platform. Then, fans are further divided on websites by their interests. For instance, if someone is a fanartist, they’re usually around other fanartists because it’s the same interest. Overlap is more common with interests where someone can be a fanartist, but also a fanfic author. Someone can be into critical analysis of a TV show, but also be a merch collector. No one is ever in fandom for only one thing.

This is how fandom is usually organized. It differs from fandom to fandom, but this is the bare system of organization. Now, take this organization we’ve discussed already and increase its scale and intensity significantly. That’s what fandoms look like now. Instead of a disconnect between groups though, everything melts together. Cross-platform discourse, especially between Tumblr and Twitter, has become increasingly more common along with cross-interest discourse. Many spaces such as fanart spaces that would have their own discourse and are disconnected from the main fandom space, now meld into the main fandom space anyway. Discourse and discussion is not divided depending on what your interests are anymore, everyone is partaking in it whether they actually care about the interest or not.

In recent years, there has been an exponential increase in people joining online fandom spaces. Many old, already established fandoms and franchises such as Harry Potter and Star Wars had reboots. This allowed a wave of new fandoms to learn from them then build themselves. Add on an increase in internet usage over the years with the appearance of new media to support these fandoms and you have a much larger fandom subculture. Where a majority of fandoms used to be smaller, more tight knit, fandoms are increasingly becoming humongous, interconnected online communities.

And these communities don’t only exist online. In real life, we can see this fandom growth with the expansion of fan events. We see fandoms represented in concerts, passionately singing along to their favorite artist’s song. We see them in conventions, cosplaying and going from panel to panel to meet other fans. We see them in meet and greets, competitions, tours, and so much more. Fandom is bigger than ever, especially due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This has led to millions of people having more free time and spending that time getting into fandom and learning fan culture.

More people means more problems though. Fandoms have never had a good track record of trusting each other in the first place, but more people leads to more mistrust. Stances and opinions in fandoms become more complex. There’s a necessity to clarify and thoroughly explain oneself in order to not get “cancelled” for failing to acknowledge something. You can’t just say anything because people that don’t know you will assume you said something else from what you did say.

In online fandom spaces, people assume intent and decipher posts in order to ensure the original poster’s morals are aligned with their own. Many look to not take the post at face value and look further to ensure the post they’re sharing has an author they agree with. This desire to know the original poster or op’s original intentions pushes people to fill in the blanks with assumptions.

Fandoms begin to generalize and hard-line opinions to compensate because taking the time to learn hundreds of thousands of people’s full, thorough opinions on increasingly complex and multifaceted topics has become more difficult. It’s easier and takes less mental strain and energy to assume intention than actually learn it.

This trend of an increasing interest and population in fandom culture has also led to other trends and changes in how fandoms protect themselves as opposition and complexity in opinion grows.

The fandom police or fanpol are a group of people within a fandom who engage in policing. Policing is to regulate, control, or keep people in order. In fandom history’s past, fanpol have existed with smaller groups trying to bring their version of order to a fandom. Usually these fanpol groups censor other people in the fandom by dogpiling, using disinformation in expose threads, and mass reporting. They’re not favorable groups of people, being unpleasant and downright vile in some cases where they dox and cyber stalk people who disagree with them. Fanpol has become synonymous with fandom bullies.

In today’s current fandom era, these smaller fanpol groups have expanded to where they’re not small, specialized groups anymore. These censoring and policing ideologies have become ingrained in the majority of a fandom or large, overwhelming groups of the fandom. It’s no longer just policing, it’s an entire change in how fans interact with each other. It’s an ideological change. Fandoms essentially police themselves now, no small group of people needed.

The truth behind unpopular K-pop opinions is that they are subject to a changing fandom environment.

Opposition is seen as hatred with hidden agendas to defame and slander. Fandoms want to protect themselves. They’ve begun to police each other on a large scale to do so instead of community building and actually knowing each other. Fandoms have become hypersensitive to opposition because more often than not, that opposition turns into hatred, harassment, and eventually a person who has awful, malicious intentions gains a platform and can’t be taken down. That hostility is a safety measure, a precaution that compensates for a fandom’s failure to bond with each other. It’s not necessarily their fault that they have failed though.

Unpopular opinions have always existed, but even though they’re unpopular they’ve become popular to do. In the face of growing hostility to opposition, the anonymous platform of unpopular K-pop opinions allows for expression. It allows for opposition to exist that isn’t malicious. Sometimes people just don’t like things that are popular or want to criticize something properly without fear of being sent death threats or being constantly harassed for that criticism. Mild unpopular opinions and criticism cannot exist in this current environment.

We are in a state of fandom where mild disagreement is treated the same as downright hatred. It’s faced with hostility and aggression for the reasons I specified earlier. Eventually, we’ll reach a state where mild agreement is treated the same as downright hatred. Where anything that isn’t enthusiastic, gleamingly positive support and showers of love are seen as malicious and attacks against a celebrity or interest.

And it’s so complicated. On one hand, we want to let these milder opinions exist and allow people to express how they truly feel. However, there’s more often than not, hidden agendas behind these milder opinions. There’s agendas to hurt and harm fans and idols.

The truth behind unpopular K-pop opinions is that they exist and have become increasingly more common to express because of this conflict. Fandoms do not know each other anymore and aren’t focused on community building, leading to a spike in hostility to opposition to protect themselves. K-pop fandoms don’t actually care about K-pop anymore in the way they’re supposed to care about it. They should care about their groups and want to build a fandom that loves that group. They’re not doing that though, so when they’re faced with harm from outsiders they don’t know how to combat it as a fandom. K-pop fandoms don’t care about each other. They care about clout. Unpopular K-pop opinions are used to gain their clout through rage clicks and clickbait. That’s why unpopular K-pop opinions have become popular. That’s the truth.

I was originally going to end this video right here. However, I don’t think I can end on such a depressing and hopeless note. If you look at my channel, I haven’t uploaded anything for weeks (months) because I’ve been consumed trying to figure out how to end this without sounding defeatist. I’ve been thinking about this for a long time.

So, here goes:

K-pop fandoms can break away from this fandom state where truth seems almost impossible to obtain and clout is seen as king by just choosing to be true to themselves. Be true to their goal as K-pop fans. Their goal is to love their idols, love the thing that brought them into the fandom in the first place. That’s the goal of every fandom. You’re in a fandom because you want to talk about things and enjoy something with other people.

It’s about appreciating the music, content, and interaction groups give fans. That’s why streaming and voting is so amplified to K-pop stans. They stream and vote to show love to their groups because their individual words and actions might never reach them. It’s how the fandom is capable of expressing themselves en masse to their favorite group so that way their favorite group can feel the love they feel for them.

And you can express that love in different ways too. You don’t need to vote and stream, that’s just one of the unique and direct options K-pop stans have. Fanartists express their love by creating art. Fanfiction writers write fanfiction. Editors make edits. If you’re not a creative, simply listening to the music, reading the lyrics, and engaging with others about the music and content is a way to express your love.

The truth behind unpopular K-pop opinions doesn’t need to be the truth anymore. We can change the fandom state by choosing to be ourselves. We can build a community and bond. We can protect our fandom spaces from malicious people and trust each other. You and I are K-pop stans, fans, whatever you want to call it, because we love our groups.

And if you’re just a random person watching this video, you can be in on this too. I hope you’re feeling what I’m feeling right now. I hope you’re feeling it, okay? We love them for who they are, okay? That is our truth and we should live it.

[Social Media]

Twitter

Medium

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Exactly How To Attract 999 Of Women 5 Alpha Male Tricks

Hey individuals. Beardy as well as Kay, right here from Mantello agents. And also today we're talking about just how to be a lot more attractive. If you have actually ever before asked yourself exactly how to make a lady crazy for you, these techniques will collaborate with 99.9% of females individuals. It's true. Have you ever before seen a guy with a woman that's method a lot more eye-catching than he is, and also you're left damaging your head, attempting to identify exactly how he landed such a stunning partner.

You tell on your own. Oh, he's probably rich or something, however that's not the fact. The reality is he's possibly discovered just how to bring in females using these techniques. We're about to share with you. If you have actually been striving to increase your level of tourist attraction, yet aren't getting any type of outcomes. You're possibly doing one thing that guys assume make them much more eye-catching, however actually repulses most ladies.

And also at the end of this video, we're mosting likely to share that a person Impressive fail you ought to stay clear of in any way prices. Number five, the pull as well as push. You're questioning exactly how to be a lot more eye-catching as well as obtain your crush to like you. Well, it all begins with what you're stating, as well as I don't imply with your mouth fellows. There are some attempted as well as proven body language methods to make her chase you.

As well as I make sure you have actually listened to the majority of them before stand up straight and tall point your feet in the direction of the girl you have an interest in as well as square your shoulders. These are conventional alpha male body movement strategies that everyone understands. However right here's what you might not know after you have actually revealed that you're solid as well as confident using your body language as well as have actually acquired her passion.

Attempt this masterful alpha method to truly establish the hook it's called the pull as well as press. It's kind of like a trickery except for the last minute fraud, yet it's the excellent type of secret method that the sexiest of hot males make use of to gain control of any kind of flirtatious scenario. Right here's how it works. So you're talking with a woman that you simply met and also you're both nervous as well as there's a lots of stress after a couple of conversational exchanges.

Strike her with a spirited compliment, or if you're really feeling actually certain and endure, a scheming sex-related innuendo, attractive teasing is complicated, but not constantly off restrictions, if you can implement it well, which implies happily in the ideal setting. As well as without coming off as weird, if you're not confident making use of sex-related innuendo, maintain it PG 13 with a lively compliment.

And afterwards. Here's the critical component. Simply go down the mic and also walk away. Now here's the other extremely essential item to executing this flawlessly. You have to casually walk away to a location where she can adhere to, since the main goal is to get her to follow you. And currently you have her chasing you as opposed to vice versa.

So don't walk away to the men's restroom or to your intimidating group of person buddies rather had somewhere neutral, like the bar counter or an alcoholic drink table and also remain approachable. The technique is to leave her. Somewhat puzzled, but with the door wide open so she can conveniently approach you. Number 4 outfit to thrill and spark conversation.

No trick scenario is that she doesn't follow your Lea right away, guys. That's flawlessly okay. Because the alternate outcome is that she's returning to her. Good friend's a little confused and also entertained by your habits. While you maintain on your own close by open readily available and also very friendly. She's going to rate laughing back to her good friends with exhilaration concerning the mystical guy that sort of hit on me.

Then just walked away. O M G I'm so baffled right now. And her close friends are gon na ask, Oh, mg, what person? As well as she's going to claim that individual right over there putting on the that's why this next component is so indisputably vital. The following words out of her mouth should not be. This type of homeless looking man over there and also the hooded sweatshirt.

Instead, you desire her to be able to define you in a more favorable light, and that's why dressing well is a no brainer. As well as if you go to all interested regarding just how to look a lot more appealing by clothing, well, you reached start on the ideal foot as well as you can do that with today's sponsor Thursday boots. You've all heard us state it in the past, yet women always check out it individuals footwear, right?

Kay. Definitely. Beardy we intend to make sure he doesn't half-ass points like his attire. And that's why you require some top quality shoes women observed them. Fortunately, Thursday boots will immediately make you 99.9% a lot more attractive to women. Just how well, not just do Thursday boots look fantastic, but they're extremely comfy.

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Number three, be the casual alpha. Possibly you're not just asking on your own, exactly how can I look extra attractive rather? Maybe you're asking yourself, how can I look extra Jak poderwac dziewczyne przez messengera eye-catching than every person else, men, this is just one of the age old methods to obtain women to chase you. And also it will definitely assist you maximize your appearance as well as one of the most effective method that admittedly takes.

Some method to master is the casual. Alpha, the nonchalant alpha man does all points alpha. He's a ruthless Dewar kind of a go getter. He's confident. As well as most importantly, he couldn't offer to ShipWorks about what other people think of it and fellows that's the key. Yes, you have to function faithfully to be your most appealing self, but trying also hard is shateringly apparent as well as comes off as being hopeless as well as clingy.

Being chronically uncaring is so efficient at making women nuts concerning you for a difficult mess of reasons. But the major factor is that everyone wants what they can't have, and everyone is mystically fascinated by that, which they can't manage and fellas, that's why being a bad-ass loose could not care.

Less alpha male is so damn irresistible. Oh, you know, what else is irresistible key, manly expertise, proven to obtain women to stress over you, yet the most detailed old Sanskrit degree wisdom regarding the artist's deductions completely worthless. If you do not recognize the main factors women believe you desire attractive, yet Hey, do not flip out due to the fact that I'm going to share a few of that valuable details with you at the end of the video clip.

So hang tough up until the end to figure out exactly what the majority of guys are doing to transform 99.9% of women away. Second, obtain her done. Of all the extremely practical pointers for males to look eye-catching. This one is probably one of the most possible. When we think of attractive guys, we believe tall, good-looking, physically fit, symmetrical face functions as well as stuff like that.

As well as while it's all real, the art of tourist attraction goes well past those standards. One of things that alpha individuals do that females can not stand up to is that they seem to be really effective day. Get shit done day in day out. And here's why women find this so appealing having the ability to handle a job or an obstacle and persist shows that you understand how to take advantage of your possessions, to achieve an objective, an irrefutable sign of leadership, to squash your ability to remain focused, to obtain her done as a sheriff fireplace.

Trigger you prospective to be not only a successful individual, however a successful partner as well. And that fella's is how you make a woman promptly. Like you. Leading, prioritize your interest. The very best of all the ideas to look a lot more attractive has nothing to do with any individual but on your own. As well as due to that, you remain in complete control of this one.

All cooled Camille wants roadway without passion, male is a plain unrealized force and also possibility without your interest, you're simply an intricate biological meat puppet, but with your passion for something nature and the outdoors, a sport, a price, whatever it is. You immediately end up being bigger than on your own.

And that is something you're squashed will not be able to disregard something. 99.9% of ladies find resistible. It's what makes you one-of-a-kind and establishes you in addition to the remainder? So if you're unsure what your passion is, or if you've simply been disregarding it recently, see to it you get it back on the front burner and also make it a priority today.

Do not bury on your own. Academic studies of destination are numerous and the extent is extremely wide, yet there is one item of common ground that scientists continually find concerning the legislation of attraction. And that is that also in the 21st century of online dating and also social media folks often tend to come to be brought in to those they're around and interact with routinely.

Like classmates colleagues or colleagues one huge and all too typical blunder alpha men often make is to cut themselves off from opportunity while they're out there in the world, kicking ass and also taking names much lesser guys are scooping up the single women simply because they're present in quest of their passion and obtain shit done.

This, they neglect to require time off to put themselves out there, which leads us to our last verdict. The fastest way to drive females away is to be chronically preoccupied with your daily grind and ultimately inaccessible. So bear in mind. Quit working so hard periodically, it is very important to pause and put on your own out there to develop an opportunity for your crush to notice you.

Or if you don't have a crush after that to go find one in the first place, gents, today, we're revealing you 12, purely instinctive, absolutely subconscious indications that a woman likes you by this point. You recognize, it's not always easy to understand if a lady is actually interested. Is she playing games or is it genuine?

What could be chemistry field flirtation for one lady? May only be standard run of the mill kindness for an additional. Which's why today we're showing you 12 subconscious indications of tourist attraction and also the one shateringly obvious indicator that a girl is most definitely not brought in to you. Number 12, she breaks from her besties.

Hey, have you ever before saw exactly how girls constantly start the night out by only dancing with each other? The reason for that is due to the fact that they feel most comfy with their closest friends. Which in many cases is other girls, yet it's a legislation of nature. A girl in her team are hard to divide. Not just are they usually friends, yet they likewise act as kind of bodyguards for each other by keeping away any type of undesirable attention.

So what are we getting at women stick together at the very least semi unconsciously out of a feeling of safety and security. And also what that suggests is that if a lady you're talking with separate herself from her squad to socialize with you alone, you far better think she's interested due to the fact that not just is she leaving the enjoyable crew that she was available in with, she's also revealing her buddies that she recognizes she remains in excellent hands with you.

And also they don't have to worry. Number 11, the following in the huge, large bulk of instances, body movement, isn't only non-verbal, it's additionally mainly non-conscious. As well as most of the moment it informs you every little thing you need to know. So, what should you try to find first? One of the greatest, many fundamental body language giveaways, when it involves tourist attraction is to merely lean or fall in towards the other individual.

Think about it. The women fall in to obtain closer to men. They do not such as possibly not. To make sure that indicates if she's literally leaning in your direction, even if it's from a considerable range. She's probably feeling your ambiance. Number 10, answer seeking. Right here's something to remember the following time you speak with a woman prior to you obtain a possibility to state anything, that girl has actually instantly unconsciously developed a story about you in her mind.

However the only thing exists are unavoidably some components on the story that are missing out on. Now, if she doesn't appreciate the missing out on parts, she'll carry on and will not seem fascinating. Yet if she's interested. The only point entrusted to do is to obtain some of those inquiries responded to. So if you're speaking with a girl as well as she keeps looking for out more regarding you, that's virtually most definitely due to the fact that she's allow her interest lug her away towards view number 9, face exploration, as you recognize, well, over fifty percent of communication is entirely non-verbal as well as ground zero for that quiet and also subconscious communication is what takes place through facial expression.

Just like a woman will certainly constantly find a way to obtain her inquiries answered regarding you. She'll also be exploring your face to discover as high as she can. And the reason is easy. While your words claim one thing, your facial expressions speak on a different degree. And in a lot of cases, a more honest one. So if she appears focused on your eyes and mouth and also your nose as well as cheeks, it's not since she's attempting to make you stress over nose hairs or that area is cutting today.

It's simply her naturally attempting to discover your quirks. You understand, the little things she actually likes about you as well as how you truly feel. Number 8, she's a soft group. Here's a real age, old examination of subconscious destination. Next time you're with a lady, claim something, you know, is in fact sort of stupid, not clearly stupid, but just a little, you recognize, low initiative.

If she giggles immediately, you recognize, she enjoys you, you may've noticed this with other individuals, a woman laughing as well as smiling at a person that actually hasn't stated anything. All that amusing. Well, right here's the thing regarding making a lady laugh. A lot of the moment, what you claim does not even require to be unbelievably amusing or perhaps that original, since 9 times out of 10, below's, what's truly occurring behind the scenes.

When a girl laughs at something you claim it's usually driven by the truth that she's enduring purposely strengthening the tourist attraction. That's currently there. Basically. She currently suches as, you intends to make fun of right stuff you claim to see to it she remains to like you. No, as with everything in life, there are exemptions to the policy, yet if she's simple to get a laugh out of, that's commonly good information.

Number 7, stoke matching. Almost the only point far better than speaking with a woman you like is to talk to a lady that's equally excited to speak to you in the dating video game. That's, what's known as chemistry and all chemistry begins and also upright an entirely subconscious level. So exactly how can you tell if a girl is thrilled to chat?

Well, there are a couple of means. If you message, she texts back rather swiftly. If you see each other in public, she does not wait to find up as well as say hi, and if you approach her, she makes a few adjustments to her position, her hair, or her clothing. Exhilaration takes lots of types, gents. However if you pick up that she's eager to speak or amazed by your attention, that's what you want to see.

Number 6 sensory override touch is among those things that's driven by a pretty primal part of the brain before we ever before also talk. We learn how to communicate with get in touch with first and not just do people require to be touched, they likewise need to touch so much. So actually, That when our restraints are overwritten by something like claim solid destination, we'll touch without also thinking of it.

Now as a whole, our culture has a tendency to be rather touchy about touch and for good reason, due to the fact that also for ladies relatively innocent touching can be high-risk. Generally, girls are on high alert and also totally mindful about how they literally involve with others. All to say that if a woman is touching you, it's because her natural need to get closer is outweighing a rather engaging need to be careful.

Hey people, if you like my knowledge, keep watching because we have actually obtained 5 more signals that a lady unconsciously likes you. As well as at the end of this video clip, we're going to show you one extremely misinterpreted signal. That individuals generally miss out on. All right, allow's start. Number 5. Conceal off for the same reasons why women might hold back on touching a person.

They such as, she may also maintain her faces from handing out her tourist attraction. Generally women camouflage their interest by sort of squashing out their expressions, straight lips, neutral eyebrow line, marginal movement all around, you understand it, when you see it. And also it becomes part of the reason why. Some women get the online reputation of being a little cold.

In some cases it's simply how it is. So what does that mean for you? It implies that if a lady is smiling, raising her eyebrows, making eye get in touch with, and essentially lifting up her facial expressions with the timeless signs of overlooked passions. It's due to the fact that she's determined that you're a hero. She can rely on sufficient to let her safeguard down.

Number 4, the auto look. All right currently. This one's a classic while repeated as well as extended eye contact is clearly an excellent thing. There's one other, widely known absolutely subconscious free gift that a woman sent to you modify is the laugh and appearance or what we such as to call the vehicle appearance. Right here's exactly how it works.

The next time you're in a group of the woman. See if you can find where she looks, when something amusing takes place, if it's you who she's checking out, that's her naturally choosing you to share that enjoyable moment with this is a body movement sensation. That's quite well-documented by psychologists. People in a group,

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Thinking about Alan Moore…

Alan Moore seems to possess an integrity that is not understood by creators and fans alike. He has consistently disavowed the translation of his work into other media and has forsaken the fame and monetary rewards that we all know go along with that. The creation of comics as a pitching tool to television and film has become such conventional logic, that Alan Moore’s denials of the fruits of that success are an affront. Renouncing that money means that it was never done for the up-sell to television or film but something else. That is why most contemporary writers don’t show Mr. Moore the respect he deserves; because what he discards as inessential is their entire reason for creating comics. To them, the money and validation not possible in comics except through film and television are the very definition of success. Why would anyone throw that all away? What motivates Alan Moore if not material success and fame? For too many, there would be no other ambition.

I think what’s lost on most contemporary comics creators is the acceptance that they’re creating Art. Even the most stupid infantile comic strip would be made better and more powerful to audience members if it was created with some artistic guiding principles in mind. The biggest of those is having something to say. Comics writers are correct in saying how difficult it is to come up with new material to capture people’s imaginations (and wallets). That’s because they’ve hollowed out their venture into trying to come up with a remixing of a small pool of ideas into a ‘new’ form while always preserving the nostalgic thrill of their sources. It sounds incredibly difficult to try and capture the feeling of things we’ve already loved numerous times by presenting something that also feels new and fresh. You can see that the approach is engineered to cash in on the thrills from an already existing audience while offering them the illusion of novelty. Sell them something they’ve already bought in the guise of something different.

When you listen in on creator conversations at conventions or studio, you may notice that the craft of making this stuff almost never comes up. Instead, they tend to lean on the business side of things like editors, page rates, publishers, press etc. Most writers of comics would be very happy to have Mr. Moore’s career and would salivate at the royalties he’s tossed off. Why, if commercial success is the goal, aren’t the more cynical and craven trying to reverse engineer the gold in those stories? That void that they are afraid to examine requires too much. He’s not made it any secret so there’s no logical answer except that the validation of proving you can do what’s already been done is good enough.

What has Alan Moore said about his approach/philosophy to writing? Two key ideas expressed in the amazing documentary about him called The Mindscape of Alan Moore hold a lot of potential. Here is the first major point about getting in tune with the Self.

The search for the Self with a capital S is understood to be the great work, as being the gold of the alchemists, thought as being the will, the soul, the thing that we have inside us that is behind the intellect, the body, the dreams, the inner dynamo of us, if you like. Now, this is the single most important thing that we can ever attain, the knowledge of our own self and yet there are a frightening amount of people who seem to have the urge not just to ignore the self but actually seem to have the urge to obliterate themselves. This is horrific but you can almost understand the desire simply to wipe out that awareness because it’s too much of a responsibility to actually possess such a thing as a soul–such a precious thing. What if you break it? What if you lose it? Mightn’t it be better to anesthetize it, to deaden it, to destroy it to not have to live with the pain of struggling towards it and trying to keep it pure. I think that the way that people immerse themselves in alcohol, in drugs, in television, in any of the addictions that our culture throws up can be seen as a deliberate attempt to destroy any connection between themselves and the responsibility of accepting and owning a higher self and then having to maintain it.

As far as writing advice goes, this a long way from Story by Robert McKee isn’t it? He seems to be talking almost in spiritual terms of getting in touch with something deep within ourselves; something that the common culture denies and supplants with meaninglessness. Rather than providing the kinds of distractions from that higher investigation, Alan Moore is suggesting we do exactly the opposite of what our society encourages; seek the universal within yourself and recognize it in each other. If we’re to bring it back to writing this quest for the higher self is very much like the hero’s myth. The hero mush leave the comforts of normal society to brave dangers in search of a greater understanding/reality. When that has been achieved by the hero through great sacrifice and struggle, he goes on to sell that idea for as much money as possible to Hollywood, right? No, the hero takes that higher understanding and brings it back to to collective to transform consciousness and society.

What the writer has learned from knowledge of the Self is transformed into art that can communicate that message to others. The writer/artist communicates to others their insights from their own journey to better understand themselves and reality. Doesn’t that sound like a working definition of Art? To take experience and share it for growth of all.

In latter times I think the artists and writers have allowed themselves to be sold down the river. They have accepted the prevailing belief that art and writing are merely forms of entertainment. They are not seen as transformative forces that can change a human being, that can change a society. They are seen as simple entertainment, things with which we can fill twenty minutes, half an hour while we’re waiting to die.

It is not the job of artists to give the audience what the audience wants. If the audience knew what they needed, then they wouldn’t be the audience, they would be the artists. It’s the job of artists to give the audience what they need.

I see the role of artist as mere entertainer to be a dead end and a product of the sort of diminishing returns inevitable when trying to pass off tired fictions as something new. I’ve illustrated enough series to see this logic at work and how it fails to pass on a meaningful spark of inspiration. It’s as though the creators of contemporary comics keep forcing their formulations for commercial success but fail to adjust them when they dry up. By looking within yourself, you understand that what stirs your soul is not that different than what stirs the souls of your audience. The art you make to help your Self’s journey can help others and that’s the REAL role of art; to contribute to the overall evolution of consciousness.

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THE IMPOSSIBLE STAIRCASE – A CONVERSATION WITH ANDREW JUDAH

Andrew Judah is based in Kelowna—but don’t call them a Kelowna band.

“It’s impossible not to be influenced by your environment in some way, but I’m not writing about the Okanagan and the sound is not based on anything to do with the Okanagan,” their frontman (and namesake) told us over coffee earlier this month.

“Yeah, it might be shaped by the people you spend time with… less by the lake,” bassist Caleb McAlpine chimed in beside him.

Fair enough, some of the band members themselves having grown up or spent extended periods of time in other cities. Andrew Judah was a solo project first; his debut album, The Preacher’s Basement, came out in 2011.

Judah still writes the material and handles most of the instrumentation on studio recordings, but the group of like-minded musicians has been a boost to his live shows and creative process. McAlpine even co-produced the new record with Judah – or, in the latter’s words, “pulled me back from the ledge when I was having doubts about something, or about to delete everything.”

Impossible Staircase, set for release on April 20th, pulls back from the synth-y melodies of Judah’s last album. It was written about a close friend’s battle with addiction, and ties into an overarching concept of being trapped in a feedback loop.

There is piano, guitars, and drums, but also hints of the less conventional—violin, autoharp, trombone. The recently released single “Burn it Down” is eerily cinematic; Judah’s lyrics are a mix of metaphor and literal, his vocals poised amidst the pulsing rhythm.

Impossible Staircase by Andrew Judah

One of the few instruments Judah didn’t play on every track himself was the drums. Most of the percussion was recorded by Zac Gauthier – who was featured on Judah’s last album, Metanoia, as well – in a cabin near Salmon Arm.

“There are some pretty explosive moments [on the record] that only he could pull off,” said McAlpine. “He is amazing,” Judah agreed.

Chloe Davidson, who is a member of Kelowna bluegrass quartet Under the Rocks, handled violin duties.

Every song on Impossible Staircase flows into the next as if in – you guessed it – a never-ending cycle. Judah also incorporates Shepard tones—audio illusions which give the impression of a pitch rising, or falling, forever.

“It’s a loop, but it tricks your ears into thinking you’re hearing this very stressful, continuously descending sound,” Judah said of the technique. (Film score composer Hans Zimmer is a fan, if you needed another reason to appreciate its emotive power.)

Judah’s favourite song on the album changes day to day, but at the time of this interview he settled on “Lose My Mind,” which will be released as a single on Friday.

“It’s just a very sincere song about a very serious topic, and I managed to do it in a way that… I don’t hate?” He laughed. “It’s hard to write from an honest place about something that’s happening in your life, and not have it be cheesy. I’m pretty critical of things that feel cheesy.”

McAlpine went with “Penrose” – a seven-minute tune that has proven to be quite the challenge in rehearsals.

“There’s a repeating line that feels like it goes on for two minutes… there's no room to breathe. I'm going hard on a shaker, playing keys, singing, and I'm just not thinking. Almost every time without fail, I feel like I'm about to pass out.”

It’s something we don’t often consider—complex arrangements, pieced together between the walls of a studio, written with the headphone listener in mind and not the immediacy in having to recreate them. Rehearsals are the first opportunity the band members have to flesh out the songs for their live show.

Andrew Judah was set to embark on a BC tour this month, but postponed the dates due to COVID-19 concerns. Victoria was one city they were most looking forward to revisiting; they played a sold-out show at Vinyl Envy in October, and have also been on the bill for Psych & Soul – an annual music showcase put on by the record store.

“Really good community there,” said McAlpine. “We will never not go to Victoria to play shows.”

In light of the circumstances, they recorded a live set at Judah’s studio, Sounds Suspicious. It can be enjoyed with a glass of wine, and a friend, providing that friend is streaming the video from the confines of their own home.

The band is no stranger to larger crowds, having been a part of Skookum, Vancouver Fringe Festival, and Rifflandia in recent years. They were scheduled to play the (also postponed) AltiTunes Festival at Big White alongside Canadian rock darlings Arkells and Dear Rouge.

But there’s nothing quite like the charm of a room, and they lean towards intimate, self-made events at coffee shops and other less traditional venues when performing locally. It is time consuming, Judah acknowledged, but makes the end experience that much more worthwhile. “Everything is intentional, as opposed to playing in a bar where half the people might not even be listening.”

The most anticipated part of their set is also the most unpredictable: the group marches from the stage to the middle of the crowd, and play a song without the use of mics or amplification.

They’ve done it surrounded by hundreds under the cozy lights of Canoe Coffee Roasters, to a lone table of three in Port Alberni. It is a moment that lends itself to connection and vulnerability – and audiences have been receptive to that.

“It turns things from look at what we’re doing, to look at what we’re engaging in,” McAlpine said. “We go back on stage and it changes from that point on.”

The cover art for Impossible Staircase was drawn by Max Weiner, who also did the art for two of Judah’s previous records. Keeping with the cyclical theme, it shows an ouroboros – a snake eating its own tail – in the shape of a DNA strand—“which speaks to our behaviour being more ingrained than not,” said Judah.

The last music video Andrew Judah put out was for “Best in Show” – a song that will appear on the new record, albeit a more resonant version than what is currently released.

They don’t have any others in the works, McAlpine noting it’s something they’ll revisit once the album is out, and they see an opportunity to carry the art forward.

“I'm not a giant fan of music videos in general,” said Judah. “I don't think they’re worth doing unless they're something that can stand on their own; truly another way to look at a piece of music, as opposed to just… (The PRP: A band performing it?) Yes, exactly. That feels reductionist to do it just because.”

When he’s not working on material under the Andrew Judah banner, the frontman is a freelance composer for film and television.

It started back in 2012, when he remixed the song “Let Go” by New York experimental artist Son Lux, a.k.a. Ryan Lott. Lott’s day job was as a composer at Butter Music; one thing led to another, and Judah was offered a residency there himself.

Asked how the commercial avenue has influenced his approach to solo material, Judah admits he wasn’t very intentional with his writing when he started out. “Music was just this thing that happened… the inspiration would lead wherever it led. Since it became my job, [I think more about] what sounds are going to make people feel a certain way. It’s been an education in what to do with my own music.”

McAlpine has his own solo project, Common Fires, and a new single coming out April 13th. But he had always wanted to play in a band, and joked that he was “very sad, very bored. Never getting any better, just getting more sad and bored; slightly worse,” in the solitary endeavour.

He returned to Kelowna in 2014, having not lived in the city for about 10 years, and was planning to move again when the opportunity to collaborate with Judah – whose work he was already a fan of – arose.

“It’s been a very fruitful relationship,” McAlpine surmised.

The other members of the live band are Nathanael Sherman (guitar) and Kevin Dreger (drums). Sherman also releases music under the moniker N. Sherman, and put out a single titled “Sweet Boy” last week.

So, it seems Impossible Staircase is a fitting analogy for the musicians themselves. Multi-faceted and never satisfied. Continuously pushing their craft.

“You as a musician are probably always practicing,” McAlpine said. “You’re never not riding that bike.”

And we can be appreciative of that.

Written by: Natalie Hoy Header image by: Nathan Peacock

[elanska]

Miss not so sidekick - chapter 90

Latte is on her way down to reception room when she heard the tower inhabitants (mages) talking between themselves. The topic is about the guests that were forcibly escorted out by their tower lord.

now, I wouldn't want to say I'm judging  (from such casual conversation, no less!), so I'm gonna just straight up accuse them of being hikkikomori as well as *rarely* interacted with girls (some fandom long ago equates wizards with engineers* and I think that's tru LOLOLOL) *I think it's pratchett, but I cannot find the quote*

anyway Latte just realized that she might become nuisance if she's intruding right where they're doing clean up after the kois rampage (and you just think they're...well, the way they're flapping their mouth, is kyuut! Okay, once she married with bunny, i can totally see them raising a nice little doggy with 3 heads and let them chase the inhabitants a bit ('they need exercise!' 'who?' 'both!') *my bad, my bad, stop thinking psychopath thought*

Latte remembers back then in her old life when she was a poor teacher, swamped with works and still told to make coffee for some newly arrived guests (urk, relatable). So she just, climb the stairs back again to help gandalf

but! a mage already notice her!

and call her a name that even *more* humiliating than 'fairy'! (oh, Arwin will not like that, only he can humiliate....I meant make latte goes red with embarassment. and this is coming from his second-in-command? what is this betrayal??). Also, since it's super long and we can't exactly remember the order, we'll call it Arobrock-trying-to-give-a-clue-how-earthshaking-and-shattering-this-woman-is-to-the-tower's-future-*cough*theonlywomanyourtowerlordkidnappickpersonally*cough*and-may-very-well-lead-to-marriage*nudgenudgewinkwink*

since no way in hell i'm gonna copy paste all that, I'm gonna call it the *nudgenudgewinkwink* 'customer' (that's right, blame it to Arobrock, guys)

anyway, red and blue mage start bickering because dude, even with unorthodox naming convention on this manga, that's still waaaay /too/ long. Ohh, it's just a title and not real name? (can't fault them, what's with count whoyoufromwhere thingie, really) and can they mess the name order? yeah guys, blame Arobrock for that, have fun make mnemonics for that *phew* so glad I have my own clever way to shortened it as *nudgenudgewinkwink* 'customer'--> totally failed in history subjects

meanwhile, Latte who just listen them bickering over *nudgenudgewinkwink' 'customer' title just like, totally confused instead totally embarassed. Hmmm, this won't do, this won't do. Maybe it hasn't sink in yet since red and blue are busy bickering and bantering and yelling on top of their lungs. Totally playground kiddos. Th...this is the tower that sells expensive scrolls right? those scrolls are made by playground kiddie?

just as Latte still reeling from earth-shattering image, a guy that looks like he'll ace any history test approach and informing her that they had prepared the reception room and to please follow him. Latte, who starting to feel the weight of her 'super embarassing' title start lamenting 'Gandalf, why u forsaken me so' while red and blue still bickering about the super long title and red just kinda give up! I'll just shorten it instead (re...red, you'll never ace your history test that way! go invent some mnemonics or other memorization technique instead!)

meanwhile the history test!ace keep showing off his brain ability to recite Arobrock's test without scrolling up and copy-paste. We're kinda sitting on the fence on this Memoria guy. On one side, we know it's not his fault for being so brainy, but on other side, we have bitter memories of test failures even after cramming up all night. can you just, showing off your brain capacity in a more mage-ish way huh? like defeating a dragon or something? surely that's mage 101 or something right? why don't you try doing that instead keeping showing off how you'd ace a history test if there's one huh? ****oy, erm guys, our mind seems starting to take it personally, we should switch topic immediately****

Latte, our sweet girl and seemingly can read our mind, come to our rescue! she ask to shorten the ludicrous title (use *nudgenudgewinkwink* 'customer'!). Ace memoria were about to suggest something (is it better than our *nudgenudgewinkwink* 'customer'? nothing is better than our *nudgenudgewinkwink* 'customer'! ****uh guys, are we seriously competing with...? sshhhh, just hold on, we're just 3 pages away from finishing this chapter. let's hope she forget about this stupid rivalry next week****) when red and blue pops out and suggesting their own version (but of course, our *nudgenudgewinkwink* 'customer' is still better) and start bickering again which one is better (ours, of course!).

Show off trying to keep his calm but finally reveal his true colors about being a bad babysitter ***uwaaa, she's starting to personally attack just because he ace history test, I feel bad for that guy *munch popcorn***** we also seen how quick to anger and violence these kids are, my my, how unsightly, what have the teacher has been doing? ****uh, should we, uh, tell her that she's been attacking bunny also? are you crazy? I don't want to get involved**** *snaps fan* then show off start manhandling those brats with his hand instead magic, haaah, can we find some competent wizards here? preferrably someone that doesn't busy showin off how he ace their memory test ****oh god! she just went full condescending mother-in-law mode! I'm gonna go get psychopath division****

Memoria told the kids to be quiet and behave in front of orange tabby kitty since she's their bunny lord's guest. Hmmm, isn't it the other way around? since she already know bunny's violent psychopath tendencies, it should be okay, right, guys? *looks over* ***sigh, come here a bit, psychopath division***

continuing on, the kids asks if Latte come here to see bunny? but Memoria said that's not the case, their lord bring her here by himself.

And those two kids like, NO WAY! but....considering they're in first floor cleaning up this whole time and Latte come from floor *above* and Arwin is the only one that can teleporting in and out the Tower (which was warded specifically against that), it....it must be true???

and Latte still smiling without understanding how special is this uwu (especially because she made narration before about how Peridot and other girls are just ignored and left at the gate; hmmm, maybe because she's a customer and they're just stans? but Arwin-Arobrock conversation in chapter 23/24? before clearly remarked that he never shown any respect to customer. But suddenly he kidnap bringing one *by himself* to the tower? (kings usually summon people, not fetching them himself) what a special...ahem *nudgenudgewinkwink* 'customer'!). By the way, just want to note that Latte ribboned mane is so messy and cute.

Anyway, the kids recalling that there are somebody that try to pass herself as the tower lord's guest before. A princess from neighbouring country (dude, a princess...Arwin, you're one sinful bunny) aaaaaannnnnd, bunny gives ultimatum for her family to take her home immediately and beat the crap out of her if they didn't want to die (ummm, dude, Arwin, you're one violent murderous bunny)

**time for a bit of discussion, guys. Arwin will hit a girl?** **I say yea. he raised in slums. Latte almost get beaten just because she stepped on somebody's foot. no difference if you're a girl or a boy there, it's a gutter, remember?** **doesn't meant he will do it himself though? I meant, he's a wizard, he has other ways to punish people using magic** **but he's also has penchant for violence** **yeah, that slum background again. but would you prefer normal beating or getting blasted by magic?** **can we say the first one is reserved for normal people? (aside thugs that attacks physically we meant, they'll get beheaded)**we never see him specifically beating up girls though, what about his stans?** **sigh. when you're in slums. where kids killing each other for bread, d'ya think being a girl granted you some special privilege? like 10 kids fighting for bread and suddenly a girl appear and demand that bread is for her and they concede to be dead of hunger because a girl asks so? no way, girl is just people. Arwin will kill a girl-stan if they /dare/ to attack him** *oohhh, interesting, totally different from kenneth who suffers from his own stan** **well, Kenneth raised in society that minded their manners and girls by default are demure and lovely lil’ critter. slums is like, survival for the fittest, and somebody that thinks it's a good idea to turn your back to a female (that will be mostly have hidden weapon on themselves somewhere, since they still survive there, you know) winning darwin award** **oh-ho, then this princess?** **well, it's not like she's attacking him physically. But still, to be sneaky and entitled towards the TOWER LORD warrants a punishment, no? and it's annoying, and what if other people start claiming as well? need to discourage them. Also, it's annoying, so beating it is** **hey, you make it sound very psychopath. why he make the family doing it?** **parent's job to raise their children?** **if the parents involved, the kids likely less to repeat them again?** **also, there might be sick SM stans that enjoys being 'punished' specifically by tower lord** **WHAAAAAAAAA!! okay, let's stop there, stop there** **and therefore likely to repeat the offense** **i told you to stop dammit! continue on!**

back at the board, the kids expressing doubt if the princess’ parents really do beat their daughter. Apparently they send picture as proof (hmmm, bunny quite foolproof). Also, why the kids have iphone while their dad have that communication orb? (eh, the artist likely get creative, it's not like Latte really turned into Jojo everytime she do her gags. but we wondered if his orb having picture gallery/memory card and if it's full of Latte's pics **Arwin mentioned he would take record of Latte's crying in the alley and show it to her everytime they meet, so it's likely is** oh...oh yeah, we forgot about that)

Memoria complaint that the kids are too loud and he got his info directly from Arobrock so it's the fact. The kids accepts it readily since Arobrock is trustworthy fellow (OR IS HE?????). Red getting hey, he totally is! we respect this man that looks like grandpa even though he's younger than us (wait, you look no older than 16! how old are you, red?) blue then started smacking red for teasing cursed people (blue seems nicer guy, but how old are them seriously? also I forgot, but Bishot is confirmed to be 19, so there's still younger people than Arobrock (or or they didn't count Bishot since he's not there? hmmm, I just think red goes exaggerating and therefore getting beaten by blue though).

[ihaveonlymydreams]

On the problem of explicit representations of sex in art

(this is for @itspileofgoodthings so she will stop pestering me :p. Also I apologize for the fact that when I write my thoughts they come out in formal academic language. I am not this stuffy in real life I promise. At least I don't think so!!! *runs away*)

Disclaimer: This is not an essay about the morality of representing sex in art. It is an argument that the explicit depiction of sex in art is, almost without exception, a crime against the nature of art itself. So I'm going about this in two parts: I believe that explicit sexuality in art destroys 1) not only the integrity of the work, but also 2) the ability of the reader or viewer to perceive the nature of reality.

This all depends on a very specific definition of art - and if you don't agree with it, you might as well stop reading now (fair warning!). Art, as I understand it, (following Aristotle's definition) is an imitation of Reality (truth, if you prefer). Its purpose is to open our minds and hearts to the deepest truths of existence, and it does so by engaging our imagination and pleasing our senses. Art allows us to perceive the depths that are usually hidden from us by the nature of our everyday life, our tendency to grow bored and complacent and insensitive to the beauty and power of Reality. Art reflects Reality, but not by making a detailed realistic copy - instead, art exaggerates, caricatures, heightens the contrast, draws things out of the shadows, paints in more vivid colors, and uses a thousand different tricks and techniques to open our eyes again to what is REALLY THERE.

1) the integrity of the work

So a work of art has a purpose, like a window has a purpose - it opens up on some vista, gives us an insight into another human being, allows us to imaginatively enter into experiences we've never had. Imagination is the tool that takes us out of ourselves and lets us see Reality. What it's not intended to do, in art, is to make us prisoners of our own selves and our own emotions. This is the first problem raised by the depiction of sex in art - is it so explicit that, rather than being drawn out of the self into Reality, the reader or viewer is drawn back into the self? If so, then it is no longer art but pornography. (I acknowledge, of course, that different people have different sensitivities - so the majority must be considered, not any individual.) Pornography in art, as I'm using the term, occurs at any moment when the (average) reader or viewer is 1) distracted from the story by a powerful physical or emotional reaction and then 2) finds that the story becomes a tool for the amplification and satiation of that response. To recapitulate: art is a window from the self into Reality; the moment it becomes a mirror or a tool of the self, it ceases to be art and becomes a kind of pornography, a self-indulgence that traps the person firmly inside of their own experience. When that happens, the integrity of the work of art is destroyed. For instance, the reader is no longer interested in the characters for their own sake or for the sake of the truth revealed through them. The work of art, this precious and unique creation that reflects Reality in its own particular way, is reduced to a tool that scratches an itch.

I understand, of course, where the temptation to write or otherwise portray these scenes comes from. On some level we all know there is some profound truth to be found in the experience of sex between two people who love each other. However, ironically, the more an artist attempts to get at the Reality of sex by explicit imitation, the more the truth of it slips away from them. In fact, the worst offenders of this kind are often female writers, who want so badly to give you the emotional truth of sex that they destroy their own art in the process - sex scenes become the selling point and everything grows more and more mediocre. Why is it so hard to portray the Reality of sex? Well, in part because we are so susceptible to being swept away by our own sensations and emotions in this regard. I do believe that the portrayal of other emotions can destroy the integrity of art in this way - violence and rage, for instance - but sex, rising as it does out of the purely positive emotion of love, seems to need the most delicate treatment of all.

2) the distortion of reality

There is, however, a different way of portraying sex in art than the one mentioned above. This is what I would call the coldly objective. At first glance, this method seems less problematic: sex is portrayed factually or clinically, the reader or viewer is not distracted by any personal reaction to the scene; rather than distract from the work of art, the scene keeps the attention of the reader where it should be. There are, in fact, some cases where I think this approach remains artistic - but they are few. The problem with the objective method of depicting sex is that it, too, fails to express the Reality. Sex is not, or should not be, a cold and joyless thing. It is the supreme most powerful expression of the love of two human beings, a love that makes them desire to be one in body and in soul. To present sex as purely a matter of two bodies, then, is to neglect the spiritual reality. Human beings having sex are not just animals copulating out of instinct. To make it seem so is to lie, to obscure the truth, and thus to fail as art.

There is a subcategory to this approach, as I mentioned, and it has to do with those situations in which one or more of the characters involved actually perceive sex in a cold or animalistic way. Rape scenes, for instance, can be done in an artistic way - as long as they take care not to run into the problem of pornography. In those cases, a cold and objective presentation can adequately reflect the truth of what is happening. The same can be said of scenes where disgust or horror is the emotional response - though that, again, has to be very carefully controlled. Even disgust can become self-indulgent, and self-indulgence is the enemy of art, which should be clear-sighted and outward-gazing into the dark and light of Reality.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion: the nature of art and the nature of sex both conspire to make the explicit and truthful depiction of sex a pretty much impossible thing. If art tries too hard to depict the spirit reality of the act, it falls into the trap of pornography and ceases to be art; if it tries to be objective and unemotional, it fails to be true and so again ceases to be art. There was a reason sex was considered sacred in older times: not necessarily, again, for purely religious reasons. Sacred means "set apart." The experience of sex should be "set apart" for those who can experience its truth, for those who love each other, body and soul, and desire union. Precisely because sex is union, both physical and spiritual, it becomes impossible to reproduce explicitly and directly.

But what does that mean? Is there no way to give a window into that Reality through art? I think there are many methods, in fact, that have been used throughout the history of art and storytelling - conversations being one. Just think about the lovely conversations between Jane Austen's protagonists after they confess their love to each other! True love's kiss is one of the most common conventions - as, in opera and musicals, is the love duet. And, of course, especially in movies - DANCE SCENES. It's my theory that dance scenes are the perfect artistic expression of the Reality of sex, because they allow you to see the spiritual and physical unity of the lovers in a way that doesn't distract from the truth of the art. There's a reason Shakespeare's plays always ended with dancing.

(Look at that and tell me it isn't more TRUE than a sex scene could ever have been)

[ofeoladapo-literacy-through-art]

Literacy Through Art: An Analysis of Banksy’s “Sweeping It Under the Carpet”

By: Oreofeoluwa Oladapo

This street art painting was painted by Banksy, an anonymous artist, in Chalk Farm, London. This painting, entitled “Sweeping it Under the Carpet,” is a portrait of Banksy’s maid from a hotel room that he stayed in while he was in Los Angeles, and the artwork symbolizes how the governments in the western world ignore and fail to address many of the issues that occur in the world. The more developed countries are essentially sweeping pressing global issues under the rug and pretending that certain problems do not exist. Specifically, people who knew Banksy said that the portrait is meant to symbolize "the West's reluctance to tackle issues such as AIDS in Africa." Personally, I am very passionate about the idea of using street art to convey messages. Some people would consider wall art to be vandalism or graffiti, but I think that it is a form of self expression that is very necessary in world culture. Banksy was anonymous, so he focused on using his art to convey messages as opposed to making money off of his work. I enjoy the simplicity of this portrait and the meaning behind it is extremely powerful upon hearing the explanation, but, even though Banksy had the intention of silently protesting through his artwork, it would be difficult to understand his underlying message just by looking at the painting. The portrait simply resembles a maid lifting up a rug to sweep under it, but the portrait does not convey emotions of frustration or any particular issue that Banksy was aiming to address in itself. When I looked at the painting prior to reading an explanation or receiving any context, all I could conclude was that the image is of a maid cleaning. The colors also do not help convey the intended message; the black and white contribute to the simplicity of the portrait, but it is difficult to interpret the underlying meaning because black and white are associated with blandness and neutrality. The color scheme makes it difficult to feel the painter’s frustration through the image. A color like red would have been good to include in the portrait to express anger. Also, the maid’s facial expression could have been used to express emotion through the image. Overall, this portrait is a good example of visual literacy, but the painter did a mediocre job in conveying his exact message through the image.

My classmate, Khawla Elnour, is also a fan of Banksy’s work, but she seems to appreciate the simplicity more and discusses the power of his art. Elnour stated, “As someone who has never developed a deep interest in visual arts, Banksy has always been the exception. I have always seen his works circling around social media and thought they were amazing. I have always been especially attached to this piece in particular, “Sweeping It Under the Carpet”. Like the rest of his works, it is simple, but holds great meaning. Banksy uses this painting to make several statements. Here he is calling out the inability of government authorities to acknowledge and act upon the injustices people face worldwide. I resonate with this message because I constantly find myself frustrated with this lack of action. The witty manner in which he conveys this message is very creative. By having a maid pictured sweeping under a rug, he speaks against the people who spend their lives purposely ignoring and dismissing major issues. Overall, I have an appreciation for Banksy’s unique application of literacy. The art silently protests in a way traditional words cannot. In this case, his art is used as a platform of literary expression rather than a means of monetary gain or to create something that is just beautiful. Every aspect is significant because these are what serve as the supporting details and evidence of his work.”

A Fictional Interview with Khawla and Dr. David Kirkland (in the form of a televised talkshow)

Ofe (announcer/producer/technician): Welcome to another night of “Khonversations with Khawla!” starring Khawla Elnour! On tonight’s episode, we have a very special guest! He is New York University’s Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and The Transformation of Schools Executive Director, and he wrote an article about literacy through tattoos, the black community, and the adoption of a new English Education! Everyone give it up for Dr. David Kirkland!

Audience cheers

Khawla (host): Welcome Dr. Kirkland! How are you tonight?

David (guest): Oh please, call me David. I’m doing swell!

Khawla: We love to hear it. I understand that you worked with someone named Derrick Todd to learn about he tells his story through his tattoos. Do you think there are other forms of literacy that capture stories without using the typical paper and pencil?

David: Of course! I think paintings, drawings, sculptures, statues, and even memes use artistic methods to tell stories, and these types of works definitely should definitely be considered to be forms of literacy and discussed in English courses.

Khawla: That is so true! Speaking of paintings, I have been interested in this painting for years now! It’s called “Sweeping it Under the Carpet.” It’s by this anonymous street artist in London who’s known as Banksy.

David: Wow, I LOVE street art! It is a form of literacy that serves even more public purposes than tattoos do! It is an amazing way to truly get your story out there! Let me take a look at it!

Khawla pulls up an image of the “Sweeping It Under the Carpet” painting on her phone, and Ofe displays the same image on the large screen for the audience to see.

Audience murmurs in confusion

David: Um...so...what is it?

Audience laughs

Ofe inserts this image on jumbo screen:

Audience laughs hysterically

Khawla: With all due respect, what do you mean by that?

David: All I see here is a woman lifting up what I’m assuming is a carpet.

Khawla: There is so much more to it!

Ofe inserts this image on the jumbo screen:

Audience breaks out in laughter

Khawla (facing Ofe, angrily): You know, we can change the name of this show to “Khonflicts with Khawla” if you want to!

Ofe: Hey, I’m just doing my job.

Khawla: Anyway, the painting has a significant meaning behind it. Banksy made this painting of his maid from a hotel he stayed in sweeping under the carpet. The artwork signifies how the western world sweeps many worldwide issues under the rug, such as the AIDS crisis in Africa. Banksy used his art to express his frustration about the situation. I personally resonate with this message because I am also extremely frustrated about the lack of action!

David: Did you read a summary about the painting?

Khawla: Yes.

David: Of course you did. That meaning is powerful, but how was I meant to get all of that out of a black and white image of a woman cleaning? I couldn’t feel the struggle, pain, and frustration through the painting at all.

Ofe inserts this meme on the large screen:

Audience, collectively: Oooooooooooooooo

David: I do love the painting, and I believe that it is a great form of literacy because Banksy intended to express his views on a very valid and important issue in today’s world, but there was a lack of emotion in the image. The painting is black and white, and the expression on the maid’s face is extremely neutral. This painting is beautiful, but it gives me a vibe of neutrality and emotionlessness, not frustration. Like honestly, how was I meant to figure out the underlying message in that painting?

Khawla: I guess you are right, Dr. Kirkland, but you do have to say, once that message is uncovered, the painting is ten times more powerful

David: Certainly! Thanks for having me!

Khawla: Thank you for coming to converse with me, and thank you all for tuning in to “Khonversations with Khawla!” On the next episode, I will be interviewing Megan Thee Stallion to see how she feels about the recent tweet that Howard University’s professor, Dr. Gregory Carr, posted regarding her performance. You won’t want to miss it! I love you all. Remember, if you want to be “khool, khome khonverse with Khawla!”

Audience applauds

Curtains close

A Video about Art as Literacy

This video is about a school that teaches art as literacy where the students learn how to read and understand images. From 1:49-2:05, one of the students discusses how color helps her to interpret the mood in a piece of artwork. This shows that simple elements in a piece of artwork such as color have a powerful impact on the message that the art conveys.

Important Questions to Consider

Can one measure proper attribution and citation in writing formats that borrow heavily from non-peer reviewed sources?

A non-peer reviewed source is a work that was published by a single author without other people’s revision. These types of sources will rarely be found in publications that are meant to be peer reviewed. Examples of non-peer reviewed sources include editorials and opinion pieces. Some editorials found in newspapers have no author or are written by an “Editorial Board.” This means that it may be difficult to measure proper attribution in non-peer reviewed sources; people can only give as much credit as the author gives, and people do not always know who the author is. If the author of an editorial does not cite the sources used to make his or her conclusion, then the only person who will receive proper attribution is the author. If the specific author is not known, whether it was written by an anonymous author or an editorial board, then readers do not know who to credit for the opinion. Writers who borrow heavily from non-peer reviewed sources can only give as much attribution as their sources provide.

What responsibilities are most important for writers? To adhere to the conventions and 
 expectations of their disciplines and professional communities? Or to address and persuade 
 mainstream readers of the perspective each writer values most?

Writers have many responsibilities, and it is important for writers to consider which responsibilities have the most weight and which rules can be bent when they are writing their works of creative expression. Many writers believe that it is crucial to adhere to the expectations and standards set by their professional community, but others believe that the most important duty in writing is to convey their message and persuade the audience of their perspective, no matter how they do it. I believe that the most important responsibility of a writer is to get their message across, even if the most effective way of doing so is to break away from the standard conventions and formats. Adhering to certain rules while writing can be very limiting, but using formats and modes of expression that are not considered standard in literacy allows writers to convey their messages in a way that’s easier for the readers to grasp and more fun to read. An example of a writer who breaks away from the standard essay format who I still consider to be professional is June Jordan. In her article, “Nobody Mean More to Me Than the Future Life of Willie Jordan,” she used multiple formats to convey her message; she included a dialogue from Alice Walker’s The Color Purple, letters, prayers, lists, and a dialogue from Ibsen’s A Doll’s House while discussing black English in the classroom. Her use of various elements in her writing made the essay more exciting and interesting for the reader and helped her to convey her perspective effectively.

Can writing ever be too neat? Too organized? Can writing with too few sources still be considered critical?

Many writers strictly adhere to the “proper” organization of essays by building on points that other people made in their writings and leaving out certain points. Although it is very common for writers, especially high school and college students, to try to perfectly follow the expected organization, I believe that writing can often be too neat. If a writer is so focused on organization, he or she is less likely to be focused on the actual content of the essay or piece of writing. This could result in a writer not fully expressing all of his or her views because they are afraid of ruining the organization or breaking from the standard writing format.

Works cited

Jordan, June B.. “Nobody Mean More to Me than You and the Future Life of Willie Jordan.” (1988).

Kirkland, David E. “The Skin We Ink: Tattoos, Literacy, and a New English Education.” English Education, vol. 41, no. 4, 2009, pp. 375–395. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40607891.

O'Neill, Brendan. “Backstory: A London Scene Set by Guerilla Art.” The Christian Science Monitor, The Christian Science Monitor, 9 Jan. 2007, https://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0109/p20s01-alar.html.

Links to Images

***all memes were created using https://imgflip.com/memegenerator

https://www.canvasartrocks.com/products/banksy-maid-sweeping-under-the-carpet-wall-mural-wallpaper

Links to other sources

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esUawrdkxEo

[epistolizer]

Hit and Run Commentary #125

When liberals insist that there needs to be a conversation, what they really mean is that they intend to browbeat and  berate the general public until they surrender ideologically just to be allowed a semblance of peace and where the prevailing conventional wisdom is allegedly altered to such an extent that disenfranchisement and even potential violence against the few remaining stalwart critics is viewed as a viable option.  

Of conditions at facilities warehousing urchins dragged across the border, a Southern Baptist theologian lamented,  “Those created in the image of God should be treated with dignity and compassion, especially those seeking refuge from violence back home. We can do better than this.” But at no time did he offer to board these individuals in posh and palatial Southern Baptist Convention properties. If we as a nation weren’t concerned about the dignity of these souls, wouldn’t they be disposed of at the border crossing? One notices at no time did he urge parents to remain with their children in their respective homelands or for the regimes from which these individuals originated to improve conditions for their citizens. 

For Boo Beep failing to consent to being Woody’s breeding sow and for Jessie The Cowgirl taking over as the new sheriff in Toy Story, homeschool activist Kevin Swanson invoked I Corinthians 11:11, stating that man is not independent of woman nor woman independent of man. But that only applies to those that are married. For no one else has right to control you in that sort of manner. As much as aspiring cultists might want to, you can’t make someone marry someone else.  

The same homeschool elites jacked out of shape that characters at the end of Toy Story aren't married off would probably toss a bigger fit if these pairings were formed in a manner other than the parents selecting the mate with the decision subject to approval by pastoral authorities.

It was said in a homily on SermonAudio that one will not find the right relationship until one has found satisfaction in Christ. Given that we still endure results of a sin nature until we depart this world, such never fully happens. Ironically, these hardline exegetes are usually of the sorts that toss fits if people aren’t married by the time they are 23 years old. Second, if one has found satisfaction and completeness in Christ, why bother getting married? Solely for increasing the size of the herd as the brainwashed girl remarked in the South Park episode on homeschooling?  

In analyzing the Avengers films on Issues Etc,  columnist Terry Mattingly referenced in what seemed an almost condescending tone   “Evangelicals and their minivans.” So exactly how else is one supposed to get around if one spawns the requisite number to be categorized as sufficiently pious? It’s not like there is a variety of station wagons on the market to select from these days.  

Instead of condemning singles that stay to themselves, perhaps Southern Baptist elites should have gotten after those for the most part married that can’t seem to keep their hands off the underaged.  

The media is outraged at the existence of a secret social media group where border agents are alleged to have used vulgar terminology. So apparently the media can teach us to say these naughty sorts of things. We apparently just aren’t allowed to repeat them.

If the government is not allowed to ask how many residing within the nation’s borders are actually citizens, by what right can it ask how many flush toilets are in my house when I am the one paying for the amount of water that flows through both?  

Pastor Mark Dever and his herald theologian Jonathan Leeman of the Capitol Hill Baptist network of churches insist that one is in a state of sin if a believer does not hold formalized membership in a church. But aren’t their membership contracts (or “covenants” laying over the vernacular a hyperpious coating most will lack the courage to question) terminable only upon death or membership transferred not to a congregation holding to the fundamentals of the Christian faith but rather one within their particular network of churches themselves sinful? How is this appreciably different than the billion year contracts aspiring Scientologists are compelled to sign before induction into the sect?  

In remarks about church membership in a Ligionier Ministries podcast, theologian Jonathan Leeman remarked that those leery of such commitment are doing so to avoid accountability. But aren’t such individuals in a sense justified to be skeptical of such intrusion into their lives when a number of congregations that look to this particular thinker as one of their leading theological beacons stipulate in their membership covenants that such an arrangement is terminable only upon death or one sidedly when those in authority rather than the mere pewfiller decides that their walk with Christ might best be cultivated elsewhere? Contrary to Dr. Leeman’s flippant dismissal, there is more to this reluctance than not “wanting to live in the light”. It is about reticence over being compelled to live by pastoral preferences spelled out nowhere indisputably in the pages of Scripture and about the perdition it sounds like some churches might put an individual through if they come to the conclusion that they just have got to leave a miserable situation.  

Elder Jonathan Leeman of Cheverly Baptist Church in an oration on church membership at Southeastern Theological Seminary admonished that great care must be taken to keep the line between world and church clear. Has he brought this up with his 9Marks colleague Isaac Adams who affiliates with a group of Christian hip hop artists advocating recreational cannabis? In this same oration, Jonathan Leeman pointed out the dangers of allowing non-Christian musicians to play in church. Perhaps he could similarly clarify his position regarding Christians extolling the delights of recreational cannabis or do they get a free pass when they are not White?  

In an oration at Southeastern Theological Seminary,  Elder Jonathan Leeman says that he likes to drive along Embassy Row in Washington, DC to see the flags of the various nations. Many of these represent nations engaged in outright tyranny and oppression. Others subtly restrict freedom of expression in the name of tolerance and diversity. Yet to this theologian, the flag of the United States is so vile that it must be removed from the nation’s churches for fear of upsetting foreigners often from these repressive lands happening to visit an American church in America.  

In an oration at Southeastern Seminary, theologian Jonathan Leeman said that there needs to be a conversation about the requirements of church membership. Usually when someone says that there needs to be a conversation than means that they will be the ones doing the talking which will likely consist of a lengthy list of demands and you will be seriously berated if you raise any objections, questions, or calls for clarification.  

In an oration on membership at Southeastern Theological Seminary, theologian Jonathan Leeman joked that the first membership interview was Jesus asking Peter who do you say that I am. But nowhere in that did Jesus strongarm Peter into signing a contract stipulating that the Apostle was bound to a single congregation for life or that he could only transfer with permission to another within a particular network of specified churches. Secondly, nowhere in the interview was Peter required to elaborate a serious of raunchy past escapades that would make a soap opera screenwriter blush.

In a Capitol Hill Baptist podcast discussing race, it was remarked that Black South Africans have a remarkably forgiving ethic. So are tires filled with gasoline placed around the necks of victims set ablaze and land seized from farmers for little reason other than that they are White the sort of social justice policies these New Wave churches would like to see implemented?  

In a Capitol Hill Baptist podcast discussion about race, theologian Jonathan Leeman remarked that some have been hurting for months and some have been hurting for several hundred years.  So wouldn’t one of these individuals have to be an immortal like Duncan McCloud born 400 years ago in the Highlands of Scotland?  

In the new wave Baptist circles out there, the American flag and patriotic anthems are out. In apparently are hip hop albums where on the cover the artists appear to be puffing weed with insignias resembling three intertwined  sixes bringing to mind the Mark of the Beast. But what do i know? I apparently just stoke unfounded fear.  

If the party line is that an elder of a church no more represents a church than any other church member when the name of the particular elder is among the first things that pops up when researching a particular church, those about to have their church manipulated out from under them are hopelessly naive regarding about what is on the verge of rolling over them.  

In discussing race in a podcast, Pastor Mark Dever and Dr. Jonathan Leeman discuss how they wished more racial minorities would take part in the pastoral internship program of Capitol Hill Baptist Church. You will note that at no time did the duo ever articulate their willingness to resign their own lucrative, prestigious positions to toil in manual labor and obscurity for the purposes of giving life to the utopian vision that they not only want imposed upon everybody else but also demand you celebrate enthusiastically if you wish to retain the church-bestowed designation of acceptable Christian.  

I was verbally upbraided that I am obligated to “set my prejudices aside” and “to be open minded” in regards to two pastors discussing things as Christians when the perspective being addressed might end up becoming the preferential interpretation among the potential leadership of an unspecified in these posts congregation. So, in other words, I am apparently obligated to set aside the Biblical admonition to be a Berean in a church that claims to adhere to sola scriptura. So what other Biblical injunctions am I to also set aside for the time being? So why am I obligated to open my mind to new interpretative winds blowing into a church when apparently other minds are as closed regarding cautions I have raised?  

In a sermon on church membership, theologian Jonathan Leeman rhetorically asked do you hang with those that do not look like you? Other than my father and brother, I don’t “hang” with anyone. Is family interaction also now to be verboten in New Wave Baptist Churches that don’t simply impart to you knowledge regarding God’s word but seek to take control of those aspects of your life over which the church once offered teaching but left you to yourself to implement?  

It was remarked that, if a church member skipped several Sundays during the summer to go fishing, they ought to be disciplined. But in such an instance wouldn’t the church run the risk of the individual leaving altogether?

By Frederick Meekins

[obtusemedia]

The best songs of the 2010s: #25-1

#25: “SICKO MODE” by Travis Scott feat. Drake (2018)

When music historians look at hip-hop’s late-’10s dominance, I have no doubt that “SICKO MODE” will be viewed as the pinnacle of the era.

Let’s just go through a checklist of what makes “SICKO MODE” an instant classic: The weirdo multi-part structure. Travis Scott’s nearly two-minute long verse with quotable lines galore. Drake somehow managing to make falling asleep on an airplane sound cool. That spooky two-word Swae Lee refrain. Multiple Jamba Juice name-drops (inspiring a hilarious meme video). An iconic, striking music video with whacked-out imagery galore. 

But most importantly, it’s a stone-cold banger that will get any dance floor moving. What more could you want? 

#24: “Dance Yrself Clean” by LCD Soundsystem (2010)

You might have noticed that one of the decade’s biggest musical trends — EDM — hasn’t shown up much on this list. That’s because a majority of it has already aged badly, even just a few years later. Songs like “Don’t You Worry Child” or “Wake Me Up!” certainly have their charms, but unlike the more enjoyable, trashy electropop that preceded it, most EDM hits were plodding and self-serious. And its best artist, Calvin Harris, made his best work when he drifted away from the subgenre’s rigid structure and just made pure pop music.

But my passiveness towards EDM doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate a great drop. There’s been plenty of songs on the list with incredible drops up to this point, and there’s still a couple more to come. Hell, I even halfway considered putting some Skrillex on the list just because some of his early stuff still can get your pulse pounding (even if these songs REEK of the early 10s). But there will never be a drop more bonkers than “Dance Yrself Clean.”

Indie legends LCD Soundsystem kicked off the decade with a bang with this song — but they made you wait for that bang. More than three minutes, to be exact. But those who were patient enough to sit through the quiet, drawn-out opening were treated to frontman James Murphy wailing like a madman over a shuffling beat, bouncy bass and a cascading, randomized symphony of analog synthesizers. Although I’m sure Murphy calculated every second of “Dance Yrself Clean,” it sounds like absolute anarchy. And in the moments when his screaming vocals go hoarse over the slamming synths, it’s unreal.

#23: “Born To Die” by Lana Del Rey (2011)

This was the first Lana Del Rey song I heard, back in my junior year of high school. I was immediately floored. The vocals, the cinematic orchestral sweep, the spaghetti western guitars, the tragically beautiful lyrics  — it was an instant masterpiece. There was no way Lana wouldn’t be the world’s biggest popstar within a year.

A couple months later, Lana infamously bombed on Saturday Night Live, which some thought would derail her career entirely. Even after her career has survived and she’s become a critical darling with a cult fanbase, her debut album, Born To Die, and its title track still have a bit of the stink from that SNL performance. Well, no more.

“Born To Die” is a haunting gothic-pop masterpiece that’s aged much better than much early-’10s pop (although I love the corny club stuff from that era, don’t get me wrong). Lana’s smoky voice is unparalleled, the trip-hop production is untouchable.

And although her pinnacle wouldn’t come until 2014 with her sophomore album Ultraviolence, “Born To Die” is still Lana’s most perfect single to date.

#22: “Green Light” by Lorde (2017)

In 2013, Lorde completely upended the pop universe with “Royals,” a minimalist tune chastising radio hits for their un-relatable opulence. By 2017, the culture had fully gravitated towards Lorde’s moodier sound, with greyscale acts like Post Malone and Alessia Cara writing monster hits about being angsty and sad (and not in the artsy, brilliant way that worked for Kurt Cobain or Kanye). It was a far cry from the neon, bubbly world of Katy Perry and Carly Rae Jepsen from a few years prior.

The New Zealand prodigy could’ve cashed in on being ahead of the curve and continued down her minimalist moody path. But she did the opposite with the defiant and proudly energized “Green Light.” Yes, it’s a breakup anthem, but Lorde doesn’t wallow in her sadness here (she saves that for other Melodrama cuts). Instead, she wailed away into the night, playing off of the thundering drums and bouncing pianos of Jack Antonoff’s production (his best-ever). 

With “Green Light,” Lorde let her ex, and the world, know that she isn’t going anywhere. She might not ever reach the commercial heights of “Royals” again, but she’ll be an icon as long as there’s heartbreak that needs overcoming.

#21: “If You Know You Know” by Pusha-T (2018)

Pusha-T’s magnum opus, “If You Know You Know,” is a masterclass in cocaine rap with its effortless wordplay, sinister-yet-charismatic flow and blaring Kanye West beat. It deserved to be the song of the summer in 2018, but the masses chose a C-tier Drake single instead (despite Push absolutely ENDING Drake that summer).

But that doesn’t diminish the achievement Push made with this song. It’s quite a feat to record your best-ever track 17 years after your breakout. It’s even more of an accomplishment when that track kicks as much ass as “If You Know You Know.”

#20: “Teenage Dream” by Katy Perry (2010)

Teenage Dream-era Katy Perry is one of pop’s all-time juggernauts. The five consecutive #1 hit singles that album racked up is a feat matched only by Michael Jackson. Of those five singles, one stands out as the clear masterpiece of the group: the album’s title track (although “T.G.I.F” is also incredible).

I remember feeling a little underwhelmed by “Teenage Dream” when I first heard it in 2010. Her last single was a goofy, bombastic summer jam complete with a ridiculous video. “Teenage Dream” is a much more conventional, timeless pop jam. The chord structure is shockingly simple and the lyrics are lovestruck notes from a ‘50s ballad.

But that simplicity is what makes the song work. “Teenage Dream” has aged well because sometimes, all you need is three chords, a monster hook and yearning lyrics. This song will be Perry’s biggest legacy.

#19: “Drunk Drivers/Killer Whales” by Car Seat Headrest (2016)

“Drunk Drivers/Killer Whales” has to be the only uplifting, U2/Nirvana-style power ballad about DUIs.

Landing smack in the middle of Car Seat Headrest’s indie rock concept album/instant-classic Teens of Denial, “Drunk Drivers” is about the main character taking stock of his entire life and emotional instability. And yes, it all centers around driving drunk — or in this case, refusing that temptation as an impetus to change one’s life.

Naturally, in the very next song on the album, it’s revealed that the narrator drove drunk and got arrested anyways. But for a cathartic six minutes, “Drunk Drivers” provides a fleeting escape from the constant loop of self-hate and depression. Not to mention that it’s a grinding ‘90s alt-rock throwback that probably makes Billy Corgan jealous.

#18: “Harmony Hall” by Vampire Weekend (2019)

I’d never guess that Vampire Weekend’s second-best song (after “Oxford Comma,” of course) would be a hippie-friendly tune combining the Grateful Dead and Screamadelica. But here we are. And awkward combination or no, Ezra Koenig knew exactly what he was doing.

In a very dark, uncertain year, Koenig decided to write a song that doubled both as a blissed-out reprieve and a nervous warning. The music is utopian, but the lyrics detail the anger, confusion and constant obstacles of life in the late ‘10s. Koenig takes a lyric from one of his previous songs — “I don’t want to live like this/but I don’t want to die” — and makes it a rallying cry for anxious Millennials around the world, paranoid that the world might not stick around much longer.

It’s a heavy topic, but the gorgeous instrumentals, breakbeat drums, lilting guitars and bouncy pianos certainly ease the stress. “Harmony Hall” is a late-career masterpiece for the ages.

#17: “Marvins Room” by Drake (2011)

Never before has a booty call sounded so sad.

Way before he ruled the pop universe, Drake was just hip-hop’s resident mope. And “Marvins Room” is peak sadboi Drake. Using a real voicemail message in the hook (that he was later sued for using), “Marvins Room” is a six-minute phone conversation in which Drake drunkenly begs his ex to come back.

On the surface, what Drake discusses are what most rappers brag about — sex, money, wealth. But in “Marvins Room,” Drake seems to view them as obstacles to his ex, who he clearly still isn’t over. When he said he had sex four times this week, he sounds disgusted with himself, not proud.

Drake doesn’t look remotely good in this song; it’s more than a little pathetic. But it feels real and raw and revealing in a way that few R&B ballads are willing to get.

#16: “Pedestrian At Best” by Courtney Barnett (2015)

Courtney Barnett’s grungy masterpiece, “Pedestrian At Best,” is appropriately angsty given its crunchy guitars and yell-y vocals. But the Melbourne singer-songwriter touches on a different kind of angst here than Pearl Jam usually tapped into: the pressure of living up to sky-high expectations.

In the early/mid ‘10s, Barnett was earning lots of hype after witty (and excellent!) early singles like “Avant Gardener” and “History Eraser.” She clearly assumed she’d screw up her debut album following up those breakout songs, as she declares herself “a fake” and “a phony” in “Pedestrian At Best.” 

Arguably her generation’s best lyricist, Barnett nails her expectation to squander the public’s expectations: “Put me on a pedestal and I’ll only disappoint you/Tell me I’m exceptional, I promise to exploit you.” The ironic thing is, she did the opposite. “Pedestrian At Best” is one of the most successful songs about failing.

#15: “Ni**as in Paris” by Jay-Z and Kanye West (2011)

There was some close competition, but I don’t think there was a more quotable rap song this decade than Jay-Z and Kanye West’s crowning achievement from Watch The Throne, “Ni**as in Paris.”

The classic lines don’t stop coming throughout the minimalist banger. Jay’s verse is smooth braggadocio perfected: “I’m liable to go Michael, take your pick: Jackson, Tyson, Jordan, Game 6.” Then Kanye comes crashing in with some truly bizarre bars that are both the dumbest and greatest thing you’ve ever heard. After hearing the song, I never felt the same way about fish filets ever again.

And then, the piece de resistance — Kanye’s inspired Will Ferrell sample from Blades Of Glory. It’s one of the most left-field and iconic moments in hip-hop history, and perfectly described the song itself. “NOBODY KNOWS WHAT IT MEANS. BUT IT’S PROVOCATIVE. IT GETS THE PEOPLE GOING.” Amen.

#14: “Run Away With Me” by Carly Rae Jepsen (2015)

Carly Rae Jepsen deserved to be one of the biggest popstars of all time. She should be selling out the same arenas that Taylor Swift and Beyoncé fill. But, in what is a true tragedy, the British Columbia native is only remembered as being that singer with that one earth-shattering hit and a feverish cult following.

But despite how adorable and fun “Call Me Maybe” is, Jepsen’s true magnum opus is her 2015 album, EMOTION, and its bombastic opening track, “Run Away With Me.” 

The single is a masterclass in blending ‘80s flourishes with modern production. On the thunderous chorus, the EDM synths and roaring saxophone riff work in harmony with Jepsen’s passionate vocals to create pure pop bliss. Combined with the intimate verses, the single perfectly encapsulates that butterfly-feeling of a relationship’s honeymoon stage.

“Run Away With Me” is only one of many, many Jepsen singles that would’ve been #1 smashes in a perfect world. But the lack of chart success for this one especially hurt.

#13: “Formation” by Beyoncé (2016)

Where were you when “Formation” dropped? I bet you probably remember (I was writing an essay in my college’s library).

Sure, Beyoncé’s self-titled 2013 album is the surprise drop that gets all the attention. But “Formation” came out of nowhere too a few years later, and let’s be honest — it was much better. (side note: 4 is also much better than the self-titled)

Mike Will Made It’s beat for “Formation” incorporated some Texas twang into his trap-pop production — a fitting match for a Houston legend like Beyoncé. And Bey takes heat-check shot after heat-check shot here: declaring herself the next Bill Gates; casually dropping a “swag” ad lib and magically not sounding corny as hell; making a trip to a mediocre chain seafood restaurant sound like a cool post-sex reward.

It all works. And that’s because on “Formation,” Beyoncé was as untouchable and fearless as her cutthroat stans had always proclaimed her to be. The fact that it was the triumphant coda to one of the decade’s best pop albums just cements its legend.

#12: “Old Town Road (Remix)” by Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus (2019)

It’s the longest-running #1 hit in U.S. history. An unstoppable juggernaut that held titans like Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran and Drake from the top of the charts. And, oh yeah — it’s perfect.

There are probably a few party poopers out there who hate “Old Town Road.” I am not one of them. By 2019, pop’s grayscale, Post Malone-fueled gloom had gotten out of hand. Then out of nowhere, this teenage Nicki Minaj Twitter stan writes a goofy novelty song that’s both a parody of country clichés and a sincere celebration of the cowboy lifestyle. (It’s also the greatest country song ever written, and the entire city of Nashville can fight me on that.)

Lil Nas X has a pure charisma other artists would kill for, from his warbly, infectious chorus to his endlessly quotable verse (WRANGLER ON MY BOOTY!!). And pulling Billy Ray Cyrus away from Hannah Montana-funded retirement to drop a shockingly fire verse about living the luxury lifestyle in Beverly Hills? There’s no way this wouldn’t be one of my all-time favorites.

Sometimes, when it comes to predicting future classics, you’ve just got to trust the screaming elementary schoolers.

#11: “Midnight City” by M83 (2011)

“Midnight City” sounds like what Space Mountain feels like.

The decade’s best electronic song is so perfect as to be almost alien, yet also remarkably warm and human. And just when you thought the song couldn’t get better, the second-greatest sax solo of all time (only behind “Jungleland”) bursts out of the neon layers of synth.

M83 has a catalogue stuffed with stunning retro synthpop bangers. The fact that “Midnight City” towers above them all is a testament to the song’s sheer majesty.

#10: “All Too Well” by Taylor Swift (2012)

Yes, I’m aware that this is the obvious Taylor Swift pick for this list. But Swift’s literary masterwork, “All Too Well,” hits me too hard to deny it.

“All Too Well” is so packed with vivid details and intense emotional swings that it feels like more like a short story backed by arena-rock instrumentation more than a pop song. From her an abandoned scarf tucked in a drawer, to her ex’s mother embarrassing him with his dorky child photos, to the phone-call breakup that was “casually cruel in the name of being honest,” Swift didn’t leave anything out.

Coupled with her songwriting, Swift’s vocals also make “All Too Well” her pinnacle. She reaches into her upper register so rarely that it sends shivers whenever she does, like on the emphatic climax here. 

If it catches me in the right mood, Swift’s performance, the lilting guitars and cutting lyrics in “All Too Well” brings a few tears to my eyes. (Yes, really.) It’s only fitting that one of the greatest breakup anthems of all time is sung by a master of the artform.

#9: “Ivy” by Frank Ocean (2016)

I was very tempted to put Frank Ocean’s 10-minute synthpop epic “Pyramids” on the list instead. Make no mistake — if it wasn’t for my self-imposed one-song-per-artist rule, both it and “Ivy” would’ve placed highly.

But “Ivy” is a heart-stopper. It’s a fairly simple song, with just Ocean’s raw vocals playing off the languid guitars. To pull a song like this off, you have to be a double-threat, a genius lyrically and a stunning singer. Ocean fits that bill. 

“Ivy” is the decade’s greatest R&B song, a heartbreaking ode to a slowly crumbling relationship.

#8: “The Edge Of Glory” by Lady Gaga (2011)

Lady Gaga’s best songs hit you like a brick to the face. Gaga — the greatest pop star of the 21st century, don’t @ me — has plenty of pop bangers that do this, particularly on the wildly underrated Artpop (shoutout to the insane and insanely fun “G.U.Y.”). But arguably none of her singles provide as much maximalist pleasures as “The Edge Of Glory.”

The track reeks of trying too hard in the best way possible. Gaga reaches into her upper vocal register frequently, scratching her upper limits every time she reaches the chorus. The production is a messy-but-beautiful jumble of slamming synths and drum machines. And that Clarence Clemons sax solo — one of the last musical contributions he made before his death that same year — is just the icing on top of the gloriously sugary cake.

Gaga’s over-the-top synthpop from her early years isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. But for someone like me, who wants pop to feel as massive and inescapable as humanly possible, “The Edge Of Glory” is still a towering high-water mark.

#7: “Pay No Mind” by Beach House (2018)

This spot could’ve been taken by any number of Beach House songs, the modern masters of dream-pop. “Space Song,” “Myth,” “Take Care” — the Baltimore duo honed in on a specific musical style and perfected it.

To me, “Pay No Mind” is the culmination of those years of Beach House subtly tinkering with their hazy, nocturnal sound. It’s like a gothic wedding slow-dance song: the right rhythm and with a romantic feel, but maybe a bit too gloomy for your grandparents. But regardless, “Pay No Mind” is breathtakingly beautiful, like seeing neon lights through the fog.

#6: “m.A.A.d. city” by Kendrick Lamar feat. MC Eiht (2012)

If you haven’t tried to memorize the nearly two-minute uninterrupted opening verse of “m.A.A.d. city,” were you even alive in the early ‘10s?

Kendrick Lamar has written many hip-hop epics in his career so far, but so far none have topped the semi-title track from his major label debut, good kid, m.A.A.d. city. In that concept album about Lamar’s teen years growing up amidst the gang warfare in Compton, “m.A.A.d city” marks the point where the gangsta dream shifts into a horrifying nightmare. 

The song is a blur of murder, violence and police sirens. Lamar sounds positively terrified on the track, his voice cracking while he confesses. And bringing on old-school rapper MC Eiht to play a veteran gang member snapping Lamar out of his haze was a brilliant move. “m.A.A.d city” is an exhilarating tour-de-force that proved how much raw talent, in both flow and storytelling, Lamar had.

#5: “Somebody Else” by The 1975 (2016)

If Vampire Weekend is the most important band of the early ‘10s, then The 1975 is the most important band of the rest of the decade. Their transformation from (really good!) simple pop-rock to tacking incredibly dark subject matter while successfully taste-testing their way through nearly every musical genre was unexpected. And brilliant, seeing as they pulled it off.

But The 1975′s best track is much less capital-I important than most of their epics about Trump or suicide or heroin — it’s a synthpop song about complicated post-breakup emotions. But “Somebody Else” earns its keep as the band’s pinnacle through sheer relatability. It nails that complicated feeling of being over someone...but not really. Or as lead singer Matty Healy puts it bluntly: “I don’t want your body/but I’m picturing your body with somebody else.”

The shuffling drum machine groove and icy synths complete a perfect song for wandering aimlessly at night, longing for a lost love. And although The 1975 might switch sounds endlessly in their career, their sweet spot will always be this moody ‘80s update.

#4: “TiK ToK” by Ke$ha (2010)

“TiK ToK” is still easily the peak of the 2009-12 pop golden age. It has a bit of everything you’d want in a single from that era: Gloriously grimy synths! An uber-catchy chorus with plenty of demands to party! And of course, a charismatic and unforgettable star who can deliver the song. I don’t think anyone would argue Ke$ha fit that role to a T.

When “TiK ToK” first arrived around the turn of the decade, I couldn’t stand it. I thought it was too sleazy. Nearly 10 years later, Ke$ha’s performative sleaziness is exactly what makes this song so fun. Yeah, the hook is bulletproof and the production is buzzy. But Ke$ha’s slurred, drunken delivery and ridiculous lines are what have kept “TiK ToK” in the public consciousness. She single-handedly made P. Diddy and especially Mick Jagger relevant again. She made brushing your teeth with Jack Daniels seem cool (and not insanely nasty, like it actually is). Every single ridiculous line, sung through Ke$ha’s fake valley girl accent, is a gem.

I can understand how someone wouldn’t like the unfiltered debauchery and greasiness of “TiK ToK.” But to me, that’s the entire charm of it, and what makes it stand out amongst a sea of similarly-minded club jams from its era.

#3: “Runaway” by Kanye West feat. Pusha-T (2010)

I was going to ask all of you to forget about Kanye West’s recent stumbles, be it his association with Donald Trump or his insistence that slavery was a choice. But the power of “Runaway” is that it is a semi-apology from a man who knows he’s deeply flawed. Every one of Kanye’s gaffes and terrible decisions makes “Runaway” even more relevant today.

But “Runaway” was originally a response to Kanye’s infamous “Imma let you finish” rant at the 2009 VMAs, where he interrupted Taylor Swift. The song basically operates as a semi-apology to the world for being, as he puts it, a douchebag. An asshole. A scumbag. A jerkoff. He’s somewhat bragging about his misdeeds, while sheepishly asking for forgiveness.

And yet, it’s an extremely vulnerable song. The bridge — “I guess that you’re at an advantage/Cause you can blame me for everything/And I don’t know how Imma manage/If one day you just up and leave” — initially feels like something Kanye is saying to a lover. But really, he’s saying it to all of us. And it’s arguably the most moving moment in his whole career.

#2: “Get Lucky” by Daft Punk feat. Pharrell and Nile Rodgers (2013)

Don’t think about it too hard, folks. 

Considering that Daft Punk are the greatest dance-music artists of all time, it only makes sense that they’d dip their toes into disco and absolutely KILL it. And that’s all “Get Lucky” is. Two French masters making their grand comeback by recruiting one of funk’s finest guitarists and one of the 2000s’ most charismatic vocal presences. 

“Get Lucky” will be a wedding dance staple until the sun explodes. And it deserves that status. It’s a flawless dance track. Just embrace the groove.

#1: “Archie, Marry Me” by Alvvays (2014)

My favorite song of the 2010s wasn’t a part of some major trend. It wasn’t particularly influential. It doesn’t have any profound meaning, and it didn’t try to tackle a major event. “Archie, Marry Me” just happens to be the greatest indie pop song ever written.

Every little aspect of Toronto band Alvvays’ debut single works, from the surf-y guitars to lead singer Molly Rankin’s monotone-yet-yearning vocals. With its lo-fi ramshackle charm and monster hook, “Archie, Marry Me” is all you could want in a dream-pop single. It even has the nice touch of echoing a Neil Young classic in the chorus.

The whole intention of this list — as it is with any of my year-end lists — is simply to measure which songs made me the happiest; which songs never wore out on me. And no single this decade puts a bigger smile on my face than “Archie, Marry Me.” It’s simple, achingly romantic (in a Wes Anderson-esque half-ironic way, but still), and I wouldn’t change a thing about it.