#if you couldnt tell i hate ai art

[thedevilandhisbride]

how will we ever get the spark to wonder, question, and think deeply about art when someone says a prompt or two into a generator, and out comes a painting that doesnt mean anything, because nobody took the time to tell a story within it? how can anybody do that if the art has no meaning like with ai art? when it isnt meticulously crafted by the complex mind of a creative human?

you cant tell an ai to convey the hurt and betrayal of a mortal against their own hubris as they fall off of the high horse they pitched themselves upon the way that a human would, because ai isnt human. it will never be human. and to compare ai art to human art and call them equals is dehumanization, and it strips art of every power it has ever had across the whole of human history.

[shiemori-writes]

Hey there Quinn! Since the request are open, I would like a Jack, Leona, Sebek and Floyd x reader (separately), where the boys find the reader’s sketchbook, and when they open the book, they see a bunch of doodles of them and in the end of the sketchbook, there is drawing of the boys and the reader, holding hand or something. Headcanons. Fell free to ignore. Thank you!

(This request might get spammed, Tumblr is eating my messages.)

—doodles of us ♡︎

the boys find your sketchbook sketches of them! <3

characters: jack, floyd, leona and sebek! ♡︎

includes: sfw, really fluffy, gender neutral reader as always, and mutual pining! went a little bit overboard with leona whoops

notes: hello to you to anon!! ahh this was such a cute prompt!! heehee thank u anon <3 ALSO WOOO I HAVENT WROTE IN SO LONG THIS IS SUCH A TREAT!

♡︎ JACK HOWL♡︎

"—Wait prefect!! you forgot your.!..sketchbook...?"

you guys had just finished your little study (date) session in his room and was done for the day, you had just gone back to Ramshackle when he noticed that you had forgotten what seems to be your sketchbook, wide open.

Initially, he was in awe at your artistic ability, even by the doodles that were less polished, he thought they were adorable (he'd never tell you that though, hehe)

But then he saw doodles of what seems to be..him and you...ok ok cool.. him and you- wait— him and you?!

The doodles ranged from just doodles of his name surrounded by hearts, to him in chibi form, to tiny-him and tiny-you holding hands, god you were too adorable

He really couldnt stop his tail from wagging, nor the smile that was slowly spreading on his face, you were really cute y'know that?

At the bottom of the page he saw a different doodle, it was more of writing but from what he could tell, it was ai-ai gasa, which he could vividly remember you swooning to him, about how oh so romantic it would be with your crush,

And surely there the two of your names was, written under the little umbrella you had drawn, a little love-charm you like to call it, and while you had said you didnt believe it, you mainly just wanted to do it for wishful thinking.

He always wondered if he was the one you were talking about but now..

He felt his heart skip a beat and then another one, and another one..

He was thankful he was in his room right now, because he would absolutely die if someone saw him like this, red faced tail wagging at sonic-speed with an absolute love sick expression

He tried to calm his racing heartbeat with ease, (he is a runner after all) and when he finally calmed down he felt content, he was gonna return the sketchbook to you that's for sure, and maybe something more

He confessed not too long after <33

♡︎ LEONA KINGSCHOLAR♡︎

He had just woken up from a long-cat-nap when his eyes wandered to your slumbering figure, clinging onto his arm, a calm look on your face

unconsciously smiling at the sight 'cute' he thought. He was glad he convinced you to rest, that damn bird was dumping his work onto you again, it was a pain, you need more rest, really.

He sat up, uncharastically-careful to not wake you from your state of slumber, stretching his muscles and letting out a yawn when he noticed the sketchbook beside him, open and what seems to be unfinished,

Curiously he took a little peak, wouldn't hurt right?

He flipped through the pages, feeling a smile curl on his lips when he saw how passionate you were for art, he was glad you had something you loved, but also hated how soft he was feeling rn, seriously herbivore what spell did you cast on him?

Hes just a softie in denial mwuehehe

Anyways, he stopped skimming through the pages when he noticed what seems to be..Him? Oh, ohoho he was gonna tease you so much for this herbivore. (bastard)

While the thought of you being flustered entertained him, he really did appreciate the way you saw him, and..oh? Was this a doodle of you and him? You really are a sap arent' cha herbivore? (lovingly)

He chuckled, finding enjoyment at the way you'd doodle you and him holding hands, or the way you drew his names surrounded by multiple hearts

'cute' he found himself repeating in his head

Looking at the bottom of the pages, he noticed the way you'd consistently draw an umbrella along with your names on it through every page, ai-ai gasa as you call it. He found himself remembering your ramble about how cute it was, thinking he wasnt listening as much, but he was, he always found himself listening to your voice, as sappy as that was (really herbivore your sappyness is getting to him ugh)

Seeing his name and yours doodled under the umbrella sure was somethin', he remembered you joking about how you'd try it with him as it was commonly reffered to as a "love-spell-charm" of some sort in your world

frankly he thinks it was dumb, why do that when you already have his heart hmmm herbivore? And do' ya really think a love spell would work on him?

^ but you didn't know that, maybe that was partially his fault for not being too forward but he blames you too for being dense (wow rlly leo? smh../j)

Closing the sketchbook, he found himself grinning from ear to ear, tail flicking from side to side in delight as he peered back at you, still blissfully unaware of his discovery, heh, he'll tease ya for sure, but for now, he's gonna cherish this peaceful moment with you, after all, time spent with you is his favorite time of all (apart from sleeping)

♡︎FLOYD LEECH♡︎

"Ko~e~be~ CHAN!!!"

He sang through the empty hallway, pouting when he didn't see you

He couldnt find you anywhere!!!! It was so annoying!!! it was terribly boring too!! which!! he!! Hates!! Where's his koebe chan >:(

Angry eel later turns to sad pouty eel :(

(poor azul had to deal with his outburts)

Huffing in annoyance, he tried to work at his shift at the monstro lounge, to everyone's surprise, floyd leech????? Working??? The world must be ending!

But no, he just was hoping maybe, maybe his little shrimpy visits him, I mean, you did visit yesterday, so he now automatically assumes you're gonna do it everyday! And if not, well then he's just gonna squeeze someone, maybe that will make him feel better. Hmmph.

YOU DO VISIT YAYAYAYAYAY!!! (Jade and azul practically begged you at this point bc he was being so aggressive to the customers)

BUT THAT DOESNT MATTER!! WHAT MATTERS IS HIS KOEBE CHANS HERE!! :D

Upong seeing you his frown immediately turned into a bright grin, running towards you to give you the biggggesst squeeze!! ever!! because his koebe chans here! <3

He squeezed you tightly, (but not too tight! He knows his koebe-chan is fragile) and gave you the biggest kiss, a loud "mwah!" Was heard as he kissed your cheeks, giggling at how flustered you seem! koebe chans so cute!! hehehe!!

Ok maybe bringing you in was a bad idea cuz now floyd refuses to work...(cue azul ripping his hair out in the bg)

He grinned at Azul, waving goodbye as he dragged you out of monstro lounge with jade sighing and Azul screaming at him to COME BACK.

Asking where he was taking you, he just shrugged, "somewhere fun!!!" he replied, ah of course, as vauge as ever, you sighed, but couldnt help the fond look on your face when he looked so excited

(you just hoped he wasnt taking you for another swimming lesson hhh)

Annndd we've arrived!! To...Ramshackle??? Huh, you expected something more from Floyd, noticing your confusion, he simply smiled, letting himself in with your hand in his

"I saw shrimpy drawin' lotsa stuff!! I wanna see!!" He gestured to your sketchbook, like a child excitedly pointing his gift out for christmas

You were skeptical at first, but after he promised not to ruin anything, you gave him the sketchbook, with him asking questions about your drawings, whether it be a doodle or a finished piece.

He went silent

Were those,..doodles,,, of him??? :O

AWWWW SHRIMPY YOU REALLY ARE ADORABLE!!

He started giggling like a little schoolgirl with a crush, finding more and more doodles of you and him holding hands or just being rlly cute!

Then he saw the umbrella thingy doodle, it was your name next to his!! He was floored! secretly glad his shrimpy loved him just as much as he loved shrimpy<3

Curious to what he was giggling at, you redirected your focus onto your sketchbook and was absolutely mortified at what he found, trying to desperately take it from his hands, dang it how did you forget you drew those?!

he however didnt give you the sketchbook, instead setting it ontop of the highest shelf (bastard p2)

He couldnt stop himself from giving you the biggest hug ever (part 2) Only this time, you can tell it was filled with more love and adoration, with him peppering your face with kisses

"hehehe! Dont be shy shrimpy! its really cute!! This means you love me right?? I love you too!!" He swooned, his face being coated with a lovely-pink color, he smile uncharastically bright and genuine. It wasn't the twisted smile he'd display when he was squeezing someone, or when he got amusement to tormenting goldfishie, (poor riddle lmao) but a genuine, awestruck smile.

Bewildered, you can only hide your face at the crook of his neck, mumbling complaints while he laughs, kissing the top of your head when you eventually said 'I love you too'

♡︎SEBEK ZIGVOLT♡︎

Who would have thought, Sebek, the retainer of the soon to be crowned prince, befriend a magicless human like you?

Well..As much as he hates to admit it, there really was more to you then he gave you credit for, you'd always survive no matter what anyone throws at you, all without being unkind, and pushing through everything, and most of all, you liked him for him, and listened to him no matter what was on his mind, and that, he thanks you for, albeit clumsily (and very loudly)

You made it a routine to hang out everyday despite your busy schedules, often in the library (he got kicked out though, so you didnt stick for long) or in the comfort of his room, after all, diasomnia provides a more...comfortable space, no offense (name).

Anyways, during your normal sessions, you happily chatted away with Sebek, as he recounted tales from his childhood and the Valley of Thorns, a content smile on his face.

You hummed, sketching away while looking at the time, gasping when you noticed how late its gotten (and how hungry grim must be)

Noticing your sudden distress, he questioned you immediately, showing concern in a..very sebek way!

"Human!! What has gotten you so alert! Did I say something to alarm you?" He yelled, frowning at you.

You waved your hands, chuckling nervously, "Ah- no Seb, its really late- I'm afraid I need to get back to grim" you replied sadly, as he let out a quiet "oh" pouting at his unfinished tale

"Well-alright then!! I shall continue this story tomorrow human!! Be- be careful alright!! It is unsafe!!" He fussed over you, blush forming on his cheeks (which he denied he had) "Actually- I'll just escort you so I can-" "Ah its fine Seb!! I can handle it!" you cut him off, knowing he still has duties.

He huffed, "fine. B-but text me when you get there so I can ensure your safety!" He replied, to which you nodded. "Got it! bye sebek! i'll see you tomorrow?" "Of course."

And with that you shut the door behind you, leaving Sebek to clean up his room, when-

"HUMAN!!! HOW CAN YOU BE SO CARELESS TO LEAVE YOUR!!!....sketchbook..??"

He furrowed his eyebrows, really out of all the things you forgot it was the thing you were always carrying around? Humans really are forgetful, tsk tsk, Not to worry human, he!! Your greatest friend and fae shall make sure your!!..hmm? Is that him??

Now he didnt mean to peak but..It was wide open! and- were those doodles of..H-him and you?!?!

Congrats for once hes speechless! Flipping through the pages whem curiousity got the better of him, staring in awe at how simple it was but..admittingly cute. Hmph. Humans!! Theyre just so!!..augh.

He found himself blushing more and more as he found more and more doodles, whether it was his name with heart scribbles, or him and you holding hands..It affected him more than he'd like.

The last straw was when he saw your scribble of an umbrella.. He knew this trope all too well, as embarrassing it was to admit, he's seen it before in the novels he'd read.

His heartbeat was going crazy

Did you really wish to court him?! Human how come you've never told him!!!

Huffing out in fondness he carefully examined the paper, feeling a wobly smile display on his lips. He was going to answer this strange courting method of yours human!! Just you wait!!

end notes! "ai-ai gasa" translates to "love-love umbrella" which symbolizes sharing an umbrella with your soon to be lover/crush since sharing umbrellas are considered to be very romantic! it's also a love charm/spell of some sorts, though its not believed to work, its mostly done out of wishful thinking, and bc cmon its so cute! i decided to add that since technically it is a doodle! and ive seen tropes like this and its adorable imo, anyways thanks for reading! i hope you enjoyed!

[abimee]

I hope I'm not misinterpreting what you said; your comment on people's reaction to abstract art and things along those lines is how I feel about experimental and abstract music made as a form of art (which some people seem to Hate but is a very important art form to me). I don't have any fancy insightful commentary, but a lot of people just dismiss this stuff because it doesn't instantly draw their attention or makes them uncomfortable for whatever reason. It could be the artist expressing their emotion, trying to showcase a technique, etc any other hundreds of reason. I think regardless of if it's something made in satire, a genuine expression of emotion, or "it just looks/sounds cool!" or anything else they're all worth looking at and thinking about. That person's comment about "I don't think it's worth looking at" makes me a bit sad for that reason

no youve hit it right on the nail. i think a lot of people can be adverse to trying out new genres or even music styles theyre not used to because theyve become accustomed to like, i dont wanna call it ''palatable'' music but music where once again like art they can find something to project/latch onto. like people who refuse to listen to speedcore or lyricless music because they so badly need lyrics/something to attach to and cant feel the emotion within the instruments themselves

im not too well versed in more like experimental music but i know this was peoples reaction to 100 Gecs when they first showed up, because to them it was just ''loud, obnoxous autotune music'' and couldnt see the fact that within the music was laura les' expressions of her identity and emotions. this also just directly happens with classical music. people just wont listen to piano or symphonic music unless its like video game tracks or whatever cause they dont see any worth in sitting through ''long and boring pieces'' and have no concept of like how people express emotions and stories and invigorate a mental image without using words.

i also see this with vocaloid too where english speaking americans just outright refuse to listen to vocaloid/lump it together as an entire genre they ''dont like'' when vocaloid is nothing but an instrument used by thousands of different artists in different genres for different means. like you cant tell me that siinamota's "Metamorphose'' sounds anything like matryoshka by hachi. its all the same people just disrespect art like crazy for the dumbest of reasons

this especially pisses me off with people who only like the ''human sounding AI synth vocaloids'' in a way i cant explain. they cant get over the speed bump of a robot singing to engage with so much beautiful art made by people across the world telling their own emotions and ideas and stories and decide the entire thing is a waste of time. drives me up the wall

[currentfandomkick]

Bio! Dad Strange part 4

Shorter but a paris update for her life and a little on gotham with Jason as Robin while Tim is a hero Stalker.

Marinette is 7 when she changes schools, ordered into the Dupont school chain by her teachers since she was getting ‘difficult’ and contradicting their ciriculum. When they challeneged her on this, she went to the school board with Rolland beside her of all people.

The board agreed on one thing, Marinette’s contradictions were not only factually correct, but were done to prevent the outdated ciriculum from hurting her classmates. Instead of punishing her, she got to skip a gade and was given to Dupont as a ‘highly reccomended gifted student’.

Her first day she met Max, who also skipped a grade. The pair bond in five seconds over a new programming focused on learning emotional intelligence. Uncle Riddler was showing her it, and Max got his hands on a various ai bases. This led to then teaming up and designing the one and only Markov together, if only in schematics.

A week in and the two notice that some kids are being followed around by a guy with a bat. They report it. Again and again, but no one can find him.

One day he catches the pair on their way to Max’s—they wanted to work on their ai together, ok? The guy tries to hit Max, saying something about them being lucky metas that needed to suffer.

Marinette’s gotham training kicked in. She caught the bat, ripped it away from him and hit him in the chest with it, while yelling at max to run.

At the end of the incident, videotaped by a bystander, the Dupont Stalker was arrested.

Marinette was given another name by the police, ‘fille de batte’ or bat girl. Her having family in gotham only made the nickname more popular.

This put her on Kim and Alix’s radar. Kim wanted a challenge for fighting and competitions, and this tiny kid did that—to an adult! New friend and rival!

Alix was went from shock to joy as Marientte does art. She does art. Art friend to rant to found!

Nino ran into Marinette not long after Kim and Alix attached themselves to her and Max. Nino became their judge for Kim challenges. Including Mari pinning Kim to the mat, or deciding who did a circus move better (Mari won acrobatics).

Chloe doesnt go to dupont until next year, and sabrina is in another class, mildly concerned for Marinette.

In this au, again, Dupont is considered a ‘i would not be shocked if there were metas there’ school for gifted kids in any way.

Marinette is sent there for her insane science obsession at the time, but is also put in their arts program with Alix to develop as an artist with her medium, fabrics and fashion.

And if marinette redesigns hero outfits as “monsiuer ross, scribbles have more style, let alone fashion sense” alot, well. Kids get obsessed a lot and the Justice League is a common one, as are known villians. Her everyday outfits having different hero schemes—oddly enough some forensic scientist she’s obsessed with from some american city ended up in her mix—well. She’s a kid and showing signs a few types of anxiety.

Possible social and OCD and a developing case of perfectionism common to the arts program. The school has her see a therapist and know she isnt telling them everything beyong mild concern for her gotham family, and confusion over people just ‘not getting things’ as she is terribly smart and good at finding patterns and how do people not see it?

By the end of the year Marinette is in a strong friend group who’s parents and hers have decided to have joint custody during the school year.

She was now (forced) to learn vietnamese from Kim’s Grandparents, italian from Rolland (her nonno that has a Thing for tradition and somehow married Gina and raised Tom mostly on his own while running the bakery to boot), english from Father/Strange, Mandarin from her Maman and she started Arabic to talk with Nino’s aunt who kept saying marinette was her future in-law and point out that nino and her are friends, not dating ma’am.

However, Nino endured most of this with her-not the italian or Mandarin, but the others. Kim couldnt get Arabic but mandarin was a breeze for him. Alix cannot get vietnamese or arabic but Mandarin is her jam after french. Max just speaks french and english, he understands the others he just cant get the sounds right, ok?

When Marinette goes back to Gotham that summer, she ends up dealing with Hero Stalker Tim (jason is robin now) while looking for Red Hoodie who No oNE is telling her what happened and she’s worried, ok?

Tim feeds her obbsession with fixing problems. He sometimes sends her building layouts of places Catwoman stole from. And then the jewlry reappears thanks to a nervous Marinette coached by Rose and Ghoul while Frost handles her post-fix it freak out. Tim also may or may not get helped by her alot during Batman Stalking Time as she teaches his butt how to sneak and complains he’s worse than penguin.

Tim hates that, works on it, and still has nonidea who she is. He does admit to figuring out who batman may be, but needs more evidence so...

Marinette hits him becuase “thats dangerous!” And tries to lecture him in identites.

Batman’s radiowave was used for said lecture.

“And it puts their families in danger you, uh, hero stalker! And stuff so no more identity investigations!”

“They have the same builds, and did signsture moves from—“ the signal cutout.

He and Jason are more careful... ish. They change channels and monitor the old one.

Sometimes Batman catches Marinette and Tim talking about coldcases and she has asked three times if he heard anything about Jason’s street kid identity. Jason is feeling guilty about this as she’s his Pixie Pop. This lets Bruce know that the probably-clark’s-kid would keep Jason away from GCPD and CPS.

When a convo leads to Batman finding out Tim and Marinette have considered asking the police for help with a case of medicine that needed to be recalled as it was beign used to mule drugs contaminated the batches and hurt patients, but turned it down after she saw some taking bribes from Fish, Batman lets Gordon know and an investigation is launched.

While Bats is away, Jason visits marinette as Robin and tries to get her to bats for more information and a lecture on heroing without adult supervision. Maybe.

Only she’s currently stealing from a sleeping selina at another HQ. A Selina who has stopped trying to stop marinette and let riddler turn her house into one of his ‘traps’ to stop Marinette’s ‘return theiving’.

Jason gets stuck in a trap. Marinette is gone by then, scared Robin will tell Superman about her and he’ll hurt her family or something.

Catwoman is annoyed at Marinette’s sucess. She goes to stop the girl after leaving him tied up for Batman with a message: leave her new kitten-to-be alone.

Follow up talk post-Caught Marinette reverse theiving.

“Blame the Council’s decrees. She’s their little princess, and my new neice,” Catwoman watched Batman carefully.

Confused Batman in interrogator mode. “You mean the Court of Owls, arent they disbanded?”

“Bats, the council is gotham’s underground. Apparently Two-Face made the contracts as penance for scaring the Princess during a breakout. Unless you want an organized attack by the council, steer clear of her.”

Batman conencts the dots and curses himself. The girl he was looking for last summer is the Princess of Gotham’s underground. It will be hell finding her. And Superman/Clark will lose it when he’s told.

He lets the JL know about it, saying ‘possibly kyptonian clone, female child. Gotham’s underground is calling her their Princess. Connor and Kidflash tailed her last summer during the arkham breakout while Robin was with the Titans. Be alert for a small asian girl.’

That was how Marinette ended up on the JL watch list and how Superman had another existential crisis.

Dick freaks out with the Titans over this. Becuase kyltonian raised by villians is terrifying. Jason forwarded the message and adds on “she’s a good kid and wants to help. Somehow keeps zsasz and joker from killing people, so its not good to take her away or issolate her from the villians if you find her. From what i remember, she is terrified of her family beign put in danger. The others wont listen to me. If you can, pass this along to the other sidekicks and your allies—none of them trust me enough to listen. I cant talk to her as a civilian like i used to either for obvious reasons. And she’s terrified of me-Robin. Maybe you can get through to her, or someone else can. Just talk to her first, she’s more reasonsble than she looks”

Dick doesnt read the add on until much later and regrets it.

He met marinette once. She was a very excited kid babbling about aerodynamics in acrobatics and asking about that. Not hero things, not power things, or justice league but That.

He tried to be nice but he was having a horrible mission, saw the girl floating as she rambled and tried to grab her.

She freaked out and bolted, sort of. He got slammed into a building, or would have had she not caught him, rambled in french while trying to apologize (he was a but stunned from the throw, and rebooting as villian-kyptonian was... nice?) and put him on the roof, hit his communicator and said one thing.

“I think i broke your robin? All are robins like bird bones or something?”

He regained a functioning brain as that. That was something he could respond to.

“I am human thank you!”

That seemed to be enough for her as he moved to get up. She waved bye and bolted, something about Rose being mad at her for being late...

“Titans. I think we might have been wrong about the kid...”

Later with Young Justice the info was passed on.

Jason asked if anyone read his attachment and was met with silence. He groaned and told them “so another team she’s going to avoid... great.”

Marinette added the titans to her list of ‘people to aviod—tetch and Jerimah were the worst. Luthor and Cadmus were under them. Then the entire Justice League (they would tell batman or superman. Snitches.), followed by GCPD, CPS, the Bat Family and now Titans. She wonders if she needs to add anyone else, and hates that she cant talk to heroes. They could help with controlling her powers instead of suppressing them but she cant trust them not to give her to superman like batman did with Rose to Poison Ivy and she’s pretty sure Superboy too.

Next time, times marinette accidently put together identities and curses Hero Stalker Tim for her now knowing.

[trendingnewsb]

MIA: This is a white country, you dont have to spell it out to me

Maya Arulpragasam is bringing dancehall, hip-hop and grime to this years Meltdown. Is the outspoken British Sri Lankan the best argument for positive cultural appropriation?

The Guardian said that you couldnt shag to my record. As conversational openers go, MIAs beats the banal niceties of, say, Hello, how are you doing?. Its no surprise that she charges straight into a chat about why her last album was considered too confrontational for the bedroom by this paper. Its an icebreaker moulded to MIAs very own design: abrasive, compelling, underpinned by sex. Yeah, she finally concedes with a grin when I suggest we move past it, you cant have it all, can you?

Its a theme she warms up to when we talk about her edition of Meltdown at the Southbank Centre, which were ostensibly here to discuss. Usually, I wouldnt do something like this, she says, slouched under an oversized khaki coat dress. [But the organisers] were like: Hey, you can do whatever you want. Still, putting on the South Banks annual festival, curated in previous years by the likes of David Bowie, David Byrne and Patti Smith, has turned out to be a fairly arduous affair for MIA who says she doesnt do computers at the moment.

They didnt tell me it was nine days long. I thought it was a weekend. And then all my lists were, like, Well, this person wont be in London and that person is doing Glastonbury. Organising festivals is actually really complicated, she stresses. It wasnt just about dreaming something and then it appeared. Programming literally means, like, programming.

For all that Maya Arulpragasam didnt quite know what she was letting herself in for, one suspects the Southbank Centre didnt either; logistics aside, the mornings photoshoot has already been met with some flapping from the press officer made nervous by MIA climbing on the roof without safety clearance. Still, her lineup dancehall, Brooklyn hip-hop, depressive Swedish rap and Nigerian grime is perhaps the most underground the festival has seen in its 24 years. How much is she expecting to shake up its comfortable concert halls, cafe bars and conference-room spaces?

Click here to watch the video for last years Go Off.

When I was a teenager in London, I would just get a Travelcard and go somewhere, explore the city and go to weird places, she says. I would never judge the place, like, This is middle class and white. This is a white country, you dont have to spell it out to me, but there wasnt ever a limit on where I could go or what I could do.

A long, elliptical digression on London then and now follows, which takes in the optimistic multiculturalism of the 90s, Tamil house parties, empire and British identity. Its the bento box of an MIA interview: individually contained ideas that dont obviously bleed into one another and yet, overall, make a collective sense if youre prepared to go with it. Thats the key thing about MIA: you have to be willing to go with her to properly get her. Given that she still looks and sounds like a beautiful, bratty, art-school upstart and is prone to labyrinthine tangents, its easy to portray her as inarticulate or unhinged. But MIAs intelligence is instinctive rather than intellectual, and fuelled by the political.

The Mehrabian maxim that reckons that only 7% of communication is verbal is one that might best be proven by the transcript of a chat with MIA removed of all tone, attitude, context and body language. Take, for instance, her explanation of why only the future remains relevant:

As humans, we dont use our past and our history to work out the importance of what our role is in the present, she says. And if you cant use the past to define your present, then it should not be an element that holds back the future. Greece is a perfect example. More than Britain, they were brought to their knees, and not a single white country thought about saving them. And it was part of their heritage. Its where their mythology comes from or their concept of capitalism and democracy comes from. Nobody cared, everybody cared about the modern. Right?

Kim Kardashian is actually more powerful than Greece. She has more money than the whole of Greece, she continues. Therefore, thats where the power lies. If you then define it that way, then you kind of just have to live with that. And maybe whats happening in modern society: that if youre going to judge it by that, then other countries are gonna come in and define the future.

In print, its a statement that seems lacking in logic and coherence. In the moment, Im fairly sure Im able to follow her and we go on to consider how and where this future is being defined (for the record: You cant ignore the fact that China is going to be doing their thing in the next 50 years) and how Arulpragasam believes the immigration issue has become a red herring covering up a truth that can explain the American and British swing to conservative populism.

With Brexit, the idea was to get away from Europe and reinvent our identity, she says. And really, that identity was going to be American, but then they gave us Trump! So, everyone now is like, Oh shit, what is Britain? Are we going to rewind back to the 1800s? We cant. Its too late for that. So, going forward, we need a charismatic leader who then va va vooms the British identity. And we dont have that either.

People thinking that Im a bitch is totally unwarranted … MIA. Photograph: Stephanie Sian Smith/The Guide

The prime minister has called a snap election on the day we meet. Does MIA have any faith in our political system? Or in the left?

Everyone keeps going, Corbyn cant do this, but its, like, well, who else is there? she says. If people just left him alone to actually do the job and actually gave him some support, maybe hed be different. Treating him with so much contempt fighting that takes all his energy. How the fuck do you expect him to do interesting things? In any case insists the estranged daughter of a Tamil revolutionary, politicians are people who couldnt get jobs somewhere else.

MIAs politics, unwieldy and unslick though they may be, have often made her an easy target for tedious sneering in the press; the most insistent narrative is that, like Banksy, shes big on arch, subversive statement but lacks substance. Or that she is a hypocrite for making herself the poster girl for the worlds most marginalised people. And yet, shes one of the best pop stars Britain has ever produced. For all the ear-clanging experimentation of her five albums, MIA has always kept a sleeve full of pop bangers Bucky Done Gun, Paper Planes, Bad Girls, Finally that have sounded like little that came before or since her. Even if she didnt have the tunes, here is an art-school refugee Sri Lankan single mother with a visual aesthetic co-opted by everyone from Vetements to Versace who was born into political rebellion and revels in controversy. Gleefully gauche and carefree, MIA is the best argument for when cultural appropriation works. Bland singer-songstress beloved of Radio 2 playlists she isnt. So how much has the criticism bothered her?

People thinking that Im a bitch is totally unwarranted because Im not, she ays. I just had to fight for shit, and I still do. I just dont care any more. I dont know. She stops and starts. What I deal with as an artist, the media, the public persona, its a walk in the fucking park, compared to how confusing the universe really fucking is. Theres so much beauty in it and theres so much mystery, theres so much confusing shit in it. That is way more interesting to think about than why, like, Patricia hates me. You know what I mean? I laugh. Its like, Who the fuck is Patricia? and How can Patricia say this shit about me?. It just does not matter to me at all.As it is, she says shes most preoccupied with how to be a functioning grown up, an adult and a mother to an eight-year-old son (whose father Benjamin Bronfman is son to the billionaire heir of the Seagram fortune) born into immense privilege.

When the war came to an end in Sri Lanka in 2009, it actually did affect me, she explains. Everyone was, like, What the fuck does she know? Shes, like, a pop star, but that was my life. It was 50% of who I was, it was my identity. I didnt know what to do with myself. So I had a kid. Its the year the cause died, but the year my personal cause my son was born. And then, OK, I have to figure out what to do in very small parameters: I have a son, how is he going to see his grandma, am I going to make it there on Saturday? Can I make sure that I dont mess up his head by being depressed about certain things?

She struggles to reconcile her upbringing poor and living in Sri Lanka for her childhood to poor and living on a council estate in Mitcham, south London, in her adolescence with her sons. Im not very straightforward as an immigrant. That whole My kids would never see the pain that I saw; Im not like that. Im totally up for reintroducing him to the pain. I dont have any qualms about that. Her problems havent changed, she says, because of money or better circumstances. Whether Im in a mansion or a council flat, I would feel the same anxiety waking up going: I need to write this thing in a scrapbook, wheres my notepad? I would still have all those problems. I might still overcook the fish fingers. Those things are not going to magically transform because your house has changed. At the beginning I thought that money couldve saved my family. Very quickly I realised that money is not the thing.

Her conflict in wanting to being huge and commercial versus credible and ahead of the curve has been a persistent tension threaded through MIAs career. When I got into the music game, it was never an option to shut up and make lots of money. she says. To be a huge pop star, I would have to be, like, Yes, I think bombing Afghanistan was a great idea, I love our democracy and what it has achieved. I love the American flag and Im going to make a jumpsuit out of it. I just think it was important to have all of those Arab Springs, and its great and lets drink Coca-Cola. I had to do that, and do it all in a thong. Could I have done that if it meant that my mum had the nicest house in Chiswick by the river?

Click here to se the video for MIAs Bad Girls.

Does she worry about money now? If youre preaching living within your means, you have to, to some extent. But I also know that if youre someone in society that speaks out about injustice or political issues, one of the things that happens is that you get economically punished, 100%. I take that hit all the time.

The most recent, obvious example was MIA being forced to quit her headline slot at Afropunk last year, following a contentious quote in which she asked in an interview why Beyonc and Kendrick Lamar might not discuss why Muslim lives matter or Syrian lives matter. I dont regret [raising the issue], she says, with triumphant chutzpah. You saw how bad it was. And the Muslim ban didnt happen just with Trump, it was already happening under Obama. But you couldnt say that about him, you couldnt say that he introduced the Muslim ban, or banned seven different countries, or was already monitoring people, or dropped more bombs than Trump has. In truth, Obamas administration did identify the seven countries on Trumps list for additional screening measures, but it didnt bar their nationals. Shes already skipped ahead. The quantity of damage cant be quantified right now, she insists. Well have to wait the four years. After eight years of Obama, we kind of knew [his failings], but we just werent allowed to say them because he was so great. He was better than any person in Hollywood that I wouldve watched. He was really likable and just had loads of swag. That doesnt mean that you have to deny the truth, though.

This (and much more) comes moments after she tells me she has no time for opinions these days. She claims she doesnt read the news any more and that her primary sources for information are customers at the local kebab shop, taxi drivers and then sort of figuring it out. What about the state of the world? MIAs moment as an agitprop pop activist has never seemed more potent. Politics? I have no time for these things because Im so stuck in the zone. Ive become a hermit. [Meltdown] is actually giving me the chance to actually go out and meet people again. Ive gone for weeks without talking to a person, I do that happily. I tell her I dont believe her, as I suspect it would be a recipe for her to go fully barmy.

Im actually quite an extreme person, so I dont see that as madness. I see that as, like, solitude, doing a phase of solitude is not that bad. After declaring her fifth album AIM to be her final one, shes also trying to find new ways to channel her creativity. Im trying to write a film. I havent stepped into it yet because I want it to be good. Once you hit the start button you cant really stop it. She has, she tells me, the added complication of ADD to contend with. When was that diagnosed? I just have it. Dont even need diagnosis, its a waste of time, its a waste of the NHS. In truly blithe MIA style, she adds: Its just when you have too many ideas and not enough ways to get them out.

MIAs Meltdown is at the Southbank Centre, SE1, 9-18 June

Read more: http://ift.tt/2rBtxTD

from Viral News HQ http://ift.tt/2rbYbGf via Viral News HQ

[trendingnewsb]

MIA: This is a white country, you dont have to spell it out to me

Maya Arulpragasam is bringing dancehall, hip-hop and grime to this years Meltdown. Is the outspoken British Sri Lankan the best argument for positive cultural appropriation?

The Guardian said that you couldnt shag to my record. As conversational openers go, MIAs beats the banal niceties of, say, Hello, how are you doing?. Its no surprise that she charges straight into a chat about why her last album was considered too confrontational for the bedroom by this paper. Its an icebreaker moulded to MIAs very own design: abrasive, compelling, underpinned by sex. Yeah, she finally concedes with a grin when I suggest we move past it, you cant have it all, can you?

Its a theme she warms up to when we talk about her edition of Meltdown at the Southbank Centre, which were ostensibly here to discuss. Usually, I wouldnt do something like this, she says, slouched under an oversized khaki coat dress. [But the organisers] were like: Hey, you can do whatever you want. Still, putting on the South Banks annual festival, curated in previous years by the likes of David Bowie, David Byrne and Patti Smith, has turned out to be a fairly arduous affair for MIA who says she doesnt do computers at the moment.

They didnt tell me it was nine days long. I thought it was a weekend. And then all my lists were, like, Well, this person wont be in London and that person is doing Glastonbury. Organising festivals is actually really complicated, she stresses. It wasnt just about dreaming something and then it appeared. Programming literally means, like, programming.

For all that Maya Arulpragasam didnt quite know what she was letting herself in for, one suspects the Southbank Centre didnt either; logistics aside, the mornings photoshoot has already been met with some flapping from the press officer made nervous by MIA climbing on the roof without safety clearance. Still, her lineup dancehall, Brooklyn hip-hop, depressive Swedish rap and Nigerian grime is perhaps the most underground the festival has seen in its 24 years. How much is she expecting to shake up its comfortable concert halls, cafe bars and conference-room spaces?

Click here to watch the video for last years Go Off.

When I was a teenager in London, I would just get a Travelcard and go somewhere, explore the city and go to weird places, she says. I would never judge the place, like, This is middle class and white. This is a white country, you dont have to spell it out to me, but there wasnt ever a limit on where I could go or what I could do.

A long, elliptical digression on London then and now follows, which takes in the optimistic multiculturalism of the 90s, Tamil house parties, empire and British identity. Its the bento box of an MIA interview: individually contained ideas that dont obviously bleed into one another and yet, overall, make a collective sense if youre prepared to go with it. Thats the key thing about MIA: you have to be willing to go with her to properly get her. Given that she still looks and sounds like a beautiful, bratty, art-school upstart and is prone to labyrinthine tangents, its easy to portray her as inarticulate or unhinged. But MIAs intelligence is instinctive rather than intellectual, and fuelled by the political.

The Mehrabian maxim that reckons that only 7% of communication is verbal is one that might best be proven by the transcript of a chat with MIA removed of all tone, attitude, context and body language. Take, for instance, her explanation of why only the future remains relevant:

As humans, we dont use our past and our history to work out the importance of what our role is in the present, she says. And if you cant use the past to define your present, then it should not be an element that holds back the future. Greece is a perfect example. More than Britain, they were brought to their knees, and not a single white country thought about saving them. And it was part of their heritage. Its where their mythology comes from or their concept of capitalism and democracy comes from. Nobody cared, everybody cared about the modern. Right?

Kim Kardashian is actually more powerful than Greece. She has more money than the whole of Greece, she continues. Therefore, thats where the power lies. If you then define it that way, then you kind of just have to live with that. And maybe whats happening in modern society: that if youre going to judge it by that, then other countries are gonna come in and define the future.

In print, its a statement that seems lacking in logic and coherence. In the moment, Im fairly sure Im able to follow her and we go on to consider how and where this future is being defined (for the record: You cant ignore the fact that China is going to be doing their thing in the next 50 years) and how Arulpragasam believes the immigration issue has become a red herring covering up a truth that can explain the American and British swing to conservative populism.

With Brexit, the idea was to get away from Europe and reinvent our identity, she says. And really, that identity was going to be American, but then they gave us Trump! So, everyone now is like, Oh shit, what is Britain? Are we going to rewind back to the 1800s? We cant. Its too late for that. So, going forward, we need a charismatic leader who then va va vooms the British identity. And we dont have that either.

People thinking that Im a bitch is totally unwarranted … MIA. Photograph: Stephanie Sian Smith/The Guide

The prime minister has called a snap election on the day we meet. Does MIA have any faith in our political system? Or in the left?

Everyone keeps going, Corbyn cant do this, but its, like, well, who else is there? she says. If people just left him alone to actually do the job and actually gave him some support, maybe hed be different. Treating him with so much contempt fighting that takes all his energy. How the fuck do you expect him to do interesting things? In any case insists the estranged daughter of a Tamil revolutionary, politicians are people who couldnt get jobs somewhere else.

MIAs politics, unwieldy and unslick though they may be, have often made her an easy target for tedious sneering in the press; the most insistent narrative is that, like Banksy, shes big on arch, subversive statement but lacks substance. Or that she is a hypocrite for making herself the poster girl for the worlds most marginalised people. And yet, shes one of the best pop stars Britain has ever produced. For all the ear-clanging experimentation of her five albums, MIA has always kept a sleeve full of pop bangers Bucky Done Gun, Paper Planes, Bad Girls, Finally that have sounded like little that came before or since her. Even if she didnt have the tunes, here is an art-school refugee Sri Lankan single mother with a visual aesthetic co-opted by everyone from Vetements to Versace who was born into political rebellion and revels in controversy. Gleefully gauche and carefree, MIA is the best argument for when cultural appropriation works. Bland singer-songstress beloved of Radio 2 playlists she isnt. So how much has the criticism bothered her?

People thinking that Im a bitch is totally unwarranted because Im not, she ays. I just had to fight for shit, and I still do. I just dont care any more. I dont know. She stops and starts. What I deal with as an artist, the media, the public persona, its a walk in the fucking park, compared to how confusing the universe really fucking is. Theres so much beauty in it and theres so much mystery, theres so much confusing shit in it. That is way more interesting to think about than why, like, Patricia hates me. You know what I mean? I laugh. Its like, Who the fuck is Patricia? and How can Patricia say this shit about me?. It just does not matter to me at all.As it is, she says shes most preoccupied with how to be a functioning grown up, an adult and a mother to an eight-year-old son (whose father Benjamin Bronfman is son to the billionaire heir of the Seagram fortune) born into immense privilege.

When the war came to an end in Sri Lanka in 2009, it actually did affect me, she explains. Everyone was, like, What the fuck does she know? Shes, like, a pop star, but that was my life. It was 50% of who I was, it was my identity. I didnt know what to do with myself. So I had a kid. Its the year the cause died, but the year my personal cause my son was born. And then, OK, I have to figure out what to do in very small parameters: I have a son, how is he going to see his grandma, am I going to make it there on Saturday? Can I make sure that I dont mess up his head by being depressed about certain things?

She struggles to reconcile her upbringing poor and living in Sri Lanka for her childhood to poor and living on a council estate in Mitcham, south London, in her adolescence with her sons. Im not very straightforward as an immigrant. That whole My kids would never see the pain that I saw; Im not like that. Im totally up for reintroducing him to the pain. I dont have any qualms about that. Her problems havent changed, she says, because of money or better circumstances. Whether Im in a mansion or a council flat, I would feel the same anxiety waking up going: I need to write this thing in a scrapbook, wheres my notepad? I would still have all those problems. I might still overcook the fish fingers. Those things are not going to magically transform because your house has changed. At the beginning I thought that money couldve saved my family. Very quickly I realised that money is not the thing.

Her conflict in wanting to being huge and commercial versus credible and ahead of the curve has been a persistent tension threaded through MIAs career. When I got into the music game, it was never an option to shut up and make lots of money. she says. To be a huge pop star, I would have to be, like, Yes, I think bombing Afghanistan was a great idea, I love our democracy and what it has achieved. I love the American flag and Im going to make a jumpsuit out of it. I just think it was important to have all of those Arab Springs, and its great and lets drink Coca-Cola. I had to do that, and do it all in a thong. Could I have done that if it meant that my mum had the nicest house in Chiswick by the river?

Click here to se the video for MIAs Bad Girls.

Does she worry about money now? If youre preaching living within your means, you have to, to some extent. But I also know that if youre someone in society that speaks out about injustice or political issues, one of the things that happens is that you get economically punished, 100%. I take that hit all the time.

The most recent, obvious example was MIA being forced to quit her headline slot at Afropunk last year, following a contentious quote in which she asked in an interview why Beyonc and Kendrick Lamar might not discuss why Muslim lives matter or Syrian lives matter. I dont regret [raising the issue], she says, with triumphant chutzpah. You saw how bad it was. And the Muslim ban didnt happen just with Trump, it was already happening under Obama. But you couldnt say that about him, you couldnt say that he introduced the Muslim ban, or banned seven different countries, or was already monitoring people, or dropped more bombs than Trump has. In truth, Obamas administration did identify the seven countries on Trumps list for additional screening measures, but it didnt bar their nationals. Shes already skipped ahead. The quantity of damage cant be quantified right now, she insists. Well have to wait the four years. After eight years of Obama, we kind of knew [his failings], but we just werent allowed to say them because he was so great. He was better than any person in Hollywood that I wouldve watched. He was really likable and just had loads of swag. That doesnt mean that you have to deny the truth, though.

This (and much more) comes moments after she tells me she has no time for opinions these days. She claims she doesnt read the news any more and that her primary sources for information are customers at the local kebab shop, taxi drivers and then sort of figuring it out. What about the state of the world? MIAs moment as an agitprop pop activist has never seemed more potent. Politics? I have no time for these things because Im so stuck in the zone. Ive become a hermit. [Meltdown] is actually giving me the chance to actually go out and meet people again. Ive gone for weeks without talking to a person, I do that happily. I tell her I dont believe her, as I suspect it would be a recipe for her to go fully barmy.

Im actually quite an extreme person, so I dont see that as madness. I see that as, like, solitude, doing a phase of solitude is not that bad. After declaring her fifth album AIM to be her final one, shes also trying to find new ways to channel her creativity. Im trying to write a film. I havent stepped into it yet because I want it to be good. Once you hit the start button you cant really stop it. She has, she tells me, the added complication of ADD to contend with. When was that diagnosed? I just have it. Dont even need diagnosis, its a waste of time, its a waste of the NHS. In truly blithe MIA style, she adds: Its just when you have too many ideas and not enough ways to get them out.

MIAs Meltdown is at the Southbank Centre, SE1, 9-18 June

Read more: http://ift.tt/2rBtxTD

from Viral News HQ http://ift.tt/2rbYbGf via Viral News HQ