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sugar-petals · 1 month

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🌹 KIBBE types || Why Hyunjin is a 𝒮𝑜𝒻𝓉 Dramatic

↪︎ INTRO :: Welcome to another lengthy Kibbe Body Type analysis. Today, I’ll discuss Stray Kids’ Hyunjin, who is certainly among the most beautiful men of our times 🌹

Across the web he’s been typed as a [Soft] Dramatic, Dramatic Classic, and Flamboyant Natural respectively — I make my case for SD here in bite-sized illustrated points. Enjoy!

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I. ANALYSIS 🌹

why he’s in the dramatic type family

hyunjin’s SD features & fashion

comparison to FN/DC/D + other members’ types (Chan, Lino, Han, Felix)

why he fits the versace look

II. CONCLUSION 🌹

hyunjin as an archetype and GNC icon

shifting beauty standards

thoughts on kibbe type distribution in skz/k-pop generally (do successful groups feature types from all 5 kibbe categories?)

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why he’s in the dramatic family

Needless to say, Hyunjin is likely part of the Big Three (D, SD, FN) or a Dramatic Classic due to his notable vertical line. Like all of these yang types, his model physicality is hard to overlook.

At 5′11, he’s already tall and close to the 6´0 threshold on paper, but he appears even taller mostly. People surely wouldn’t describe him as petite or barely medium in height. I heard through the grapevine that 5′11+ is Kibbe’s cutoff for male yin types who have short vertical lines:

Especially as in South Korea, the male average height is estimated to lie between 5´7 and 5´8½. That would be their Classic type benchmark. Lee Know is commonly typed as Soft Classic at 5′8. I agree with the typing: He looks great in sophisticated, clean, standard black tie with waist emphasis and suave fabrics (yin). All C category looks suit him, less is more.

Hyunjin appears taller and bolder congruently, seemingly taking up twice as much space as most Soft Gamines like Felix (SG is Kibbe’s most petite type next to the Romantics, they are the Big Three’s opposite). His physical frame is easily noticed first.

His extremities are fairly narrow, though. At his height, only one Image ID category looks like that, in fact: D types, the longest legs of the Kibbe system. Slim and streamlined, Hyunjin embodies sharp yang.

And he fits their reputation: Like all Dramatics, he does visually intimidate. His appeal can be described as intense, towering, and in your face (D), not as bluntly rounded, wide, sporty (N) or subtle and detached (C). Changbin being from the Natural family, the difference is quite stark. Changbin is frame dominant, Hyunjin is vertical first.

There’s an edge, he’s square and tall, not bevelled, not all-round symmetrical, not tiny, nor softly round. Hyunjin isn’t fully mesomorph nor endomorph either, but slenderly column-like with longer bones (D), which tends to reflect in his dance/stage presence. Very angular.

SKZ’ concert outfits can be quite theatrical in a Kibbe and aesthetic sense, it suits him well. Kibbe calls the Dramatic element theatric because literal drama/theater in the arts relies on tall actors with exaggerated makeup & features that can still be seen in the last row. D types are easily spotted from a mile away.

Let’s do the reverse: Zooming in, typing by detail. Tell-tale sign of a D type: Hyunjin’s hands/fingers are long and slim. FN’s hands are broad and less dainty/slim, if not huge sometimes. Classics are “regular”. His extremeties are not, we see bone structure first.

Calves, hips, underarms, too. All very yang. Not short, not soft, not balanced, not sturdy, not contrasted, just elongated and slimmed. I can hear people say it’s FN’s dramatic undercurrent, but it’s not an addition, it’s his main thing.

Test it with outfits: Kibbe is about matching similar things to create harmony, which creates beauty. Hyunjin’s most famous looks are all angular like he is. They mirror his frame. His artistic alter ego is as fittingly dramatic-themed as it gets. Sharp asymmetric corners everywhere:

how his yin undercurrent manifests

Now that we established his Dramatic base, let’s see how his yin undercurrent shows. Outfit test again, because it’s fun: Especially opulent and dark-colored SD lines overwhelm all Classics and Naturals. But Hyunjin, never. Just another Thursday for him, he can do it all.

And either way, his lush, super-prominent facial features are the waving flag for SD. They pair so well with glisteningly adorned yin styling. The hair could be more contrasted (= yang) here, but you get the gist.

He even has a semblance of double curve, which is elongated in SDs. FN has a broad ribcage > hourglass, Pure D has a straight, streamlined body. DC has no curve. But SD looks great with the waist marked. Only then does the outfit become “Hyunjin-esque” lmao! And it puts the focus on his face.

Hyunjin is far more yin-oriented than D, DC, FN. He wears Romantic and otherwise gnc clothing so well. You could douse him in jewels. SD is the only type among the Big 3 that can pull off TR decor. Modern Hanboks are often yin-themed (SC, TR, SD...). He’s born to wear it.

SD borrows its yin from R, yes. But as I see it, the infamous “homme/femme fatale” Theatrical Romantic type is SD’s younger sister. Simply due to TR’s sharp yang Dramatic influence. Hyunjin is easily a `sexy TR with more vertical´, and tall homme fatale is exactly what he exudes. An SD face says “femme but I’ll eat you up”.

That doesn’t mean that if you made TRs like Jimin or Han more elongated, they’d look like Hyunjin. Ofc not. Besides no person ever fully resembling another, Han is yin first (rounded face, small waist), and Hyunjin is yang first (chiseled body, long limbs). SD is gigantic next to TR.

However: Added to how Korean men tend to be on the smaller side already, and SD still points toward R and is the least towering of the Big Three most of the time, Hyunjin is still less gigantic than Pure D and FN — even if he looks tall by himself or next to G types like I.N, Felix, etc. Next to FN Dua Lipa in heels below, next to D types in the second pic.

For SD, Kibbe says overdressing is virtually impossible, as long as their narrow vertical line is honored. Unlike Classics, Hyunjin is certainly the “more is more” type. Minimalism wouldn’t do him justice. All-out dark luxury and ornamentation is peak SD aesthetic.

As above, and like in Han’s or Taemin’s case (both are TR), all of his outfits are elevated by belts. A purely yang type couldn’t wear this convincingly or comfortably. But with his small waist, belts are needed to keep the outfit together. Again, he can’t overdo it.

Finally, his feet are long and yang, but the toes appear yin and rounded, softly padded. The gentle, fleshy undercurrent of SD shows here, just like in his face. I’m a Pure Dramatic, my toes are thin and elongated, and my face is taut. SD has less structured feet, even if they can be bony. That’s why Natural category boots look so heavy on him, DC shoes appear regular, but elongated boots that emphasise vertical suit his outfits. He rarely wears SD shoes, but as always, the more glam, the better.

why he fits the versace SD aesthetic

It’s no coincidence he became a Versace ambassador. Donatella — despite being a tiny Flamboyant Gamine at 5´2 — herself dresses like a Soft Dramatic often, and loves supermodels embodying the shiny Diva Chic, it’s the brand’s entire theme.

Just like D & G and Mugler celebrate TR, Chanel and Gucci revere Gamines, Armani worships yang types (D, DC), and Dior suits Soft Classic, Versace lionizes SD, Italy’s Kibbe archetype. Bold patterns, sharp shoulders, black, waist, long lines.

Versace and Hyunjin’s best signature style are based on the severe long, black vertical look, angular and stark. Head to toe! The velvet fabric ad glossy boots are also quite SD.

By constrast, Versace doesn’t base itself on the flowing mix´n´match, wide lines and cozy fabrics of Naturals. That would be, say, Urban Outfitters or FILA. The BTS campaigns show of how casual FN/N is. No coincidence how RM and JK are positioned center, they are SN and FN. Brands will always clock which types instinctively fit the aesthetic.

Like all designers searching for a muse, I think Donatella looks for models that symbolize what her own contrasted/angular FG type doesn’t feature: Extreme vertical, a consistent essence (as opposed to Gamine’s mix of D and R lines), and yin. Thus, Versace’s muse is SD. Hyunjin perfectly fits the role. He is tall and radiates decadent splendour.

why he’s not flamboyant natural

Some FN clothing suits him, yes, as SD and FN are neighboring types. You can always steal from your closest Image IDs and pull it off to a certain degree. It accommodates his vertical, after all. But again, he can go even more fashion forward, and isn’t known for his leisure looks like, say Namjoon (FN) or Jungkook (SN). FN clothing looks casual on all other types. FN clothing on an FN looks like a million bucks.

Some FNs have soft yin features, but on SD, they stand out. Hyunjin’s go-to makeup look is not understated like Kibbe would recommend for the N family. Full lips, strong brows, sharp chin, sharp smokey eyes, contoured nose. His face shape is slightly more elongated than wide to begin with, the eyes aren’t wide-set like it’s often the case for Ns. His signature style is long hair, wether straight or wavy: but pulled back (D), not big and wild and free (FN).

The FN (and DC) outfits he wears the best are all black, head to toe. Which is a D characteristic! The drape of the fabric is similar to SD, but the materials are still reading as casual and wide on him. FN clothes look huge on all other Kibbe categories and hide the body, but on all Naturals they look stylish and showcase their frame dominance. FN is oversized on Hyunjin, especially the upper body. SD might have a T-silhouette, but not the FN ribcage. Casual clothes are snug on actual FNs.

Vice versa, Hyunjin makes the most artificial-looking, least casual aesthetic seem entirely taken for granted on him. His silhouette asks for emphasis in the middle of the body than just the shoulders (yes, SD does need shoulder emphasis!). The FN style leaves his legs looking too slim by comparison, as the top part winds up being too baggy.

That couldn’t happen to a Natural like Chan who fills out skinny pants easily. He needs the heavy fabrics, chest, arm, and shoulder accommodation like air. Stage looks are heavily manicured; he becomes a different person — Chan looks good, but he’s most at home in cozier looks, and most known for it, too. It balances his body.

Test jeans (N) versus satin (R): Which is more well-dressed? SD is about how far you can go, N is about how relaxed you can go. I think jeans is good, but underwhelms here and there. Plain satin lacks structure on him, too, which is why R is only his undercurrent. It requires the angular tailoring of D to incorporate yin fabrics in his wardrobe. But you could still throw more jewelry on him! Gala/dinner/red carpet dressing is so easy for SD. The right-hand outfits are fantastic. The colors pack a punch, too. SD needs heavy duty [winter] hues, regardless of their personal color.

So, in stage outfits, he wears sharp shoulders well. FN has larger, protruding, rounded shoulters that do not carry pointed Dramatic corners well. No sharpness here, just massive soft yang muscles, eg. Namjoon and Shownu. Worlds apart from Hyunjin. SD is the fiercest slayer ever, FN is a complete machine.

Any impression that he has Kibbe width is caused by the T-Shape most SDs have, an illusion created by their small waist making the shoulders look prominent by comparison.

Stiff fabrics that hold their shape (=D) are key to his best outfits, not coarse/woven FN fabrics or DC tweeds. fN are the kings and queens of athleisure. SD is underdressed in FN. It needs lavish draping and bnw contrast (=D element mixed with yin). He looks great in it:

SD is a naturally androgynous type. It fuses a tall model body with a soft yin face. Think Austin Butler, Shawn Mendes, Lil Nas X, BTS’ Jin. But FN is as masc as it gets. Think Henry Cavill, Jason Momoa, Hugh Jackman, RM, Minho (SHINee), Chanyeol. FN can be humongously broad when trained! SD bulks up, but their narrow, delicate vertical still shows first. And Hyunjin is shredded to the gods, mind you.

His legs showcase thin D bone structure. Congruently, he wears pointed toe shoes better than rough and ready FN ones (sharp, black shiny boots, his signature). Even if they have a sharp yang undercurrent, FNs still have more substantial N bones by comparison. When FN works out, their frame becomes even more biased towards the upper arms, shoulders and thighs, where SD becomes leaner first, and just more defined overall. Hyunjin’s legs aren’t blunt, they are extra long (sharp yang) with softly wide flesh (yin undercurrent) on top. FN is bulkier, stronger-looking like RM. And Hyunjin is a main dancer!

In short, trained FN idols are basically closest to bodybuilding contest winners because they look so broad and vigorous, while SD idols could win a pageant because they’re so beautiful, not rugged and hypermasculine like FN. Hyunjin is muscular, but you don’t notice broadness first, but his gorgeousness and model height.

FN benefits from earth tones + softening the hair color, while all Dramatics are recommended to go darker, more uniform in shade. Contrast works miracles for Hyunjin, black hair or completely bleached white is his forte. Muted colors undersell him. FNs will pass as a natural muted blonde or light brunette, while the D black and white color scheme don’t flatter them as much. Hyunjin definitely needs the extreme.

why he’s not pure dramatic

Pure Dramatic fits his proportions, it looks great on him (proof that D is his family) but the certain something is missing. It conceals his body rather than adapting to his shape. SD is never boring, always memorable (!), the longer you look the better it gets (minus the whitewashing on the right). SD is the right “challenge”.

The fact that Hyunjin can handle so much glamour whereas Pure Dramatic best sticks to the all-black column look without the glitter and diamonds makes him secondary yin. SD can lean into (Theatrical) Romantic, but on a tall scale. The jewels, the glitter, the soft fabrics, you can put all of this on him. The big florals, too!

Pure D is enjoyable in how contrasted and proportional it us, but it seems more boring than his stylists playing it up and adding more of a genderless element without making it classical drag art; it’s his specialty. His roster of SD hairstyles is endless and we all love it. The wavy ponytail below shoulder length (SD can go even longer anyway).

Pure D lines also don’t lend enough definition to his face. Wearing one’s Kibbe type HTT (head to toe) naturally makes the face pop, as its surroundings are harmonious. He will be too gaunt in too-straight hair and too-stiff fabrics, the SD volume is missing. E.g. Sehun and Wonwoo (Pure Dramatics) wear this better.

why he’s not dramatic classic

His insane proportions and remarkable face also disqualify him as any Classic. C styling looks good on everyone as it is the midpoint of the Kibbe spectrum and thus accommodates all types. He can pull the plain white dress shirt off, but only with sufficient accessorizing (SD). C drowns in SD, but C jackets are like crop tops on SD (red carpet image below).

In general, his body is not balanced — small waist, very narrow legs, prominent facial features, etc — enough to be described as average. Nothing strikes you about Classics, they are subtle and perfect. It’d be harder to draw Lee Know from memory than Hyunjin. All Dramatics stand out. Classics blend in, staying understated, visually embodying the “handsome, cold yet elegant gentleman”.

how he compares to any other types

Kibbe is about comparing Image Identity: Hyunjin could never be the sporty guy next door like SN Chan; he could never be the SG brand of “short and sweet” (think Sabrina Carpenter, SG) like Felix. Hyunjin has the tall contrasted look of sharp yang types. SD is the dark and sensual god king, SG is the lovely elven prince (yet both have yin lips).

Hyunjin’s ability to ace high-effort styles is only restricted by his lack of Gamine essence, which is K-Pop’s main mode. G types have few rules except breaking the line, SD requires rule-abiding. The floor length, the belts, the longer hair, the intense colors.

G lines turn to kitsch on SD, it is too “youthful“ for him to maximize the potential of SD. Eclectic Gamine lines are too short. G looks ‘cutesy/fun’ on all other types except on Gamines, who look stylish and cool in them, like FG J-Hope. Everything is ugly unless Hyunjin wears it as they say, but G is too hit and miss (and not “Hyunjin-esque” 😄).

Finally, Romantic is too delicate for him. It needs more oomph and “overstyling”. R is not risky enough for Hyunjin! Yes, he is secondary yin. He looks dainty in it. But it works better with yin guys like Felix, Jimin, Woozi, Wooyoung, Suho, Xiumin, you name it. R clothing looks corny on all other types, but on TR/R/SG it looks flaming hot. Pair Romantic’s velvets and pastels and crystals and transparent fabrics and sparkles and ruffles with Dramatic edges and it works for Hyunjin:

conclusion

Since Kibbe has these type-specific names that set a certain tone or theme: I think luxurious “Divo/Deus Chic” (SD) fits Hyunjin best. As in `godly´ man, since Deus was the male operatic lead, historically, and Diva the goddess. Kibbe has no men’s equivalent of “Diva Chic” so I figured `Deus´ was quite fitting, as Hyunjin does look like one would imagine a seductive deity.

I see why many type him as Pure D and FN, and he can’t go wrong with DC either if the vertical line is kept, either. He can embody those three essences through acting, styling, working out. But the above-and-beyond ornate SD image sums him up well and dresses him to his fullest.

He’s close but not quite the masculinely austere Pure D, Kibbe’s “Regal Sir” (D), who tends to be the most mature-looking, dry/stern type, far from Hyunjin’s genderbending visual that effortlessly breaks every boundary of what is considered menswear. He stands out from the common “Spitfire” Gamine idol aesthetic, too (small, lean, youthful, `doll-like´ face — think Taeyong, Jennie, or Yoongi), which makes him so recognizable.

He’s modelesque, moreso than the leisurely, Herculean yet relaxed boho “Free Spirit” (FN), or the understated yet sophisticated “First Gentleman” (DC) who stands at a more medium height and excels in spartan clothing. Most SD men are chronically underdressed, Hyunjin became famous because he barely ever is (props to the stylists!). I love this ID on him, and it has many options, just a feast for the eye.

I thought about Taemin successfully carving out a niche for himself as a sensual Theatrical Romantic, heavily breaking with mainstream masculinity. Or Lisa (her type is debated, but we can all agree she’s yang-leaning) being known for her tomboy look pre-fame and later blowing up astronomically for her concepts that have no time for the submissive Asian girl trope. They both defied the expected norm, aka FN or FG male idol, SG female idol. In a similar manner, SKZ having so many yin subtypes is probably what made them so appreciated for their lavish GNC styles — and the big stage/a music video is really where you can wear all of this to the max.

If you think about it, they have yin types in all of the 5 main Kibbe categories! TR Han, SG Felix, SC Lino, SN Chan + Changbin, SD Hyunjin, like how? Perfectly distributed, talk about range! No wonder they can do any concept. Hyunjin and Felix being the most known for genderless fashion is likely due to SD being physically impossible to miss and SG standing out as they are so petite (think Woozi from Seventeen, best example). Kibbe is onto something when he made sharp yang and soft yin the end points of the spectrum.

For the stylists, it must be hard to find a balance between dressing the Naturals VS the several Romantic-leaning members, and everyone in between. They do a tremendous job though most of the time imo, it’s refreshing to see SKZ’s fashion style having courage and forward-thinking instead of catering to a conservative worldview: Not to mention the many contemporary, low quality menswear design landscapes which are nothing short of underwhelming. SKZ create a visual spectacle, that’s one of the many reasons why they stay relevant to the public. I don’t think a group mostly consisting of say Classics could execute their theatrical stage displays convincingly. Example: Wolfgang worked because Chan is Soft Natural. Felix’ runway debut worked because the outfit was Soft Gamine. Hyunjin became a sex symbol as soon as he grew his hair long (a Dramatic characteristic, yin `feminine´ hairstyles are actually short in Kibbe’s system! Think TR Hwasa’s iconic wavy bob).

So, maybe one crucial ingredient, besides other factors, to a successful group is having members from all Kibbe 5 main IDs? To give each a recognizable/particular wardrobe, showcase height differences, be able to stay flexible with concepts, and further emphasize the concept of group roles? If we’re talking male groups in general, EXO has all Kibbegories except a strong R department, but therefore more yin subtypes. The literal exact same goes for ATEEZ and TXT. BTS has at least one Romantic (Jimin), Gamine (Yoongi), Classic (V), Natural (Jungkook), and D type (Jin) featured. That effect is even more pronounced in Seventeen (they almost have all the 13 types, it’s insane) and of course, within NCT we find it all, I mean the numerical chances of them having each Kibbe type present are high anyway lmao!

And of course, SHINee is THE most balanced group: Minho FN, Key SD, Onew SN, Jonghyun DC, Taemin TR! Yes — I am aware Key and Jonghyun are typed as Flamboyant Gamines frequently. Those aren’t bad typings at all, especially since SHINee often did and successfully does a FG concept. But as I see it, Key wears and exudes the Divo aesthetic like no other, and Jonghyun is easily associated with crisp and elegant suits. So even if they aren’t SD and DC, FGs can be type chameleons, as we saw with G-Dragon who’s portrayed every Kibbegory in the book. Long story short and pun intended, let’s crack the code: SHINee being Kibbe allrounders could also be a reason why they are timeless.

The veracity behind racist stereotyping à la „they all look the same“ unsurprisingly proves to be nonexistent, even despite the industry’s persisting Gamine bias for both girl and boy groups. Which, worryingly, shifts toward promoting the too-muscular Natural body for male idols lately. We can anticipate more N types being cast into debut groups to reinforce that ideal. It does seem to create a new „be this type or go home“ beauty standard that is often divorced from the variety fans want to see. Say, nobody campaigns to have Felix look like Terminator Arnold 2.0 😅 He’s grown so perfectly into his Soft Gamine/Light Spring Season style and looks stunning. No need for a gargantuan bicep or pecs out of proportion, or 15 layers of insoles.

So, I wouldn’t want to pump up everyone into a quasi-Flamboyant Natural (the current Hollywood steroid disaster is telling) or slim everyone down to a faux Dramatic or FG (see Ozempic) when we have nothing short of 13 human archetypes, with 12 different seasonal color types on top anyway. You cannot change your ID to begin with, ever — you’d need surgery for each cell of your body. Even today’s possible amount of cosmetic procedures couldn’t change your yin-yang balance completely. You still look best in your original lines. Plus, height and bone shape are hard and painful to alter from head to toe. I prefer Kibbe’s prennial `dressing your own, already beautiful type´ approach, which still applies if someone had lots of surgery, too. Kibbe types are permanent after one’s early 20s.

That’s why I still think the „5-category-SHINee-effect“ does contribute to longevity and artistic merit. Exactly to last through extreme trends (because what’s after N muscles? Maybe skinny like D again, or balanced like C? It cycles on). Styling a group, it’ll never be a hit or miss game if you have all 5 archetypes present. Imagine SKZ doing an edgy/smokey eye concept, the yang members (e.g. Seungmin) will make waves. Or if they do lace and pearls, the yin types will look especially great.

No matter what theme a comeback has, it’ll strike a chord for at least one person. Everyone can have their turn, there’s no forgotten member. [Male] groups consisting of kindred Kibbe types (e.g. only Romantics, which would 100% set them apart) sadly rarely break through. They’d have to stick to one signature style, which probably wouldn’t survive in the capital-driven/high-speed K-Pop trend and fashion cycle, which asks for novelty. I’d love to see groups like that though, like an all Dramatic model squad. There’s still variety within one Kibbe ID’s styling options. Maybe I’ve overlooked some groups whose members all have similar types? Take to the comments and let me know, I’m curious!

PS. Thank you for reading all the way — and have a great week - Caro 🐯

#stray kids #skz #hyunjin #hwang hyunjin #kibbe types #kibbe #kibbe body types #skz hyunjin #stray kids hyunjin #fashion #bang chan #felix #lee know #han jisung

133 notes · View notes

ju1cyfru1t · 1 year

Note

Hiii pooks! 😙 I love❤️ ur writhing sm

I’ve been having such a spider man phase after watching the new spider verse movie and I was wondering what would the turtles think when they figured out reader being NY’s Spider women or spider person like they haven’t told thier turtle bf about it and stuff (live for the drama😵‍💫)

Always love you and def feel free to ignore!

I LOVE THIS thank you pookie 🤭 hope u like it 🫶🏻🕸️ u didn’t specify so I’m gonna assume you meant the rise turtles!

Rise! Leo, Mikey, Donnie, Raph x Spider-Woman! S/O

ROTTMNT x Reader

fluff! :D, fem! reader, contains swearing, not proofread

Leo

- He may not be the brightest mutant, but he is observant

- Probably interrogated the info out of you

- -> “Y/N, where exactly were you last night?” “Oh, uh…I was with, um, April.” “That’s funny…considering April was with us!”

- It didn’t really shock him to find out you had a big secret, what did shock him is what that secret is

- He’s also a little hurt that you didn’t tell him. Don’t you trust him??? But that wasn’t his biggest concern

- “Wait, so like…spider woman as in like, big mama kind of spider woman?” NO-

- You would have to really explain it to him

- But let’s be real, he still wouldn’t understand so you’d have to show him by like climbing up the fucking wall or something

- But he really does think your powers are super sick

- Laughs when you try to explain your spidey senses -> “wait, you’re serious?”

- ^ calls them your “tingly thing”

- maybe you can web his fucking mouth shut

- LOVES your suit, thinks you look stunning and super awesome

- “You know, I always said that was your color Y/N!”

- Invites you to patrol with them! (then he doesn’t have to do as much)

- thinks you’re so hot when you fight (NOT IN A FREAKY WAY YOU FREAKS) and hypes you up

- freaks tf out if he ever gets a web on him, including if you were to swing with him to get out of harms way

- doesn’t ask for them, but he can’t deny he likes the iconic Spider-Man kisses

Mikey

- would just straight up ask if you’re hiding something. Dr.Delicate touch DOES NOT PLAY ‼️

- Of course this would be something you’re hesitant about, but he would remind you that you can confide in him

- Def was not expecting THIS.

- He is asking you a million questions all at once, and will sit nicely and listen as you explain with starry eyes (stop lookin at me with them big ole eyes)

- You’re #1 fan and biggest hype man

- Thinks you’re the coolest person ever fr

- Wants to swing around on your webs with you. Around NYC, in the lair, in Donnie’s lab, on missions, it doesn’t matter he WANTS it.

- THE ICONIC SPIDER-MAN KISSES ALL THE TIME ITS HIS FAVORITE WAY TO KISS YOU NOW

- weirdly interested in your webs 🕸️

- Compliments your suit anytime you wear it around him; thinks your mask is so so cute

- ^ in his free time he’ll sketch and color new suit designs to show you (also just drawings and paintings of you in your suit)

Donnie

- isn’t going to pry any secrets from you; but he does secretly wish you’d come to him on your own.

- so you can imagine his gratitude and relief when you finally tell him what’s up

- Doesn’t really say anything about it, but he doesn’t get why you didn’t just tell him sooner. I mean, you do know he’s a hero too, right?

- he’s fascinated, he’s never seen anything like your powers before. especially because you’re not a mutant.

- really just asks questions about how it all works. Your webs, how you stick to surfaces, your enhanced senses, the whole deal yk?

- He did NOT like big mama’s webs, and he doesn’t really like yours either I’m so sorry.

- ^if he needs them, would ask to use some like he did with Big Mama’s

- It’s not you I swear he just can’t do it

- you could like climb all over his lab ceiling and walls and scare the shit out of him tho

- ^ “Y/N get down this instant! WE TALKED ABOUT THIS-“

- admires your enhanced senses and intuition of danger

- is absolutely gonna make gear for you, as well as offering to make upgrades to your suit

- wouldn’t really directly say it, but he really likes the design of your suit. it just fits you so well. (he IS going to make a purple one for you)

- would scream if you ever just dropped down in front of him to kiss him spider man style

- ^ traumatized; it’s not his favorite thing but he doesn’t mind terribly

Raph

- might take him a while to notice if something is off about you. Leo or Mikey would probably have to directly point it out for him to realize fully

- Isn’t going to beat around the bush and just asks why you’re acting lowkey shady

- really shocked, might take him a second to process even if he doesn’t really know exactly what you mean at first

- honestly he understands why you keep it a secret, just a little saddened that you kept it from him

- He’s gonna need you to really explain your powers

- “…where do the webs come out of tho?”

- would deepen your bond and connection. you can really relate to each other carrying a deep burden and the pressure of responsibility.

- AMAZING DUO with his strength and your agility

- very good hype man

- takes you on most missions and patrols, thinks you’re a really valuable asset to the team

- also calls your spider senses your “tingly thing”

- it’s not that he doesn’t like your webs, something about them just make him nervous. Refuses to let you swing him on them unless he’s in immediate danger.

- does NOT let you crawl around the lair walls, he’s scared you’ll hurt yourself

- ^ “Y/N! You’re gonna hurt yourself, GET DOWN!”

- really thinks you look so pretty in your special suit, he just doesn’t know how to say without feeling like he sounds dumb. He would DIE if it was red.

- “ I really…er, like your costume.”

- very supportive! he gets the struggle of protecting the city, but is happy you get to do it beside each other. :D

- he likes the spidey kisses, they just really fluster him

——————————————————————————

y’all I’m sorry if there is any misinformation in this don’t flame me but I haven’t seen atsv yet

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thegeminisage · 18 days

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janeway/seven: spirk if it were messy dyke drama. thoughts

HAPPY SEVEN OF NINE DAY! i didn't wait so long to answer this just for seven of nine day on purpose, but i love the happy little accident.

i've given this a lot of thought and as though i agreed with you initially because janeway reminds me SO MUCH of a female kirk it's uncanny sometimes i actually detect notes of spones in this vintage.

consider that seven accuses janeway of wanting her to become an individual, but balking when she decides she doesn't like the kind of individual seven is becoming. this REEKS of spones because bones often goads spock into admitting he is having a feeling...or giving him shit because he is not having a feeling, or not having the correct one. kirk basically NEVER does this - he accepts spock's feelings or lack thereof at face value. he sometimes tugs spock's pigtails (happy 10k to this post!) and alludes to the fact that he knows that deep down, spock is having a feeling, but he never tries to catch spock in a lie or force him to admit to said feelings.

the tholian web, the menagerie, the empath, requiem for methuselah, journey to babel, all our yesterdays, and the paradise syndrome (even though i hate this one, it's racist af) all arguably contain examples of spock doing things bones disagrees with with the primary factor behind him doing those things BEING his emotions. consider also their iconic scene in bread and circuses in which bones yells at him while they're stuck in a cell together and compare it to the scene where janeway is basically spooning seven in the brig while she goes through the painful transition from borg to an individual and they're both shouting their way through it. (i think this was during the gift? but memory is hazy.)

now i have a plot twist for you. even though tuvok is the vulcan on this ship, i think his relationship with seven is closer to what kirk and spock have, even though tuvok and seven care about each other platonically and kirk and spock are a romantic couple. (nobody come to this post and try and dispute me. they are.)

seven is the spock in both situations: standoffish, unable or unwilling to show emotions like affection or concern, trapped between being human and being Other and unsure of where they fit. but much like bones, janeway wants seven to be more like her ideal idea of a person: a human being and an individual. she tries to teach her to socialize, to exercise her agency (even though it backfires at times), and even suggests seven go back to using her birthname, annika. seven reacts to this with predictable confusion and frustration, the sparks fly, and the romance just writes itself.

tuvok, on the other hand, behaves more like kirk: he meets seven exactly where she's at. he accepts whatever emotions she has, but he also isn't troubled when she doesn't have them. he's just as satisfied to speak to the human part of her or the Other part of her. he steadily helps her through the emotional crises she does have in the raven without judgment (vaguely similar to kirk prying that vulcan biology speech out of spock by being absolutely 100% nonjudgmental about it), as a result seven feels very comfortable with him and trusts him a great deal - even going so far to ask him if janeway still doesn't trust her, which is a pretty vulnerable thing to do, since it lets him know she's very concerned about it, and even seems to believe his answer! and even though she's bad at feelings, she also supports HIM when he's vulnerable - offering to help him shave and walking him around the ship during year of hell.

anyway, i don't have an eloquent conclusion, but these are my thoughts ✌

#WHOOPS this ask got longer than i thought it would #i'll need a meta tag on this eventually but that's a problem for future me #liz answers asks #chantrykomori #star trek blogging #voy lb #j7 #seven of nine #i lov her...............

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spliffymae · 2 years

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shoulda, coulda, woulda, j. kirstein

synopsis: jean loved his job, he loved being a teacher. there was just something about his eighth grade class that brought him so much joy, he loved everything about his job, even then annoying, tedious tasks. he wouldn’t trade it for anything else. especially when one of his students’ mom is the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen.

⚠️ afab!reader, cheating, swearing, smut, cocky!jean, teacher!jean, jean gets possessive, reader is in a loveless relationship.

kio’s notes - if y’all only knew the struggle i been going through to get this fic back🤦🏽‍♀️ anyways— i have this hc of the aot characters in like a school setting, and this is what i came up with for jean’s. also please don’t take any of this seriously, i’m writing this for shits and giggles bc i really do believe jean would have the audacity. MINORS DNI !!! 18+

now playing

⊱ ──────── {.⋅ ✺ ⋅.}──────── ⊰

ok so how i picture jean as a teacher is the type of teacher that at first glance, is expected to be a strict and cold teacher. one that didn’t really goof around with his class and focused on the rules. he was stern at times, yeah, but if you sat in on a lesson with jean, you would see it’s actually the exact opposite.

for one, he was pretty chill. his students were comfortable to talk to him about anything that was bothering them. he even spoke to them about things that would happen to him, and even try to turn it into a life lesson.

“so this man cut me off today while driving here to see y’all. now i wanna know, do i let that little thing make me upset for the rest of the day, or do i take a breath, shake it off and make the best of a good mornin’?”

((( sidenote: i also imagine him having a bit of a southern accent? nothing crazy but like a like twang y’know? country boy turned teacher typa vibe.)))

another thing he would do is block out a time of the day—fifteen to twenty minutes (usually at the end of the day or during free period) to talk to his students about what’s currently going on, whether it be in their lives or in the world. he wasn’t on social media like that, so aside from world news, he was in the dark, especially about pop culture.

“mr. k! are you team selena or hailey?” one of his students asked, getting jean to furrow his brows.

“selena as in gomez? who’s hailey? and why are they beefing?” and for the next fifteen minutes, jean watches as a number of his students go up to the white board and draw him a diagram, explains the celebrity web of drama.

jean was also a fitness enthusiast. he loved to exercise and get his body moving. he also encouraged it in his class, even incorporating it into his history lessons. he would set up a circuit of educational exercises, where his students would not only learn new things, but even get a little bit of some cardio in. for example, at the end of each week for black history month, jean would have ahis class split into teams and take the photos of black icons from one side of the class, and run to the other side to stick them by a description.

jean even loved the annoying aspects of teaching elementary, like yard duty. he would normally be with the primary grades due to his ability to keep up with their energy, but when he would be with the juniors and intermediates he loved when they’d ask him to play a game.

“mr. k! we need one more for five on five!” one of his students would yell, and jean would jog over and join the team.

and if he was on duty with his friends? oh best believe they’re joining.

“serayah, honey,” jean waved over a sixth grader from his friend, mikasa’s class. “tell ms. ackerman that mr. k wants her to sub in for him.”

but what jean loved more than anything about his job was parent-teacher meetings. why? because he would get to see one of his favorite students, and his favorite parent. you and your son dante.

dante was one of jean’s most athletic students. he was on the school’s basketball and track team, as well as playing for a rep league outside of school. he took a liking to jean rather quickly, babbling on to you about how cool his teacher was.

when it came time to finally meet him at the school’s welcome back barbecue, you were shocked, for lack of better words. jean had to be the most handsome teacher you ever laid eyes on. he was muscular, lean, standing at six feet and two inches. he wore a dark denim jacket with a plain black tee shirt underneath, black cargo pants and a pair of black and yellow jordan retro 12s. he had a single silver chain and two small, silver hoop earrings. he smiled with a natural smirk, his eyes crinkling and creating a look you couldn’t help but fawn over. his freckled cheeks reddening with every compliment he got from parents passing by.

when his eyes landed on you, it seemed as though time stood still. you were mesmerizing to him. dressed in some jeans and a striped dress shirt, accessorized with dior slides and a black handbag. your hair was tied into a puff, small, coils accent pieces pulled out randomly for a ‘lazy effect’.

when you and dante walked up to him, he had a big, warm smile on his face. “mr. kirstein, correct?” ypu extended your hand, to which jean accepted. it was a soft, and now that you were closer to him he smelt the subtle hint of lilac waft off you. you gave him a bright smile, glossed lips pulled back to reveal bright whites that along with cheery eyes, had him swooning.

for the first five minutes of seeing you, jean was elated. but when his eyes glanced down to look at your interlocked hands, and he saw that silver wedding band glimmer in the light on your left ring finger, he felt a dark cloud over his head.

“it’s uh, pleasure to meet you mrs. smith.” jean cleared his throat and smiled, swallowing back the slight disappointment.

you shook your head, “please, call me (y/n), and the pleasure is mine. dante speaks so highly of you. i had to come see the magic for myself.” you laughed, the compliment getting him to look down as he felt his cheeks burn.

“well, dante is a good kid. love hearing his takes when we do history, and his heavy opinion on math.” jean looked over to dante with a teasing smirk, one that the young man rolled his eyes playfully at.

“there’s no reasons why paul needs 40 watermelons, mr. k! we’re going through inflation right now, he bein’ selfish!” your son exclaimed, his comment getting both you and jean to laugh.

before you could dive in further and ask questions regarding the class’ curriculum, a hand on your lower back interrupted you. “there ya are, was looking all over this dump for you.” your husband, erwin, kissed the side of your head as he stood next to you. he was dressed in a black suit, with a long brown coat over him. he must’ve come from work.

“oh you showed up, funny.” you said, trying to keep a playful tone as to not indicate to jean there was a problem. unbeknownst to you though, jean was more of a body language analyzer than tone, so although you sounded somewhat happy at your husbands appearance, he could tell by how you stiffened at his touch that you weren’t feeling it.

“don’t be like that.” erwin spoke to you in a quick, hushed tone before looking to his son, whose mood also seemed to drop at his dads presence. “dante, how’s it going?”

“good, dad. this is my teacher, mr.kirstein.” dante pointed to jean, who was still not over how your cheery mood seemed to evaporate the second your husband walked in.

the blond man turned to jean, eyes flicking up and down him before a smirk found its way on his lips, “this the one you don’t shut up about, huh? i’m erwin smith, attorney at maria rose law firm.” he extended his hand to jean and of course, he shook it with a smile, despite cursing the man internally.

it was at that barbecue jean learned the dynamic of your marriage, and got to see it play out over the course of the year. erwin, as best as he seemed to try, was very disconnected with dante. he had not a clue what the boy liked to do or how he was doing in school. jean gathered this from the way erwin would go on his phone when he would talk about dante’s in-class progress or how he would come with you to dante’s games and meets, but never really cheer for the boy. not like how jean would.

he would either be looking down at his phone for most of the game, or watch with the most uninterested look on his face. and when jean brought it to your attention, you would always shrug it off.

“he’s just not a big basketball fan, s’all.” you would reassure jean, but he could tell from the way you bit down on your bottom lip and eyebrows softened after speaking that you didn’t even buy into your own excuse.

but it was okay. erwin’s silent spectating made jean’s cheers all the more louder. you and him acting a fool on the bleachers whenever dante made a good play. so much so that dante stopped informing his dad and started telling jean about his upcoming games—even asking him to help him practice on a dunk at lunch recess. there was even one occasion you had to swing jean a text, asking him if he drive dante to practice because erwin got held up at work (even though he told you he’d take him).

but yeah. jean loved teaching. because through his job he met you and the two of you had grown incredibly close, bordering on good friends. it wasn’t the most ethical thing in the world, befriending a students mom, but jean knew coworkers who have done worse so he wasn’t phased.

you had noticed how much better dante’s energy had gotten since jean’s arrival. he looked forward to not only games but school now, and was even warming up more to his teammates and classmates. before he was very reserved, only speaking when spoken to. but jean brought something out of him. when he came, he would go stand by the players and help the teams coach. sometimes he’d even takeover. he would dub dante team leader, encouraging him to speak up more. after the first time jean coached the team, dante begged him to be his mentor.

“pleaseee mr. k! you really the only solid guy i got to look up to. you like what i like and you can ball. c’mon do it as a form of reparations! ” dante begged him one day after school, ambushing jean while he was trying to pack up his things and head home.

jean wanted to agree instantly, but knew he needed to speak to you about it. he didn’t want to overstep any boundaries, not with you or dante—especially you, seeing as how you were a married woman. he brought it up to you the next time he saw you, at dante’s next game, while you two sat on the bleachers as dante’s team warmed up.

“d said he wants me to be his mentor. wanted to ask you if it’s okay to accept. i wouldn’t wanna step on his father’s toes or anything of the sort.. he also told me to do it for reparations?”

on the outside, jean was expressing consideration and empathy. but on the inside, he was country steppin’ on erwin’s toes, letting an evil laugh out in his head at the thought of taking erwin’s place. not just in dante’s life, but yours too.

you let out a loud cackle at the last part, “no he didn’t! oh my gosh, i’m so sorry bout his blunt ass. but i doubt erwin would look up from his phone long enough to care, jean. it’s cool with me if you want to accept. d’s changed a lot since you’ve been around, it’s been nice to see.”

you were in awe at your son’s transformation, to say the least. it was the spring of the second term, and dante had improved so much in the last couple months. his writing, confidence, and athletic ability had improved, but so had his mindset. he never took school seriously, or even cared about his marks. erwin told you it was just his teenage phase and to let him be, but you couldn’t. and thankfully for you, jean couldn’t either. he was more hands on than erwin, who was too focused on clients to worry about you two.

but oh, erwin should’ve worried.

he should’ve started to worry when you started coming home later. you used to be home by seven to make dinner for him when he would come home, tired from judges and verdicts. but now you’d be home at nine or nine thirty, you and dante well-fed while erwin munches on dinner he bought or leftovers he threw together once he realized you weren’t coming home in time.

he should’ve been curious when you were getting calls from jean outside of the appropriate hours. erwin would catch you on the phone at ten at night or sometimes even midnight. he would question you, but you would say it was either an “urgent dante matter” or that you were on the phone with one of your girlfriends and urge him to leave you alone.

but what really should have raised your husband’s suspicions was when you would go out with jean without dante. if only he didn’t shrug off dante when he said you finished work and went with jean to meet up with other members of the team’s parents. if only he wondered why the parents would be getting together at nine o’clock on a wednesday night.

if he had, maybe you wouldn’t have been at a bar late at night, confiding in jean about your marriage as you throw your legs over his lap, pink crocs practically neon in the light.

if erwin had worried, you and jean wouldn’t be tipsy and dancing together, with him holding you close as you swayed your hips to the rhythm of the music, grinding against his hardening dick with his thumb in the loop of your jeans as he tapped the beat of the music against your hip.

if erwin had called you like he thought to, he would’ve pulled your attention from jean, who was whispering sweet words into your ear, going on about how beautiful you are, and how he’s been dying to take care of you. his hand held your own, his warmth making your body melt.

maybe if erwin had worried about the amount of time you were spending with jean, he could’ve prevented that night. and stopped you from beginning what would be the end of your sanctified marriage.

maybe you wouldn’t be a where you were right now, how many days later, lying on your side with jean behind you, laying waste to your plump lips with kisses and nips. he held you close to him, chest pressed against your back and arms around you. he was grinding himself against you, his tip hitting your clit.

“jean,” you whined, a breathless sigh leaving your lips after. he had already fucked you to five orgasms throughout the day—since eight in the morning, the time you arrived at his house (you had lied and said you were going to work). but he was looking to make it six—his lucky number. honestly, your body really shouldn’t endure anymore of jean, but he was fucking you too good for you to focus on soreness and/or tell him to stop.

he tapped his dick against your clit, the puffy nub tingling from the sensation. “fuck, baby put it in.” you whined. your hand slid down to try and push his head down to go in between your folds. “please, m’so ready.” you sniffled, feeling the familiar sting of tears in your eyes.

“my baby so needy, hm? what’s wrong? that shitty husband of yours ain’t fuckin’ right?” jean spoke next to your ear, his breath fanning over your cheek. he continued to glide himself up and down your folds, collecting your slick as lube and ignoring your whining and begging.

“not like you, jean—shit!” you were struggling to pull yourself together. you were overstimulated, you were exhausted, but your body craved him. it had been so long since you were worshipped like this, since your heart had felt so full from jean’s endearing words. not to mention phat ma was loving the attention.

jean chuckled, “you damn right, sweetheart. this right here is mine, understand? don’t wanna see no other man touching you, speaking to you—looking at you, even! i’ll fuckin’ kill ‘em.” he snarled.

he didn’t wait for a response from you. he just slowly pushed himself inside, listening to the breath that hitched in your throat. that really was all the response he needed. “jean…” you grabbed onto the sheets to release any form of tension. despite being full of jean all day, you were still not use to his motion. his size was one thing; he was tall with a curve at the head. he he was more on the thicker side, with light brown hairs trimmed neatly around his area. he was about the same size as erwin, but it was his strokes that hit you differently. they were far more powerful than your husbands. they were more determined, focused—not just on his own orgasm but yours as well.

jean smirked, “not like me, yeah. that asshole can’t begin to reach the places i can! m’gonna fuck some sense into you to leave that blond fuck.” he pressed his free hand against your stomach, squeezing on your waist. “gonna give my pretty girl the family she always wanted. me, you, d, and one of our own. how’s that’s sound, sweetheart?” jean kissed the back of your ear with his promise.

you were dying! here this man was, fucking you into an oblivion, loving your body in a way your husband hasn’t in so long. how were you supposed to say no? he was promising you what erwin no longer gave you, what he forgot he did on your wedding day.

it was wrong for you to be here with him. you were breaking every possible vow and eternal promise you made to erwin on the day of your wedding. but in the moment, you didn’t care. jean was fucking you too good to feel guilty for your infidelity. his dick was hitting a spot you had forgotten existed, wiping your memory of erwin and the past nights of passion you two shared.

“think of our baby, mama. how beautiful they’ll look with your eyes, your smile, your fuckin’ kindness—” jean was lolling at the thought. the idea of getting you swollen with his baby. pregnant you would be dependent on him for sure, needing him to ease your sore body or help you with your hormonal mood swings. he would be your go-to. he could see the future you two could have, it was right there. and by god was he going to attain it one way or another.

“please, make me a mommy, jean please. wanna be your kids’ mommy.” you begged him, and he could’ve cum alone at that. you looked back at him, lips poked out in a pout and eyes glossed over. there wasn’t a thought behind them, nothing in that pretty little head of yours except how he was making you feel.

yeahhhh, erwin should have been worried. when he saw you enter your shared bedroom at nearly midnight, walking straight to the bathroom with what appeared to be a faint limp, he shouldve gotten up to ask you what happened….but he couldn’t bring himself to.

he should’ve pushed jean for answers when he ran into him one day at home depot, and after threatening him over your guys’ overly friendly relationship, listened to jean respond with:

“you know what i tell my students about letters, mr. smith?…that sometimes they can be silent. like the word ‘rhythm’ for example—the first ‘h’ is silent. and i’m gonna tell you that the word ‘your’ has a silent y.”

erwin blinked, “what?”

jean nodded, a shit-eating grin on his face, “yup. at least in your case it does. so your wife, is our wife. that body you don’t value” jean rolled his neck in irritation, “is ultimately hers, but for the sake of this argument, is ours—well more so mine since i heard your ass isn’t hittin’ spots i can. so keep that in mind the next time you think about steppin’ to me, alright? you have a good night now, mr. smith.” he flashed erwin a wink before turning away, leaving the man stunned in the middle of the store.

perhaps it was now too late for erwin to worry.

#🌞🍃spliffymae #ﾟ aot╤╤｡ 𖠋 #jean kirstein x reader #jean kirstein x black reader #anime x black!reader #aot x black reader #attack on titan #angst #teacher!jean #x black reader #black y/n #Spotify #cheating #erwin x reader #erwin smith

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newdaysby-atlas · 9 months

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﹙ # WINTER fr AESPA ☆ layout ) I'M THE DRAMA theme

# like & reblog if you save / use

# icon png 400 × 400 ( use twitter web )

# requests are open!

#winter aespa #aesthetic #aesthetic layouts #aespa winter #aespa #aespa icons #aespa layouts #aespa headers #winter icons #winter aespa icons #winter aespa headers #aespa aesthetic #aespa drama #aesthetic icons

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songforeddiemunson · 7 months

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⚠️ Since blocking has come up a lot lately, here's a PSA about blocking with side blogs: when you block a blog you are only blocking from your main.

You won't be able to see them, but they will still be able to see the content you post on your side blog until you block them from your side blog(s) as well.

But here's the kicker-- you can only do this on tumblr from your web browser, not the app. To do it, go into the side blog you would like to block from, and go to 'blog settings.' Then, scroll down to the bottom where it says 'blocked tumblrs' and click the edit icon to paste or type the blog name you would like to block. This cannot be done from the mobile app, only the web browser version.

This post also talks about it in detail, which I found quite helpful. ⚠️

Disclaimer:

there has been discourse around weaponized blocking that I fully agree with: I have been blocked by other blogs and I have NO idea why, (seriously I'm pretty benign and boring, I'm not mean to people, I know folx have their reasons and I shouldn't overthink it but it still hurts). I feel like I should state that if it's due to another blog simply following a blog you have been harmed by, please reach out and let them know; odds are they have no idea they are following someone toxic and would want to be made aware. But there are some blogs out there who are specifically designed to bully and cause drama, and I believe that those are the people you should remove from your feed without preamble. But at the end of the day, you do what you need to do to protect your happiness.

#fandom psa #tumblr psa #The more you know

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kdramaxoxo · 1 year

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wanna ask for any recommendations for dramas (country no matter) where a deity/god/angel/demon/higher power of some sort (not fairytale beings like mermaids) falls in love with a human. like doom at your service or bride of habaek. higher power doesn't have to be ML but preferably so

Oooh I love when a god/deity falls in love with a human!

K-Dramas where a God/Diety/Angel Falls for a human:

Hwayugi/ Korean Odyssey: A monkey god falls in love with a human who can see spirits. It's got a great enemies to lovers plot and the side characters are great! While not perfect, it's very funny and also has amazing romance.

Angel's Last Mission: Love: I'm a sucker for this romance about a blind ballet dancer and an angel that fall in love. Shin Hye Sun is everything in this drama (fun fact: registration for ballet classes went up while this was airing). Also L is very sweet and you'll totally root for them (even if it gets a little wonky toward the end)

My Love From The Stars: This super popular romance about an Alien that falls for a human isn't exactly a deity but his abilities are basically the same and it feels like the same dynamic.

Goblin: One of the most popular k-dramas of all time, this romance between a god and a human is iconic. Perfect? NOPE. Did I watch it 3 times? YUP!

Hotel Del Luna: This fantasy drama is about a 1300 year old owner of a guest house running a hotel for departed souls on their way to the afterlife. I was not into this drama as much as everyone else (I didn't ship the ship!) but it is very beautiful!

Kiss Goblin: A short web drama about a goblin who wants to become human. Silly and sweet, featuring my web drama bb In Hyuk before he got major roles!

Do Gumiho's count? They are nine tailed fox spirits so if they do...

My Roommate Is a Gumiho: Super cute rom com about a gumiho and a college student living together. I LOVED the second couple so much in this!

Tale of the Nine Tailed: features gumiho (s) or nine tailed foxes that fall for a human. If you liked it, there's a season two, tho the romance IS with a mermaid so it's not specifically what you're asking for.

My Girlfriend Is a Gumiho: While very popular, I'll admit I haven't watched this yet! I just know it's a rom com with Lee Seungi

And of course Doom at your Service, and Bride of Haebak (which I do not recommend lol!)

Enjoy anon!

#kdrama #kdrama recommendations #tale of the nine tailed #my roommate is a gumiho #kiss goblin #angel's last mission: love #kdrama recommendation #ask #lovely anon #i love a list #kdrama recs

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coffeebookslovegt · 1 year

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Scott por favor, soy 66 kilos de huesos y piel pálida. El sarcasmo es mi única defensa.

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whatmathgodwrought · 7 months

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Salad Bar Theory of Popular Culture

This is going to be a long post. It will discuss "The Salad Bar Theory of Popular Culture," and why Tumblr dot com is the ideal, overgrown petri dish on the web for this phenomenon.

It's a bit of lark, but I do hope you'll laugh at least once if you read to the end.

Imagine you're dining at an all-you-can-eat restaurant. The restaurant is massive. The self-serve food bar has every kind of dish imaginable, and what's more, there is a construction crew adding more space, and new chefs are constantly adding new entrees, remaking old favorites, and sometimes they even invent new cuisines altogether. All of your friends and acquaintances are there. Sometimes you eat together, sometimes you talk about what you ate, sometimes someone excitedly comes to your table raving and telling you to try something new or an old favorite. There is more than you could ever possibly eat in several lifetimes, and it only keeps growing.

This metaphor is the current state of entertainment in the 21st century for all forms of media: music, movies, books, TV shows, ebooks, audiobooks, podcasts, talk radio, art, comics, graphic novels, manga, webcomics, cartoons, anime, newspapers, infotainment, online journalism, live-streaming, plays/dramas, console gaming, PC gaming, smartphone gaming and more. Thanks to the internet, streaming, global-shipping, viral-meme-culture, commodification-of-the-invidivual-via-the-social-media-grind, (and let's be honest, piracy and archival culture), people have access to and are exposed to more entertainment than they could ever hope to consume in several lifetimes.

So, where does leave the typical diner at this restaurant? Well, as the next paragraphs will show, there is no such thing as a "typical diner." There are no gourmets, no gourmands. There is just the Cornucopia and groups of people wandering the endless salad bar. You can be first in line and pay a premium to experience the brand new dish. You can go back to the same section and reload your plate with the same thing as many times as you want, and people will ask if you don't ever get tired of the same thing. You can be a vegetarian. You can eat only meat. You can eat a bit of everything. You can brave the sneers and jeers of the gatekeepers as you sample something--with tastebuds aglow--for the first time and rave about it to all your friends.

So what kind of dining experiences are there in this cultural canteen, this pop-culture pizzeria, this taverna theatre? What do you see there?

Popularity is the Objective Word Here

When something is popular, it spreads like wildfire. This has always been true of popular culture even before the internet. Humans are social, they tell stories and they share. This may seem obvious, but it's also bedrock for the other observations.

Originality is Dead: Long Live Reboots and Remixes.

Show of hands to three questions:

How many people recognize the reference of a gorilla carrying a woman, climbing the Empire State Building while bi-planes shoot at it?

King Kong right? A cultural icon for many years.

How many people have actually seen the original King Kong (1933) starring Fay Wray and directed by Cooper and Schoedsack?

Not as many right? Maybe you only saw one of the many remakes in 2021, 2017, 2005, 1986, 1976, 1967 or 1962.

How many people are alive today that saw King Kong (1933) in the cinema?

Not many I'll bet.

I'd wager the number of hands goes down with each question. And yet the staying power of the original story remains burned into film history and memory. The point is this. Humans retell stories. This is not a bug. It's a feature. "Tell me the story again of…" There is joy (and profit) in the retelling.

Derivative Reference is Often the Primary Way of Experiencing Pop Culture

OK, so people are sharing things left and right. They're retelling, remixing, rebooting, writing fan-fics, etc. All of this creative effort means that your first-time encountering something new may be a reference, rather than experiencing the original. People rarely experience the true original firsthand anymore. They're going to experience things second-hand.

This is especially true with older media. A first experience with something will often be a derivative reference. An example: Back in the day, in school, we watched Planet of the Apes in class. (I don't know, probably the teacher was hung over.) Want to know how I figured out before the big reveal that the Planet of the Apes was really Earth?

Troy McClure spoiled it for me. In Season 7 Episode 9 of the Simpsons, "A Fish Called Selma," McClure takes an acting gig in a musical adaptation of Planet of the Apes, and he sings the following lines:

Oh my God, I was wrong It was earth all along Yes you finally made a monkey out of me.

So there I am, watching Planet of the Apes for the first time, and Troy McClure's big number starts playing in my head. I sit there in disbelief, remembering the Simpsons, and then practically crying into my desk with laughter.

Probably the teacher thought that "kids these days" don't appreciate cinema, but it was just so absurd to have the movie spoiled by a bit in the Simpsons.

Want to know something else? In doing research for this essay, I discovered that Planet of the Apes film isn't even the original. The original story was a French language novel "La Planète des Singes" by Pierre Boulle. So again, people love retelling, often in different forms of media.

Point is, the longer something has been out, the more it tends to be referenced in other forms. TV talk shows will make jokes referencing the new popular thing. Popular phrases quickly become part of the everyday lexicon. People talk at the water cooler. A tech mogul names their new software after one iconic word in Heinlein's 1961 sci-fi novel.

Any piece of popular culture could be "spoiled" for you at any moment, which brings us to....

Spoilers are Everywhere but Do They Just Act as Adverts?

King Kong dies in the end. Dumbledore Dies. Both of these are spoiler memes (and I'm not sorry), but consider the amount of time passed between the original release of both. How long is the statute of limitations on spoilers? How long before a popular piece of media saturates public awareness so much that it becomes unavoidable? Is this ultimately unavoidable because of the viral nature of advertising, marketing and sharing?

In the modern day, it's increasingly hard to avoid spoilers. I've heard of people going off social media for weeks before a major film release so it doesn't get spoiled for them.

People seem divided on the topic of spoilers, but it's a very good question: Would you still enjoy a story if it was spoiled for you? Shakespeare spoils Romeo & Juliet in the first 14 lines:

Two households, both alike in dignity, In fair Verona, where we lay our scene, From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean. From forth the fatal loins of these two foes A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life; Whose misadventured piteous overthrows Do with their death bury their parents' strife. The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love, And the continuance of their parents' rage, Which, but their children's end, nought could remove, Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage; The which if you with patient ears attend, What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.

Do you still want to see the rest of the play? What if it had Leonardo DiCaprio as Romeo, Claire Danes as Juliet and Harold Perrineau as Mercutio? There is something to be said for knowing where the story goes, yet still enjoying the teling of the tale.

I'll go on record and say I don't really care about spoilers. They've become adverts to me, hooks of interest into things I might not have discovered otherwise. I have to encounter new media somehow, and I try to take a positive outlook on it, saying, "I was meant to discover this." If I like something, I'm going to like it unabashedly and still find a way to enjoy it.

Delayed Gratification

If you are PC gamer, let me ask a question: How many unplayed games do you have in your Steam library? Games you haven't even downloaded and opened for the first time. What about unfinished games? Played-once-and-dropped-it games? Now ask yourself: Did you buy this game when it first came out? Did you pay for early access? Would you have still enjoyed it, even if you had to wait a while? Consider the Reddit community r/PatientGamers. They don't care to line up and pay a premium for a brand new release. They know it will still be the same game (often less buggy), and they will even be able to get it on sale. They know the salad bar is vast. There's lots of content, and there's no hurry. They let it come to them when the time is right.

I Don't Want to Hear It

Similar to r/PatientGamers, there is also the phenomona when it seems like everyone is raving about something, to the point where you begin to actively block it out. It doesn't seem to matter what it is; even if it's something good that you would ultimately enjoy. Something about the repetition or the messaging rubs you wrong, and you innoculate yourself against it. You avoid that part of the salad bar at all costs, even if you might like it.

Interpreting the Rules: Remixing as Fan Behavior.

How dooes your social circle play the game Uno? Fandom has a tendency to take what's been created and modify it, remix it according to their own rules, according to fanon's own internal logic. Sometimes it's seen as an act of repair, sometimes a love letter to canon. Sometimes it's shipping characters. Sometimes it is a what-if. What if all these different characters from different properties got together in a story?

Dismay at Media Conglomerate Strip Mining

Has one of the five mega media conglomerates "ruined your childhood" by making a live-adaptation of your favorite childhood cartoon? Well, buckle up, because they aren't going to stop. The big five are hungry for content, and they are actively strip-mining your childhood favorites. It doesn't matter if it's a live action remake of Avatar the Last Airbender or CATS the musical, eventually some studio exec is going to see dollar signs, and your favorite thing is going to get a bad remake. It's best to just accept this.

Further Dismay at AI Strip Mining

If you don't like what the big five are doing, you will hate what AI is doing, and if you're an artist you probably already know you are getting robbed by AI companies. Large language models (also known as Plausible Sentence Generators) and text-to-artwork tools like Stable Diffusion and Midjourney are getting more sophisticated.

They're still scraping the web, and more sites seem to be selling user-generated content to these places, prompting artists to use Glaze and Nightshade to protect their work and poison AI data-models.

People are selling their likeness for permanent use in perpetuity for use in crowds. Lord of the Rings used AI-enabled CGI units in some of the battles, and that was over 20 years ago. How long before they don't hire extras for movies anymore?

The year is 2100. You put on a vid. It is the usual cast, starring: Tu-Pac Shakur's avatar, Hatsune Miku, the latest Disney princess avatar, and the disembodied voice of James Earl Jones. All of the original flesh and blood actors are long dead, but their AI avatars and copyright ramain. Some were never were alive in the first place. It's all necrotainment. You turn off the TV.

Back to the present year, James Earl Jones's voice is now in an AI model, so Disney can give us the same Darth Vader forever. The year 2100 seems not so far away.

On the plus side, there seems to be a growing backlack against AI-generated content. People consider it cheap, shoddily-made and flimsy, and the quickest way to associate a brand as cheap garbage. At the Glasgow Willy Wonka's Chocolate experience event, the organizer used AI generated visuals for the marketing, and people arrived disappointed at the "dirty old warehouse." According to Paul Connell, the actor who played Wonka, the script was "15 pages of AI-generated gibberish."

"I never knew I would have liked this"

OK this is getting a bit grim, so here's something fun: People are getting exposed to other cultures' entertainment, and they like it! Netflix reports that 60% of their users have watched a Korean drama, and they plan to invest USD $2.5 billion in future Korean drama for the platform. Like anime booming outside of Japan in the 80s and 90s, or the British Invasion in the 1960s, people try out other parts of the salad bar, and discover they quite like it.

Archival Behavior

Abraham Lincoln once said, "You can't believe everything you read on the Internet." This is why screencapping and archiving things has become more important. Tweets get deleted, accounts get banned, and users deactivate. Capturing and archiving things here at least preserves some of the conversation.

In the Art of War, Sun Tzu wrote, "If you know yourself and you know your enemy -- and let's be clear the enemy are techbros, who are fundamentally lazy and want to cut corners for the sake of a quick buck and flashy, fake-innovation. Even their own mothers don't love them. They stole this content from Tumblr username whatmathgodwrought, original posting date 2024/03/03, and this should be used as evidence in the lawsuit against the responsible parties -- you need not fear the result of a hundred battles."

If the internet is just 4 websites containing screenshots of the other ones, many are doing the good work of archiving for posterity.

Wasn't this Post also about Tumblr?

Yeah, yeah, we're taking the scenic route. (If you actually read this far, thank you. Send whatmathgodwrought a message and I'll read your blog, maybe reblog some of your stuff, maybe even follow you.)

Let's recap: pop culture spreads like wildfire. It gets retold/remixed/rebooted. Reference and spoilers are everywhere. You can delay and still enjoy a thing anytime, or you can resolutely choose to avoid a thing completely. You can remix, recreate, and fan-theorize canon ideas to their natural conclusion. The big five entertainment corps and AIs are strip-mining the heck out of it. People loves to try out things they never would have had access to before. So, after having some of these kind of experiences, you can post your fandom thoughts on Tumblr, add tags and watch it blow up (or not) or don't add tags (and watch it somehow blow up anyway?). Posts with "10k note energy" have slept for years before someone fired a reblog chain heard round the world. So what makes this environment the Galapagos Island or Cambrian period of websites for this Salad Bar idea?

Repeat and Resurgence

So the thing about a recurring joke is that it keep recurring. People will often write: "I will always reblog this." There are also seasonal examples. King Taejong falls from his horse, Feb 8, 1404. Julius Casear's assassaination on the Ides of March. Voyager's "Threshold" season-2, episode 15, Jan 29th. The clay tablet to Ea-nāṣir complaining about inferior quality copper. People like retelling, and reblogging with scheduling or queue contributes to the seasonal nature of repeat themes.

Tag You're It

Tags kind of help with the spreads-like-wildfire aspect. I've always liked tags as a general concept, because they're a flat, non-hierarchical, multi-category way of organizing information. In the Dewey Decimal system, your number is the category, and that's it; no nuance, no second-guessing, no argument. With tags, you add as many as you want, and then off it goes--haphazardly careening about the Tumblr ecosystem. Tagging is also broken, but whatever.

Goncharov

my favourite thing about the goncharov nonsense is that it relies on the tumblr culture of watching ur mutual posting about something but not really paying attention to it. the reason it slips so easily under the radar is we’re all used to seeing people’s random sudden fixations on our dashes and then just letting them do their thing - you don’t unfollow, you often don’t even filter it out, you just think ‘hey, glad they’re having fun’ and scroll past. i went like two days before realising it was a mass joke because i assumed one of my mutuals was just Really Into some old mafia film from the 70s all of a sudden. because why wouldn’t they be

User @watchmakermori hits the nail on the head. Tumblr's ecosystem exposes the user to random fandoms, which they might like, might look at later, or might actively avoid. It is within that space of ambiguity that the Goncharov phenomena thrived.

Trending By Organic Pollination

On this hellsite, it's possible to completely overwhelm the tags and get something trending, but at least this is mostly driven by human interest. In this case, Tumblr's lack of an algorithm is actually a feature. When a mutual reblogs something, at least I know that a human did it, unlike algorithm-based, auto-served content. We've seen what algorithms have done to Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube and even Google search. Algorithms drive "engagement", endless scrolling, and are likely contributing to Dead Internet Theory. At least Tumblr users are continuously blocking bots, trying to inoculate against AI-generated content, and are reblogging human content.

Parallel Play

Tumblr users' tendency to engage in parallel play also contributes to the remix factor as users reblog, retag and recontextulize. A shitpost becomes educational. Two isolated fandoms collide accidentally because of a poll. Someone makes a spelling error and it goes viral. Users play with JPEGs like dolls. Everyone is just out there doing their own thing in the big sandbox, and emergent behaviors result.

In Conclusion?

This post ended up more Tumblr-positive than I intended, even though that wasn't the original idea. The idea was to be more dispassionate, more objective, a casual observer. But like any participant-observer, I've gotten a bit caught up in the phenomenon.

So let's call this a Love Letter (academically aggravated) to Tumblr. Suffice it to say, I hope y'all keep blocking bots, reblogging humans, spiting the great AI content harvest, and keep enjoying the Salad Bar.

#salad bar theory of pop culture #tumblr

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bluedalahorse · 8 months

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AU: YR is an early 00s Web 1.0 megafandom! Which archive are you getting your Wilmon fics from?

Earlier today I posted a conversation between @heliza24 and myself about what YR fandom would have been like if we were all on livejournal and individual websites in the early 2000s instead of on tumblr now. We came up with the names of specific fanfic archives and the vibe for each.

In honor of that post, I’m asking you… which archive are you getting your fanfic from? Answer below.

Reblog to say more in the tags! Tell us what your YR livejournal icon would be. Tell us what dramas you get involved in. What early 90s and early 2000s shows you’d be writing crossovers with. (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, anyway?) What Y2K fashions would Wilmon be wearing in your fanart. TELL US EVERYTHING.

Never fear, fans like myself who are all in for YR’s other characters. A follow-up poll for the non-Wilmon archives is coming a little later today!

#young royals #yr polls #wilmon #wilhelm young royals #simon eriksson #apologies to anyone in this fandom who was born after 1995 #to be fair this is all important fandom history

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peytons-depression-land · 1 year

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With BlackBerry, Matt Johnson continues to show no other director has a better understanding of our modern, media-molded minds

For those unfamiliar, Matt Johnson is a 37-year-old Canadian indie filmmaker, whose new film BlackBerry, which he co-wrote, directed, and co-stars in, was released this past week. BlackBerry charts the rise and fall of the Canadian creators and company behind the once ubiquitous “BlackBerry” smart phone, a device that’s now a relic to the pre-iphone aughts. The film chronicles the triumphs and tribulations of the phone’s creators, underdog nerds Mike Lazaridis and Dough Fregin, and cutthroat businessman and Blackberry co-CEO Jim Balsillie, who both launched the phone to its successes and helped destroy all they created. Johnson’s previous features are The Dirties, a found footage dark comedy/drama about the lives of two film obsessed high schoolers leading up to a school shooting, and Operation Avalanche, a period thriller about low level CIA agents faking the moon landing – a film in which said agents con their way into NASA, which Johnson and his crew actually did in real life when making the low budget indie film. However, Johnson’s most iconic work, and most beloved by many, is his mockumentary comedy series, which started as a web series and was later adapted to TV, Nirvanna the Band the Show. The series details the misadventures and schemes of a fictionalized version of Johnson and his friend, musician Jay McCarrol, as they try to get their band – Nirvanna the Band – a show at the Toronto restaurant and music venue “The Rivoli.” You might know this series from the now famous "Update Day" clip in which the duo sing along to the Wii shop music. In 2021, Johnson and McCarrol even made a three-episode animated children’s spin off of Nirvanna the Band, titled Matt and Bird Break Loose. A unifying aspect of much of Johnson's work is his narrative documentary style of filmmaking, often employing real people in Sacha Baron Cohen-style moments.

Something about me: I'm kind of a Matt Johnson obsessive. Any time I meet someone from Canada under the age of 40, I ask them if they've heard of Matt Johnson or Nirvanna the Band the Show. I have multiple back-up hard drives with the complete web series and TV seasons of Nirvanna the Band because it's impossible to get/find now in the US. Anytime I'm in a large media store that sells 2nd hand movies (like Amoeba Records), I religiously spend time searching to see if, by some small chance, they have one of the physical copies of The Dirties (the ones with the variant covers that look like Criterion Collection covers) - it's kinda my physical media holy grail. My DVD of Operation Avalanche is one of my most prized possessions. Hell, I’ve even tried my hand at replicating Johnson’s style numerous times, a short film I made while at film school abroad in France being the main example. So, suffice to say: I was very excited for Blackberry.

With BlackBerry Johnson is making significant stylistic and scale leaps from his previous works, “making it to the big leagues” as someone more confident than me with sports metaphors might say. It’s a bigger movie than he’s made before, getting a limited national release here in the US, by a major indie distributor (IFC), starring two sizeable, well-known actors (It’s Always Sunny in Philidelphia’s Glenn Howerton and comedy mainstay Jay Baruchel). All this far from the rag-tag, small scale, underground nature of his previous works, where the cast was the filmmakers and the biggest names involved were Vice (and its since defunct TV network) and Kevin Smith whose company distributed The Dirties. Stylistically, BlackBerry makes the jump from Johnson’s previous found footage/mockumentary movie (both terms sounding far more derisive to the idiosyncratic style of Johnson’s films than I’d like) to a fully “traditional” narrative feature. With both The Dirties and Operation Avalanche, as well as NTBTS, the characters are involved in the actual act of filmmaking, for one reason or another, and aware of the camera filming them, the cameramen being acknowledged entities. The footage you’re watching is filmed, edited, and staring the characters on screen. But, with BlackBerry, besides a fun visual gag from Glenn Howerton at the beginning of the film, the cameras exist as they would in any normal movie – invisible watchers of the events.

What makes BlackBerry and Johnson’s filmmaking so great though is that he doesn’t just abandon all semblance of his style and aesthetic, becoming some bland gun for hire, like so many indie directors plucked from festival success to helm the next cinematic toy line for Marvel. Instead, he finds ways to work his style into this more traditional film in compelling ways. While the camera is no longer literally in the story, it still hovers around the characters, with longtime Johnson DP Jared Raab often shooting through the obstruction of windows, from far away, and with the back of heads in the foreground. The camera zooms and focuses in and out of different characters and things in the moment, cinema verité style, Johnson describing in a Q&A for the film having been influenced by documentaries like Pennebaker and Hegedus’ The War Room. The looming, documentary-like camera works perfectly for this constantly manic story of slap dash, neurotic tech wizzes and on edge CEO sociopaths, the camera matching the characters nature. For this story of greed, corporate malignancy, and the loss of ideals, the camera’s living style also feels like what you’re watching is covert, hacked CCTV footage. It makes the viewer feel like they’re seeing what actually happened: secret footage from inside the office, fly on the wall stuff, intimate to these people and these conflicts.

True to the overarching motif in Johnson’s work of media’s permanent place in our cultural language and experience, Blackberry is filled visual references to other movies: from a non-diegetic montage of famous sci-fi technology over the opening credits, to scenes of the lovable band of “Research in Motion” nerds enjoying movie nights of Raiders of the Lost Ark and They Live, to movie posters lining the walls of the RIM offices and featured on Doug’s t-shirts. Johnson perfectly described how necessary referencing other media was to his film when he explained “Pop culture that we think of as just nerdy ephemera, I believe sincerely, winds up dictating what technologists create that will become the future.” Well timed needle drops help ground the work in its specific world of a nerds 1996, 2003, and 2007, and frequent Johnson collaborator (and aforementioned co-star of Nirvanna the Band) Jay McCarrol brings a pumping synth score, not too dissimilar to Trent Reznor’s work in The Social Network, but with a uniquely quirkier, lo-fi essence that fits perfectly with the indie feel of both the film itself and its subject matter.

Thankfully we’re not entirely deprived of Johnson’s charismatic, comedic screen presence in BlackBerry. While not the Orson Wells-style leading man both in front of and behind the camera he was in his previous works, he still features in Blackberry as the third of our main 3 characters, Doug Fregin, co-engineer/creator of the famous phone, who acts in a way as the film’s audience surrogate. Despite Doug being a “goof” as Balsillie describes him, he’s the heart of the main three characters, the moral center to which we compare Balsillie’s shrewd cunning, lies, and manipulations, and Lazaridis’s tragic moral downfall from tech idealist to bottom-line businessman. Doug is undoubtedly a character in the typical “Johnsonian mold” - a movie quoting, John Carpenter t-shirt and sweatband wearing, ninja turtle loving hyperactive who uses Star Wars references in business meetings. In fact, the character seems molded in the film more on Johnson than the real man, given that, as Johnson explained, he’s a “true cipher… has never done a taped interview,” leaving Johnson with room for interpretation.

However, while Johnson delivers a more lighthearted, comedy performance, as a director he pulls some impressive dramatic performances from Howerton and Baruchel. It’s true that the movie is, at its core, a dark comedy, so there’s some great comedy in the lead performances, Howerton delivering that trademark snark and unhinged rage his Always Sunny character has become known for and Baruchel with his awkward nerdiness. I have no doubt Howerton’s scene in which he, in a rage, screams “I’m from Waterloooooo! Where the vampires hang out!” - in a moment that must be seen to be believed - will become a quoted classic before long. But the characters aren’t just farce Social Network parodies, they have depth and drama to them, a credit to Johnson’s directing and Howerton and Baruchel’s acting. You feel Balsillie’s underlying insecurity and attraction to power that drives him. You hurt seeing Lazaridis slowly turning into what he once stood against and the tragedy of him reaching his ethical “point of no return” when he agrees to the BlackBerry touchscreen phone being manufactured overseas, in order to meet budget and deadline. We also get some delightful supporting performances from the likes of Saul Rubinek, Rich Sommer, Cary Elwes, and Michael Ironside as an imposing, rotund, bolo tie wearing, hard ass COO.

BlackBerry is a tragic tale of ambition and passion succumbing to ego and greed, and in so it’s not only a movie about the tech sector, but also about the struggle of making art. Lazaridis struggles, and ultimately fails, to maintain integrity while creating a technology he loves and believes in against a world run by people like Balsillie who only seek profit and status, quality be damned as long as it sells. Anyone who makes art, especially films, is up against the same problem. There will always be Mike Lazaridis and Matt Johnson’s, there will always be Jim Balsillie’s and David Zaslav’s, and there will always be a struggle between the two: art and commerce. The tragedy comes when the creator, like Lazaridis, loses their principles, and begins creating not for the love of it, but out of obligation and out of profit. The triumphs come when the creator finds a way to take what they love, what they’re good at, and what is meaningful to them, - their vision - and deliver it to the masses with the heart intact, as Johnson has done throughout his career, now with BlackBerry more than ever. It’s up to the creator to stand fast and endure to create their meaningful works, as oftentimes the sharks will get along either way, as we see in the end credits with Balsillie, who avoided any jail time for his stock fraud committed while co-CEO of BlackBerry.

While I don’t think they're for everybody, Matt Johnson's works capture the modern media deluged culture that we all exist in better than any other modern artist or filmmaker. His movies are always about movies, whether they narratively are or not, just as our lives have become subsumed by media consumption, regurgitation, and reinterpretation. We now live in a world where almost every movie and TV show is at our fingertips 24/7 - a religion, the upgrade to dreaming, the codex we classify our existence on - and his film-making style and characters reflect that. The characters, especially the characters Johnson portray, speak in a lingua franca of movies quotes. His camera is alive and involved in the action, often literally, just as our cameras and screens are every day. His editing blends the real world with the movie world, blurring the lines. His movies are not documentaries, but they’re certainly not just fiction, something in between, a dreamlike blend for our media-soaked minds. I’ve never been one good at the rigid definitions of “modernism” and “post modernism” in art, but I have to believe Johnson is the cutting edge of whatever “post-post-post…Modern” stage we’re at currently. The Dirties is about media’s role in the lives of a youth more connected but also alienated than ever before. Operation Avalanche takes the uniquely western art form of film and uses it to represent how governments often use media to manufacture their own fictions to control the public narrative. Nirvanna the Band the Show shows how media influences our everyday lives, friendships, personalities, and dreams. And now BlackBerry serves as a cautionary tale for the fate an artist can fall to if they let their work become a product instead of a passion and art. As we drift further into the oblivion of inevitable ecological, political, social collapse, media becoming the God of our reality, Matt Johnson is our guru, beaming our media-soaked psyche back on to the screen, creating innovative, funny, compelling stories of life through the lens of a movie-fed world.

#Matt Johnson #blackberry movie #nirvanna the band the show #glenn howerton #jay baruchel

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