#like these vocal 'experts' all have completely different opinions on different people

[lnkedmyheart]

Not mmm and wendy stans going at it on twt and trying to drag other groups and singnie into the fight. Like...that vocal ranking thread is horseshit cause it literally called half of mmm average and put decent vocalists in weak. Like no offense I dont think wendy being considered competent is exactly a fucking compliment because a bunch of self absorbed fuckasses who couldnt hold a note to save their life act like they know anything about vocals and performance.

Like have you heard Wendy and mmm? You wanna tell me Wendy, Wheein, Solar and Hwasa aren't GOOD?

[42bakery]

thirking about the f1 driver strike...would the motogp riders do something like that if LM (inevitably) screwed up -whar woudl they have to do for thej to go on a strike abd how would it even go down between th riders

Hi anon 👋👋👋👋

First of all, please don't come to my blog and say LM when referring to Liberty Media. When I see LM I just assume Luca Marini, yes I'm a Luca girly, so I was fucking confused.

Secondly, this is a very complex issue and it doesn't have only one possible outcome. I'm not an expert, and in fact, I invite anyone who wants to give their 5 cents in this subject to participate (@motocorsas or @glitterbombingandcondoming ).

I'm not a MotoGP exert, and I never pretended to be one, and even less of an expert on F1. But I do know that the conditions to make the rider strike would be very different from the F1.

In my opinion, for riders to strike what needs to happen is a flagrant violation of the safety of the riders, such as replacing air fences with techpro or completely removing them. Or implement street racing, or making them go back to Isle of Man.

I don't think it will be a safety violation -> strike because currently we are seeing some of them being committee and only a few riders, mainly Aleix and Marc, be vocal about it, and the new generation of riders just roll with it* or call other riders princesses for not wanting to risk their life (Miller to Marc when he complained about the Honda).

* There's this time when a MotoGP race was delayed due to the bad weather and lack of visibility. When race direction fiinally gave their okay for the race to go, there was too much water and too much spray to be safe. Aleix went rider to rider asking for their opinion and riders such as Martín or Quartararo, the big names, say that if race direction gave the green, then where willing to go. I do remember Aleix calling them out and saying you are at the front, but what about the people in the back? There's too much spray to be safe. Aleix only had Luca on his corner, when the big names care 0. Also Aleix had no motive to do that because he was also at the front, he did it because he genuinely cared for the safety. He even said he's reprensible of his brother's accident because riders didn't foresee the need of an airfence on that particular corner.

And adding to that, the safety commission is the only place where raiders can voice their concerns, not always listened, and it's not even mandatory! And big names like Valentino Rossi decided to not even go. So what is the purpose of it, if the big names just refuse to give a shit about it? And the safety comission is only for MotoGP, not even Moto2 or Moto3 can go and voice their concerns

So returning to your question, it has to be more than just this. Probably riders will only strike when a rider loses their life after Liberty has made changes in regardless safety and the riders having warned them. So basically when any organization is the responsible of the death of a rider after implementing changes against the safety of a rider.

This is of course my opinion, but I invite anyone who wants to give theirs.

[hyunubear]

rant time!

kpop reaction content isn't exactly new (at least as far as I know) but it does seem to have kind of boomed in the last... two-three years I think. I remember there being only a handful of relevant kpop reaction content creators on youtube, some more popular that the others, but still there weren't a ton of them around. and I guess it makes sense because kpop itself has gotten much more popular and widely known outside of just [REDACTED] and among a wider age range I'd say.

but nowadays if you look up “X group - Y title track reaction” you will find tens, if not hundreds of reaction videos (especially if its a well known group) ranging from channels with hundreds of thousand subs to small account with a couple of hundred views on their reaction videos. and I just find that so weird.

like... especially for channels that do reactions as their main (and only) content, I find it extremely difficult to believe that after a certain point there is any authenticity behind these reactions. these big reaction channels are out there reacting to damn near every relevant kpop group's comebacks (and there are a LOT of them) and every single reaction is generally positive and often very enthusiastic.

aside from the fact that logically and statistically it's impossible for someone to like every title track being released, even if they're all objectively good (which they're not), because no one likes every genre and every style of music, there is basically no creativity involved in creating this type of content which makes it very dull both for the creator and the consumer after a while.

on top of that, this type of content has created a really toxic environment around expressing opinions and criticism toward kpop groups and kpop music. I just came across a video from one of these bigger (while also being newer) creators talking about how she's not happy with the content she's been making for the past year. she said that it's extremely overwhelming trying to keep up with every comeback when everyone expects you to react to their fave's CB and after a while sitting and reacting to music videos becomes repetitive especially when you're not even allowed to truly be yourself and express your opinions. she said she can't even talk about having a bias in a group because she would get tons of hate comments and dms about ppl bashing her for not having a different bias. I can't imagine how people would react to a reaction video creator saying she doesn't like a comeback or even a certain element in the song/mv.

I used to love kpop reaction videos back when I had just discovered them and they were not as big. like I genuinely get the appeal. seeing someone who's not a teenage girl (which is what stereotypically the general public thinks kpop stans are) is pretty validating. and back then there were like 'vocal coach reacts' or 'producer reacts' etc. seeing the reaction of "experts" analyzing different parts of a song/mv was really interesting for someone like me with zero knowledge of any of the technical stuff. and I also understand that they do contribute to promoting groups and comebacks to a certain degree. but it has just gone too far, in my opinion.

idk maybe I’ve just gotten old and lost the will to enjoy the small things that used to bring me joy but I genuinely don't enjoy reaction videos anymore. most of those older 'exerpts' (except for two I think) aren't active anymore (I'm guessing at least to some degree bc stans didn't want to hear that their fave was not that legendary of a vocalist or their fave song wasn't as layered and complex as they thought it was) and instead there are just random people reacting to kpop and some of them you can just tell that all their reactions are completely faked out. Youtubers are jumping on this trend bc it’s easy (in terms of not having any kind of real substance) and gets u good views if you’re a little charming and funny.

TL;DR : everything is fake and authenticity is dead. kdjfdjf I'm mostly joking but in the end, as per usual with my rants of this kind, I don't have a specific point or a solution. I'm just starting a conversation. so if any of you have something to add or just want to chat about this send me an ask!! (plz don't reply in the comments because I want this to be on my dash so everyone else can read too.)

[mackmp3]

The Beths ✨

The Beths are an indie band from Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand, with three studio albums, a live album, a couple eps, and recently completed a couple international tours with many sellout shows.

And they are the fricken best NZ band currently recording, in my opinion. (by all means tell me who you think are better I might not have heard of, but consider : the Beths.)

They mainly work in the indie rock format, their earlier stuff being quite pop-punk (though the title track of Jump Rope Gazers sounds uncannily like nostalgic Taylor Swift it's a bit disconcerting). Their 2022 album Expert In A Dying Field, is mostly nicer soundwise, a bit less distorted as a whole (with the notable exception of Silence is Golden, with a searing solo and excellent high-on-the-fretboard-bass-playing), but still with the unflinchingly personal lyrics that typify Beths songs. They have extraordinarily catchy choruses, memorable tunes and a fine combination of distorted guitar and chirpy backup vocals.

Singer/songwriter/guitarist Elizabeth Stokes' songs are full of passion, tenderness, and the very real anxiety of sharing your feelings with people. They bring up real emotions and experiences, things everyone even slightly introspective and introverted and socially anxious is surely very familiar with. Her lyrics, even when bordering on Morrissey-level angst 'you wouldn't like me / if you saw what was inside me' and 'misery loves me / but I don't love her', often surprisingly dark contrasting with the cheerful tone of the melody 'I told you that I was afraid / of stating my opinions in a clear and honest way [...] some thoughts are best deleted // I don't know what I'm getting up for'. The lyrics are highly emotionally charged while still seeming completely genuine, without the melodramatics.

Producer/lead guitarist Jonathan Pearce reminds me of Lenny Kaye (or Johnny Marr, but for some reason Lenny Kaye) - the guitarist who is crucial in shaping the sound of the band, singing backup (and backing vocals are a key feature of Beths songs) and being a *presence* in the music. His solos are excellent, drawing from a wide variety of indie influences, being technically quite good, impactful without showing off or going on too long, they always suit the song very well. He seems a true musical partner, and any band that produces their own music has full respect from me. They've had a couple drummers, especially for different tours, the drumming is a bit more heavy on their first album Future Me Hates Me. There are so far not really any particular stand out basslines I can remember but the bass always has really good tone. All band members contribute vocals, which I think is really cool.

The Beths make particular use of NZ made amps like Jansen - quick NZ music history courtesy of my friends dad / band mentor - for a long time from the 60s onwards, it was cheaper to build amps here than it was to import them from the US, so there are a lot of virtually indestructible vintage amps lying around the country - and Stokes also has a really vibey looking turquoise guitar, never seen another one like it. Their music videos are also really cool, have that nice indie / low budget / *lets do random stuff in front of the camera with some props* vibe to them.

I have seen the Beths live once, which was amazing and I loved it, it was one of those gigs that makes me want to go home and practice so that I can one day be that cool. They are really heavy live, far more distorted and on the rock end of the indie spectrum. I have also been lucky enough to meet them after said show and get a cd signed, they were all really nice. I said to Elizabeth that I had learned Future Me Hates Me with my band, and she asked if it was easy or hard, and I said it just has a lot of chords (she agreed, it does have a lot of chords). Next time they do a show here I am 100% going. I hope they will have a new album out in the next couple years and continue to explore their style a bit more, and that they continue to find an international audience because they are certainly good enough to.

Lots of love to the Beths <3

[gh0st-patr0l]

ADHD in DSMP

So about a week back, I made a post about Karl Jacobs (a bit of a passive aggressive one, I’ll admit, but I think it was justified), complaining that a lot of the ‘criticism’ I see about Karl is actually rather insensitive towards his ADHD. I got a lot of responses to that post, and the most common sources of confusion I saw were:

People not understanding what I was saying they should avoid being judgmental of, or-

People who didn’t know that Karl had ADHD or didn’t understand which behaviors were caused by it.

First of all, Karl has confirmed that he has ADHD.

(NOTE: Yes, I know he said ADD. ADD and ADHD used to be categorized as separate disorders, but in the most recent edition of the DSM, it was decided that they are both simply subtypes of the same disorder- ADHD is the correct technical term. ADD is still sometimes used as shorthand by some practitioners to diagnose primarily-inattentive ADHD, but it's a bit outdated.)

Secondly, that original post made me realize that a lot of people who may be well-meaning may genuinely not fully understand ADHD and its symptoms as well as they want to or think they might. If you aren’t aware, Karl isn’t the only one in the DSMP with ADHD- to my understanding, both Technoblade and Dream have confirmed that they have it as well. So, I thought it would be helpful to put together a comprehensive crash-course on ADHD symptoms and how they effect people’s behavior!

Now, before we go further, I want to address something- as I said earlier, I saw some people unsure of whether certain behaviors are ADHD or “just his personality”. I feel the need to point this out above the read more so people will see it. To answer this question, as someone with ADHD;

A lot of times, it’s both. ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder, meaning that it’s caused by the way your brain developed from birth. A lot of the symptoms and effects of ADHD are extremely influential towards the way we think, act, and behave, to the point where “symptoms” and “normal behavior” really don’t have a clean differentiation. This is why it’s technically classified as a ‘disorder’, instead of an illness. While certain aspects of it can require treatment, the condition itself as a whole is not something to be mitigated or eliminated- it’s a part of who we are as a person. This is also why sometimes, even if you don’t have ADHD, you’ll look at certain specific behaviors or experiences and go “Oh, but I do that too!”. A lot of ADHD ‘symptoms’ are just a bunch of normal traits or behaviors, but in combination with each other and some actually problematic aspects, form the appearance of the disorder.

So, what are you allowed to nitpick about it? Well, there’s no real ‘authority’ on this, and even if there was it certainly wouldn’t be me. But if you want my opinion? Nothing.

See, here’s the thing- what I was trying to say when I made that post was not that you can’t be critical of Karl. If you want to say something about his Actions, his Ideals, or the content he creates- sure, go for it, that’s fair. I will agree that there are some very valid and constructive points to be made. But when you post ‘criticism’ about the way he speaks, his interests or preoccupations, his personal behaviors? That’s not criticism. That’s just judging someone.

And you’re allowed to think that stuff! Nobody can control what annoys or bothers them. It doesn’t necessarily make you a bad person. But you don’t need to be vocal about it. You can keep your mean thoughts to yourself. And if you do make posts or communities or whatever about judging someone for things they can’t change about themselves, don’t call it “criticism” or try to morally justify it. It’s not productive or righteous, it’s just rude. Nothing else.

Anyway. Back to Education!

The following will be a descriptive list of visible ADHD behaviors, using Karl’s behavior as examples.

I feel the need to add a disclaimer here- I am not a mental health professional. However! I have ADHD myself, I have taken some psychology courses and done a Lot of research into this stuff, and I’m the daughter of a therapist with access to a DSM. While I’m not an expert, I’d like to think I’m fairly well versed and knowledgeable on at least ADHD. (That being said, if by chance anyone who Is a professional sees this post and notices mistakes, by all means let me know and I’ll fix it!!)

WHAT IS ADHD?

You’re here for the behaviors more than the science, so I’ll keep this short and sweet. ADHD is Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (Known in the past as Attention Deficit Disorder). Despite its name, the root problem of ADHD is not in the person’s ability to pay attention, but their brain’s capability to manage itself. In simple terms, people with ADHD have a lot less control over what their brain does and wants. This results in some behavioral differences along with some personal challenges, namely a difficulty with attentiveness and self-discipline.

Now, onto the symptoms!

ATTENTION

This is perhaps the most visible and pervasive of the ADHD symptoms, hence why it’s the namesake. Inattention is a lack of focus and an inability to stay present and occupied with certain tasks or thoughts.

Because ADHD impairs self-management of the brain, people with it have an extremely hard time directing themselves anywhere but where their brain instinctively wants to go. This results in inattentiveness and the easiness of distraction that is often mocked or stereotyped for people with ADHD.

Here are some examples of how Karl can sometimes display his inattentiveness;

When he has an idea that he seems passionate about, only to drop it or switch to something totally different without warning soon after (either forgetting or getting bored of his original idea).

When he sets out to do something like a build, works on it for a short amount of time, and then immediately gives up or gets someone else to do it.

When someone else is talking and he totally zones out. (NOTE: While I wont make a whole section for it because it’s not easily observable, maladaptive (constant and intrusive) daydreaming is a common ADHD symptom as well!)

It’s important to remember that the whole problem with ADHD is that we can’t control when or what we focus on. When someone with ADHD zones out during a conversation or activity, it doesn’t mean they’re doing it on purpose, and they likely don’t mean any offense! We often are trying our best to listen or participate, but our brain just wont cooperate.

However, inattention is not the only way ADHD effects our focus. There’s also what’s called hyperfocus or hyperfixation, which is when we are so absorbed into a single subject, task, or idea that it is extremely difficult to get us to think about or do anything else. This is usually because our brains have found something that is getting those satisfaction chemicals flowing, and it’s clinging to that with everything it’s got.

People with ADHD will often experience brief periods of hyperfocus. Think of how Karl talks about spending hours straight working on a build or project without eating or drinking, or how he’ll sit down to play a game with someone and end up going six hours without even noticing.

There are also hyperfixations, where someone with ADHD becomes extremely preoccupied with a certain subject, topic, etc. for a period of time. These can be short term- personally, my hyperfixation can sometimes change as quickly as a couple weeks at a time. However, it can also be long term. Karl has been obsessed with Survivor since the second grade- not to mention his memorabilia, rambling, and constant references to Kingdom Hearts.

HYPERACTIVITY/STIMMING

This is a BIG one for Karl. I should clarify; ‘stimming’ is not a technical term, and in professional situations these behaviors are just referred to as Hyperactivity. However, I personally like the term stimming much more and find it far more accurate to what the behaviors actually are, so I’ll be using that instead for this post.

If you’re not already familiar, ‘stimming’ (derived from ‘stimulation’) is an unofficial term used to describe consistent and abnormal patterns of physical and vocal behavior typically expressed by people with ADHD and ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder). This includes things that people usually call fidgets or tics.

(NOTE: There are differences in how people with those two disorders stim. This post will explain stimming specifically from an ADHD perspective! ASD stimming is caused by very different factors and presents itself in much different ways. Do your own research if you’re curious!) 

There are two major observable forms of stimming- physical and vocal. Karl expresses both VERY often! I’ll use examples for each type;

Physical Stims: Flapping his hands/arms, jumping up and down when he’s excited, twisting around into odd positions in his chair, throwing, hitting, or tapping things, standing up and pacing around when he’s hyped up or laughing, twisting his rings, etc.

Vocal Stims: When he gets excited and repeats a certain phrase incessantly (Think any variation of “I’m popping off”), making certain repetitive noises while he’s focused on something or bored (”la la la”, the meow-noises, the weird heart-beat noise, etc.), singing or humming, tongue clicking.

It should be noted here that it’s pretty common for people with ADHD to get “stuck” on certain phrases or noises, and be unable to stop repeating them (reminiscent of echolalia, a symptom of ASD, but not the same thing). Think of how Karl might sometimes keep making a weird noise for an extended period of time even though it’s not that funny, or that one time he was physically struggling to keep himself from singing the Bakugan theme. These repetitions are completely impulsive and trust me, we usually know how annoying it is while we’re doing it, but we physically cannot stop.

ADHD stims are caused by the fact that the barrier between our brain and body is much weaker than a normal person’s. Because of this, most ADHD stims are actually very positive expressions of joy, excitement, or enthusiasm! Y’know how when you get excited, you feel like you wanna jump or dance? The ‘hyperactivity’ of ADHD is basically just that, but we don’t have the self-control to Not do it.

Stims can be caused by negative feelings like overstimulation, but in ADHD this is not nearly as common. Usually, the most negative reason we’ll stim is when we’re bored- in that case, our brain isn’t getting the Constant Stimulation that it naturally wants, so stimming is a way to make our own.

Whatever the cause, stimming is natural and impulsive. While different people experience it to varying degrees, those who regularly stim typically have little to no control over it. Suppressing stims is very hard and very frustrating to do.

Besides that, like I said- ADHD stims are often an expression of joy, excitement, or enthusiasm. They’re a beautiful thing that shouldn’t be seen as shameful or annoying!

BEHAVIORAL DIFFICULTIES

ADHD is a disorder which causes a lack of self-control. Naturally, this means that people with ADHD are inherently reckless, impulsive, and struggle with a lack of self-discipline that they cannot fix.

Of course, people with ADHD do still have some level of self-control, and they are still responsible for conscious, long-term behavioral patterns and decisions. However, in regards to most things, they are much, much less capable of controlling themselves than an average neurotypical person is.

These are some examples of how this will often present itself in Karl;

Excessive rambling, dragging on a joke or conversation when it could and should probably have been dropped, etc.

Speaking over or interrupting other people (NOTE: As someone with ADHD- THIS IS ALMOST ALWAYS UNINTENTIONAL. I know it can seem rude or annoying but I promise, 90% of the time if someone with ADHD talks over you, they either didn’t realize or physically couldn’t help it. Please try to be patient!)

Lack of awareness towards social cues (NOTE: Unlike ASD, in which the person is incapable of/has problems fully understanding social cues, ADHD results in a lack of awareness. For whatever reason, we’re often just not paying close enough attention to pick up on things like body language, tone of speech, and facial expression as well as we would normally.)

Indecisiveness and overthinking

Bluntness, lack of subtlety

Unintentional dismissiveness, accidentally ignoring things/people (NOTE: Again, this behavior is purely accidental. In this case, it’s usually just the person genuinely not hearing or processing things.)

Making noises, speaking, joking, etc. at inappropriate times

There’s probably more, but I think you get the idea by now. A lot of the time, behavior which results from ADHD can be seen as rude, lazy, dismissive, or otherwise intentionally harmful. In reality, we just aren’t wired to navigate common social interaction with grace.

In Karl’s case, he’s clearly an incredibly sweet, empathetic, and kind-hearted person, if the various close friends who have talked about him are to be believed. Just because he talks over people or makes a poorly timed joke, that doesn’t mean he meant any harm. 

I think that’s about it for how much I wanted to point out! You can do more research if you’re curious, but I feel like this post should be enough to tell you what to keep in mind and be understanding about when talking about/making judgements on Karl, and other people with ADHD.

[quicksilversquared]

The Wavering Peahen: Chapter 8

When Nathalie started feeling oddly ill again, both she and Gabriel were worried that the Peacock Miraculous might somehow (impossibly) be to blame again.

So naturally, they pick someone else to be the Peacock for a bit. You know, as a test subject. Except the new Peacock… doesn’t exactly know that.

links in the reblog

Lila groaned as she woke up. Everything was sore, sore, sore and shifting- however barely- in her bed made it worse. Something- a bedspring?- was stabbing her in the back, and she must have forgotten to take some bracelets off or something because there was definitely something on her wrists. She opened her eyes, about to sit up, and then froze.

Because this was all wrong.

She wasn't in her room, not at all. Maybe the room was mostly dark, but the light filtering in from the window and from the hallway was enough for Lila to see bare white walls, a large lack of furniture, and a couple of machines at her bedside. Lila bolted upright, her eyes flashing around the room, but nothing changed.

She was definitely in a hospital.

Frowning, Lila tried to remember how she had gotten here. Had she fallen at school? Maybe she would be able to pin it on Marinette. Or- no, she remembered what had happened. She had been at their class picnic and had been feeling a bit ill. She had been following Rose to get a container to put her food in, since she hadn't felt like eating, and then- then-

And then there had been nothing. She must have fainted. Presumably someone had called for an ambulance then, and from there she ended up at the hospital.

Lila scowled. So much for her photos being the star of the day. Clearly she should have faked a text from her mom about a last-minute trip and left before everyone started eating. Then she could have gone home and laid down and slept off whatever bug she had, she would have had an opportunity to have another story, and she wouldn't have completely shot herself in the foot by making her collapse the story of the day.

Maybe she could spin it? Lila didn't know how- her head still hurt a bit, probably from hitting the ground- but a hospitalization surely meant that her mom would let her take a couple days off from school. That should be enough time for her to come up with something halfway believable.

And speaking of her mom... Lila scowled around the room. She could see a chair for visitors to sit in next to her bed, but it was empty. What, was a visit to the hospital not enough to get her mom to come in and make sure that her precious daughter to visit her? Lila would have thought that her mom would have dropped everything and rushed to her side at once.

Maybe she was just visiting with the doctors or something. That must be it. Yes, she would be talking to the doctors and making sure that they were running every test that might be needed to done to figure out what was wrong with Lila. Maybe they were going over results now- except no, results already would mean that Lila had been out for a while. And since there was no reason for her to have been out for a while- she knew enough to know that fainting and being out for more than a couple of minutes wasn't good, and being out for hours was even worse- that meant that results already was doubtful.

Lila shifted, frowning. Okay, so maybe her mom was probably with the doctor. Fine. Great. But why was she all alone in her room? Surely they didn't normally bring in unconscious people, plop them in a bed- a really uncomfortable bed, by the way, did they never replace these mattresses or something?- and then leave them on their own? Really, there should be some nurses hovering around, waiting for Lila to wake up so that they could explain what was going on. Instead, they had let Lila wake up in the dark and by herself.

It was poor customer service, really. Lila was definitely going to leave a terrible review for them. Seriously, wasn't it Hospital 101 to not leave patients alone? Lila was going to get up and go find someone now, so that they could tell her what was going on and find her mom for her-

Lila froze, her legs swung over the side of the bed. The movement had made her head swim, but that wasn't what had given Lila pause. No, the thing- things- that had stopped her in her tracks were the handcuffs snapped around her wrists.

What?

Why- why would she be handcuffed to her bed? That made no sense! Lila frantically wracked her brains, trying to make sense of what was going on. Why would anyone arrest her? She hadn't done anything wrong- well, nothing that would warrant her getting arrested.

Well. Except for being Pavona, but how would anyone have found that out? She hadn't transformed outside of her house for over a week, and she had always been careful when she transformed and detransformed. Maybe one of the doctors had found the pin on her- but no, nobody would actually recognize it. It would just look like a pretty pin. She would be worried about Duusu exposing himself to someone to get her in trouble, but she had ordered him not to do that. As far as she could tell, Duusu couldn't expose himself to others without her permission.

So what was going on?

Scowling, Lila yanked at the chains, part of her expecting that the cuffs were just a figment of her imagination, maybe, or maybe just a dream. The metal bit into her wrists, though, assuring Lila that they were, in fact, real.

Lila kicked her bedframe, then let out a curse at the pain that shot up her leg. Someone had better come to explain what was going on now. She- she couldn't- there was no way that she was in trouble, there had to be some other explanation for this-

The unmistakable sound of a key in the door lock caught Lila's attention, and her head whipped up. At once, she shifted back to recline against her pillows, working a pleasant look onto her face.

She didn't know how much people knew. She didn't know why she was in handcuffs- not for sure. It would be better to play innocent and see if she could still twist things in her favor.

No, not if. How she could best twist things in her favor. Lila would not admit defeat.

The lock gave, and three figures entered. One flicked the light on- Lila squinted against the unpleasant glare, doing her best to not screw up her face and look mad or something. She had to play the part of a misunderstood girl who got framed for- well, for something.

Hopefully the nurse and officers approaching her bed now would give something away.

"Ah, I see you're awake," the nurse told Lila. She didn't smile, which- uh, weren't nurses supposed to smile, to set their patients at ease? This hospital was really earning a terrible review. "I had wondered if the heroes maybe pulled the healing too early, but it looks like they timed it just right."

"Well, they are the experts," the first officer said before turning his attention to Lila. His gaze wasn't the least bit friendly. "So. Pavona. You're awake. Now- we have questions."

  Nothing that Lila said could persuade the officers who visited her at the hospital that she hadn't been Pavona, much to her displeasure. The Peacock had been found on her when she collapsed- all of the questioning in the world couldn't make the police officers tell her who had found the Peacock and actually been able to identify it- and the superheroes had been contacted. Duusu- the absolute traitor- had somehow managed to confirm Lila's identity plus Hawkmoth and Mayura's identities, so now all three of the city's former superheroes were in prison, or- in Lila's case- on her way there.

(Lila hoped that they would be at different facilities. She had been the one to set off the chain of events that had resulted in his arrest- even if it had been accidental and not her fault, since he hadn't told her that the Miraculous was broken!- and he knew who she was. That alone was a little scary, but she wasn't going to admit that. Much.)

(Okay, maybe she would play up her fear in front of the judge. Maybe she would get off easier if she told him that she was so frightened of what Hawkmoth- who, by the way, no one had told her his actual identity yet, even though she had asked- would do to her or her mom that she had had no option. If she could play things up for pity...yes, that could work.)

For the time being, though, Lila had to suffer through the indignity of actually going to jail after she got released from the hospital. Her holding cell thankfully wasn't terrible- but it also was a cell in the jail's medical center, and she wasn't going to be there forever, just until the doctors thought that she was more stable.

More stable, or at least until they were convinced that she wasn't going to pass out at random and get injured. Since the only way Lila was going to heal from the damage that the broken Miraculous had done to her body was by wearing the fixed Miraculous and the superheroes wouldn't let her wear it now that she was out of her coma, she wasn't really going to get better.

(Lila had a whole bunch of opinions about that and how it wasn't really superhero-y to make their former enemies suffer just out of spite, but it was probably in her best interest to not actually vocalize that yet.)

The trial started pretty quickly after she was discharged from the hospital. Apparently she had been in a coma for several months (which, uh, talk about yikes), which had allowed enough time for evidence to get collected and organized and for a trial- a jury trial- to be pulled together.

Lila had had a hard time not reacting to that particular bit of news when the lawyer that her mom hired had told her. She knew that jury trials only happened in France for the most serious of crimes, ones that tended to have really long sentences.

(That- that was terrifying. Lila didn't want to spend the rest of her days rotting behind bars. But she had a good lawyer- her mom had made sure of it- so that wasn't very likely, right? Right?)

Once the trial started, it didn't take long for the court to establish that there was no doubt about whether or not Lila had been Pavona. The fact that the Peacock Miraculous had been found on her (Lila still didn't know who had found it- the name, for some reason, was annoyingly staying redacted) and the cursed coma that she had fallen into that had only been undone by her wearing the fixed Peacock pin were conclusive enough evidence. Lila's lawyer had advised her before the trial to not try to fight that part of the accusation, because the evidence was just too strong. There was no way that the Peacock would have helped her if she had fallen ill for some reason.

That meant that Lila's only hope would be for a reduced sentence, and that would be based entirely on if she could argue that her participation was forced and not entirely willing. If she could convince the jury, then Lila should be golden.

It was a good thing that Lila's biggest talent was lying and convincing others of things that were entirely untrue.

The prosecutor watched her critically as she stepped up to the stand for the first time in the trial, everything about him screaming strict and severe. This wasn't someone who was about to believe her, no matter what she said. Lila felt herself waver for a moment, but she forced herself to stand up straight. This was no time to show weakness. Not real weakness, at any rate. Manufactured weakness... that was another thing altogether. She had an audience, and she had to play to it.

"Ms. Rossi. Your lawyer claimed that you were intimidated into accepting this position, but we have audio evidence of you willingly agreeing to help Hawkmoth. Care to explain?"

Lila very nearly gulped at that- audio? Hawkmoth had gotten audio of her agreeing to be Pavona? What a slimy, stinking asshole- but years of practice with lying helped her keep a straight face. Her mind raced, working to come up with an excuse, but she was coming up blank. Time to buy herself some time. "Audio? What- what audio? If there was real audio, it would show that I was terrified!"

The prosecutor looked unimpressed. "The audio has already been analyzed by a voice expert and has declared your voice and the one in the recording to be a match. We can call Dr. Hillary Blanc to the witness stand after this, your Honor."

The judge nodded. "That would be preferable. But for now- I would like to hear this recording before we continue with our questioning."

"Of course, your Honor."

Lila's attorney gestured for her to return to her seat as the prosecution set up their audio. He looked rather irritated as she sat down next to him, and it didn't take a genius to figure out why. Audio of Lila agreeing willingly- eagerly, she knew how she had sounded when she took the Miraculous- was going to make his job a million times harder.

It was also going to make Lila's job a million times harder. She was the one with the rest of her life on the line, really, and she needed to be able to argue her way out of the corner.

"The audio is ready," the prosecutor announced. The judge nodded.

"Proceed."

The prosecutor nodded, pressing a button to start the audio. There was the sound of a window opening, and then the unmistakable sound of Lila's voice eagerly greeting Hawkmoth, offering up the information that her mother was asleep and they were alone. And then-

"So, uh, how can I help you? Do you need an akuma with specific powers or something? I can do that!"

-the eager, oh-so-willing offer to help Hawkmoth. She didn't just sound willing to do it, she sounded positively bursting with enthusiasm to help out a supervillain.

This was bad. This was very, very bad. But Lila could still get out of this, she was sure. Lila's mind whirred, and almost immediately landed on an idea.

No one would be able to prove that she was lying, of that Lila was positive. Her idea was foolproof.

Well. Hopefully.

Lila plastered what she hoped was an appropriately shocked and confused look on her face as the recording went on. She forced herself to ignore the jurors on their bench, considering her with increasing disdain as the recording went on and Lila sounded nothing short of enthusiastic and eagerly consenting to Hawkmoth's suggestion.

She couldn't let their current opinions put her off. She had an idea to discredit the recording- or at the very least, throw a healthy amount of doubt on it- and after that, hopefully they would change their minds about her.

"Where was this recording found?" the judge asked once the audio came to an end. "And by whom?"

"In Mr. Agreste's office, by the police," the prosecutor told him. "They have the original recording, this is a copy."

"Okay." The judge's eyes swung to Lila. "Ms. Rossi, back to the stand. Please explain this recording."

"That's not even close to what happened!" Lila exclaimed once she had dashed back up to the stand, pressing a hand to her chest earnestly as she turned her eyes to the judge and the jurors. "He must have faked it- and I bet I even know how! The Peacock makes sentimonsters, everyone knows that. He's impersonated people before- he impersonated Ladybug, everyone knows that! He must have done that to make the recording."

There was a pause.

"How was Hawkmoth meant to do that when you had the Peacock?" the prosecutor asked tartly. She narrowed her eyes at Lila. "This sounds like another weak excuse."

"He probably made the recording before he gave me the Peacock." Lila bit back the obviously. There was no point in irritating anyone in the courtroom. If she could get this excuse to work, then she could maybe get off with a lighter sentence. Her reputation in Paris would still be toast, but if she just got a rap on the wrist for being a supervillain under duress, maybe she and her mom could move and she could start rebuilding her life once her sentence was over. If this didn't work, then it was game over. "He had to know that I wouldn't be fully willing, but he wanted to be ready to stab me in the back as soon as possible. He-" Lila faked a half-sob, pressing a hand to her lips. "I was in too deep before I could figure out how to fix it, and then he kept threatening to hurt me or my mom if I tried to get out of it. He said that he would tell everybody who I was!"

There was a pause. The judge, Lila was glad to see, finally looked a bit unsure, as did most of the jury. Fantastic.

"Why should we believe that?" the prosecutor asked after a moment. "Lila Rossi has a history of lying, her record shows that. She lies to get out of consequences and to get others in trouble and for her own gain."

"But you do have to consider that there is a possibility of the tape being faked," Lila's attorney argued, finally- finally!- making himself useful and speaking up. "There is magic at play here, and you have to admit that Mr. Agreste is a cunning businessman. He is a planner. It would not have been out of character to do exactly as Ms. Rossi described. After all, he handed a broken Miraculous to a minor for her to use without warning her of the consequences of using it."

"The defense has a good point," the judge agreed, though the reluctance was clear on his face. "I suppose we should ask the superheroes if there is a way to prove the authenticity of the recording and if not..."

He trailed off, clearly unsure. Lila forced herself not to visibly preen. Her lie had landed perfectly. She couldn't relax yet, though. Any slip-ups now could ruin her lie and put her right back on square one.

"We clearly need time to review the evidence and pull in more experts," the judge decided after a moment. "We will adjourn for the day."

Lila smiled.

  Lila had been feeling pretty proud of herself for the rest of the day and overnight, doing her best not to smirk when she thought about the fast one that she had just pulled on the judge. Maybe they didn't fully believe her, not yet, but she had gotten the audio recording all but thrown out in court. Without it, she should have a much easier time in getting her sentence argued down to a small slap.

A small slap would be irritating, but not the end of the world. Lila could work with that.

And then she had walked into the court room the next day to see Ladybug and Chat Noir waiting, Duusu floating serenely above Ladybug's shoulder. Next to them sat Alya, who gave Lila a disgusted look when she spotted her.

Lila hadn't been expecting them. What were they supposed to add to the trial?

Oh, right. The judge had suggested that they pull in the experts on the Miraculous, as if they weren't just a bunch of kids themselves. They weren't experts, they just happened to have superpowers. That, and they got lucky in battles a lot, and really, the whole supervillain downfall was just one big stroke of luck for them. It wasn't as though Ladybug and Chat Noir had somehow outwitted the supervillains or something.

Just like every other day, all of the jurors filed in, followed by the judge. Lila suffered through all of the opening formalities- seriously, there was so much needless pomp that could just be done away with, it was such a major snoozefest- and then they actually got to the whole arguments bit again.

...in retrospect, the whole trial was just a heap of suffering through endless formalities and arguments and blah blah blahs. Lila would say that she would rather be anywhere else, but...

Well, for her, the only other place that she would be was at the jail, in her cell. That was boring, too, but at least Lila could get up and walk around and not have to pretend to be all apologetic and sweet all the time.

"Before we start, I want to say that Duusu cannot be recorded by either cameras or microphones," Ladybug told the courtroom once she was called on. "It's just the nature of kwamis. Machines can't record them."

The judge nodded, flashing a smile- a smile!- at Ladybug. "Thank you for that heads-up, Ladybug. We will ensure that we give enough time between questions for our court recorder to get everything that, ah, Duusu says."

"We also brought video evidence from the battles that Pavona joined in person," Ladybug spoke up again. She gestured to Alya. "Most of these clips came from the Ladyblog, though we got permission to also grab footage from several news stations. Alya Cesare here has compiled all of the clips for easy viewing."

"And what are these clips supposed to prove that we didn't already know?" Lila's attorney demanded. "We already know that she had the Miraculous, that's nothing new."

Alya stood up, very deliberately not looking at Lila. "All of these clips show that Pavona seemed to have her whole heart in the battle. She was fighting to the best of her ability-" her lips twitched, but she didn't add any commentary to that- "which you wouldn't expect from someone who was only fighting because she was being forced to."

"We will review the evidence," the judge told her. "Thank you."

"Objection to both!" Lila's attorney called. "How are we supposed to know that this kwami will tell the truth? And the videos- that's very subjective."

"We have also pulled in several behavioral experts to watch the videos and then give us their independent analysis of the body language in them," the prosecutor told the courtroom. "They can step outside while the others are giving their analysis to prevent them from influencing each other. All of the experts have been previously used by the court to review video before, and all have been deemed to give impartial analysis."

The judge nodded, looking pleased. "Fantastic."

"Objection," Lila's attorney called out again. "The clips could already have a bias to them. They've been picked out deliberately to push a narrative."

The prosecutor smirked. "We also have compiled all known footage of Pavona in battles. If the defense would prefer, we can present that rather than the cut version."

The judge turned to Lila's attorney. "Is that acceptable?"

Lila's attorney nodded, though he didn't look happy about it. "It is. Though- again, there is the matter of if this kwami can be trusted to tell the truth. We don't know enough about them to be sure."

The judge turned back to Ladybug. "Is there a way to address that?"

"There is." Ladybug smiled up at the judge, clearly fully at ease. She held up the Peacock Miraculous. "I thought that the best way to approach this would be to have a neutral party wear the pin- referring to you, of course, your Honor. Kwamis have to answer questions that their wielders ask honestly, to the best of their ability. If they don't know or cannot say, they will say as much." She held up another pin. "I also brought the Butterfly Miraculous, in case you wish to talk to both kwamis."

The judge looked surprised, then nodded and addressed Lila's attorney. "Mr. Nelson, does that address your concerns?"

Lila's attorney looked as though he had swallowed a lemon. "It does, your Honor."

Lila bit back her scowl. Stupid overly-prepared superheroes. How did they somehow think of everything? Couldn't they just let go of the issue for once and let Lila off? They could consider the social ostracization and complete destruction of her social status as her punishment.

"Approach, then," the judge told Ladybug. "We might as well start with talking to Duusu. Then we can let you and Chat Noir go on your way while we review the footage from the battles. You two have already spent plenty of time in courtrooms this summer."

Ladybug smiled and nodded, hopping to her feet and approaching the desk. She handed over the brooch, and the judge pinned it to his robes. Once Ladybug had sat down again, he addressed Duusu. "Please move to the witness stand."

"Of course!" Duusu zipped over, hovering in front of the microphone. "I'm ready when you are!"

Lila's eyes narrowed at the kwami. The airheadedness and naivety were nowhere to be seen as the little kwami replied to the judge's questions. Duusu seemed fully with it and sharp as a needle as he gave his answers. Lila had never seen the kwami act like that before, which begged the question of why.

Did the kwami switch personalities depending on the holder? No, that didn't make sense. There was no reason for any kwami under Lila's control to be an airhead. Which meant that he must have been acting when he was with Lila. All of the questions, all of the playing dumb, all of the forcing her to actually explain what she was doing, all of the ticking her off...

The little asshole must have been doing it deliberately.

In her seat, Lila silently fumed. She had put up with Duusu's ditzy personality for weeks, assuming that it was the kwami's nature and that couldn't be changed. The questions had nearly driven her up the wall- had driven her up the wall- and it had been entirely on purpose.

Lila bit back her scowl, slumping back in her seat and tuning Duusu out. It didn't really matter what exactly Duusu said, after all. Lila knew that he had to tell the truth, and the truth was that she had joined Hawkmoth willingly and eagerly, no blackmail needed on his part. She had wanted to see the superheroes defeated, and that was all the motivation that she had needed.

There was still all of the battle footage to go through, but by now Lila knew that all of her escapes were closing off. The evidence was piling up against her too fast, and the dark looks that Lila had been getting from the jury spoke volumes. The judge was asking Duusu about Lila's lies now, and it wouldn't be long before everyone in the room knew how to pick out Lila's manipulations and lies, and all of her attempts to control the narrative would be shot down immediately.

Now all she could hope was that the judge went easy on her sentencing.

  It was no surprise when the jury came back and announced her guilty on all counts. The sentencing, though...

Lila had come up with a whole slew of scenarios, all sorts of outcomes from the best (no charges) to the more realistic yet still optimistic (charges for being Pavona but reduced because of being pressured into it), then slightly less optimistic, all the way up to what she had thought was a worst case scenario.

This was way worse that her worst case scenario. Way, way worse.

Lila sank back into her chair, staring blankly at nothing as everyone around her started packing up, the prosecuting team chatting cheerfully with each other while Lila's side of the room- Lila's mom and her lawyer- silently gathered up their things. Fifty years? That was forever! Wasn't there supposed to be some leniency for crimes done by underage kids? Like, her brain wasn't fully developed yet or whatever and she was supposed to be more prone to stupid decisions and everything. Surely she should be getting, like, juvenile detention. A permanent mark on her record. Maybe a couple of years of jail once she aged out of juvie.

She had been right about getting sent to juvie. The courts weren't about to send her to an adult prison when she was so much younger than most of the prisoners there, and besides, she had school to finish. Lila would be going to juvenile detention until she was 18, and after that...

Prison. Years and years and years of prison. Way more than Lila had ever expected.

She was going to be old and grey by the time she got out. Old and grey and with a completely destroyed reputation. Lila was basically going to be condemned to be in the poorhouse once she got out, which-

That wasn't what she had envisioned for her future. Not even close.

As the officers came up to collect her so that they could head back to the jail, Lila clenched her fist. Her entire future was gone, just like that. All of her dreams of schmoozing with famous people and marrying rich were destroyed. Just because- because-

Because Hawkmoth hadn't warned her about the side effects of the Miraculous. Because he had asked her to use the Peacock instead of just using her as a frequent akuma, willing to take on whatever shape and powers he wanted. Because Ladybug had been an infuriating interfering busybody who couldn't leave people alone and had to stick her nose where it didn't belong, when Lila's lies hadn't been hurting anyone.

Lila bit back her snarl. She wished that she had never come to Paris. She wished that she had never heard of superheroes. If things had gone one tiny bit differently...

This was all Ladybug's fault. If she hadn't interfered, Lila wouldn't have had to retaliate. And now..

Now her life was ruined.

[vyvesvi]

okay so i think i figured out my round 2 qd ranking

hyolyn

loona

viviz & wjsn

brave girls

kepler

vague reasoning:

1&2 - i love how they did each of these remixes, taking the original concept and fleshing it out so that it's not something entirely new, but rather a "refreshed" version of the original. i didn't want any girl crush/noise music remixes so im glad they stayed away from that♡ my only criticism is for loona: i hope whoever distributed the lines for ptt originally feels sooo fucking dumb rn. we didn't see vivi (or go won really) until their shared line at the end and i genuinely think that if they had had other lines in the song that part would've been cut bc it didn't really work. i know that go won has a center part for next round but i hope vivi gets to shine too 😭

3 - viviz was really clean, i said this on twt but i would've expected them to be #1 just based on their performance and popularity. that said i think they appealed mostly to the nostalgia of their core fanbase rather than trying to show something new which i really don't like but at the same time i understand. they're this high though bcause their performance was soooo super clean like you can see the experience. // for wjsn...not my favorite performance of theirs but im sooooo happy they got second lol. it makes perfect sense for them to have done iruri but that's not a song that shows their strengths well in my opinion. im glad they did it but i would've loved to see a more dramatic song like dct, maybe even with a bside intro like i-yah. i also don't think the chorus remix was that good but they all performed super well (like yeroreum was singing her little heart out likeee). oddly enough ayw's original mix was more "grand" than the chorus of the remix. anyways im hoping for the best next round but based on spoilers im a little worried 🙃

also viviz and wjsn are tied in my ranking because while viviz performed well they didn't take any risks whereas wjsn took risks and delivered a more dynamic performance but weren't as clean.

4 - most ppl are ranking brave girls last and i really have to disagree. the thing with brave girls is that they know that they absolutely have to sing live to make up for the fact that they're not as experienced dancers. unfortunately, kpop stans are such that they think everyone's singing live with unedited vocals so bg sounds worse in comparison. im not an expert on it but im pretty sure that brave girls was the most "live" of any performance (not 100% across all members but like minyoung is straight up the only person with no backing track to my memory like come on) so i do really think they deserve props for that. they're this low on my ranking because 1) theyre just not super strong dancers, i wish their team would keep it cute and play to their strengths instead, 2) they tried to sort if girl crush-ify their summer songs while not completely remixing them and it didn't really work well. still i think they deserve a lot of credit for trying something out of their comfort zone. i really agree with one comment i read, that they should've focused on getting people hype rather than competing in the same way as the other groups. i get that it's a bit difficult bc they're a completely different lineup from the og brave girls and their post rolling stuff is basically all they have as four. but a cool thing to do rather than chi mat ba ram into rollin would've been to start serious (as they did) but with one of their city pop retro hits??? like an after we ride remix would've been so good as a slow kind of "just want to make sure you know we're singing live" kind of opening and then bring the energy up with cmbr/rollin. i also think throwing deepened or high heels in their would be fun, even if they werent the exact lineup for those two. like they already did a medley they might as well have gone for different tones to create drama. anyways in sum i actually liked their performance but their creative team needs to get their heads in the game.

5 - kepler...another creative team that needs to focus. i wonder if they're not putting that much money into keplers stages because theyre trying to avoid "mnet's daughters" accusations. because this stage was just bare like there's no way that wasn't on purpose. barely a remix or anything like idk i just don't get it. the other thing with kepler is that there's just an enormous gap between their servers and the others. they cant help it and their doing their best but the team is kind of...incohesive idk. that said i really dont think they did a bad job at all but as basically everyone else has said it was just like a normal music show stage which has very little to do with the members so 🤷🏿‍♀️ i think their next stage is a little bare too although i haven't seen the whole thing also (spoiler alert) why did they choose pool party and then throw rollin in there again lol, like i need to listen to more bg bsides but there were options i think so i wonder if they're going to suddenly do an amazing expensive performance for what will basically be their first comeback? i could see that.

anyways i hope that the members of the larger groups who didn't get to shine get more parts in the next performances 😭 of the larger groups wjsn is the only one who really did well with that. im also excited to see if bona joining shakes things up at all (yeonjung will likely do the vocal round but maybe they'd send bona for dance to capitalize on her return...if they even do round 3 that way lol). also of course im soooo curious what the fan and expert response to loona will be for round 2, i feel like its a very you either love it or you hate it kind of deal. we'll see i suppose 🥴

[theangryjikooker]

I’m a Jikook supporter too but I’m with you, I’m so disappointed with Jikook blogs these days…

As for me, I don’t really mind when they say Jikook are dating as long as they don’t make it sound like "it’s the obvious truth, I know better, you’re anti/dumb if you think otherwise"!! Tbh I do think too that if one of them was a woman we wouldn’t be walking on eggshells that much and go with the "they seem like really good friends" narrative, I think there’s a lot of stuff they do/did that goes way beyond what 99% of people of this planet consider friendship but…1-if they are indeed together, then they’re still in the closet, a glass one maybe BUT STILL. How about being careful and think about their safety and privacy first and not spread something we’re not even sure, how about keeping it lowkey like k-armys do 2-who knows. Not gonna lie though I don’t buy the "friendship with no boundaries" theory,l maybe because after being into Kdramas for years I’ve studied Korean culture and language and even though I’m no expert and still far from fluency there’s a layer of 👀😳⁉️ that’s even more boom in your face when you understand the language and the culture quite well. So for me the problem I have with Jikookers now is more like… the constant obsessiveness? Like overanalyzing, screaming Jikook real all day long, 0 respect anymore for people with different opinions or just asking questions as you already said, and being so annoyingly vocal about Jikook dating, living together, yada yada! I mean, I think they’re a thing but we should keep some boundaries. It’s still an opinion, you can’t make it a statement. Those blogs used to be more careful, saying over and over again that it was just their own opinion, that we couldn’t be sure etc. Now you get screamed at if you dare having a different point of view and yes, the superiority complex.. what happened?? Having a blog and a platform with a certain number of followers come with some responsibility. People should be more careful about what they say, because in this fandom opinions tend to become narratives and it spreads very quickly. The boys privacy and protection should be the priority.

Hi, anon!

That's exactly my stance. I have no problem with Jkkr supporters at all. Toxic Jkkr supporters vs. regular Jkkr supporters are completely different in the way they approach the ship.

Not that it means anything, but there is a blog I sometimes check in on now and again that I believe does think they're real, but they rarely theorize as far as I know. If they do, I'd still be interested in seeing what they have to say.

I honestly don't interact or follow any one blog (most of my content is derived from comments I've seen repeatedly shared on Twitter with fervor) to know that they were one way before but have since changed their tune, which I think is... not-so-great. I'd imagine these people have garnered a huge following, and there's nothing wrong with that, but they now have more people who'll share their sentiments, and a part of me feels that the Jkkr circle (like any ship, really) has turned into an echo chamber.

While I do like reading submissions from people who think the way I do, I'll give Jkkrs who disagree with me the time and respect that they're offering in kind. They deserve to be heard--unless they're toxic assholes, then fuck off. But you know what I mean.

I'll end this ask by quoting something you said, which I think deserves to be plastered on a billboard: People should be more careful about what they say, because in this fandom opinions tend to become narratives and it spreads very quickly.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts!

[jazzythursday]

More Things I Would Change About/Add To The Loki Series If I Could (but now I’m just having fun)

This is a continuation of this post I did right when the series ended titled My Take on The Loki Series, And All The Things I Would Change About/Add To It If I Could (in vaguely chronological order), but branches off from most of my more thought out points into “haha this would have been cool I think” territory if you catch my drift. A lot of them exist in separate versions of the show unless specified.

When the paperwork scene happens it goes:

“Please sign to verify that this is all you’ve ever said”

*Defiant silence* from Loki. The workman taps his pen rigorously on the desk in apathy as Loki grows annoyed.

“Fine. Just- give it here.”

…

“Wait, that can’t possibly be everything.”

“Of course not, this is just the index for all the folders we have for you in the back room. You Asgardians can sure say a lot in millennia. Poor Frank had to spend decades organizing all of that, didn’t you Frank?”

They turn their heads and Frank nods sadly.

When watching the tape of Loki’s life, we see his fall from the Bifrost, and a shot of Loki floating through the void. Then we see real Loki’s face in reaction to this go stone-cold-fear-style and before we can see anything else he makes Mobius stop the tape. They have a brief discussion about what happened back then that ends with:

“What scares you so much that you, you, can’t even face it?”

“Well, Mobius ‘Mr. self proclaimed Loki expert’ Mobius, you’d know, wouldn’t you? You’ve seen it.”

Mobius, stoically, “Screened it. But yeah, yeah I have.

“Well then, you’d know that there was something far worse at the end of it.”

Loki getting angry in the time theater about how his family lied to him and always treated him differently etc. and holding his ground about how they most certainty did him wrong and never apologized for it.

“Well technically, you don’t know that they didn’t apologize. Haven’t lived it.”

“And now I never will? That supposed to make me feel better?”

…

“Did they, then? Apologize?”

“No, they didn’t.”

When Sylvie and Loki touch, they both start to go blue. Loki conspicuously spends the rest of the episode/episodes avoiding touching her.

- I talked about in my other post the possibility of Sylvie and Loki enchanting each other, and how if Sylvie enchants Loki it would lead to a memory of the day Odin took him. In this scenario Loki would have to be okay with them both shifting into frost giant form for it to happen, so it also makes sense why that memory would be triggered.

- Or, OR, Sylvie and Loki grab hands on Limentis 1 and shift into frost giant form intentionally as they accept their fate, but also themselves, and this is what starts their Nexus Event.

- Another way to address it would be for them to need to do ice magic to defeat an enemy, and grasp hands to both shift and to enhance their power.

Loki’s outfit change in episode five comes from a closet in the Loki Bunker pieced together from different things that have fallen into the void (no longer titled the void). He tries on a bunch of increasingly ridiculous outfits, most of which are references to both other Marvel characters/comics, as well as Loki himself. I’m talking classic movie makeover sequence here complete with the other Lokis inserting their opinion and critiquing each look (Classic Loki is of course a very vocal participant). The final outfit is a small nod to AOA Loki but with more of an MCU Loki twist.

“Well, you can’t go out in that.”

“Right. Huh, I suppose I’ll need something more… suitable for fighting giant cumulonimbus dragons.”

*that British smile™*

“We’ve got just the thing.”

- I’m thinking a bit more rugged than his usual looks, the cool belts and green coat but less devil-may-care than AOA Loki. Either this is where he gets the broken horn helm or he gets the helm pre-break and breaks it in the fight with… something. Then he has an interaction with Classic Loki where afterwords he says:

“Remember what you said before, about our being the ‘god of outcasts’?”

Classic Loki nods.

“Well, nothing so bad about that. All of us outcasts, we can be alone together, can’t we?”

In the same scenario, Classic Loki is later hiding out back with the other Lokis as they bicker (A mild take on the scene where all the Lokis start fighting) while thinking about his conversation with our Loki. He mobilizes the other Lokis to go help Loki and Sylvie and gives a very inspiring speech I don’t have the patience to write. Mostly I’m just imagining this slow zoom towards his face (that replaces the god-awful one we got at the end of the series) where he’s visibly fighting over the decision before standing up abruptly and deciding to try, and to accept both himself and all the other Loki’s for who they are, as they are, thus reinventing the way he thought of the title ‘god of outcasts’.

“ENOUGH! ALL OF YOU! IS THIS WHO WE ALL WANT TO BE? A bunch of petty braggarts bickering over nothing?! Well I’ll tell you something! I wanted to be more! I… I tried to be more…”

- Okay actually expanding on earlier when I said “… something”, what if there are sort of waif-y demon creatures that prowl the void (no longer titled the void) and prey on anything Alioth hasn’t gotten to yet. Obviously makes being out at night there a lot more dangerous, and gives Loki a chance to help out in a fight, which is when he loses one of the horns. (Ooooh I like that!)

Mobius convinces the other Loki’s to leave the void (no longer titled the void).

(No Sylvie here) Loki ends up meeting an IW Loki variant who’s trying to get back to his Thor. They talk, they have revelations about whats important to them and how their past isn’t the only thing that can dictate their lives, etc. Lots of IW Loki reparenting our younger Loki. Honestly this is just the interaction that we all wanted when they said they were making a Loki series with time travel, so just imagine that. 

Loki and Mobius (again, no Sylvie) find proof that the timeline isn’t just one Sacred Timeline and that a multiverse already exists. This is what jumpstarts Mobius’s acceptance that the TVA is not what it seems.

Time travel shenanigans in the library of Asgard with Mobius. Serious Loki magic gets to happen here. Also he disguises Mobius (in the absolute ugliest outfit he can think of) for the purpose of blending in. He uses his female form as most people in Asgard wouldn’t recognize it (I sort of head-canon that Loki used his female form most often when venturing outside of Asgard to explore/ have fun).

The return of pilot!Loki, because I love him.

Slightly crack-ish I know but Loki and Mobius time travel shenanigans where they end up stuck somewhere that has a beach and Loki tells Mobius to just get on with his jet-ski fantasies already. While he’s waiting (maybe getting a drink and people watching or trying to find a way back by fixing the broken Tempad or getting the Tesseract to agree with him he runs into trouble and by the time Mobius comes back Loki is ominously nowhere to be found.

“Well, would you look at that.”

“Wh- no. No, Loki, I am not getting on a—”

“Why not?”

“…”

“No way back as far as I can see, no apocalypse coming to destroy the place. Honestly. Honestly, what harm is it really going to do?”

“…”

Loki finds a way to use the Tesseract in the TVA but accidentally drags Mobius along with him (yes I’m basing this on the jet-ski idea above). More shenanigans ensue.

Loki and Sylvie both get trapped in their “ideal versions” of life that Kang offered them and have to fight their way back. Maybe Loki ends up needing to convince Thor of what’s really going on and gets his help. Brotherly bonding ensues??

They literally blow up/burn the TVA to the ground, resulting in everyone having to evacuate. In a very tense sequence, Loki saves the cat on the way out.

[sanstropfremir]

i'm actually one of those people that don't agree with rookies judging these groups but i can understand where you're coming from. still. i couldn't help but think of 'hit the stage' where their panel of judges included a professional dancer (that i remember), some first gen idols (one from h.o.t and some other 2 guys i think) and some variety show hosts who didn't really have a background in dance training. and of course the most valued feedback was from the professional dancer and senior idols rather than variety hosts who only really said "haha this was cool". i don't want to completely dismiss a rookie's skill but debuting doesn't mean you stop getting vocal and dance training, it just means you reached a good enough level, and they are nowhere near the level of expertise as half the people they're watching

maybe i should clarify some things further:

i am not equating a rookie’s level of skill to that of the experts, or even that of the competing groups. i am saying that they do have enough experience to recognize what does take skill. if you think that criticism is only valid from people who are physically at the same or higher skill level than you, that’s elitism. 

criticism is a two way street. if you are serious about improving your art, you carefully evaluate all the feedback you receive and interrogate why you received that feedback. i hate to keep bringing it up because it makes me sound like a tool, but i literally get marked on my evaluation of personal critique and how i choose to respond to that feedback in grad school. it's a category in my grading metric. although obviously reductive, ‘haha this was cool’ is still valuable because it means that something you did worked. no response at all is still valuable because it means that nothing you did worked. yes, there is a difference in level of articulation between someone who is an expert and someone who isn’t, and yes, a variety show host is not necessarily going to be giving the most complex and detailed feedback in the world. there are actual experts there to balance it out. idols are not stupid, they’re not going to be expecting detailed critique from non-experts.

let me repeat myself again; the opinion of a normal person is just as valid as that of an expert. artists are not gods, we are not immune to criticism by people ‘lesser’ than us because we have a specific set of skills that allow us to make art. diversity of perspective is the key. you should not dismiss those lesser than you, because they have a perspective you do not. some of the best feedback i’ve ever received has been from children.

obviously this is my personal opinion and i'm not here to malign someone else's, because that's antithetical to my whole point, but i did feel the need to elabourate more since i perhaps could have been a little bit clearer in some of my other responses.

[lastsonlost]

A congressionally mandated commission is recommending women should be eligible for the draft, a move that comes five years after the Pentagon opened all combat roles to women.

“This is a necessary and fair step, making it possible to draw on the talent of a unified Nation in a time of national emergency,” the commissioners wrote in the 255-page report, obtained by POLITICO.

The 11-member commission’s final report, which was required by the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act, was briefed to the Pentagon on Monday and will be presented to the White House and congressional staffers Tuesday.

The report does not require action, but its recommendations pave the way for lawmakers to move to include women in the draft more than 100 years after Congress passed the Military Selective Service Act in 1917. While no one has been conscripted into the U.S. military in more than 40 years, the act requires all American men to register for the draft when they turn 18. Men who fail to register can be fined, imprisoned and denied services such as federal student loans.

A Pentagon spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The recommendation comes five years after then-Defense Secretary Ash Carter formally rescinded the Pentagon’s combat exclusion policy that had prevented women from serving in combat roles. Today, more than 224,000 women serve on active duty, and at least 30 women completed the U.S. Army Ranger School as of August 2019, according to the report.

While it's not clear that Congress will immediately take up legislation to allow women to register for the Selective Service, the report gives lawmakers a mandate to do so. In 2017, Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) offered an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that would have required women register for the draft, but the proposal was dropped from the bill. At the time, Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas), then-chairman of the Armed Services Committee, argued the amendment was getting ahead of the mandated review.

A proposal to expand the draft to include women was first introduced in 2016 by then-Rep. Duncan Hunter, a vocal opponent of women serving in combat, in an unusual episode during negotiations over the annual defense policy bill. Hunter offered the amendment as a dare, and voted against his own proposal.

Today, the public’s opinion on including women in the draft is mixed, with 53 percent supporting the change and 38 percent opposing in a 2017 survey cited by the commission. The commission heard from many people who “fervently” believed women should not be required to register for the draft. Some expressed concerns that including women would damage their ability to perform their “unique status in society” as wives, mothers and caregivers. Others raised concerns over the possible risks to women posed by combat roles, saying women are more likely to be injured in training.

Some asserted that integrating female conscripts would have a significant impact on military readiness “due in large part to natural physical differences between men and women that have practical consequences for the lethality of gender-integrated fighting units,” according to the report.

But calls to expand the draft to women have been growing in recent years. In a 2019 case, a federal judge in Texas ruled that an all-male draft was unconstitutional in response to a lawsuit brought forward by the National Coalition for Men.

Experts argue that allowing women to participate in the draft will enable the military to access to a wider talent pool, as well as allow women to share in a fundamental civil obligation.

“It’s insulting to suggest America’s mothers and wives and daughters couldn’t contribute, whether the need were rebuilding levees after a natural disaster or repelling an invasion from our shores,” Kori Schake, director of foreign and defense policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, told the commission. “America’s daughters should be slotted into service as their physical and emotional suitability proves capable of, just like America’s sons.”

[jiminieloved]

Hey you said you do vocals as your major so want to get your opinion... you dont have to answer, but i want to know your thoughts on jimin's singing technique? i'm not trained or anything but people always say he's singing from his throat and straining too much. i do hear the strain too but want to know whether that's generally reverseable...? can he still correct the way he sings?

There’s an anti agenda of people who spread highly edited highly selected clips of Jimin messing up and compiling them together so people think he’s a bad singer. It influenced me when I first joined the fandom, and I know a lot of other people who still are influenced by these antis. I am frankly kind of offended by the question but I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that maybe you just really don’t know....

Here’s my brief overview of BTS and their voices...

Jimin’s voice has such a unique tone quality that a lot of people get thrown off when they hear him sing. Though I’d have to hear him sing in person to really understand what’s going on in there, I’d argue that he is actually more gentle on his voice than the other boys. For context: 

Jungkook has a beautiful voice and he uses a lot of classic technique because it suits his tone, though he keeps a sort of breathy quality to it that classical singers wouldn’t like. Tae also uses breathiness in his tone, and uses it to his advantage. Jin had the biggest learning curve coming into himself as an idol and has grown SO FAR as a singer. All three of them have pretty standard vocal tones in which using normal technique (maybe minus Tae since he uses so much breathiness) suits their voices the best. 

So... Jimin. I think most fans, vocal expert or not, would agree that Jimin has an extremely distinctive voice that most have never heard anything like before. He almost completely sings in his ‘head voice’. Jimin’s head voice is in the range of the other boy’s falsetto, to be honest. He has a very high pitched singing voice. Because of this, he can sing falsetto notes wayy above the other boys (maybe Jungkook being the exception, as another tenor who probably has a similar range). The main difference between Jimin and Jungkook is that though they have a similar vocal range, their actual vocal tones are extremely contrasting. Jimin has a bright, sharp (not in terms of pitch) tone, while Jungkook has a more of a velvety, warm tone. This can make it seem like Jimin is singing higher even when they’re on the same note. I think this bright tone is actually what a lot of inexperienced vocalists mistake for strain. It’s not strain. It’s just his voice.

Jimin in a way has to be a little more gentle with his voice in order to not completely overpower everything around him (as brighter tones overpower warm tones) and when he does seek to pop, he does, and well. When you’re doing extremely exhausting choreography and moving around the stage, being gentler with your voice can sometimes result in slight pitch alterations. (If you don’t believe me, try singing a steady note while doing jumping jacks. It’s a great simulation of what they’re trying to do in concerts, but they have to do difficult vocal lines completely in tune instead of just singing one note.) While the other boys can belt it out to overcome their body’s limitations, Jimin’s ‘default’ style is quieter and less powerful, which does lead to more noticeable mistakes at times (though I maintain that every vocalist in the group makes mistakes at an equal rate, and there’s some anti action happening to make everyone think Jimin uses bad technique.)

Anti action aside, I think Jimin’s brighter tone, though part of his brand as an artist, is a little bit of his downfall. The others could mess up just as much as him, but because his voice ‘pops’ due to color, we all notice it more when he cracks or makes a mistake. 

But yeah, I think in general breathiness is more dangerous than a bright tone. His tone is innate to his vocal chords, and breathiness is a technique all the boys besides Jimin use as part of their signature style. It gives an emotional effect, but I just worry that they’re not utilizing their voices to their fullest potential because of the breathiness. 

That’s in the grand scheme of things a minor concern. If you want to know what really bothers me as a trained vocalist, it’s the way they treated their voices in debut era. They were going for a ‘rock’ sound, aka completely singing in ‘growls’ which just destroys your voice. I’m so relieved they don’t often do their old music because it just makes me cringe to hear those old performances where they were just tearing their throats to shreds. 

TLDR: Bright tone =/= strain. There are technique issues that do bother me a bit with BTS vocal line, but Jimin is not my main concern. 

[keroa]

As the worlds best claptrap expert I want to hear your entire opinion of Claptrap Borderlands 3 edition

thank you for the title i believe i’ve earned it

unfortunately you’ve opened this can of worms and i can let it all out!

Claptrap is not the same character he used to be. If you look at from the perspective of someone who casually plays the game, most people don’t notice the changes at ALL, but to me they’re so vastly different that he’s not the same character to me anymore.

His attitude has always been a bit inconsistent since each game has essentially had a different writer, but at his core, Claptrap is a cocky coward on the surface, but beneath are layers. (He’s really honestly one of the most 3 dimensional characters in the game if you pay close enough attention.)Beneath the cowardice and fake self praise, Claptrap has always sought a way to fit in. He is one of those people who kind of changes their personality depending on who they’re around in order to get the most amount of people to like him. He’ll shmooze up to people, he’ll call them names, but in the end all he really wants is to not be alone, and if he can help someone else also have a friend, that’s what’s worth it to him.

But in borderlands 3 he doesn’t seem like this at all. He’s demanding (more than usual) and condescending in a way that he wasn’t before. He used to praise you for being a great ‘minion’ or doing a good job no matter what it was, even if he threw in a side note about how he was a great master for telling you what to do of course, but now that part has moved to the front of his personality. Now he’s like yes i’m so great do what i say i’m not weird!

he just feels.flat.

i feel like they took his personality and flattened it out and told his new VA that this is what he’s like and showed him the ‘best’ of Claptrap without him getting deeper into the role. Mind you, Jim Foronda is a great voice actor, i mean him no discredit as a VA, he’s just not right for it. He’s been involved with Borderlands back to the first game so he’s been around it, but that doesn’t mean he understands a character he didn’t play. Reminder once again I have no idea what the real situation is, this is just my observation.

Claptrap is now outwardly rude and isn’t as playful as he used to be. Now he’s just kind of a jerk and his vocal performance just doesn’t feel the same to me. It’s just a little too fake i guess. ugh i keep getting hung up on that,,

anyway. i think it sucks that he was basically completely uninvolved in this game and that he’s more of a side character than he’s ever been. In every game, he’s been at the beginning to guide you into the adventure, and he did this in BL3 as well, but once his part is done as the tutorial, he just kinda sits in the back as a gameplay element and less as an actual character.I enjoyed his side quest things for the Veronica parts because I liked seeing what he was going to say but I feel like so many of his lines were just kind of boring or cheap jokes? just nothing about him felt natural and it felt like they were trying to grasp onto what he used to have instead of building his character further. I think that really felt strange around these other characters who are all developing with the story and getting involved, and he’s just kinda there.

I suppose he didn’t really need to be involved with this whole adventure, he just seems shoehorned in. Most people would argue that he’s a side character to begin with, but you look at how much importance they put on him in other games and how they even made him a playable fucking character and you tell me he’s a side character. He was the mascot for the series for gods sake. Now? i have no idea what he is. I don’t know how much further they plan to go with his character but I just have no hope that it’ll be good. There were a few times when I heard Jim Foronda’s version say a line just right that it felt right to me, but I just view him as a completely different character otherwise. so much of his lore and backstory kinda got shrugged off for this.

would I say Claptrap would be better off dead in the series? probably not. would I say I can still love the new claptrap the way I loved him before? also probably not.

this probably didn’t make sense! thanks

[ingek73]

01-22-2112:00 PM

‘Time is running out’: Prince Harry calls for social media reform after U.S. Capitol riot

In a Q&A with Fast Company, The Duke of Sussex responds to social media’s role in the Capitol attack and explains why the next step must be to hold social platforms accountable.

[Photo: Samir Hussein/WireImage/Getty Images]

BY KATHARINE SCHWAB

LONG READ

Over the past year, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, have become increasingly outspoken advocates for healthier social media—a topic that is clearly near to their hearts, given the horrendous vitriol and harassment they have faced online and in the press.

By partnering with organizations that aim to understand technology’s impact on society and vocally critiquing the state of online life in the media, the couple are using their clout to push for change in the current digital ecosystem. In an essay for Fast Company last August, Prince Harry called on business leaders to rethink their role in funding the advertising system that underlies the misinformation and divisive rhetoric that’s often shared on social platforms.

“This remodeling must include industry leaders from all areas drawing a line in the sand against unacceptable online practices as well as being active participants in the process of establishing new standards for our online world,” he wrote.

Now, social media is facing an inflection point, just weeks after a violent mob stormed the Capitol in an attack that was conceived, plotted, and stoked primarily online. Powerful platforms including Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube responded by suspending Donald Trump’s accounts, while Amazon and Apple cut ties with Parler, a social network that was used by the rioters. But experts and regulators believe that more must be done to reform social media.

Against this background, Prince Harry is once again imploring people to pay attention to the problems social media have wrought. In a wide-ranging interview with Fast Company, he explains why social platforms must be held accountable for the Capitol attack and the circumstances that enabled it, and why we must remodel the digital world before it’s too late.

FC: Six months ago, you wrote an essay for Fast Company in which you asked companies to take action to ensure the meaningful reform of our “unchecked and divisive attention economy.” How has your perspective on social media’s role in society changed over the last few weeks since the attack on the U.S. Capitol?

Prince Harry: When I wrote that piece, I was sharing my view that dominant online platforms have contributed to and stoked the conditions for a crisis of hate, a crisis of health, and a crisis of truth.

And I stand by that, along with millions of others who see and feel what this era has done at every level—we are losing loved ones to conspiracy theories, losing a sense of self because of the barrage of mistruths, and at the largest scale, losing our democracies.

The magnitude of this cannot be overstated, as noted even by the defectors who helped build these platforms. It takes courage to stand up, cite where things have gone wrong, and offer proposals and solutions. The need for that is greater than ever before. So I’m encouraged by and grateful for the groundswell of people who work—or have worked—inside these very platforms choosing to speak up against hate, violence, division, and confusion.

FC: Why is this topic so important to you? How was your outlook affected by the well-documented online harassment you and your wife have faced in the U.K.?

PH: I was really surprised to witness how my story had been told one way, my wife’s story had been told one way, and then our union sparked something that made the telling of that story very different.

That false narrative became the mothership for all of the harassment you’re referring to. It wouldn’t have even begun had our story just been told truthfully.

WE ARE LOSING LOVED ONES TO CONSPIRACY THEORIES, LOSING A SENSE OF SELF BECAUSE OF THE BARRAGE OF MISTRUTHS, AND AT THE LARGEST SCALE, LOSING OUR DEMOCRACIES.”

PRINCE HARRY, THE DUKE OF SUSSEX

But the important thing about what we experienced is that it led to us hearing from so many others around the world. We’ve thought a lot about those in much more vulnerable positions than us, and how much of a need there is for real empathy and support.

To their own degree, everyone has been deeply affected by the current consequences of the digital space. It could be as individual as seeing a loved one go down the path of radicalisation or as collective as seeing the science behind the climate crisis denied.

We are all vulnerable to it, which is why I don’t see it as a tech issue, or a political issue—it’s a humanitarian issue.

From an early age, the guiding principle in my life has been about the duty to truth, the pursuit of compassion, and the alleviation of suffering. My life has always been about trying to do my part to help those who need it most, and right now, we need this change—because it touches nearly every single thing we do or are exposed to.

FC: Where do we go from here? What do you think needs to change to create an online atmosphere where truth, equity, and free speech are all prioritized?

PH: I ask the same thing every day and lean on the experts to help give guidance on how to reform the state of our digital world—how we make it better for our kids, of course, but also for ourselves—now.

The avalanche of misinformation we are all inundated with is bending reality and has created this distorted filter that affects our ability to think clearly or even understand the world around us.

What happens online does not stay online—it spreads everywhere, like wildfire: into our homes and workplaces, into the streets, into our minds. The question really becomes about what to do when news and information sharing is no longer a decent, truthful exchange, but rather an exchange of weaponry.

WHAT HAPPENS ONLINE DOES NOT STAY ONLINE—IT SPREADS EVERYWHERE, LIKE WILDFIRE: INTO OUR HOMES AND WORKPLACES, INTO THE STREETS, INTO OUR MINDS.”

PRINCE HARRY, THE DUKE OF SUSSEX

The answer I’ve heard from experts in this space is that the common denominator starts with accountability. There has to be accountability to collective wellbeing, not just financial incentive. It’s hard for me to understand how the platforms themselves can eagerly take profit but shun responsibility.

There also has to be common, shared accountability. We can call for digital reform and debate how that happens and what it looks like, but it’s also on each of us to take a more critical eye to our own relationship with technology and media. To start, it doesn’t have to be that complicated. Consider setting limits on the time you spend on social media, stop yourself from endlessly scrolling, fact-check the source and research the information you see, and commit to taking a more compassionate approach and tone when you post or comment. These might seem like little things, but they add up.

Finally, there’s a responsibility to compassion that we each own. Humans crave connection, social bonds, and a sense of belonging. When we don’t have those, we end up fractured, and in the digital age that can unfortunately be a catalyst for finding connection in mass extremism movements or radicalisation. We need to take better care of each other, especially in these times of isolation and vulnerability.

FC: Since the Capitol riot, big tech companies from Twitter to Amazon have exercised their power by making determinations about who gets to use their products. Do you think companies should have the power to make decisions about who has access to some of the most prominent platforms on the internet?

PH: We have seen time and again what happens when the real-world cost of misinformation is disregarded. There is no way to downplay this. There was a literal attack on democracy in the United States, organised on social media, which is an issue of violent extremism. It is widely acknowledged that social media played a role in the genocide in Myanmar and was used as a vehicle to incite violence against the Rohingya people, which is a human rights issue. And in Brazil, social media provided a conduit for misinformation which ultimately brought destruction to the Amazon, which is an environmental and global health issue.

In a way, taking a predominately hands-off approach to problems for so long is itself an exercise in power.

Recently, I’ve been thinking about Speakers’ Corner, an area in London’s Hyde Park which is home to open-air debate, dialogue, and the exchange of information and ideas. I used to go past it all the time.

This concept of a ‘public square’ isn’t anything new—it can be traced back to the early days of democracies. You get up there and speak your piece. There are ground rules. You can’t incite violence, you can’t obscure who you are, and you can’t pay to monopolise or own the space itself. Ideas are considered or shot down; opinions are formed. At its best, movements are born, lies are laid bare, and attempts to stoke violence are rejected in the moment. At its worst, intolerance, groupthink, hate, and persecution are amplified. And at times, it forces lines to be drawn and rules or laws to emerge or be challenged.

I THINK IT’S A FALSE CHOICE TO SAY YOU HAVE TO PICK BETWEEN FREE SPEECH OR A MORE COMPASSIONATE AND TRUSTWORTHY DIGITAL WORLD.”

PRINCE HARRY, THE DUKE OF SUSSEX

I’m not saying we should abandon technology in favour of Speakers’ Corner. Rather, it’s that we should avoid buying into the idea that social media is the ultimate modern-day public square and that any attempt to ask platforms to be accountable to the landscape they’ve created is an attack or restriction of speech. I think it’s a false choice to say you have to pick between free speech or a more compassionate and trustworthy digital world. They are not mutually exclusive.

With these companies, in this model, we have a very small number of incredibly powerful and consolidated gatekeepers who have deployed hidden algorithms to pick the content billions see every day, and curate the information—or misinformation—everyone consumes. This radically alters how and why we inform opinions. It alters how we speak and what we decide to speak about. It alters how we think and how we react.

Ultimately, it has allowed for completely different versions of reality, with opposing sets of truth, to exist simultaneously. In this, one’s understanding of truth does not have to be based in fact, because there’s always an ability to furnish some form of “proof” to reinforce that version of “truth.” I believe this is the opposite of what we should want from our collective online community. The current model sorts and separates rather than bringing us together; it drowns out or even eliminates healthy dialogue and reasonable debate; it strips away the mutual respect we should have for each other as citizens of the same world.

FC: How do you plan to use your platform to push for change when it comes to hate speech, algorithmic amplification, and misinformation in 2021? Since you’re not a trained expert on these topics, why do you think people should listen to your perspective?

PH: I know enough to know that I certainly don’t know everything, especially when it comes to tech—but when you see this as a humanitarian issue, then you see the spread of misinformation as requiring a humanitarian response.

This is why my wife and I spent much of 2020 consulting the experts and learning directly from academics, advocates, and policymakers. We’ve also been listening with empathy to people who have stories to share—including people who have been deeply affected by misinformation and those who grew up as digital natives.

What we hope to do is continue to be a spotlight for their perspectives, and focus on harnessing their experience and energy to accelerate the pace of change in the digital world.

FC: Your Archewell Foundation has collaborated with several groups and institutions that aim to rethink technology and study its impact on people. As a philanthropist, why are you supporting research efforts within this space?

PH: If we’ve learned anything, it’s that our dominant technologies were built to grow and grow and grow, without serious consideration for the ripple effect of that growth. We have to do more than simply reconsider this model. The stakes are too high, and time is running out.

WE HAVE TO DO MORE THAN SIMPLY RECONSIDER THIS MODEL. THE STAKES ARE TOO HIGH, AND TIME IS RUNNING OUT.”

PRINCE HARRY, THE DUKE OF SUSSEX

There are a lot of incredible people and digital architects thinking about—or already working on—innovative and healthy platforms. We need to support them, not only because it’s the right thing to do, but also because it can make commercial sense. And we have to look at the state of competition and ensure that the landscape doesn’t indiscriminately squeeze out or incentivise against fresh ideas.

I believe we can begin to make our digital world healthier, more compassionate, more inclusive, and trustworthy.

And it’s time to move from rethinking to remodelling.

FC: Given your concerns about divisiveness, misinformation, and hate speech online, how have your views on using social media yourself changed over the last few years? How do you approach it now and are you planning to make any changes?

PH: It’s funny you should ask because ironically, we woke up one morning a couple of weeks ago to hear that a Rupert Murdoch newspaper said we were evidently quitting social media. That was ‘news’ to us, bearing in mind we have no social media to quit, nor have we for the past 10 months.

The truth is, despite its well-documented ills, social media can offer a means of connecting and community, which are vital to us as human beings. We need to hear each other’s stories and be able to share our own. That’s part of the beauty of life. And don’t get me wrong; I’m not suggesting that a reform of the digital space will create a world that’s all rainbows and sunshine, because that’s not realistic, and that, too, isn’t life.

There can be disagreement, conversation, opposing points of view—as there should be, but never to the extent that violence is created, truth is mystified, and lives are jeopardised.

We will revisit social media when it feels right for us—perhaps when we see more meaningful commitments to change or reform—but right now we’ve thrown much of our energy into learning about this space and how we can help.

FC: Are you optimistic or pessimistic about our ability to build a healthier online ecosystem?

PH: Optimistic, of course, because I believe in us, as human beings, and that we are wired to be compassionate and honest and good. Aspects of the digital space have unfortunately manipulated (or even highlighted) our weaknesses and brought out the worst in some.

We have to believe in optimism because that’s the world and the humanity I want for my son, and all of us.

We look forward to being part of the human experience—not a human experiment.