#turns out obsessive conformity leading to a life of cold detachment and lies so you can cope with your crushing sense of unfulfillment

[latenightsundayblues]

A little doodle of a charmless man.....

He knows his claret from his beaujolais, ill tell ya THAT much

[deviousspleen]

#astro post - bnha

Okay, so this is more of a shit post than an official post, but I was bored and reading astrology stuffs. As you may know, I love signs, rising and all, so here’s my notes about my personal favorite characters in bnha (Hawks, Dabi & Bakugo). Warning: for the years, I determined it with their ages at the exact year they arrived in the manga so it might not be totally logical (Like Hawks is between 22 and 23 while Dabi around 24-25 but they have a gap of 5 years). I was surprised how accurate some parts were. Be the judge !

© all credits to The Pattern

Hawks

𝚋𝚒𝚛𝚝𝚑𝚍𝚊𝚢 : 𝚍𝚎𝚌𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝟸𝟾𝚝𝚑 (𝟷𝟿𝟿𝟼) 𝚋𝚒𝚛𝚝𝚑𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎 : 𝙵𝚞𝚔𝚞𝚘𝚔𝚊, 𝙹𝚊𝚙𝚊𝚗 𝚂𝚞𝚗 𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚗 : 𝙲𝚊𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚗 - 𝙰𝚜𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 : 𝙰𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜

Courageous & Charismatic 

At his best, Hawks’s independent, charismatic, generous and sure of himself. He has many talents and skills and the courage to make his life up any way that he desires. His confidence in himself can inspire others, making him an infectious and exciting person to be around. A natural leader, he has visionary qualities and trusts his instincts. 

Alternatively, when Keigo’s struggling, it can be difficult for him to see beyond his own interests and projects. This may lead others to view him as egotistical, entitled or selfish. It may be hard for him to account for another person’s perspective or take feedback from others.

Integrity & Perfectionism

At his best, Keigo can align his drive and ambition with his sense of integrity and find a calling that he loves. Detail-oriented and meticulous, he’s able to immerse himself in his work in a healthy way and achieve profound results. Hawks is intended to find sacred work and devote himself to his passions. 

Alternatively, when he’s struggling, he can pick himself apart and be overwhelmingly self-critical. He could be in his head a lot and overanalyze or obsess. He might feel self-conscious or different from others. It could seem like he’s continually being disrupted and that no matter how hard he works it’s never enough or “perfect”. At times, it might seem like it’s too hard to find anything worth doing - so he gives up and isolates himself or sells out. Keigo can act antisocial or controlling if things aren’t exactly how he wants. 

Expecting someone inspiring 

Keigo may have had difficult or disappointing relationship experiences. He might expect to be with someone who takes him on adventures and has a strong sense of direction - they trust themselves. They’re independent and have a purpose that guides and inspires their path. (Endeavor *cough*)

But instead, he may find himself with people who are emotionally unavailable. Often they’re loners, so they may seem restless and easily bored or trapped if things aren’t interesting enough. It’s possible they have a flawed sense of direction and don’t know where they’re going ) so Keigo’s following someone who’s lost. Or he may avoid relationships altogether out of fear. 

Dabi

𝚋𝚒𝚛𝚝𝚑𝚍𝚊𝚢 : 𝙹𝚊𝚗𝚞𝚊𝚛𝚢 𝟷𝟾𝚝𝚑 (𝟷𝟿𝟿𝟷) 𝚋𝚒𝚛𝚝𝚑𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎 : 𝚂𝚑𝚒𝚣𝚞𝚘𝚔𝚊, 𝙹𝚊𝚙𝚊𝚗 𝚂𝚞𝚗 𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚗 : 𝙲𝚊𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚗 - 𝙰𝚜𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 : 𝚃𝚊𝚞𝚛𝚞𝚜

Rebellious or Inhibited

At his best, Dabi’s able to embrace his uniqueness. He can channel his unusual and provocative viewpoint in a way that enlightens people and expands their minds. By feeling his emotions and accepting the illogical, he’s able to translate the chaos of life into a remarkable contribution. 

Alternatively, when he’s struggling, he enjoys pushing buttons. He rebels for rebellion’s sake, possibly enjoying his outsider status and feeling superior in his separateness. 

Or Dabi might feel trapped or overwhelmed, like there’s no place to hide from the mess of life. Things could seem out of control or threatening, like it’s dangerous to be different. In response, Dabi could hide his unique side and try to conform and stay within certain limits. 

Unusual & Elegant

Part of Dabi’s life’s journey is learning to be more grounded. His instinct is to be independent, detached and mentally focus. Especially from a young age, he may have preferred intellectual to physical pursuits ; it may have been difficult for him to get close to others or enjoy sensory experiences. 

Yet Dabi’s discovering that there’s a part of him that can be more present than he’d realized, although it might be hard to acknowledge it. He might feel torn between standing apart from others and being unattached - or needing to be intimate with another person. He may be unsure whether he should give up his freedom to find what makes him feel good or feel secure and comforted.

Feelings of Inadequacy

It hasn’t been easy for Toya. As a child, he may have felt pressured to prove himself - but no matter how much he achieved, it didn’t seem like enough. As an adult, he may feel blocked from reaching his full potential, even if he’s successful. Toya’s self-critical and can feel judged by other people. Though he’s more driven than most, it’s important that he’s working hard for something he enjoys. (Sheit, this app is crazy)

Self-possessed & Deep

At Toya’s best, he’s at ease with himself and can take pleasure in his experiences. He can share himself and become incredibly close with another person. He can be willing to let go of creature comforts and deal with chaos or even extreme, illogical circumstances. It’s like he’s able to accept that everything doesn’t always have to feel good or be pleasurable. 

Alternatively, Toya might struggle with intimacy and feel anxious. It might be difficult for him to feel comfortable or relaxed. When he tries to take it easy, something often disrupts him. He may not feel safe or secure, financially or otherwise.

Expecting someone unique

Toya may have had difficult or disappointing relationship experiences. He might expect to be with someone who stands apart from the mainstream. There’s something special about them ; they’re unafraid to be individuals.

But instead, he may have dealt with partners who were erratic and irrational. Or he’s stayed away from relationships because they can be so unsettling or out of control. The partners Dabi dates tend to have trouble intimacy : they can be distant and cold. Or the overreact and become melodramatic when he tries to connect. 

Katsuki Bakugo

𝚋𝚒𝚛𝚝𝚑𝚍𝚊𝚢 : 𝙰𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚕 𝟸𝟶𝚝𝚑 (𝟷𝟿𝟿𝟿) 𝚋𝚒𝚛𝚝𝚑𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎 : 𝚂𝚑𝚒𝚣𝚞𝚘𝚔𝚊, 𝙹𝚊𝚙𝚊𝚗 𝚂𝚞𝚗 𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚗 : 𝙰𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜 - 𝙰𝚜𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 : 𝙻𝚒𝚘𝚗

Intensity & Strength

At is best, Bakugo has a strong sense of self, is able to focus his power and can achieve great results. There’s a sense of inner strength and confidence - he knows he can make anything happen. His feelings are powerful and he’s passionate about his interests.

Alternatively, when he’s struggling, it feels like he’s blocked from following his desires. It’s like he can’t express his intensity or feel things deeply - and instead becomes meek or repressed. Or he acts out, constantly fighting against the boundaries he feels. Katsuki might be reckless, but even when he’s able to exert his poser he often can’t enjoy it.

Powerful & Deep 

At his best, Katsuki has a strong sense of self and pursues what makes him feel alive. He’s passionate and can mush himself to the edge, delving deeply into what he enjoys.

Ketsuki’s able to harness his incredible power and ability to provoke people and channel it toward something positive. He can demonstrate to others how to take risks and go beyond the edge, inspiring them to embrace the unknown. He’s able to help others feel their feelings and not shy away from intensity. He’s capable of transformation and reinventing himself.

Alternatively, if he’s struggling, he may feel unable to be himself and get what he wants. Irrational events and situations prevent him from following his desires. In response, Katsuki might go to extremes to prove he can still feel and indulges in addictive behaviors. Or Bakugo fears that if he really embraced his power someone would be hurt - so he represses himself, bringing on anxiety and depression.  

Seductive or Moody

Bakugo has the capacity to be incredibly present and go deeply into what he enjoys. He’s able to own his unusual strength and magnetism and focus on what make him feel alive in a balanced, healthy way. 

When Ketsuki’s struggling, channelling his strength in a meaningful way seems delayed - and he feels unable to connect to his power. Hi might change his mind a lot or lose sight of what he wants and feel overwhelmed by the choices. 

Or it could seem like there’s no limit to what turns Katsuki on - and he finds it hard to take a break and check in with reality. He might be so consumed by his passions that he excludes other parts of his life. It’s possible that his interests become obsessions and Katsuki doesn’t feel like himself unless he’s doing them all the time. 

Expecting someone inspiring 

Katsuki may have had difficult or disappointing relationship experiences and could struggle connecting to his partners. He might expect to be with someone who makes him laugh. But instead, he may find himself with types who are threatened by emotions and avoid intimacy - or cause trouble as a way to cope with their feelings. 

To prevent himself from getting hurt and keep his distance, he may avoid commitment or act immature or sarcastic. It’s possible that Katsuki is the one who’s detached and emotionally unavailable or he could shut down and avoid relationships altogether. Katsuki may have been lied to or felt like his partners are messing with his mind on purpose, and he could stay in dysfunctional relationships longer than is healthy for him

[randomfandomzodiac]

The Signs as Ladies of the MCU

Aries: 

Captain Marvel/Carol Danvers

Fearless would be an understatement for an Aries. Much like Carol Danvers herself, those who are born under the sign of Aries face challenges head-on and their confidence is unparalleled. The honesty of an Aries is highly valued by their peers, as what you see is what you get when it comes to an Aries. A side-effect of being so confident and strong is that Aries can be a little aggressive and impatient to get things done, which can intimidate and annoy others easily. An Aries’ short-tempered nature can also start many arguments with both their friends and pretty much anyone to be honest. But overall an Aries is a powerful person to call your friend, and like Captain Marvel, an Aries won’t let anything stand in their way.

Taurus:

Wasp/Hope van Dyne

Everyone needs a rock in their life they can hold onto and just like Hope Pym, or Wasp, those under the Taurus sign are as rock-steady as they come. Ant-man may be popular, but Wasp is the one who gets things done. A Taurus is reliable and strong, able to handle anything that comes their way and able to hold their own in any confrontation. Once a Taurus considers you one of them they will stand by your side and defend you to the bitter end. If their loved ones are threatened, a Taurus will not hesitate to use their horns on their foes or anyone who stands in their way. Stubbornness is a prevalent trait of a Taurus, and once they’ve made up their mind on something or taken a stance, it is pretty much impossible to change their mind. This uncompromising nature can turn off a lot of people and lead to many heated debates, but you can always count on a Taurus to remain true to themselves and hold fast to their beliefs.

Gemini:

Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff

A jack of all trades, Geminis are the most adaptable and versatile of the signs. Much like Black Widow, there is little you cannot accomplish once you set your mind to it. You thrive in adversity and can adapt to almost any situation and conquer any challenge no matter how difficult. You are often underestimated but you play along for a bit, but oh how you love it when you reveal your true power and start kicking ass and taking names. However, your deceptive nature can instill distrust in others, and your cunning can intimidate many. Some may even view you as being two-faced, but your friends and family and those close to you can see through any disguise to see the real you. Regardless of any negative traits, a Gemini is a powerful asset to have on your side, and once a Gemini considers you one of their own, they would gladly sacrifice themselves for you.

Cancer:

Scarlet Witch/Wanda Maximoff

Just like Scarlet Witch, those born under the sign of Cancer are often underestimated. In reality, Cancers are one of the most powerful of all the signs, but their strength is rarely recognized. Cancers draw their strength from their emotions and have an innate ability to understand others. Supportive and compassionate, Cancers will not hesitate to help those in need and be a shoulder to cry on. Their enigmatic nature makes a Cancer difficult to read at first, but once a Cancer’s trust is earned they will remain loyal no matter what happens. And if you should fall in love with a Cancer, you can be sure that they will love you unconditionally. Now Cancers are far from perfect. Drawing their strength from emotions can cause a few issues, leading them to become clingy and moody if they let their emotions get the best of them. This can lead to them lashing out at seemingly random times, as no one else sees the emotional storm raging within. However, despite these flaws, Cancers are a powerful friend and ally to have.

Leo:

Gamora

Leos are incredibly fierce and they have an irresistible charm to them. They embody strength and naturally draw people to them, even when doing nothing. Gamora is as fierce as they come, and under her calm exterior is a powerful warrior ready to face the universe head on. A Leo can also solve any problem with their creativity, and they are incredibly protective of their loved ones. A weakness of a Leo is their stubbornness when it comes to changing their minds. They can be set in their ways and a tad bit arrogant and overconfident in their abilities. They can be seen as dominating and a bit bossy, and this can intimidate a lot of people and make others feel that a Leo always has to win. Leos are overall incredibly generous people at heart and are very warm-hearted. A Leo is a friend for life.

Virgo:

Okoye

Those born under the Virgo zodiac sign are some of the most capable and responsible people around. Virgos have the ability to organize almost anything, and their natural charisma draws many to them. Organizing and leading the Dora Milaje is a breeze for a hard worker like Okoye, and just like her, Virgos can make excellent leaders with their level-headedness and altruistic mindset. Virgos are also one of the most loyal of the signs, and once their respect is earned, they would gladly lead an army for you. Now a Virgo’s greatest weakness is their criticism of both themselves and others, a negative side effect of being so good at analyzing things. Virgos are also obsessive perfectionists and can become completely immersed in their work until they are 1000% satisfied with the results. Learn to relax and let loose every once and awhile, cause all work and no play makes a Virgo no fun to be around. Despite these few flaws, as we all have, Virgos are amazing friends and lovers and you can count on them for anything.

Libra:

Pepper Potts

Masters of diplomacy, Libras are excellent at maintaining balance in life. Libras highly value harmony and equality, and highly dislike injustice or conformity. A natural socialite whilst maintaining a professional air about them, Libras have a ton in common with Pepper Potts. Who else could manage a multi-billion dollar company and maintain a relationship with the billionaire, playboy, philanthropist: Tony Stark? A Virgo’s polished and easy-going nature makes them ridiculously magnetic, drawing many to them with their openness and charming smile. However, a Libra’s desire to seek peace and harmony can make them overly idealistic at times, and lead to indecisiveness when a clear path cannot be seen. Libras also despise confrontation and seek to avoid it whenever possible. If push comes to shove though, a Libra will not hesitate to shut down anyone who harms their loved ones. While a Libra’s strength lies in their ability to achieve peace through compromise and diplomacy, at their core they are nurturing, caring, and the defenders of the downtrodden.

Scorpio:

Valkyrie

Those born under the sign of Scorpio are the brave and the bold. Scorpios are assertive and passionate people, and their determination allows them to overcome any challenge no matter how daunting. Once a Scorpio decides they want something, you can be sure they are going to get it. The strength and drive of a Scorpio attracts a lot of people to them, but can also intimidate many. Scorpios are true friends and appreciate those who get them. Like Valkyrie, Scorpios are intense and resourceful, able to shatter mountains and crush their enemies with ease. Now a Scorpio’s intensity and powerful emotions can easily overtake them if not tempered. Scorpios have a strong sense of vengeance and never forget a betrayal or insult, and they hold grudges… like forever. If a Scorpio has been betrayed in the past, this can lead them to become secretive and assume the worst of others. However, if you befriend a Scorpio, they will keep your secrets forever and will become the most faithful and valuable of friends.

Sagittarius:

Nakia

The free-spirit of the zodiac, those under the Sagittarius sign are open-minded and love freedom in all aspects of their lives. Just like Nakia, a Sagittarius loves to travel and explore the world and all of its wonders, meeting and helping new people along the way. Those born under the Sagittarius sign are incredibly adventurous and brave, and also freakishly lucky. Intelligent and outgoing, a Sagittarius needs constant mental stimulation to quench their thirst for knowledge and desire to understand the world and how it works. While incredibly loyal, a Sagittarius may find it hard to commit as this can run counter to their desire for freedom and expansion. Sagittarians are prone to being indecisive and dislike staying in one place for too long. Their optimism can blind them to truth sometimes, and their ambition can lead to many unfinished projects as they get bored easily. They are also very honest individuals are will speak their minds no matter how undiplomatic or inappropriate the situation may be. Despite their naivety, Sagittarians are very fun to have around and their versatility is highly valuable.

Capricorn:

Nebula

None are more disciplined and determined to reach their goals than those born under the sign of Capricorn. Capricorns are exceedingly independent people and seek to control their own destiny. Much like Nebula, Capricorns are highly skilled and crafty, able to multitask and have incredible self-control. With their endurance and patience, there is hardly anything that seems impossible for them. On the down side, Capricorns often have trouble opening up to other people and often find it difficult to trust others. While Capricorns set high goal for themselves, their heart is often simply not in it. If Capricorns ignore what they truly want in their hearts, they can become angry and unsatisfied with their lives, and become angry at the world. A lack of compassion can become a product of a Capricorn’s own dissatisfaction, leads to them becoming cold, distant and detached from others, while pursuing their own goals with no regard to what happens to others. If a Capricorn’s trust is earned and they can manage to open themselves to others, Capricorns can become trusted and important allies. As long as a Capricorn can become self-aware and follow their hearts instead of their minds, they can thrive.

Aquarius:

Shuri

Intelligent and independent, and are some of the most inventive minds around. Much like Shuri, Aquarians are full of energy and creative ideas alike. Eccentric and a bit strange, an Aquarius will never be boring and has many exciting stories to tell. Although they can easily adapt to the energy that surrounds them, Aquarius-born have a deep need to be some time alone and away from everything, in order to restore power. People born under the Aquarius sign, look at the world as a place full of possibilities and are thrilled by the chance to discover or create something new. Despite an Aquarius’s desire to provide and create new things for the world, their greatest weakness is often that they are disconnected from the world around them. Another issue for Aquarius-born is the feeling that they are limited or constrained. Because of the desire for freedom and creativity, they will often feel restless and consider few to truly understand them. Aquarius-born have a reputation for being cold and insensitive persons, but this is just their defense mechanism against premature intimacy. They need to learn to trust others and express their emotions in a healthy way or risk pushing others away.

Pisces:

Mantis

Pisces are friendly and open-minded, naturally attracting people to them. Pisces are incredibly selfless and willing to help others at the drop of a hat. Like Mantis, Pisces have an in-born intuitiveness to them, and have a deep connection to both their and the emotions of others. Pisces are talented, compassionate, and sensitive, but are also spontaneous and can be full of surprises. Art is incredibly important to a Pisces, and they are known for expressing themselves in various forms of art, whether it be writing, drawing, painting, music, dance, etc. Pisces are quite trusting, and this can lead to them being easily led by others, as a Pisces’ wish to see others as good, can lead to naivety. If a Pisces is too idealistic, they can become submissive and easily manipulated. When a Pisces is exposed to too much stress and negativity of the world, they like to retreat to their own imaginary worlds, as they can have a strong desire to escape reality. A Pisces is never judgmental of others and is always compassionate and kind. Pisces are almost always forgiving and once a bond is formed, it is never broken, no matter what physical barriers come up, you will always be in a Pisces’ heart.

[beat-sutra]

"This is the Beat Generation" by John Clellon Holmes from the New York Times Magazine, November 16, 1952

Several months ago, a national magazine ran a story under the heading 'Youth' and the subhead 'Mother Is Bugged At Me.' It concerned an eighteen-year-old California girl who had been picked up for smoking marijuana and wanted to talk about it. While a reporter took down her ideas in the uptempo language of 'tea,' someone snapped a picture. In view of her contention that she was part of a whole new culture where one out of every five people you meet is a user, it was an arresting photograph. In the pale, attentive face, with its soft eyes and intelligent mouth, there was no hint of corruption. It was a face which could only be deemed criminal through an enormous effort of reighteousness. Its only complaint seemed to be: 'Why don't people leave us alone?' It was the face of a beat generation.

That clean young face has been making the newspapers steadily since the war. Standing before a judge in a Bronx courthouse, being arraigned for stealing a car, it looked up into the camera with curious laughter and no guilt. The same face, with a more serious bent, stared from the pages of Life magazine, representing a graduating class of ex-GI's, and said that as it believed small business to be dead, it intended to become a comfortable cog in the largest corporation it could find. A little younger, a little more bewildered, it was this same face that the photographers caught in Illinois when the first non-virgin club was uncovered. The young copywriter, leaning down the bar on Third Avenue, quietly drinking himself into relaxation, and the energetic hotrod driver of Los Angeles, who plays Russian Roulette with a jalopy, are separated only by a continent and a few years. They are the extremes. In between them fall the secretaries wondering whether to sleep with their boyfriends now or wait; the mechanic berring up with the guys and driving off to Detroit on a whim; the models studiously name-dropping at a cocktail party. But the face is the same. Bright, level, realistic, challenging.

Any attempt to label an entire generation is unrewarding, and yet the generation which went through the last war, or at least could get a drink easily once it was over, seems to possess a uniform, general quality which demands an adjective ... The origins of the word 'beat' are obscure, but the meaning is only too clear to most Americans. More than mere weariness, it implies the feeling of having been used, of being raw. It involves a sort of nakedness of mind, and, ultimately, of soul; a feeling of being reduced to the bedrock of consciousness. In short, it means being undramatically pushed up against the wall of oneself. A man is beat whenever he goes for broke and wagers the sum of his resources on a single number; and the young generation has done that continually from early youth.

Its members have an instinctive individuality, needing no bohemianism or imposed eccentricity to express it. Brought up during the collective bad circumstances of a dreary depression, weaned during the collective uprooting of a global war, they distrust collectivity. But they have never been able to keep the world out of their dreams. The fancies of their childhood inhabited the half-light of Munich, the Nazi-Soviet pact, and the eventual blackout. Their adolescence was spent in a topsy-turvy world of war bonds, swing shifts, and troop movements. They grew to independent mind on beachheads, in gin mills and USO's, in past-midnight arrivals and pre-dawn departures. Their brothers, husbands, fathers or boy friends turned up dead one day at the other end of a telegram. At the four trembling corners of the world, or in the home town invaded by factories or lonely servicemen, they had intimate experience with the nadir and the zenith of human conduct, and little time for much that came between. The peace they inherited was only as secure as the next headline. It was a cold peace. Their own lust for freedon, and the ability to live at a pace that kills (to which the war had adjusted them), led to black markets, bebop, narcotics, sexual promiscuity, hucksterism, and Jean-Paul Sartre. The beatness set in later.

It is a postwar generation, and, in a world which seems to mark its cycles by its wars, it is already being compared to that other postwar generation, which dubbed itself 'lost'. The Roaring Twenties, and the generation that made them roar, are going through a sentimental revival, and the comparison is valuable. The Lost Generation was discovered in a roadster, laughing hysterically because nothing meant anything anymore. It migrated to Europe, unsure whether it was looking for the 'orgiastic future' or escaping from the 'puritanical past.' Its symbols were the flapper, the flask of bootleg whiskey, and an attitude of desparate frivolity best expressed by the line: 'Tennis, anyone?' It was caught up in the romance of disillusionment, until even that became an illusion. Every act in its drama of lostness was a tragic or ironic third act, and T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land was more than the dead-end statement of a perceptive poet. The pervading atmosphere of that poem was an almost objectless sense of loss, through which the reader felt immediately that the cohesion of things had disappeared. It was, for an entire generation, an image which expressed, with dreadful accuracy, its own spiritual condition.

But the wild boys of today are not lost. Their flushed, often scoffing, always intent faces elude the word, and it would sound phony to them. For this generation lacks that eloquent air of bereavement which made so many of the exploits of the Lost Generation symbolic actions. Furthermore, the repeatedinventory of shattered ideals, and the laments about the mud in moral currents, which so obsessed the Lost Generation, do not concern young people today. They take these things frighteningly for granted. They were brought up in these ruins and no longer notice them. They drink to 'come down' or to 'get high,' not to illustrate anything. Their excursions into drugs or promiscuity come out of curiousity, not disillusionment.

Only the most bitter among them would call their reality a nightmare and protest that they have indeed lost something, the future. For ever since they were old enough to imagine one, that has been in jeapordy anyway. The absence of personal and social values is to them, not a revelation shaking the ground beneath them, but a problem demanding a day-to-day solution. How to live seems to them much more crucial than why. And it is precisely at this point that the copywriter and the hotrod driver meet and their identical beatness becomes significant, for, unlike the Lost Generation, which was occupied with the loss of faith, the Beat Generation is becoming more and more occupied with the need for it. As such, it is a disturbing illustration of Voltaire's reliable old joke: 'If there were no God, it would be necessary to invent him.' Not content to bemoan his absence, they are busily and haphazardly inventing totems for him on all sides.

For the giggling nihilist, eating up the highway at ninety miles an hour and steering with his feet, is no Harry Crosby, the poet of the Lost Generation who planned to fly his plane into the sun one day because he could no longer accept the modern world. On the contrary, the hotrod driver invites death only to outwit it. He is affirming the life within him in the only way he knows how, at the extreme. The eager-faced girl, picked up on a dope charge, is not one of those 'women and girls carried screaming with drink or drugs from public places,' of whom Fitzgerald wrote. Instead, with persuasive seriousness, she describes the sense of community she has found in marijuana, which society never gave her. The copywriter, just as drunk by midnight as his Lost Generation counterpart, probably reads God and Man at Yale during his Sunday afternoon hangover. The difference is this almost exaggerated will to believe in something, if only in themselves. It is a will to believe, even in the face of an inability to do so in conventional terms. And that is bound to lead to excesses in one direction or another.

The shock that older people feel at the sight of this Beat Generation is, at its deepest level, not so much repugnance at the facts, as it is distress at the attitudes which move it. Though worried by this distress, they most often argue or legislate in terms of the facts rather than the attitudes. The newspaper reader, studying the eyes of young dope addicts, can only find an outlet for his horror and bewilderment in demands that passers be given the electric chair. Sociologists, with a more academic concern, are just as troubled by the legions of young men whose topmost ambition seems to be to find a secure birth in a monolithic corporation. Contemporary historians express mild surprise at the lack of organized movements, political, religous, or otherwise, among the young. The articles they write remind us that being one's own boss and being a natural joiner are two of our most cherished national traits. Everywhere people with tidy moralities shake their heads and wonder what is happening to the younger generation.

Perhaps they have not noticed that, behind the excess on the one hand, and the conformity on the other, lies that wait-and-see detachment that results from having to fall back for support more on one's capacity for human endurance than on one's philosophy of life. Not that the Beat Generation is immune to ideas; they fascinate it. Its wars, both past and future, were and will be wars of ideas. It knows, however, that in the final, private moment of conflict a man is really fighting another man, and not an idea. And that the same goes for love. So it is a generation with a greater facility for entertaining ideas than for believing in them. But it is also the first generation in several centuries for which the act of faith has been an obsessive problem, quite aside from the reasons for having a particular faith or not having it. It exhibits on every side, and in a bewildering number of facets, a perfect craving to believe.

Though it is certainly a generation of extremes, including both the hipster and the radical young Republican in its ranks, it renders unto Caesar (i.e, society) what is Caesar's and unto God what is God's. For the wildest hipster, making a mystique of bop, drugs and the night life, there is no desire to shatter the 'square' society in which he lives, only to elude it. To get on a soapbox or write a manifesto would seem to him absurd. Looking at the normal world, where most everything is a 'drag' for him, he nevertheless says: 'Well, that's the Forest of Arden after all. And even it jumps if you look at it right.' Equally, the young Republican, though often seeming to hold up Babbitt as his culture hero, is neither vulgar nor materialistic, as Babbitt was. He conforms because he believes it is socially practical, not necessarily virtuous. Both positions, however, are the result of more or less the same conviction -- namely that the valueless abyss of modern life is unbearable.

For beneath the excess and the conformity, there is something other than detachment. There are the stirrings of a quest. What the hipster is looking for in his 'coolness' (withdrawal) or 'flipness' (ecstasy) is, after all, a feeling on somewhereness, not just another diversion. The young Republican feels that there is a point beyond which change becomes chaos, and what he wants is not simply privelege or wealth, but a stable position from which to operate. Both have had enough of homelessness, valuelessness, faithlessness.

The variety and the extremity of their solutions are only a final indication that for today's young people there is not as yet a single external pivot around which they can, as a generation, group their observations and their aspirations. There is no single philosophy, no single party, no single attitude. The failure of most orthodox moral and social concepts to reflect fully the life they have known is probably the reason for this, but because of it each person becomes a walking, self-contained unit, compelled to meet, or at least endure, the problem of being young in a seemingly helpless world in his own way.

More than anything else, this is what is responsible for this generation's reluctance to name itself, its reluctance to discuss itself as a group, sometimes its reluctance to be itself. For invented gods invariably disappoint those who worship them. Only the need for them goes on, and it is this need, exhausting one object after another, which projects the Beat Generation forward into the future and will one day deprive it of its beatness.

Dostoyevski wrote in the early 1880's that 'Young Russia is talking of nothing but the eternal questions now.' With appropriate changes, something very like this is beginning to happen in America, in an American way; a re-evaluation of which the exploits and attitudes of this generation are only symptoms. No single comparison of one generation against another can accurately measure effects, but it seems obvious that a lost generation, occupied with disillusionment and trying to keep busy among the broken stones, is poetically moving, but not very dangerous. But a beat generation, driven by a desparate craving for belief and as yet unable to accept the moderations which are offered it, is quite another matter. Thirty years later, after all, the generation of which Dostoyevski wrote was meeting in cellars and making bombs.

This generation may make no bombs; it will probably be asked to drop some, and have some dropped on it, however, and this fact is never far from its mind. It is one of the pressures which created it and will play a large part in what will happen to it. There are those who believe that in generations such as this there is always the constant possibility of a great new moral idea, conceived in desparation, coming to life. Others note the self-indulgence, the waste, the apparent social irresponsibility, and disagree.

But its ability to keep its eyes open, and yet avoid cynicism; its ever-increasing conviction that the problem of modern life is essentially a spiritual problem; and that capacity for sudden wisdom which people who live hard and go far possess, are assets and bear watching. And, anyway, the clear, challenging faces are worth it.