#and also i admit. i do have my v specific fan interpretation of him that makes him more sympathetic BUT ALSO THATS LIKE JUST ME. | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

scorpionyx9621 · 3 years

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Do you think Jason Todd fandom is kinda toxic? Because it seems like NO MATTER what DC do, there'll always be complains. Forget the bad adaptation like Titans. Even Judd Winick cannot escape the criticism with how he potrayed Robin!Jason. They just never satisfied.

SORRY, IT TOOK ME SO LONG TO RESPOND TO THIS. I just moved from Washington D.C. to Seattle, which, for my non-American friends, that's 4442km away. And I DROVE THERE ALL BY MYSELF. And now I'm trying to find new work in a new city and trying to stay mentally healthy and positive. Life is exciting but hard and scary.

*sighs*

As someone who was a fandom elder with V*ltr*n. I've seen some of the worst when it comes to fandom behavior. I'm talking people baking food with shaving razors and trying to give them to the showrunners. I'm talking leaking major plot details and refusing to take it down unless they make their ship canon (I am looking at you, Kl*nce stans) For the most part, DC Comics has had a decades-long reputation of treating their fans like trash and not caring what they think so from what I've seen, we all just grumble and complain in our corners of the internet about how we don't like how X comic portrays Jason Todd.

The challenge with Jason Todd is that he's your clinical anti-hero, the batfamily's Draco in Leather Pants, he's a jerkass woobie, and on top of all of that, he's a Tumblr sexyman. It's a perfect storm for a very fun but frustrating character to be a fan of. It doesn't help that every writer decides to re-invent the wheel every time Jason comes up so his canon lore is confusing at best and inconsistent as a standard.

I guess starting with a general brief on who Jason is and what is uniform about him with every instance he's appeared in comics/media.

Grew up in a poor family in Gotham with a dad who was a petty-mid-level criminal, and a mother who dies of a drug overdose.

Survives on the street on his own by committing petty crimes and potentially even engaging in sexual acts to keep himself alive.

Is cornered by Batman and taken in after Dick Grayson quits/is fired

Becomes the second Robin, but is known for being the harsher, more brutal Robin.

Is killed by Joker after being tortured, but somehow comes back to life and regains senses through the Lazarus Pit

Resolves himself to be better than Batman by basically being Batman but kills people.

Where there has been a lot of conflict in the fandom is the fact that Jason Todd is not a character that is written consistently. DC Comics loves to go with the narrative that Jason was "bad from the start" and was the "bad robin" when, yes, he has trouble controlling his anger, but he also still is just as invested in seeing the best of Gotham City and trying to be a positive change for the world as any other DC Comics hero.

Where I get frustrated with the fandom is its ability to knit-pick every detail of a comic they don't like while completely disregarding everything that makes the comics great and worth it to read. My example being Urban Legends. To which most people had pretty mixed reactions to. I was critical of the comic at first but as it went along I ended up really liking it. I have a feeling DC Comics went to Chip Zdarsky and told him he had 6 issues to bring Jason back into the Bat Family, and honestly he didn't do a bad job. Did it feel rushed? Absolutely. I wish there was more development of Jason and Bruce's characters and their dynamic as a whole. However, where I see a lot of people being angry and upset with Urban Legends is that they feel Zdarsky needlessly wrote Jason as an incompetent fool who needs Bruce to save him.

Whether or not that was the intention of Zdarsky is up to debate. However, and this may be controversial, but I don't think he wrote Jason Todd out of character at all. For as fearsome, intimidating, and awesome as Red Hood is. Jason is a character who is absolutely driven by his emotions. Why do you think he donned the role of Red Hood? As a response to his anger towards The Joker for killing him, and towards Bruce for not taking action against The Joker and for seemingly replacing him so quickly after he died. Jason didn't care about being the murderous Robin Hood or for being the bloody hammer of justice against N*zi's and P*d*ph*les. He only cared originally about making The Joker and Bruce pay. It wasn't until he trained under the best assassins in the world and realized most of them were horrific criminals who trafficked children and were p*dos that Talia began to realize that the teachers that she sent Jason to train under started dying horrific and painful deaths.

The entire story of the Cheer story in Batman Urban Legends was started because it finally forced some consequences upon Jason. Tyler, aka Blue Hood's father was a drug dealer who gave his supply to his wife and kids. And when Tyler's father admitted he gave the drugs to Tyler, it immediately made him fall within the self-imposed philosophical kill-list of Jason Todd. And Jason, well, he proceeds to kill Tyler's father. When this happens, Jason is in shock. Tyler's dad fit the bill to easily and justifiably be killed by Jason. We've never seen Jason having to deal with the consequences of being a murderous vigilante on a micro-level. When Jason realizes what he's done in that he's murdered Tyler's dad, he's shocked. He tells Babs the truth. He does a rational thing because he's in shock. He doesn't know what to do, he never has had to face the consequences of his actions as Red Hood and now the gravity of befriending a child as a vigilante hero who kills people just set in when he killed the father of the same child he was just introduced to.

(Oh here's a little aside because it had to be said, Jason would not have been a good father or a good mentor to Tyler and absolutely should not have been his new Robin. Jason is a man who is in his early 20's (not saying men in their early 20's can't be good fathers at all) who is a brutal serial killer using the guise of a vigilante anti-hero to let him escape most of the law. the complications of having the man who murdered your father adopt you and make you his sidekick are way too numerous for me to explain in a long-winded already heavy Tumblr essay post. There's a reason why we don't advocate for a story where Joe Chill adopted Bruce Wayne or one where Tony Zucco took in Dick Grayson.)

The next biggest argument is that they feel that Jason is giving up his guns as a means to just be invited back into the Bat-Family. To which I will tell anyone who has that argument to go actually read Urban Legends. Already have and still have that argument? Please re-read it. Don't want to? That's okay, I will paste the images from the comic where Jason specifically says that he doesn't want to give up his weapons for Bruce and his real reasoning down below since the comic isn't exactly readily accessible.

Jason gave up the guns because he felt the gravity of what he had done and knows how it'll effect Tyler. Thankfully his mom is alive and in recovery. But Tyler doesn't have a father anymore. And Jason killed Tyler's father. It may have been in accordance to Jason's philosophy, but it was a case where it blurred the lines. Jason Todd isn't a black and white character, just very dark gray. He doesn't kill aimlessly like the Joker. If you are on Jason's list you probably have done something pretty horrific, and also just in general, being in his way or being a threat to him. Mind you, in early days of Red Hood and the Outlaws (Image below) Jason almost killed 10 innocent civilians in a town in Colorado all because they saw him kill a monster. That being said, Jason isn't aimless in his kills.

(Also can we just take a moment to appreciate Kenneth Rocafort's art? DC Comics said we need to rehabilitate Jason Todd's image and Kenneth Rocafort said hold my beer: It's so SO GOOD)

That being said, the key emphasis in the story of Cheer asides from trying to introduce Jason Todd back into the Bat Family and give an actual purpose for him being there, other than him just kind of being there ala Bowser every time he shows up for Go Kart racing, Tennis, Golf, Soccer, and the Olympic games when Mario invites him, is that Jason and Bruce ultimately both want the same thing. Jason wants to be welcomed back into the family and to be loved and appreciated. Bruce want's Jason back as his son and wants to love and protect Jason. Both of these visions are shown in the last chapter of Cheer while under the effect of the Cheer Gas. It's ultimately this love and appreciation they both have for each other that helps them overcome their challenge and win.

Jason Todd is a character who, just like Bruce, has been through so much pain and so much hate in his life. The two are meant to parallel each other. While Bruce chose to see the best in everyone, giving every rogue in his gallery the option to be helped and give them a second chance, hence why he never kills, Jason has a similar view on wanting to protect the public, but he understands that some crimes are so heinous they cannot be forgiven, or that some habitual criminals are due to stay habitual criminals, and need to be put down. But at the end of the day, the two of them both try to protect people in their own ways.

I am aware that through the writings of various DC Comics authors such as Scott Lobdell and Judd Winick, the two have had a very tumultuous relationship. And rightfully so, I am by no means saying that Scott Lobdell writing an arc where Bruce literally beats Jason to within an inch of his life in Red Hood and the Outlaws, nor Judd Winick's interpretation of Under the Red Hood where Bruce throws the Batarang at Jason's neck, slicing his throat and leaving him ambiguously for dead at the end of the comic is appropriate considering DC Comics seems to be trying everything they can to integrate Jason back into the family. That being said, a lot of these writings have shaped the narrative of Jason and Bruce's relationship and have an integral effect on the way the fandom views the two. It doesn't help that Zdarsky acknowledged Lobdell's life-beating of Jason by Bruce at the very end of Cheer by having Bruce give Jason his old outfit back as a means of mending the fence between the two of them. That does complicate a lot of things in terms of how they are viewed by the fandom and helps to cause an even greater divide between the two.

Regardless, I want to emphasize the fact that Jason Todd is a part of the family of his own accord. Yes, he's quite snarky and deadpan in almost every encounter. However, Jason is absolutely a part of the family and has been for a while of his own will. There's a great moment in Detective Comics that emphasizes this. Jason cares about his family because it is his found family. Yes, they may be warry about him and use him as a punching back and/or heckle him. At the end of the day, we're debating the family dynamics of a fictional playboy billionaire vigilante whose kleptomania took the form of adopting troubled children and turning them into vigilante heroes. Jason Todd wants a family that will love and support him. This is a key definition of his character at its most basic. This was proven during the events of Cheer and is being reenforced by DC Comics every time they get the opportunity to do so.

Now, none of this is to say that I hate Judd Winick. I do not, I don't like the fact that in all of his writings of Jason, he just writes him as a dangerous psychopath, and Winick himself admits to seeing Jason as nothing much more than a psychopath. Yet Winick is the one who the majority of the fandom clings to as the one true good writer of Jason Todd because 'Jason was competent, dangerous, smart' Listen, friends, Jason is all of that and I will never deny it. However, what I love about Jason isn't that he's dangerously smart of that writers either write him as angsty angry Tumblr sexyman bait or that they write him as an infantile man child with a gun. There's a large contention of this fandom that has an obsession with Jason Todd being this vigilante gunman who is hot and sexy and while I definitely get the appeal. It is very creepy and downright disturbing that all of you hyperfixate on his use of guns and ability to be a murderer. It is creepy and I'm not necessarily here for it.

What I love about Jason Todd is that despite all of the pain, all of the heartache, all of the betrayal, and bullying, and death, and anguish. Jason Todd is one of the most loving and supportive characters in all of DC Comics. Jason has been through so much in his life, but he still chooses to love. He still chooses to see the bright side in people. Yes, he takes a utilitarian approach and chooses to kill certain villains, but at the end of the day he wants to see a better world, and he wants to be loved. It takes so much courage and so much heart to learn to love again after one has been abused or traumatized. I would not blame Jason at all if he said fuck it and just went full solo and vigilante evil. He has every right to, but he still chooses to be with the Bat Family of his own accord. That's something that I see a lot of in myself. I have been through a lot of trauma and yet I try to be a better person myself in any way that I can. It is extremely admirable of Jason to allow love back into his heart when he really doesn't need to. He kills and he protects because he has this love of society. It may have been shaped by anger and hatred, but Jason has found his place amongst people who love him and value him. I think Ducra, from Red Hood and the Outlaws put it best in the image given below.

To end this tangent, I love Jason Todd and all of his sexy dangerousness, but it's far more than that. As much as Jason may be dangerous and snarky, he loves his family without a shadow of a doubt. I look up to Jason Todd because despite all of his pain and all of his trauma, he still choses to love. Jason Todd is a character who is someone I love because despite all of his flaws and having a very toxic fandom, he still serves as a character filled with so much heart and so much passion. I wish more writers would understand that. But for now I will live with what I have. Even though the fandom may be vocal about it's hatred for his characterization, I choose to love Jason regardless because he is a character who chooses love and acceptance regardless of his pain. Jason Todd is by no means a good person in any sense of the word. He has easily killed upwards of 100 people by now. He is a character who is flawed and complex but ultimately is one who powers forwards and finds love and heart in a place from so much pain and anguish. That is what I love about Jason Todd. After all, to quote a famous undead robot superhero, "What is grief, if not love persevering?" Jason Todd chooses to love despite all of the trauma and pain and grief. Yes, he is hardened in his exterior, but inside there is a man with a lot of love to give and someone who deserves the world in my eyes.

#Long post GOD #Jason Todd #Red Hood #Bat Family #Batman #red hood and the outlaws #RHATO #RH:O #Batman Urban Legends #Red Hood Lost Days #TW Voltron #TW Death #tw murder #TW Klance #Gotta love how i am pouring my heart out onto jason AND calling out the Voltron fandom #Regardless love Jason Todd people

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onewomancitadel · 3 years

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This is all quite simple in response;

1. Just because the BY V A fight was planned and used footage that does *not* mean that it was planned to end off as a form of shipping. Even if it was planned, two people fighting together doesn’t mean that it’s suppose to be that way. Hell B and Sun fought together numerous times for example.

2. Once again, even if it was planned for yang to lose her arm, that doesn’t mean it was originally intended for shipping purposes. CRWBY have admitted to flipping and flopping between things in the past

3. According to the Wiki and all things I could find on the matter, Adam is suppose to he Gaston and the beast. Yangs allusion is actually Goldilocks. (Junior and his peeps allude to the 3 bears as well.

4. Even if Salem and ozpin were designed early, that doesn’t quite mean Much in the grand scheme of things in relating to this ship.

5. Finally as for the Monty thing, he stated that team RWBY is suppose to be like sisters

My apologies, he didn’t say they were like sisters, he said they had a sisterhood, not a very good argument for me, though the rest of what I said still does hold up though lol. And yeah I mean, Sun got ship baited for like 5+ volumes

I'll address this in order of numbered points:

1. I would disagree, because the fight against Adam is a very big deal. He's Blake's ex-partner and abusive/villainous figure, any confrontation with him is extremely romantically charged. That the major fight involves Yang is a big deal for that reason, and that he maims her is too.

2. I don't know where they've flipped and flopped, so I can't address that point. (Actually if you're referring to the Maidens being introduced in V2, I think most of the scaffolding was already there for that but was fully realised with them). With that being said, I refer to the above point again.

3. The wikia is often incorrect, and subject to misinterpretation as well as speculation posed as evidence, and also not particularly well-researched with reference to source texts. Adam fits the wilting rose (that is the Beast's curse) as much as anything else, and Beauty helps Beast defeat the curse. Characters can have more than one allusion, in fact multiple, and Yang is specifically referred to as beauty in Red Like Roses. The wikia is fan-run, and open to interpretation, the same way my blog is.

4. I disagree, because Salem/Ozma is the overarching theme of the series - I think even if the specifics weren't mapped out they had some idea of a broader justification for everything.

5. Regarding sisterhood - yes, Blake being Ruby's sister-in-law still works lol. I think the issue here is that it could be read either way. I am also once again cautious referring to Monty's word here, out of respect for the deceased, also with the understanding Miles and Kerry are writers and have been since the start. (I also want to be respectful in the sense that they must love the show very much, since Monty was their friend. I read absolutely no ill-will into any narrative decisions made. There's a very odd trend of doing so I've noticed).

I think Sun was baited in the sense of everybody knowing that if you put a guy and a chick together then they're obviously going to kiss, and there was that meeting-the-family stuff, and that was quite tiresome. I think they don't need to bait a love triangle that much in future. With that being said, the dramatic thrust was still related to Yang. Blake running away from a big deal (particularly related to Yang's mother wound).

Blake/Sun is kind of a problem in the way Cinder's femme fatale persona she wore for so long is. It's obvious they meant to subvert it in some way, but they didn't flag it early enough or as substantially I think which would've made it clearer, sooner to the general audience.

I also think Blake generally suffers as a character until V6, which is not a point in favour of either of her romances. I do think it's clear, though, that Sun is a supporting character to her, but he's also not a very important character, and so to me never really came across as a viable love interest for that reason - unless they were going to be boring.

Thank you for your asks, very interesting.

(As an addendum: I think it’s clear there’s more to Cinder as early as V3, especially with that backstory, especially with, ‘Do you believe in destiny?’ / ‘Yes’, but it took a long, long time, I think, before the GA accepted her depth).

#seraphina's asks #user: redhoodhungergames #the great bb debate #stirring the pot

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jamiefairfaxisntcool · 5 years

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/mu/core album review | Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane Over the Sea

/mu/core album review #1

this week on /mu/core album review, we look at:

Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane Over the Sea

Ah yes, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea. The album that’s mostly known as either, “that one weird album from the 90s,” or, “/mu/ basic bitch meme music.” If you’re anywhere past a casual music fan, you have most-likely heard some songs off this project, if not the whole thing, doubly so if you’re into 90s culture, Indie, or any sort of Art-Rock or Folk movements. As I type this, the most popular YouTube rip of the album has about 4.3 million views, a playlist separating each track stands at 500,000 views, and the title track has a remarkable 40,733,956 plays on Spotify. Holy shit, to put that into perspective: AV Club writes that, “In The Aeroplane Over The Sea was originally slated to sell about 7,000 copies,” that’s roughly 5,819 times the predicted sales numbers of the album on just that song. This also means that this song has been listened to for approximately 131,163,338 minutes, a total of around 131,163,299 more minutes than the actual album length. Humanity has spent a collective 249 years listening to In the Aeroplane Over the Sea. Oh, and that’s just the title track.

If I couldn’t spell it out so clearly there, this album is fucking outrageously popular.

Even if you haven’t heard any material off the LP, this album is memed pretty heavily in the music corners of the internet. I don’t think I can find a single music meme page or forum that hasn’t jumped upon the ITAOTS or NMH bandwagon.

At this current point in time, ITAOTS has became a permanent resident in the zeitgeist of internet music culture. NMH, and by extension, it’s creator, Jeff Mangum have been elevated to a cult of personality status. The band and this project are accompanied by a never-ending choir: 15-25 year old sad white boys who cry while sing-screeching about semen and Anne Frank and poorly play open chords on their detuned Ibanez acoustics.

It’s oddly beautiful.

The album is so deceptively simple, so creatively cryptic and has all the elements of a slog faux-folk fest filled with whining that would bore me to so many tears that they could rival the sad boy indie kids who lose their e-girls to their more socially active explore-page bait counterparts. To a person not familiar with it, ITAOTS could look like an over hyped, masturbatory depression tape. It looks boring. It looks like it should be boring.

If it should be boring, then why have I only listened to it and absolutely nothing else for the last two days?

This isn’t a joke, I revisited the album of course to refresh myself before sitting down and writing this review. I kept listening, over the course of a school day, in-between production and songwriting sets, while playing games, and as I write this, I just finished my eighth spin of the record. Before those last two days, I had only listened to the album probably twice.

I remember listening to it back in seventh grade and not particularly disliking it. I was really into Yes and a lot of other Prog and Psych bands, but I wasn’t particularly impressed with the almost yuppie voice that Jeff had used on the record compared to vocal beasts like Freddie Mercury, Bowie, and Jon Anderson. Later on, I listened in freshman year, and I appreciated it much more, and had a few songs come up in my shuffle play, but thought nothing much of it.

Now, war had changed.

part 1: i’m the fucking carrot king

As I plopped down in my computer chair, my window crackled and banged like a distant firecracker with the smack of heavy rains on a Summer afternoon. I placed my headphones firmly atop my ears, closed my eyes and leaned back in my chair. I heard the opening chords of The King of Carrot Flowers Pt. 1 and tried not just to hear the instrumentation, but also pay attention to the lyrical content of Mr. Mangum.

When you were young, you were the king of carrot flowers And how you built a tower tumbling through the trees In holy rattlesnakes that fell all around your feet

Okay, so what the fuck is actually happening here?

Upon my listens, I inferred that Jeff is speaking to another party here, most likely a female love interest, in what seemingly starts in a nostalgic tone. This sounds almost like a picturesque, coming-of-age, Americana film. Maybe one starring Molly Ringwald and River Phoenix, with a surprise cameo from someone famous back then like Jack Nicholson. Maybe John Candy, with a John Hughes script. Everything would have those faded out, classic colors, a hearkened back era. Quickly, by halfway through the first act, the tone shifts. A darker mood, a stark, grim reminder that life wasn’t always sunny and shinning in Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.

And your mom would stick a fork right into daddy's shoulder And dad would throw the garbage all across the floor As we would lay and learn what each other's bodies were for

The Mang informs us of a horrific family life, specifically about what seems to be his dad’s, stepmom’s, and stepsister’s interpersonal relationships. The lines are obvious and straightforward, the life of our protagonist was rife with unhealthy familial and sexual relationships, and a sense of love and sweetness was not found there. Keep that in mind when thinking about later songs such as Oh Comely.

After the somber intro of Carrot Flowers Pt. 1, we reach my personal least favorite track on the album: The King of Carrot Flowers Pt. 2 and 3.

Look, I know the meme. “I LOOOOOOOOOVE JESUUUS CHUHRIEEEIISSSSTT,” and all that shit. I’m not even worked up about that line in particular, I just dislike Pt. 3. It’s the weakest of the upbeat songs on the album, with the weird yodel-screech voice that Gumman performs with really takes me out of the experience, which sucks because the buildup and atmosphere of Pt. 2 felt pretty amazing. Luckily, Pt. 3 is fairly short, so we don’t have to worry about it too much.

part 2: earth angel’s thesis

The title track for this album is one of the best songs on this album, no fucking contest. In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, Oh Comely, The Fool, and Two-Headed Boy Pt. 2 are top contenders when discussing this album. If you like the faster, fuzzier, upbeat songs you could probably substitute The Fool for Holland, 1945.

The title track has a familiar sounding chord progression and we can hear Gum from Jet Set Radio’s saccharine but yelp-y voice belt out from atop the mountains his undying love and admiration for... Anne Frank?

What a beautiful face I have found in this place That is circling all round the sun What a beautiful dream That could flash on the screen In a blink of an eye and be gone from me

In the first verse, Geoff mentions meeting or viewing a beautiful person on this fleeting rock circling round the Sun. He also matches this with the idea that it’s truly futile for him to chase after this beauty, as it is only a dream that could escape him when he awakes. El Jefé has actually mentioned that some of his surrealist lyrics are derived from dreams. Perhaps these lines could imply a more literal dream fading? I don’t exactly know, all I know is what I interpreted.

The instrumentation of this piece is nothing straying from NMH’s usual repertoire: Mandrake on Guitar and Vocals, Scott Spillane on the Horns, Robert Schneider on Bass and Production, Julian Koster playing... something. What is he playing? Wait, give me a second.

He’s playing the Singing Saw? I thought it was like, a Theremin. What the fuck is a Singing Saw?

Oh.

Okay sure, you can play that, however the fuck you do that.

And finally we have Jeremy Barnes on Drums.

The personnel handle the music with a light, bouncy feeling, and the tone and timbre remind me of a faded, old, seaside town on the east coast. Another thing to mention is that the chord progression is G-Em-C-D; I-vi-IV-V. A funny thing I noticed is that this song shares a chord progression with tons of songs from the 50’s and early 60’s, which adds to the waning Americana feeling, but it more specifically shares that progression with Earth Angel by The Penguins. In the 80’s film, Back To The Future, Marvin Berry covers the song with his band for the Enchantment Under The Sea Dance where Marty’s dad and mom have to dance to ensure that the future stays intact. There’s no further real connection, but I thought that was kinda cool to mention.

After looking through the lyrics for In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, I will admit, as a brainlet Two-Headed Boy Pt. 1 eluded me. Patrolling through Genius and some other reviews, I guess the consensus about this track was that it was about Anne Frank again? Manta Jeff’s cryptic lyricism continues to fool me. Besides the lyrics, this track mostly remains a piece of really good filler.

part 3: stop the military occupation of my brainwaves

The Fool is amazing, anyone who says it’s filler is wrong. I know I might anger some people by literally implying that Two-Headed Boy Pt. 1 was filler, but seriously The Fool just makes me a feel a way. My brain creates a scene reminiscent of a depressing diesel-punk Les Misérables. Even though Scotch Spillage’s fantastic piece for horns is beautifully imperfect, it lacks lyrical content and is short and length. So, let’s instead talk about Holland, 1945.

This awesome, uptempo, almost punk-like piece of fuzzy brass is groovy son. It’s probably the song you could show someone not familiar with this project and they’d be like, “Oh, is this Cake? Why is the lead singer singing so high now?”

Holland, 1945 is a song that you can just listen for the instrumentation. Holland, 1945 is a song that promotes peace and love. There’s so many great things I can say about Holland, 1945. How it’s theme is so perfectly fitting for today’s political climate, how it manages to blend these psychedelic and bluesy timbres with a fast and loud sound and how well it continued the semi-conceptual narrative of Joff’s admiration and love for... Anne Frank.

Okay, fuck it, I have to say it. It’s bothered me ever since I discovered it.

Why Anne Frank? Like, I know why Anne Frank, but I mean like, why, y’know? I’ll say I admire Anne Frank, she was trying her best to live a normal life in a terrifying time to be alive, but I never wanted to fuck her. xxJeffxx’s mentions of Anne kind of make me raise an eyebrow. Especially because the album’s not just about her either. When he gets sexual, it’s difficult to determine whether he is mentioning a third party or Anne, which would be pretty weird, as she was 15 when she died and Heff was 28 when he wrote this. Maybe this is just some patrician music shit that I’m too plebeian to understand, like heated toilet seats or drinking for fun rather than to drown the pain. Maybe I haven’t sat down and watched enough flowery-squarespace-sponsored-lofi-hip-hop-muzak-using-pretentious video essayists to understand it, but what do I know.

part 4: the proletariat cries

To wrap on the second half of the album, this is the half that I cried in.

Communist Daughter is a good song, but with how short it is, it left me wanting more. This track is one of the few that actually features a soft-spoken Jeffen, and its open and dark but dreamy atmosphere left my jaw agape. The mountaintops weren’t the only thing stained.

Oh Comely, Oh Comely. Oh Comely is a song that deserves its own review. The lyrical chops of The Mangum Magnum are on full display as he belts somber, brutal verse after verse, with plenty of juxtaposition between sickening, sexual and vile situations alongside a description of a sweet, innocent young girl, just trying to survive with a guitar by her side. This beautiful, lovely girl gets taken advantage by someone, some people, perhaps even Yeff himself, only seen as an easy lay, a whore, like the ones her father visits often. He disgustingly describes semen in the garden, and her making miracles with her mouth, but I didn’t get a tone similar to so many songs about “sexual-empowerment.�� The song is about self-deprecating depression leading to her being used, perhaps even abused. A situation all too real, too close to many of us. As I type this, I don’t know what to think. A woman should of course have individual sexual freedom, but this song doesn’t describe that. It describes trauma, emotional, psychological trauma. Meaningless sex, a rotten smell, staining the flower of a woman, all of this language that could be simply described as gross. This isn’t a happy song about fucking bitches. This song is about how a girl wanted to play music, pluck vines and was taken advantage of, reduced to her roots, and deflowered. Fuck. I wish I could save her. In some sort of time machine.

Two-Headed Boy could refer to a number of things. I have a head canon. This girl, Comely, is being used by the Two-Headed Boy for sexual favors. The Two-Headed Boy then “repays” her in friendship and music, playing their silly little songs. On the surface, Comely assumes the Two-Headed Boy trusts her and cares for her, but really all he wants is sex. Comely, living in a broken home and without a proper male figure in their life, is conned by the Two-Headed Boy, and just wants to live a normal life. Comely is trapped. She’s living in a place that is surrounded by the texture of scum and she knows it, she just can’t call upon the strength to leave. She’s trapped in a home, a ghetto, wanting to live a normal life, but she’s been placed here by the Two-Headed Boy, who knew her mother and father were broken, and she would be too. The Two-Headed Boy broke in, claimed to be her friend, and supports her, before defiling her. Comely was pretty, bright, and intelligent. She was just in a bad situation.

Comely was Anne Frank.

Not to say that they were literally one in the same, but I mean J. Mangum (private eye) is comparing two children, ripped from their lives by this awful world, and intertwining them, blurring the lines.

Who’s the Two-Headed Boy? As I said, it could be a number of people. Nazis, Peter van Pels, hell, even Jeff Manga himself could be the Two-Headed Boy. It doesn’t matter as long as we realize the relationship between oppressed and oppressor.

There is a glimmer of hope for Comely though. Read the closing words from Two-Headed Boy Pt. 2:

Two headed boy, she is all you could need She will feed you tomatoes and radio wires And retire to sheets safe and clean But don't hate her when she gets up to leave

Comely and the Two-Headed Boy split away from each other. Comely leaves the Two-Headed Boy, and the narrator says not to hate her when she leaves. On a deeper level, this could be an introspective Jeff Mangum relating on his past. I don’t really know.

outro

Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane Over the Sea

9/10

What did you think? Was I way off the mark, or do you agree? What should I have covered? What did you like, what did you dislike, I’m all ears. Leave a follow and a like if you liked it and I’ll see you on Wednesday.

#neutral milk hotel #music #music review #james fairfax #mu #/mu/core #folk #fuzzfolk #rock #anne frank

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today-only-happens-once · 6 years

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Virgil: A Love Language Analysis

Logan’s | Roman’s |

Tags: @karalora, @astrologically-indecent, @k9cat, @shattereddreamsamongotherthings, @romanasanders

So this has been quite a long time coming. My sincere apologies for the wait. Real life and other writing caused me to postpone working on this analysis longer than I had originally wanted to. Before I begin, though, a quick shout-out to the awesome @logan-exe for his help in talking this analysis out a bit.

If you’re just now joining us, you can read more about love languages here but basically, there are five ways that people generally either express or understand love the best: words of affirmation, acts of service, gift giving, quality time, and physical touch. You can read my analysis and interpretation of Logan and Roman in the links at the top of this post. But now, we come to the third Side I’d like to talk about: Virgil.

Specifically, this analysis will be looking at why I believe Virgil’s predominant Love Language to be Quality Time. Turns out, I have quite a lot to say about it. Let us begin.

Admittedly, Virgil spending “quality time” with the other Sides is hard to differentiate between other time spent with the Sides. To explain this complication, I want to look at the first video he appears in: “Taking on ANXIETY with Lilly Singh!!”.

In the beginning of this video, Thomas explains that he’s feeling “relaxed” only for Virgil, as the embodiment of anxiety, to show up very suddenly.

V: Hey.

T: What the heck?!

V: [sarcastically] Oh, I’m sorry. Was I not wanted at this exact second?

At his very first appearance, it already becomes unclear the exact motive Virgil has for appearing. Thomas feels anxious, so Virgil shows up; reciprocally, Virgil showing up causes Thomas to feel anxious. Through the early Sides episodes, this complicated dynamic continues to appear and makes it challenging to differentiate whether Virgil has much control over whether--and when--he may appear in a video. I personally lean towards believing that, at least in the case of this first video, Virgil is more or less summoned by Thomas already feeling anxious given this brief exchange:

T: I was even saying how relaxed I was feeling!

V: Ah, but that’s when you start wondering why you do feel all relaxed. You don’t usually feel this way, so what are you doing different? What are you doing wrong? What are you forgetting to do?

Since it is implied that Thomas feeling anxious is why Virgil appeared, his appearance in this first video may not exactly count as “quality time” because it is not even “voluntary time”, so to speak. But his appearance--and the reaction to his presence--helps frame this interpretation of Virgil’s struggle with speaking his love language that eventually led to the events of Accepting Anxiety (which I will talk more about in a bit)

A couple lines in particular speak to the rejection of his presence felt strongly by Thomas (and Roman):

Thomas: But sometimes it just shows up [...] out of no where and ruins whatever peace I had! Like, I’m kinda getting fed up with it. There has got to be some way out of it!

[...]

Roman: Okay, I can’t stand that guy.

Thomas: Tell me about it.

This is important in understanding Virgil’s Love Language as quality time because it articulates how his presence around others had been seen as a negative thing. I will come back to this dynamic when I address the Accepting Anxiety arc.

The next video I want to look at in regards to Virgil and Quality Time is “The Dark Side of Disney!” video. The biggest reason why I feel this video is particularly noteworthy in this discussion is because of the following dialogue exchange:

Virgil: Did someone say ‘atrocious’?

Roman: Are you kidding me? We have expelled you from the last two videos. Do you know how rude it is to interrupt a vlog?

Thomas: Well, um, okay. Well, Anxiety, I gotta admit: I don’t know why you are here.

Virgil: Simple. I, too, am a Disney fan.

The fact that Thomas expresses that he does not know why Virgil is there indicates that his presence is not related, in this case, to a feeling Thomas is experiencing. Therefore, Virgil is there entirely of his own accord. It would only be fair to note that the reason Virgil claims to appear for this video is more in relation to subject matter than persons involved, Virgil is nevertheless choosing to spend time with Thomas and another Side out of that shared interest. For that reason, I believe that this video is indicative of Virgil’s love language being quality time even if he may not yet feel an affection for Roman. A quick note that I do believe that Virgil feels a kind of love for Thomas that is shared among the Sides, and therefore “The Dark Side of Disney!” could very well be taken as Virgil attempting to speak the quality time love language with Thomas specifically in such a way that does not diminish his “dark persona”.

The next video I want to look at in analyzing Virgil’s Love Language is, of course, “Alone on VALENTINE’S DAY!”. Specifically, Virgil’s “answer” for Thomas finding a relationship is indicative of quality time being a principle love language for Virgil:

V: Ugh, this whole thing is pointless!

Thomas: Yes, we all know your point of view.

V: All I’m saying is this is just a waste of time. Psyching yourself out over cheap tactics that have never been useful to you before. I mean seriously, Thomas. In any past relationship you’ve ever been in, haven’t they always developed when you least expected them to?

T: Huh. You actually have a point.

L: You were never actively searching for someone.

P: You met someone, got to know them casually, and the feeling started there.

R: The romance came about naturally.

V: I wasn’t trying to help.

Virgil’s distaste for the romantic gestures advocated for by the other Sides, and Patton’s acknowledgement of getting to “know them casually” indicates Virgil advocating for quality time as a love language Thomas may want to think about speaking. Spending time with a person he may care about as a means of developing the relationship further. As with Logan and Roman, I do not want this analysis to be given too much particularity to romantic love, but thought this moment was worth mentioning briefly seeing as it points, in some ways, to quality time as a love language for Virgil.

Very quickly, I want to take a look at a brief, passing moment in “My Personality Q&A” that speaks to the continuing development of Virgil coming to believe, through reactions to his presence, that his presence is not desired at all:

T: Let’s just move on to the next question.

R: I’m ready.

T: This one is for Anxiety.

R: What?

V: [appearing] What?

When asked a question by one of Thomas’s followers, Virgil seems just as surprised as Roman that his presence is being actually sought out now. Even When Thomas explains “there’s a question for you”, Virgil’s response is a confused “me?”. This brief moment helps to illustrate the continuing development of Virgil feeling limited in his ability to speak his love language and be heard because his presence has become understood by him to be an undesirable thing based on previous reaction to his presence (a reaction that is perpetuated by Roman’s impatient response of “just answer it so we can move on”).

It might also be noted that Virgil getting to answer other questions and begin to feel appreciated is why he is the last Side who wants to leave. He is feeling loved (in a way) and therefore feels he can more fully speak his own love language (until exiting a moment later to avoid answering an uncomfortable question).

The next video I want to take a look at is at the end of “My NEGATIVE Thinking”.

Virgil: Save your insults. I’m just gonna deck out.

Logan: Actually, um, I was going to tell you that was a good debate today.

V: What? Wha--what do you mean?

L: I mean you did a good job.

V: How? I was barely trying. I hissed at you.

L: Yes, I must admit that is a fairly uncommon debate tactic. But despite you clearly not enjoying taking part, you still participated, you offered your points, and you even reasoned in your own way. And all of that is commendable. [...]

V: I gotta say, I don’t really know how to react to you complimenting me. Kinda thought you didn’t like me. Especially after last time when you called me a defeatist.

L: Well, you are wrong about a lot of things. But I don’t necessarily mind your company. The other two can bring in a whole lot of sunshine, and that can be unbearable. And I can’t imagine having a debate with either one of them.

V: I-I guess I just kind of assumed that--

L: You jumped to a conclusion. [...]

V: Touche. Thanks.

Once again, Virgil expresses surprise and doubt when his presence isn’t completely rejected or detested. In fact, the moment the debate is over and Logan has helped assuage the feeling of anxiety in Thomas that is keeping Virgil there, he claims he is going to “deck out”: he is not going to spend quality time because he does not think Logan cares for him due to previous encounters. When Logan calmly explains that “I don’t necessarily mind your company” and expresses that he even prefers Virgil as a debate partner, Virgil is likely hearing a certain permission being granted to him from Logan to speak his love language of quality time with the Logical Side. This isn’t to say that his moment is a deep reconciliation of the two, but the brief moment and Virgil’s reaction to it helps illustrate Virgil’s preference for quality time as a love language and his complicated relationship in speaking it with the other Sides.

Now, I can’t talk about Virgil’s love language being quality time and not discuss the “Accepting Anxiety” arc. Accepting Anxiety Parts 1 and 2 covers the moment that Virgil is granted the freedom to more freely speak his love language without the rejection he’d been conditioned to associate with doing so.

When Virgil elects to “duck out” (quack), he is deciding to no longer express love to the other Sides because he feels that such love is not being reciprocated. This causation becomes clear when, in Accepting Anxiety Part 2, Virgil says:

V: I removed myself from the equation. I quit. Decided it wasn’t worth it anymore.

T: Why would you do that?

V: Well, it didn’t seem like I was wanted. You all made that pretty clear, anytime I showed up.

Despite the complication between Virgil’s limited ability to show up or not show up given how Thomas is feeling (a trait that seems relatively unique to Virgil given his function), there were clear moments in which Virgil appeared because he desired to be a part of the group in some way--to spend quality time with them. The fact that Virgil was often (not exclusively, but often) met with rejection or disdain made it increasingly harder for Virgil to speak his love language and feel it spoken in return.

So Virgil gave up trying, and even began to believe that such rejection of his love language was reasonable given his function:

V: Look, I can’t say it isn’t nice to hear you all groveling. But... I actually think you were right to not want me around. I’ve always aimed to protect you, but lately... it feels like I’ve been keeping you from doing anything. [...] Putting on a dark persona is the best way to get anyone’s guard up. But all this reflecting and working on your issues with us has gotten me to think that... I overdo it.

The Sides intervene shortly thereafter (starting with Logan) in expressing and explaining the ways that Virgil’s presence contributes to Thomas, each Side’s contribution focusing on the ways Virgil’s presence and interaction assists with their own function.

L: You’re what made Thomas double and triple check things he needed to study before taking tests and--

P: Also you’re that feeling of tingling-ness after achieving something he didn’t think was possible [...]

T: Anxiety, in small doses, you’re what pressures me to get out of bed. To get moving, and doing stuff. I’m lucky to have you the way that I do [...]

R: Anxiety, you’re... what pushes Thomas to rehearse and rehearse before performances. You are that nervousness he feels right before going on stage, but just as he does so... you ease up. And you let his excitement and passion for performance take over. I think that’s as good a sign as any that you’re willing to work as a team. And that you make us better.

With Virgil’s presence and interaction with the other Sides and Thomas being given so much affirmation, Virgil feels an acceptance and freedom to speak his love language by the end of Accepting Anxiety Part 2. As a result, subsequent videos show Virgil spending quality time with the Sides and Thomas more freely and openly.

We see evidence of this the very next video, even. “Fitting In (Hogwarts Houses!” demonstrates in some ways how Virgil feels more at ease in showing his love for the Sides and Thomas by spending quality time with them. Though Virgil is summoned by Thomas (or at least has his presence requested) to offer his opinion of the purple hair, Virgil remains for the subsequent and unrelated debate on who ought to be in which Hogwarts House.

Even though the focus of the video is about sorting Virgil, his reaction to being the center of attention is largely one of disdain:

V: So what’s the plan here?

T: We’re gonna sort you!

V: Sort me?

However, despite expressing distaste about the premise of the exercise, Virgil remains for the video--presumably because he wishes to spend quality time with the other four now that his presence is no longer being rejected or seen as undesirable. In fact, Virgil demonstrates an ease with that particular understanding at the end of the video when he elects to not choose a Hogwarts House:

V: I don’t need to belong to a particular Hogwarts House to know I belong with you guys.

In “The Sanders Sides 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS!” video--the next one I’d like to look at with regards to the concept of Virgil and quality time--we see Virgil even going outside his comfort zone to spend quality time with the Sides.

If you’ll recall, back in the Sanders Sides Q&A video, when asked to choose a favorite Disney movie and sing something from it, Virgil chose Black Cauldron with the implied reason that he chose it to avoid having to sing. Much like Logan, Virgil generally elects not to sing of his own accord. (I recognize that he sings in “A New Year of Lying to Myself”, but so does Logan. I digress on that video.)

However, in the Christmas video, Virgil agrees to go sing with the Sides. Although Virgil is reluctant to sing the random line about shrimp because he “[doesn’t] really get it”, he is still present in the moment and does not leave when he otherwise could. Virgil wants to spend quality time with the Sides. Even when he asks at the beginning of the video if he can “go back to [his] room now”, there doesn’t appear to be any reason why Virgil wouldn’t be able to leave of his own accord. Instead, Virgil elects to stay and spend quality time with the Sides.

Finally, I’d like to talk about “Why Do We Get Out of Bed in the Morning?”. Specifically, the end-card.

V: Whatcha up to over there, Patton?

Virgil has no reason other than personal investment to be spending time with Patton seemingly “outside of a video” so to speak. Virgil is acting independently in this moment, could be in any number of places, and has specifically chosen to spend this time with Patton. Virgil is calm, perhaps even peaceful, in this end-card moment. Perhaps this is because he is finally able to feel completely at ease in speaking and feeling heard in his love language of quality time.

#sanders sides #analysis #love languages #sanders sides love languages #virgil sanders #quality time #long meta post is long #sorry if this spams any mobile users #i did use a read more link so hopefully that works #i dont know that i'll do patton...#sanders sides meta

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itsleay · 6 years

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Dear Diary: About Jimin’s disappearance from Twitter and more...

So many things have been happening around Jimin lately. Thought i write a little diary to keep tabs on things, and to help future and current fans to learn about what is happening during certain time period. I’ll touch on his change in twitter posts / social media behaviour, death threats, and Fan Cam being reported and views disappearing from MNet’s official fan cam video.

Where to begin... let’s start from Fake Love promo period and Jimin’s twts I guess, since this is the first time I witnessed the hate towards Jimin directly in front of my eyes (that and i’m a new fan only started watching their stuff around October 2017?)

So on Jun 7, 2018 Jimin posted a twt from MNet’s backstage with a picture of the boys name on the wall. However, he forgot to put down V’s name, right after he discovered his mistake he quickly apologized and twt’ed two or three more tweets saying that he made a mistake and he loves V and next time he’ll make up for his mistake, something along those lines (dear readers you can go check those twts for yourself). However, when you look down on the comments it was filled with mostly “certain types of solo stans” (and yes I did go into those account to see what type of people is saying these mean things and going through their past twts) saying that Jimin is fake, and that he did it on purpose and other accusations towards Jimin. BTW a lot of those hateful comments were also the most popular ones so you can see them right away underneath his twt i think one or two of them even have 1k likes and couple hundred retweets. The hashtag JiminYouFakerKeepGoing was also showing up under Jimin’s name as the top searches associated to him in twitter. If you search for that hashtag now you can still see traces of it and people taking screenshots of those comments. Fans quickly responded by reporting these hateful comments towards Jimin to cleanse the comment section and also trended JiminYouNiceKeepGoing hashtag.

Now on Jun 10, 2018 after the mess on twitter, JM posted pictures featuring himself, JK and V with a hashtag that read something along the lines of IToldThemI’mGoingToPostThis in Korean. Now you can interpret it in different ways but if you’re a into Jikook or into shipping then I think you’ll read it like how I’ve read it, if you don’t know what shipping is my advice for you is stay away cause it’ll cause you so much grief, but all the situation will make so much more sense in terms of the events that are happening around Jimin.

Moving onto Jun 21, 2018 ... the last twt from Jimin on Twitter that felt more personal and not because he did it because he had to. The reason i’m saying this is, BTS tends to twt before they fly and before or after they go on stage or do some sort of performance. You’ll see alot of the members will post something. Now Jimin here though he’s the type to post random things other than the formal etiquette posts that everyone does. So he’ll shower us with videos of himself, selcas, picture with members, just really random little things to let the fans see him. But since Jun 21.. we got a twt for cosmetic product (according to older fans he’s never advertise in any of his twts before not to mention whoever posted didn’t know how to tag in twitter), and then we got a flying to Taipei twt and a thank you for attending the concert backstage twt. Etiquette posts... Now this boy ... usually twts every 3 or 4 days sometimes you’ll get multiple twts within a day, and even when they’re super busy he’ll still post something maybe within a two week period. you can go through their twitter by using #Jimin to see the pattern yourself. I remember when i first followed BTS on their twitter, i was like... wow Jimin likes to post so much he should stop posting and lay off on social media a little bit (this was back in December 2017), but now i miss him so much T_______T Please feed us Jimin!!!!!!!

Now, I know that from Jun 21, 2018- to Mid July he has posted on Fan Cafe, so he didn’t really entirely disappear from the fans’ sight. He answered fans’ question one of them was what’s the best BTS song, which Jimin replied Serendipity and another question was which song do you want to sing now the most, Jimin replied House of Cards. He also posted message for the 5th year anniversary for Army but so did everyone else, another etiquette post, I think he also posted something a day after the 5th year anniversary something on the lines of I was too tired and fell asleep and missed the day but happy Army Day. All of these posts can be found on BTS Fancafe translation twitter account. Back onto topic, to see posts from BTS on Fan Cafe you need to create an account, they’re not public like twitter where u can have hassle free access to feel connected to BTS. Also the Fan Cafe is regulated by moderators so any form of harassment posts are banned violation of cafe rules will also result in permanent ban too. Also, this is speculation here, I think the Fan Cafe has lesser I-army presence since to create an account everything appears in Korean, so it’s a lot more work to try to sign up for something, and people will have to go out of their way to make accounts to have access into website. I for one gave up on it, for now, but maybe in the future I’ll try to make an account there if Jimin decides to never return to Twitter and decided to post a lot on Fan Cafe. Ah and we also have to mention how they have different membership level so depending on what level you’re at you have restricted access to contents.. yeah that’s a lot of work for someone who can’t read any Korean at all Q.Q (life long goal: learn Korean so you can have full access to BTS contents)

I mentioned I-army specifically because.. all three death threats aimed at Jimin has been coming from the international side. First death threat was around WINGS Tour, the other two were during LY: Tour announcement. Can’t remember which concert they targeted but all three were planned for concerts in USA. Now you might think why international fans it could be fans from Korea too? Aren’t you being a bit extreme in your assumptions? But here’s my reasoning I could be wrong cause no one ever announced who gave out the threats. But let’s say for WINGS Tour. They went to several countries South America, Japan, USA but only the threat was given out for their location in the states. Same thing for the LY: Tour both death threats were targeted for the states once again. Combined with all the mass shooting news we hear, it doesn’t seem hard reason that it is relatively easier to obtain weaponaries in the US. Since you can have access to it if one of your family member possesses them, also the fact that firearms are legally sold. Maybe they targeted the US Tour due to ease of access to firearms? Also all the hate comment directed at JM on twitter. Most of them speak coherent English and also twt in English. I’ve also looked around at some K-army blog who can speak and post in English it seems to me that Jimin in S.Korea is well received by the public and by the fandom, and fans in general aren’t that toxic towards each other as well, minus those antis. That’s why I think most of the hate and death threats for Jimin actually comes from the International side. If someone has evidence or information that says otherwise please let me know, because I don’t want to misrepresent.

Ah yes, JHope also got a death threat. Someone target him in the Seoul Concert for their LY:Tour. That twt was in English though and later on the person said it was all in jest and prank after they got reported. Honestly what is going through people’s mind these days? Death threat as pranks and jokes?

Now what’s really interesting is his 2nd death threat. I remember the post specifically stated that Jimin is “always in the way and that he’s been around for too long”. Now always in the way of what? In the way of your favorite K-pop group? The western artists? in the way of your life? or the way of your ship? I don’t know if Jimin alone is powerful enough to take down an entire K-Pop idol group on his own, or take over the western music theme, or get into your life if you’ve never come across K-pop in your life. As much as i like Jimin, even I have to admit I don’t think he can be in the way that much. I’ll leave the shipping part to people who knows what’s going on...

Now let’s talk about the Fan cam. I think as a fandom we all know that Jimin, V and Jungkook usually gets a lot of views on their fan cam. Who can you blame they look good and they have a lot of fans who likes them a bit more than the rest of the other members. But here’s the problem. Why are the fan cams for Jimin which has millions of views started to get reported and taken down?

Peach Jelly’s Pied Piper for 4th muster with 40mil views

https://twitter.com/peach_jelly1013/status/1014808921783980032

JamJam Park’s Mic Drop MAMA 2017 Jimin focus

https://twitter.com/parkjamjam_kr/status/1016606951956856843

Pieces of Mind’s Fake Love BBMA Jimin focus

https://twitter.com/stussyjimin/status/999566044678123522

and M2′s Mpd Fake Love 4k Jimin Focus Cam with 29mil views reported to be the highest solo idol fan cam view got views decreased to 24mil on July 13th, 2018. Honorable mention in the same performance, Jungkook got 21mil views which also had some of his views taken away too.

Editted/Update July14, 2018 (PST):

So I checked on the Fake Love fan cam posted by M2, MNet’s official fancam... Jimin’s view dropped down to 22 mil now and JK’s view dropped down to 18 mil. Seriously what is going on? Is this from Youtube’s bot checking alogrithm? or is it purposefully being done by malicioius people?

Now if every other member’s fan cam are met with the same fate, I got nothing to say, but that’s not the story only Jimin’s fan cam are coming across with problem. Why is he getting so much hate? BTW those are big fan cam accounts too. You’re now not only targeting the idol himself but his fan site as well? like wth? Could these be the works from other fandoms? or is it the work from antis within our own fandom? or just antis of Jimin?

Could these be the works of BTS- anti or Jimin only-anti? If it’s BTS anti shouldn’t they focus on the whole group? how come it’s only Jimin who got affected? the M2′s Fake Love view decrease, I can see that could be a mix of various Jimin-hater because it’s uploaded on official broadcast network’s Youtube channel and he overtook another idol’s top spot, but really who would go search for Pied Piper fan cam or other specific performances. Anyway it just baffles me, and honestly if you read all the way til here I think you know what i wanted to say.

Could the fans themselves stop hating on other members just because you like another member more? Idols are humans too and they don’t deserve these hates nor do the fan site masters sharing footage for the rest of the fandom who did not have a chance to see them perform deserve their dedication and hard work to be taken away.

Sometimes I’m happy that people have complained about BH is not trying to push BTS as hard in terms of promo into the West. Because if what i speculate is true and that all of this hate is coming from the International side and all these sabotaging is from the fans themselves. I rather BTS and BH just stay in Korea where they have better protection and control because people don’t deserve them.

That being said I do wish they can become international legends for years to come.. o the dilemma.

And thank you for reading this long post :x I welcome to all exchange of information and opinions btw, since I probably overlooked some things or have missing information.

O I’ll add a keep reading button once Tumblr App is no longer buggy!

#Keeping Tabs #jimin focused #becaues i'm a jimin stan so sue me

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my-mystic-messenger · 7 years

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My thoughts on and analysis of the V route

I did play the V route and so far I got the Good End, Normal End, Bad End on day 9 and today and the Bad End on day 7, therefor effectively filling all my albums. As for analysis, there is sadly very little too analyse plot wise, in all honesty. Despite it’s overdramatic and pseudo-philosophical nature there wasn’t really a lot to pick apart and find the hidden meaning behind. As for my thoughts, if anyone really cares to read this, I was quite frankly a little disappointed with the route and especially the eventual conclusions in form of the Normal and Good End. @promiscuous-jalapeno wrote a very good piece on the V route - which you can read here - where she mentioned a lot of the things that bugged me about the route and some points I disagree on so here it comes:

In short, I can only say that while I found it quite interesting to play, I have to admit that I found the route highly underwhelming altogether, although I will wait with my final judgement until the After Story is out. But if you know me, you know I like into detail so let me tell you what I thought about specific aspects of the game:

Honestly, I was never the biggest fan of V. People who know me know that. I blame him for Mint Eye almost as much as I blame Rika for it and in my opinion Saeran was much more deserving of a route and redemption than him.

So, when the route was announced, I was already a little bit salty but figured I give him a change to prove himself. He is pretty and I did like the idea of romancing him, since I saw potential for his character.

As a writer myself, I was majorly disappointed. V was a bland character at the beginning and the story ended with him remaining a bland character. Other than his self-sacrificing he really doesn’t seem to have a personality.

Despite the fact that I’m no big fan of Saeyoung, Yoosung or Jaehee those are distinguished characters with likes, dislikes, problems, talents, flaws and many things that make them human. V has nothing going for him.

There were certain parts of the route where I actually went aww and came close to liking him as a character, but then he started with his peaceful solutions to problems he shouldn’t even try solving himself and I was done.

All in all, as someone who writes headcanons, fics and more and therefor invests a lot of time into these characters this route was in no way helpful in actually getting to know V and that’s just sad.

His Mother:

That whole thing bothered me immensely. I’ve seen people enjoy it, liking that whole backstory part but I couldn’t have cared less for a single one of those diary entry VN even if I tried.

This was V’s route and yet I learned more about his mother than I did about him. I think if I count, more VN were dedicated to her than to the actual protagonist of the story.

What kind of thinking is that? I could have gone well without all those extra VN if those we had ended up actually focusing on V or even adding to the progress of the story, but they absolutely didn’t.

Please, explain to me how his mothers very detailed past is in any way relevant to the events that transpire during the route? They don’t even explain why V is the man he is, not really.

The Plot:

While we’re already at it, let’s talk about the plot, because frankly I think they made a mistake choosing this setting and it’s obvious that they didn’t really think the whole two years in the past thing through.

There were a couple of continuity issues with the entire thing, but that can happen so I don’t really want to focus on that. I’d much rather talk about the setting and why I think it would have been better as a Saeran route.

Despite this being V’s route, you not only barely get to romance V - but we’ll get to that later - but you actually barely get to interact with him at all. And due to setting the interactions like the car phone calls are extremely cringeworthy.

Personally I would have preferred the entire thing having been set in the same time line as the original routes just a little later with Rika gone and V having to deal with what he’s caused and how to move on.

That way interactions would not only have been more natural, they also would have made more sense as well as actually giving you the opportunity to romance and help V properly.

In this route, you really don’t help him like you do in the others. It’s more about saving yourself than V and the change in his heart that does happen doesn’t seem natural at all.

One moment he is telling you how he loves and adores Rika and how he needs to sacrifice himself and the next moment he realizes it’s obsession and not love and let’s everyone else take the reigns.

That change came way too fast and therefor seemed rushed and rather unnatural to me. The general flow of the entire story did. At first is was far too slow and then it turned into a rushed clusterfuck towards the end.

The Romance:

This is honestly one of the parts I am the saltiest about and I don’t even know where to begin with this honestly. Cheritz is aware that MM is an otome game, right? Why can’t I romance the main character?!

Like I’m not even a V fan, but even I felt let down but the romance aspect of this route because there was literal none. The entire routes it’s Rika, Rika, Rika and ‘I don’t know how to love, keep away from me’

To me it felt like someone had taken the worst parts of Yoosung’s and Saeyoung’s route and smashed them together to create this. It was honestly so frustrating and the suddenly ‘romantic endings’ were unsatisfying.

Worst of all, the romance we did get wasn’t really all too nice either. It was a constant cycle of MC trying to save V and V trying to sacrifice himself for MC. They don’t even get to know one another?! How is that even love?

The RFA:

Where were they? I’m seriously confused. Zen disappeared for an entire day and it literally changed nothing. You barely get to talk to any of the RFA, actually, despite them being kind of the focus of this game.

I learned nothing new about them, I didn’t get to build any friendship with them which made them suddenly trusting me and caring so much for me really awkward and from a writing point illogical.

I mean technically as a player you get to know Jumin through the backstory VN but he doesn’t know that and neither does MC so why do they talk about her like she is some saint and she cares so much.

Also, and I want to mention this specifically because it bugged the hell out of me: I literally lost all respect or faith I had in Yoosung. He was a huge disappointment and I’ll never see his character the same way.

I really enjoyed how unapologetic everyone else in the RFA was of Rika, as they should be after everything she’s done , but Yoosung even attempting to excuse it despite not knowing of her past made me rage

Rika:

Ah yes, the grand bitch herself. Honestly, I really hope that anyone who ever posted positivity for her feels really, really bad after playing this route because there is literally nothing that could excuse her choices.

She is a horrible person and on top of that they really added a notch of completely mental in this route, making all conversations with her hard to follow and boring as hell.

In fact both V and Rika have this tendency to talk in code and comparison and I cannot hear the word sun anymore. Everything seemed so pretentious after some time, like two hipsters discussing Nietzsche at Starbucks.

Her backstory didn’t really surprise nor touch me, mainly because I too suffered bullying and abuse by my parents probably even more severe than hers and I do not go around torturing and drugging people. Not impressed.

The whole look into V’s and Rika’s past made me extremely uncomfortable as well. Their ‘love’ was really sick and unhealthy and what weirded me out was how strangely sexual everything seemed.

I mean don’t get me wrong, I love me some Wolf!Zen and Bad End Jumin, but with V and Rika it seemed so out of place and plain uncomfortable, especially the whole photo thing…

But above all, and I cannot stretch this enough, I find it utterly disgusting that you basically have the option to romance Rika. To even think that was okay to put into the route is beyond me.

That worn out idea that every villanious woman has to be over sexualized and in this case even homoerotically is a cheap writing point to begin with, but executed the way it is, it’s like a slap to the face.

How come Rika gets to cuddle it up with MC in multiple CG’s and flirt the entire time but Jaehee’s entire goddamn route has none of that? That is seriously just insulting to the players in my opinion. Moving on before I have an aneurysm.

Saeran:

Loved him! Hands down the highlight of the entire route. I’d always dreamed about his route being similar to this route, with you working with Mint Eye to take down the RFA instead of the other way around.

This was like a taste of a dream, really. He was what I’d hoped V to be; romantic, devoted, actually pursuable to some extend and beyond everything you actually get to know more about him.

His character is really well expanded in this route and for a writing who always wants to get to know the character better, this addition to the game was like a dream come true.

Beyond just getting to know more about him, however, he actually gave some room for interpretations, analysis and discussion. Is he really dead? Is Ray the real personality or Saeran?

He made me laugh. He made me cry. He actually made me go through the emotional rollercoaster the route should have been but only was due to him. He saved the whole thing for me, because he was actually human.

The Art:

I was a little disappointed by the art as well, if I’m honest. It’s not as bad and rushed as the DLC art was, but also not entirely the same style as the original. The fact that they can’t stay consistent within the same game is sad.

The colour palette was constantly changing between the CG’s as well as the CG’s in comparison to the in game play. Just look at Jumin in the picture with V’s father and the one with his own. The skin doesn’t even add up.

On top of that some of the colours were way too vivid and made some of the art seem flat for lack of shading. And don’t let me get started on those pathetic chibi pictures of Jumin and V.

I was actually looking forward to the backstory parts of those two, I even wrote a fic about that, but with the art looking like super poor chibi’s like not even the cute kind, I was extremely let down.

As for the CG’s themselves, they weren’t all too overwhelming either. A lunch box, a salad and an old ass book? Thanks for the amazing additions to my character albums.

Not to mention the amazing V album that while it actually expanded quite a lot, most of it was useless since it involved Rika or his mother. 3 CG’s. We get 3 MC x V CG’s and two of those look like MC is forcing herself on V. Great!

Also was it just me or did V look kind of blurry the entire time? Not in the CG’s but in the game he looked kind of fuzzy compared to the old design. I mean not that there is much of a difference with anyone, despite 2 years…

The Voice Acting:

Some were amazing, some were mediocre and of some I was really disappointed, namely Rika. Since we non-Korean’s rely heavily on the text below we obviously pay a bigger focus on that.

Now reading the subtitles Rika’s VA really underperformed on this one. Rika had some very dramatic scenes and a lot of anger and pain that were conveyed beautifully while written but fell flat while spoken.

I honestly expected more vigor with this one, because as an actor myself I know how much fun it can be to get those really dramatic slightly over the top roles. It didn’t look like the VA was enjoying it at all.

She could have screamed so much more, could have actually sounded angrier and match the facial expressions Rika was making while talking, but never did. A grave opportunity missed.

Ray on the other hand. I wasn’t really a fan of the VA in the normal route but he really stepped up his game with this one and I loved it. Emotions to rip your heart out. Once again, saving the route.

Conclusion:

While I enjoyed the route with the new content and general excitement it provided, I was overall disappointed with what seemed to be a lack of thought and care put into creating the route.Of course I am still thankful to Cheritz for creating at all, but as a content creator myself who gets literally nothing out of it, I still make sure to keep certain standards. Let’s hope for a better Saeran route…

#mystic messenger #mysme #v #jihyun kim #v route #answered #analysis #my thoughts #take it with a grain of salt

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artjim · 7 years

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Wasting My Life - A Darkiplier Essay

Hello everybody, my name is ArtJim, and I'm an elitist piece of trash when it comes to Role Play and Fan Fiction! I've seen some RP and some stories that feel out of character for my favorite villain, Darkiplier, and while I don't directly stop anyone from doing what they want, I decided to waste my Thanksgiving doing research to figure out what the Darkiplier Canon is!

To begin, what is “Darkiplier Canon”? This is defined, by me, as information we know about Darkiplier as provided by Mark whether in videos, such as A Date With Markiplier and Markiplier TV, or through his own commentary in livestreams and the recordings there of. As pure the appropriate way to be an utter nerd about this, I will be sourcing and linking the videos I used in the end of this long winded awful thing.

Our first topic of discussion is Darkiplier's Canon Powers. We are aware that Darkiplier does not obey the laws of physics, much like his counterpart, Wilford Warfstache (Mark on Darkiplier, 7:16). However this is not open to just any random power like shifting gravity or what have you. He does, however, distort reality (HORROR, 0:42). This distortion is both audible and visual in nature, creating an echoing sort of sound. His voice is distorted, and he enters the viewer's world via creaking and cracking of wood (HORROR, 0:50). This pairs with another common power of his of teleportation. Seen throughout A Date With Markiplier: FREEDOM!, Dark transports himself and the view from their starting area, to sitting at a table, to the street outside. While Mark admitted this move to the street was a “bullshit transition” (Mark on Darkiplier, 10:52), it's one of two in that video. We also are aware that Dark has the ability to sort of 'push' people's … spirits? I guess? Out of the body he is controlling. This was confirmed by Mark in his October charity livestream (I EXPLAIN EVERYTHING, 6:23:25). It is our body, Damien and Celine made sure we were aware of that when we were in the other world (Who Killed Markiplier – The Final Chapter, 5:43). This states simply that Darkiplier is not using his own body, and that the entity he is – whether an amalgamation of Celine and Damien or some dark force from the house – can inhabit any body at this point. This may be why his tag line has become 'You just need to let me in.' In a more meta sense, Darkiplier can also bleed into Mark's own gaming videos, which have nothing to do with the Egos in the first place (Don't Play This Game, 4:48). It could be implied that from his entrance in Don't Play This Game to the ending were all him, as he has also shown the ability to pose as Mark without his signature Red and Blue Aura (FREEDOM!, 1:16 to LEFT, 0:36). Instead he hides it until he deems appropriate.

Tied in with all of that, is our canon knowledge of Darkiplier's personality and drive. We are aware that he is a completely separate person from Mark himself (Mark on Darkiplier, 7:06), but admires what Mark has done and accomplished with his life (Mark on Darkiplier, 7:39). Minor note of interest, this implies that all versions of “Markiplier” have achieved, in some regard, the same success as our own Mark Fischbach, just taking it in different strides. Markiplier from Who Killed Markiplier became a stuck up ass, Markipler from A Date With Markiplier was mostly fake it 'til you make it. Darkiplier does still pretend to be Markiplier, as seen in LEFT (0:00-0:36), but his facade is more in tune with what one might consider Markiplier from Who Killed Markiplier would be, rather then the Markiplier from A Date With Markiplier. This is important as WKM!Markiplier has been more or less confirmed to be an asshole (kellyplier) while ADWM!Markiplier is an idiot (Mark on Darkiplier, 6:03). We also know that Darkiplier is not of our own reality, he bleeds in from another one (Mark on Darkiplier, 7:19). Whether we ever see him in his home reality or not is open to interpretation, thought we know at least one version of Darkiplier was created in the Who Kill Markiplier universe. He also considers that our version of Mark has 'mocked' him in “relax” (HORROR, 1:19 and Mark on Darkiplier, 4:12). What's interesting is the fact that Mark joked that “relax” was 'canon Darkiplier' and also picked and chose his dialogue for Darkiplier very carefully (Mark on Darkiplier, 3:40). This means his dialogue in A Date With Markiplier was chosen for a reason. This includes a line that always stuck out to me. “I've been waiting a long time to see you again.” (HORROR, 1:09). The implications are that Darkiplier has known and has been introduced to us before, even though A Date With Markiplier was the first official view of Darkiplier as we know him today (Mark on Darkiplier, 1:45). One might assume that this is just The Viewer, same who he took over in Who Killed Markiplier, but there has not been a confirmed answer on this, unless you go with A Date With Markiplier's 'True Ending' in MORE?, where we are revealed to be Chica (1:20). Given this was a silly end to a mostly silly choose your own adventure EXCEPT FOR the Darkiplier route, which is the only non-goofy ending of the serious, my personal opinion is that this is NOT canon in terms of Darkiplier. However, we are not the only person Darkiplier has had previous interactions with. As seen in Markiplier TV, Darkiplier is friends with and respects Warfstache (9:48). He has also been stated by Mark to be a social manipulator, getting you to trust him so he can use you however he needs (Mark on Darkiplier, 7:51). He also is well aware of his own, more or less, evil nature and how we, the viewers, would prefer Mark over him. When you end up saving Dark instead of Mark during A Date With Markiplier, when he finally reveals himself, he informs you “Oops. Wrong choice.” (LEFT, 0:42). An interesting twist where the villain is well aware that they are the villain, at least to our perspective.

As far as things that were never confirmed by Mark but were seen/observable in his videos (Which Mark stated is what he considers 'canon' (I EXPLAIN EVERYTHING, 6:21:30)), I have my own list of things that you, as a fanbase, may take if you wish. We are aware that there's a shell to Darkiplier, that will crack sometimes (Mark on Darkiplier, 9:10), but I've noticed that his aura and shell become more distorted the longer he tries to keep his composure (Seen in HORROR, from 1:32-1:39, and FREEDOM!, from 0:17 to 0:38). The effects sort of 'reset' after every burst of rage. He also is all about illusions, and while the illusion of choice has been stated to be canon (Mark on Darkiplier, 3:50), he also gives this illusion of power to the viewer, saying “Show me what you've got!” (HORROR, 2:05) when offering us our choices, as though implying we will have a chance to do... well, anything against him. He also tends to bare his teeth a lot, making a show much like a predator might (A Date With Markiplier, yes, and Markiplier TV, 9:56). While he manages to keep his shell on, which tends to be calm and sauve in nature, his base nature seems to be anger (Who Killed Markiplier – The Final Chapter, 7:59). Without anyone to fool, he already looks angry when he picks up the cane, and it only gets worse as he kicks us out of the body. An interesting tie in would be the idea that he identifies with the line 'Do you understand me? Nobody does' from Don't Play This Game. While Mark was visible for the repeated lines before that, we specifically heard the distorted dialogue and saw no Mark for these two lines. Again, however, these are all observations with no real attachment to anything Mark confirmed.

One last note, which is a possible canon but also was a joke when Mark mentioned it, is that Dark has no shadow (Mark on Darkiplier, 12:02). It was intended to explain away his editing where the shadow on one side of the screen got cut off, but he also could have linked saving Markiplier to this side. Which he didn't.

Thank you for joining me on this crazy rant. I wanted to pick apart some of the things that have been rattling around in my head. I have used this research for my own fan fiction, and I figured if anyone out there was curious, they could have their own breakdown of what Mark has given us for information. Remember, they do appreciate fanon, and this is meant to be built off of, but I really wanted to set a firm basis of what people would consider canon, so that there isn't any gray area when we see RBG Edgelord again.

Sources Used

A Date With Markiplier: HORROR - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8eg2DypRC8

A Date With Markiplier: FREEDOM! - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5L40rXqHsSk

A Date With Markiplier: LEFT - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veNHrGg4Gks

A Date With Markiplier: MORE? - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2URDTFdgEO8

I EXPLAIN EVERYTHING Livestream - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_760Ruvx_2s

Who Killed Markiplier? - The Final Chapter - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDRW-lY6sQA

Don't Play This Game - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fw-Wxd_IW0

Markiplier TV - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vq9cv3WRqbA

Mark on Darkiplier - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMM5-HlmXt8

CANON ANSWERS ABOUT WKM - https://artjim.tumblr.com/post/166904105937/markiplier-kellyplier-canon-answers-about-wkm

#markiplier #markiplier canon #darkiplier #darkiplier canon #long post

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btsxlami · 7 years

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How Kim Namjoon ISNT as problematic as he was before and how he is growing/owning up to his past actions

(dick sclaimer, I am not and NEVER defending his actions in the past, they are not excusable and I am very sorry if I am offending you)

*at the end of the day I’m not forcing you to accept or support Namjoon, if you don’t want to.... I guess “fuck” with him because of his actions in the past thats totally okay

*also dont feel as if I am biased towards him I’m trying to write this with a open mind, I won’t baby him and be like My POOR BABY AND WENT THRU SO MUCH BLAHDUFU

So lets start off with what Namjoon did for him to be called problematic:

“Talking black as a talent”

Saying the n-word during Shinhwa’s cover (k but why did no one beef shinhwa tho?)

RM said: “When I first saw V and J-Hope, I couldn’t see them because they were too black.. Yeah when the nights get too dark I couldn’t find them.” (this was in English

Just cultural appropriation of black culture, like having dreads (many of my black friends referred to him as a blackboo

Also I don’t personally like the term “trying to act black” but my black friends said he was basically “a wannabe hoodman”.

His background

Overall I feel as if Namjoon had a little phase where he really was lost in identity (i talk about this more don’t attack me). Like I’m not saying LOL HE WAS HAVING A KPOP PHASE, but as he mentions further on in post he had a really closed minded view on hip hop.That rapping only had one style, one culture, one way to act and speak. When Namjoon first started rapping he had the whole dreadlocks thing going on, kind of showing that he believed you had to black in order to rap, overall he was receiving and interpretating a close minded view on hip hop. I definitely don’t think Namjoon has hateful thoughts against black people. But you can still NOT be racist and culturally appropriate. He was just being oblivious and ignorant that his actions are offensive (I explain this more).

How he learned from his mistakes (so basically the proof section of my rant)

*Acknowledging he had a close minded view on hip hop

Namjoon admits his mistakes, in his mixtape interview: in 2015

Q: You shouted, “Westside Till I Die” during ‘If I Ruled The World’.

RM: That’s well… I was really wrong then (laughter). After the album came out and I listened to it, I thought “Ah”. I think I was immersed in the emotions while recording and ended up shouting like that.

Q: What’s the specific reason why you feel you were wrong?

RM: First off, I didn’t even live in the 'west side’… And even if that song had a G-Funk sound, what I shouted wasn’t the way to respect the west coast hip-hop musicians. I believe there are many meanings inside the words “Westside Till I Die”. Sweat, struggles, pride, etc. Isn’t it a phrase that compressed all these factors of life.

Q: Are you saying that you overlooked the weight and complex undertones that the phrase has within hip-hop?

RM: That’s right. I believe it’s different from words like “Yo!” or “Check It!”. As a result, I was thoughtless.

Q: Are you admitting it to be a mistake?

RM: Further than a mistake, it was a wrong. I have nothing to say.

*honestly this part is really self explanatory. This interview was in 2015 while the song was in 2013. So he was basically justified how in the beginning of his career he was ignorant and oblivious to the real meaning of hip hop. You can definitely see his music grow for the better after this.

*Why I M Y S E L F personally forgave him for this action.

I feel as if this quote doesn't only signify him saying “west side” when he’s not from the west side, but him acknowledging his mistakes of having a close minded view hip hop IN G E N E R AL and being ignorant of “what hip hop is”. He definitely owned up to his actions “ Further than a mistake, it was a wrong.”

He acknowledges them and admitted to them “ First off, I didn’t even live in the 'west side “

and never repeated them ever since. His music now definitely doesn't fit the stereotype of rapping nowadays. Might I suggest watching politically woke MV “CHANGE” he did with black rapper WALE.

Respecting black culture or hip hop’s origins (THIS IS PROBABLY ONE OF HIS MOST OPEN MINDED MOMENTS THIS IS ONE OF THE BIGGEST REASONS I FORGAVE HIM)

I’ve seen many people think Namjoon mocks black culture but this interview really opened up my eyes to many things and how we can learn from our mistakes

In this interview he did in 2015 >> you can really see how compared to the last interview, he seems more confident with what he is saying, he has no hesitation, and CLEARLY states what he feels about hip hop and black culture.

“There are two things that Warren G told me that I will never be able to forget. The first is, hip-hop is open to any one. Despite what your race is or where you’re from, hip-hop is a type of music that is always ready to give you space for anyone who enjoys hip-hop. So, don’t restrain yourself behind any type of prejudiced thought, and the other one was you’re doing well, so no matter what others say, believe in yourself and do what you want.”

This connects to what I mentioned before of Namjoon having a close minded view on hip hop before and thinking hip hop was associated to one certain race. Now he fully understands that hip hop is for everyone.

“Defining hip-hop is the same as trying to define love. If there are 6 billion people in the world, then there are 6 billion definitions of love, and like that, each definition of hip-hop is different for each person. Of course, it’s possible to give a dictionary definition. In 1970, there was a person called DJ Herc in South Bronx. At a party that he was hosting, he set breaks on a beat and during that break, someone would be rapping, someone would be dancing, and someone else would be doing graffiti… That’s how hip-hop was born, and they call that the 4 elements of hip-hop, but dictionary definitions like these is something anyone knows, but to explain that spirit… In one word, it’s something that can’t be explained. It’s a way that expresses me as well as being a meaning for freedom and rebelling. Because it’s something where people play and have fun with, it can have messages of peace and love placed in it. If you compare it to a Pokemon, it’s like a Ditto. Personally, hip-hop to me is the world. The world that I’m living in… It’s difficult, right? To be honest, it’s still hard for me too.”

He is now owning up to his actions by making his own music about his own life. His own hip hop.

“The culture of shooting guns and doing drugs is not the actual self of hip-hop. It’s just become a by-product that appeared around hip-hop music, it’s not the actual self of hip-hop. Although there’s a certain image that pops up clearly when you think of hip-hop fashion, that’s also becoming something that’s more broad. Look at A$AP Rocky or Kanye West. They don’t wear pants that drag around any more. To understand ‘swag’, you need to understand what kind of meaning ‘making it on your own’ has in hip-hop. Making it on your own is a very cool and important concept in hip-hop. I’ll use Jay-Z as an example. Jay-Z was a drug dealer. He’s someone that sold drugs on the rooftop of a very large stadium called Barclays Center, but he succeeded and bought that building. After buying that building, he dressed up in hip-hop and then went up to the rooftop and looked down at that building. Then they took a picture of that and posted it. After seeing that, everyone died. Kya… Just how cool is that?”

Namjoon acknowledges that there are many stereotypes associated with hip hop and also a “culture” to it. But he should try to do his own thing and not generalize.

Namjoon’s personal apologies

Personally I noticed especially for bighit, when it comes to western fans that seem to have a problem with what BTS is doing they never allow their idols to apologize. I’ve seen Namjoon apologizing facing korean fan based controversies.

The two interviews were already big indicators of how Namjoon grew from a close minded hip hop enthusiast to his own rapper and artist, but I found one v live where he personally talked about his actions as a general. He wasnt as specific but it was short and sweet kinda XD.

Long story short he mentions how he apologizes if his action ever offended anyone and that he was oblivious that what he could say or do could cause others harm (relate to this man) and finally how he needs to hold responsibility and think before he acts and speaks.

Overall I am saying that Namjoon isnt an idol who made the best decisions in his life but he definitely should not be viewed as someone who is evil but at the same time I don’t view him as someone who is a wOKE KING!212 Mistakes are mistakes but its how you own up to them which ultimately says how you are as a person.

He is human after all and instead of degrading him I simply just recognized his growth and willingness to learn and that was enough for me.

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peterguralnick · 7 years

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Reading, Writing & Real Life

Sometimes I get asked who or what influenced me most in my deep-seated (and very early) desire to write.

I’ve named books and writers: Tristram Shandy (don’t miss the book, but don’t miss the movie either), Norse mythology, and Henry Green, Alice Munro, Grace Paley and Hubert Selby Jr., Ralph Ellison, Italo Svevo, Sigrid Undset and Zora Neale Hurston. For the last few years I’ve been working on a series of loosely connected short stories suggested by Dawn Powell’s novel My Home Is Far Away, a book that I can best describe as suggesting the tone of Ingmar Bergman’s Fanny and Alexander transplanted to the world of Winesburg, Ohio. Which could lead me to Hemingway, or Hemingway’s Boat, or – well, I’m sure you get the point.

There were teachers, certainly. Omar Pound (Omar Shakespear Pound, son of Ezra) is the one who stands out the most. He came to Roxbury Latin when I was in the ninth grade and was greeted with almost universal rejection bordering on scorn by my classmates – for his oddity, for his self-determined eccentricities, for his stubborn scruffiness, both personal and intellectual. But for me, and a few others, he provided a wonderful opportunity for self-expression in the two or three extended writing exercises he assigned each week, suggested by a phrase or saying that he provided, of which the only one that comes immediately to mind is, “Only a fool learns from experience.” True? Untrue? I didn’t know then, and I don’t know now. But as I recall, I wrote a short story that I hope was as open-ended in a fifteen-year-old way and lent itself as much to individual interpretation as I have intended in my biographies of Elvis, Sam Cooke, and Sam Phillips, or any of the other books that I’ve written.

But there’s still that lingering question: what in the world would lead an eight or nine-year-old kid to want to be a writer – if he couldn’t be a be a Major League baseball player, that is. It was my grandfather, Philip Marson, who taught English for over thirty years at Boston Latin (no, not the same Latin School – it’s complicated), founded and ran Camp Alton (which I would later run) in what he conceived of as a fresh-air expansion of the educational experience, dreamed of having the time one day to finish Finnegans Wake (he finally did at seventy-eight, over his customary breakfast of shredded wheat), and explored the second-hand bookstores of Boston’s Cornhill for $.25 masterpieces like Jean Toomer’s Cane, without necessarily passing up a sidetrip to the Old Howard burlesque show in adjacent Scollay Square, where he pulled his hat down over his face for fear of running into one of his students. I wasn’t around for the Old Howard, which closed in 1953, but by the time I was ten or eleven I started accompanying him on his foraging trips to Cornhill (now the site of Government Center), which always included a mid-morning hot fudge sundae at Bailey’s, where the fudge sauce was so thick it could have been a meal by itself.

It was his enthusiasm, I think, that inspired me most of all, his enthusiasm and his unfettered appreciation for life, literature, sports (he was a three-sport athlete at Tufts – Tris Speaker, the Grey Eagle, he said, had praised him for his play in a college game at Fenway Park), grammatical niceties, and democratic ideals. More than just appreciation, it was his undisguised avidity for experience and people of every sort. “Hey, Pete,” he would shout out in his high-pitched voice, to my pre-adolescent, adolescent, and post-adolescent (does that count as adult?) embarrassment, “Will you look at that?” And I’m not going to tell you what that was – because it’s still embarrassing. But, you know, it was always interesting.

But none of that would have counted for anywhere near as much if he were not such an unrestrained fan of me – it just seemed like whatever I did was all right with him. He came to all my baseball games, naturally, but when I took up tennis, which he had always scorned as an artificially encumbered (don’t ask me why), pointless kind of sport, he embraced it wholeheartedly, coming to all my tournaments and swiftly learning the finer points of the game. If I recommended a book, he was quick to embrace it. And when at the age of eleven and twelve and into early adolescence, I suffered from fears that so crippled me that I found it difficult even to go to school, his belief in me never wavered. Or more to the point perhaps, he never seemed to see me as any less, or any different, a person.

I grew up in my grandparents’ house off and on from the time I was born. My father, whom I could cite as an equally inspiring influence in terms of both character and commitment, landed in England the day I was born and didn’t return from the War until I was more than two years old, nearly a year after V-E Day. So my mother and I camped out with my grandparents, very comfortably for me, though I’m not so sure about my mother. (One of the short stories I’ve written lately tries to imagine what it must have been like for her, twenty-three, twenty-four-years old, with no certainty of the future, an only child living with her only child in her parents’ house.) Then, when my father finally came home, we remained for another three years, until we could finally afford a place of our own, moving into the garden apartments that had recently opened up near-by as affordable housing for returning veterans. A year or two after that, my grandparents gave my parents the house and moved to a roomy old apartment in Coolidge Corner, not far away.

Staying with my grandparents on weekends in their new apartment, even more book-crammed than the house because it was crammed with the same books, was always a treat. We went to theater together, my grandmother, my grandfather, and I – I can remember seeing Charles Laughton in Don Juan in Hell, the stand-alone third act of George Bernard Shaw’s Man and Superman when I was nine or ten years old. (Shaw was always a great favorite of my grandfather’s, along with such native-born contrarians as H.L. Mencken.) We went to serious plays, musicals, Broadway try-outs, and revivals. Along with Shaw, Eugene O’Neill undoubtedly loomed largest in my grandfather’s theatrical cosmos, and it was as exciting to listen to my grandparents talk about seeing Paul Robeson make his Broadway debut in The Emperor Jones or attending O’Neill’s marathon nine-act Strange Interlude, which included a break for dinner, as it was to hear my grandfather tell the story of how he lost his hat when he stood up to cheer Franklin Roosevelt at the Boston Garden.

But it was books in the end that were the instigators of the most passionate discussions, books that inspired me to want to write books of my own, books that would always provide an impetus for dinner-time conversation and home décor. My grandfather introduced me to Romain Rolland’s Jean Christophe, to James Joyce and Knut Hamsun, Joseph Conrad and Ford Madox Ford (he loved to discourse on what he called the shuttle-and-weave of their narrative technique), and Sigrid Undset. I’ll admit, I might well have been better off if I had stuck a little longer with the Landmark series of biographies that continued to excite me or the Scribner Classics editions of Jules Verne and Robert Louis Stevenson and James Fenimore Cooper, with those wonderful N.C. Wyeth illustrations, or any of the other children’s classics that I had indiscriminately devoured. But I was so bereft of self-awareness (while at the same time so consumed by self-consciousness) that I started to record my impressions of each of the books that I read in little tablet notebooks, earnest summaries not just of the books but of my own judgments of them. I could only express my “wonderment at, and admiration for, the author’s scope and ability,” I declared, writing about Sigrid Undset’s Kristin Lavransdatter when I was fifteen. And struggled for six handwritten pages to express more specifically my admiration for this 1000-page trilogy that takes place in fourteenth-century Norway, with its rare combination of epic sweep and unexpected intimacy. My grandfather considered it the greatest novel ever written, a judgment with which, as you can see, I struggled mightily to concur – and in fact still do. But I also knew, as my grandfather’s own omnivorous passion for discovery suggested, that all such judgments were nonsense. In the end, like the question of who was the greatest baseball player of all time, an early and abiding conversation of ours, it was a provisional title only, waiting for the next great thing to come along.

And yet, and yet, well, you know, when it comes right down to it, it wasn’t books or writing or epistemological fervor that were my primary inspiration. They would have meant nothing if it hadn’t been for everything else. What my grandfather communicated to me most of all was a hunger for life, for the raw stuff of life that served as the underpinning for every great book that either of us admired. I’m oversimplifying, I know, but it just seemed like, in the greater scheme of things, with my grandfather there was no exclusionary gene. There was no sense of high and low (no one appreciated a “dirty joke” more shamelessly than he) and, save for the inviolable principles of grammar and the strict standards of a “good education,” everything was in play, everything existed on the same human plane.

In many ways, I think that was what opened me up to the blues – not just the music but the experience of the music, the many different implications of the music – which turned out to be the single greatest revelation of my life. So many of the places where I started out are still the places where I am. Books, writing, playing sports (sadly, no more baseball), the blues. As my grandfather got older, his enthusiasm never diminished. When $100 Misunderstanding, an alternating dialogue between a fourteen-year-old black prostitute and her clueless white college john, came out in 1962, my grandfather got the idea that he and I could write a novel in the same manner about the generation gap, which was very much in the news then. We would write alternate chapters – well, you get the picture – and he was so excited about the idea that I couldn’t say no, though we never advanced to the point where we put anything down on paper. When the draft briefly threatened, he decided he would buy land in Canada and we could start a commune there, and while the threat went away before he was ever able to put his idea into practice, I had no doubt it would have been a very interesting (and well-ordered) commune.

A few years later, in 1970, he asked if I would help him run camp the following year. I’m not sure I need to explain, but this came like a bolt out of the blue. Alexandra and I had been working at camp for the last few years, and I was running the tennis program and coaching baseball. “No speculation,” I told my twelve-year-old charges, taking my cue, as always, from William Carlos Williams. It was a wonderful way to spend the summer, and it was certainly rewarding from any number of points of view, not least of which was being close to my grandparents. But not for one moment had the thought of running camp crossed my mind. I was twenty-six-years-old, working on my first full-length published book, Feel Like Going Home, and my fifth unpublished novel, Mister Downchild, and I thought I knew where my future lay.

At the same time, the idea of turning my grandfather down never crossed my mind. He was seventy-eight years old and had never asked for my help before – in fact, I couldn’t remember him ever asking anybody’s help. So, sure, yes, unequivocally. And yet I found it impossible to imagine how this could ever work. How exactly was I going to help? And if his idea was to defer to me, to withdraw and leave the day-to-day running of camp to me, well, this would require a lot more conviction, self-belief, and, above all, knowledge (since no one knew anything about the running of camp except for him) than I possessed. The question was, did I have it in me to be the person that I needed, that I wanted, for my grandfather’s sake, to be?

As it turned out, I never had to answer that question. My grandfather got sick – it appeared at first to be a stroke, it turned out to be a brain tumor – almost immediately after asking for my help. I kept things going over the winter in hopes that he would recover, and when he didn’t, it was like being thrown into the water and discovering, much to your surprise, that you actually knew how to swim. I ended up running camp by myself that summer, and I ran it for twenty-one years after that, and whatever my grandfather intended (and I suspect it was a great deal more than just providing me with an income to support my writing), it turned out to be one of the most rewarding, existentially engaging experiences of my life. And not just in the ways you might expect – camp was a thriving, self-sustaining community of 300 people that continued to grow and evolve, as did my own views of democratic institutions and possibilities – but because it inescapably exposed me to real life, it forced me out into a world in which my feelings were not the center of everything. A world of building things and balancing books, where you dealt of necessity (and to your own incalculable experiential benefit) with all kinds of different people, benefited from the wisdom and experience of others (could that have been what Omar Pound meant?), and learned not just to stand up for yourself but for everyone else, because no matter how much inner turmoil you might feel (and I think back to my ten- and –eleven-year-old self, curled up in a ball reading a book, afraid to leave the comforting familiarity of my room), you don’t have the luxury of dwelling on your own emotions. Because – why? Everyone is depending on you. It forced me, in other words, to grow up, in a way that deeply affected not only my writing but my ability to understand all the different personalities and perspectives that I wanted to portray in both my fiction and my nonfiction, in my biographies and profiles of such multifarious personalities as Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Waylon Jennings, Sam Phillips, and Solomon Burke. It forced me, when it came right down to it, to embrace the world.

My grandfather used to come see me in my dreams sometimes. He always wore his tan windbreaker and stood by the tree on the right field line at camp, where he used to watch my games, both as a kid and as an adult. It was always good to see him – there was never a time I didn’t wish he would stay longer. But even though I rarely see him nowadays, I carry with me always the conviction that he communicated so unhesitantly: that everything is just out there waiting to be discovered. And I try to keep that belief in the forefront – well, maybe the backfront – of my mind. I continue to be drawn on by the prospect, I continue to struggle for its discovery.

#writing #memoir

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floralmotif · 7 years

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I'm not sure if you've written about this before, but I was curious as to how you think John regarded Sam and Dean when they were children. Who was his favorite? Who did he abuse more? Was Sam completely safe from John's abuse because of Dean? Who do you think he was more emotionally invested in? I guess what I'm mainly asking is how different were Sam and Dean's childhoods from each other?

Ah muffins, I had part of this written out and forgot to save it to drafts. Oh well, hopefully this will be more coherent than the last one anyway. Coffee, do the thing.

I did have a previous statement that sort of addressed this information a little https://floralmotif.tumblr.com/post/159194818777/sam-his-view-of-dean

The brother’s relationship is definitely interesting, especially concerning their dad. Ready to dive into the joyful land of content warnings and sadness?? Great!

Content warnings btdubs… child abuse and neglect…Talking about this topic isn’t easy because it is fairly complicated. I don’t really subscribe to painting things in black and white most of the time. My basic interpretation of John is that he did love his kids and he never intended to do them harm, but he did. Extensive.. cycling harm.. if they play “Will the circle be unbroken” by the end of the season, you’ll be able to detect my screaming by radar.

The sitch gets complicated further by the fact that Dean is heavily framed as Sam’s parent. Specifically his mother. He exhibits a lot of behavior that is associated with mothers of children who are abused by their spouse, trying to protect their child by being in the way and crafting a sort of reality for them to simulate something close to normal in their lives. He has also taken on the role of parent in that he was generally much more present for Sam growing up than John was. He wasn’t really allowed to have a childhood because of the way his life was set up by John. He was told by John to always put Sammy first and to protect him. Dean was basically a background entity for John. He existed to perpetuate Sam and his own feelings were neglected. When Sam and John didn’t get along, Dean was there to deflect the fighting. Dean’s support of Sam basically made him his first child. He was so smart, motivated and more aware of the initial situation. He eventually learned to want out because he was encouraged to think for himself. Dean was not taught this way, and when they went off to find their Dad again, they really “went to find him again”. Him and his influence. Sam lost his agency in that influence. Dean’s was already gone.

The song “Because of you” by Kelly Clarkson is a pretty accurate assessment of Dean’s takeaway from John, interestingly. There are piles of fan videos on youtube that point it out.. like this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtddeCGKl90

Hoo boy…

None of the above was Sam’s fault, obviously. He grew up in that situation already established and he had few outside influences even after he started seeking them out(hell, he has few consistent ones now). When he did find them, he was torn from them. Really, they all were. It’s one of the things that prevented Dean and Sam from really learning what “normal” was in a familial sense. They both grew up in situations that were often life or death, and in Dean’s case, he or Sam. He didn’t even really grow up with himself as an option. It was always for Sam.. and Sam growing up with Dean essentially being his parent, he would do the same for him.

No wonder they’re always sacrificing for each other. That’s what they learned from their respective “roles”.

Really, everything they do makes sense if you interpret them as parent and child in my opinion. But feel free to interpret them however you like. My interpretation feeds into the rest of my analysis though, so keep that in mind.

From what I’ve been able to glean from watching the show, Sam was definitely John’s favorite. In many ways, John treated Dean as though he was lesser. He basically treated Dean as an extension of himself and projected a lot of his nonsense onto him. His doubt about the world, his cynicism, his need to keep Sam safe, his self loathing.. and all that that implies… it’s framed at times that Dean suffered some physical abuse from John and Dean did everything he could to prevent the same thing happening to Sam even at his own expense.. Dark Side of the Moon is one of the instances where we’re shown how Dean’s crafted reality affected him and Sam separately. He crafted it so well, Sam didn’t even think about how his absence may have affected the dynamic.

Dean tried to create a world for Sam where none of that stuff existed. It was his duty to protect Sam from everything: Monsters, John and his own feelings. Not even he saw the extent of it at the time. He only really seems to be starting to see it now.

This show does something brilliant(and at times painful) with its premise. It really didn’t have a choice in the matter if it wanted to be good, but it did it very well.

Rule of media monsters: Monsters represent aspects of humanity that we are afraid of and block out to other. Vampires, werewolves, witches, zombies, etc. They all connect to aspects of humanity and what about us we’re afraid of. What we don’t want to admit about our reality, what we don’t want to address because they scare us. Those aspects of the human experience that are stigmatized.

Sound familiar? Sound maybe like what Dean and Sam do with their feelings? It should.

Where did they learn that from?

Yep. John… well, Dean from John, and it sort of rolled over into Sam. All of the mantras Dean gave him in the early seasons are starting to come to light now. They’re being revealed as black and white, unsustainable, overly simplified and unhealthy. The co-dependency, the imbalance between humans and monsters, the “just world” idea that all monsters are inherently evil and must be destroyed, etc. All of those things are breaking down and at this point, Dean has noticed, but Sam hasn’t or he avoids them directly. Sam has resigned to these things as truth because not doing so would mean he had a choice before.

I think Sam really wants agency, he always has and it’s always been an important part of his character, but his life has told him to fear it. Both he and Dean grew up in and have experienced lives of limited agency. Sam especially had pretty much all of his ideals thrust upon him(on screen. Dean pretty much had them so early, we only see him learning them in flashbacks). He was told they were the only choices. He went to Standford and learned a new choice, but was pulled right back into the old mantras. Again, not really Dean’s fault. Dean was just operating on the “good soldier/mom role he had been given. He didn’t really have agency either.

Over time the two have learned more about agency, but only one has really been given the opportunity to explore it: Dean. That’s really what Cas is for him in a lot of ways. He’s a representation of “ideals” and his presence and connection to Dean kind of forces both of them to explore what that means. Sam doesn’t really get a direct outside force with a great connection that allows him to branch out.(this is probably on purpose at this point so they can have a counterpoint) His main connection to anything has been Dean, and Dean is still operating in the augmented reality he built to protect Sam even if he’s starting to breach it. Even as it’s breached, Sam is so deep in that reality, that he barely sees it. And Dean is understandably afraid to fully breach it. It has implications for Sam too. Implications Dean is probably afraid Sam would blame himself for.

This season is starting to address “Sam’s wall” and Dean’s ability to contain the version of himself that he had crafted is breaking down. Lucifer is a holdover of the “old” the looming ghost of John Winchester that darkens the lives of the Winchester’s and stagnates their relationship, stagnates the show.

Interestingly, the greatest influence besides Dean that Sam has had in years is his mother. She is a powerful representation of the old goals and truths of the show. A promise to get out and to silence the lambs. The one thing John said he wanted that has turned around and given him hope. Her coming back to life means that the ideal world that John dreamed of could be a reality, but just like the BMoLs, that ideal is badly informed, near sighted and unsustainable.

I’m guessing in the next few eps, the ideals of both Sam and Dean will start to merge to “a better way” and they can both learn to reconcile their past to embrace the future. To embrace those aspects of themselves they are afraid of and have tried to other.

#character analysis #dean is sam's mom #feelings for everyone #sams wall #embracing new ideals #its time for humanity to embrace those aspects of itself it's afraid of #agency for sammy #spn and agency #hopefully this makes sense #john winchester's pervasive ass ghost #spn meta #my meta #child abuse cw #neglect cw

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u23art · 7 years

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FIXING FINAL FANTASY XIII'S EXPANDED UNIVERSE

Final Fantasy VII might have made moves you could consider fumbles from time to time but in all honesty none of them every felt contrived. This was probably in part due to the choice to expand in both direction. Prequels built upon points of interest within the original game and new elements introduced were explored in further Sequel installments.

XIII Chose to strictly go forward, and each game had different interpretations which led to go leaps and bounds into the future at an unsettling rate. I’ve made it clear that XIII is not so terrific and is a similar experience to X with a number of mechanics, even more so since you can’t revisit the very early points of the game and are only limited to exploring Gran Pulse, but the world we got had nooks and crannies with history and ideas. The next two games dropped the interesting elements like a bad habit.  I'm also not shy in admitting that I detested the time travel of the 2nd game, the self entitlement of the 3rd game’s savior shtick. XIII was a ride that I took time to warm up to, and by the time I did it had long since been over, but that doesn’t mean I couldn’t have my expectations. Even now I have thoughts on the directions the stories could have taken, so I wanted to write them down to share.  

For the prequels I think I would have like to explore Lightnings past, make a story to focus on that leads up to the beginning of XIII. Though I don’t think she can carry a story by herself, I actually like her as a protagonist. There were some areas of Cocoon that Lightning had mentioned she conducted missions in while visiting them early in XIII one. Perhaps introduce a rampaging L’cie, someone to really flesh out the negative aspect of all the anti- L’cie propaganda that’s thrown around throughout XIII. All the while shed some spot light on the Guardian core. Throughout XIII, the only character from that group that we really saw was Lightning’s Captain, add him and a few other members and it could be a proper RPG with a nice rounded party size. Not to mention Cid, he takes the cake for coming and going. It seemed in the brief moments before his brief distraction (I mean boss fight), Lightning at least knew of him and at the very least has worked with him in the past.

Sure any prequel installments with Lightning could pepper the later party member here and there, but any specific spot light could potentially make plot holes. Heck, Lightning wouldn’t even have to be the lead character. You could give that role to a rookie guardian core member, and get an outside perspective on Lightning.   And here we can just abandon this idea of Lightning being a messiah figure, it just doesn't mix well.

Another point of interest would to go even FURTHER back, and tell a story about Vanille and Fang. Gran Pulse in the game was the only outlet for any player wishing for an open world, simply expand upon that idea and set the two loose into the world. It would be a game like this that would be the appropriate time to lighten up on the RPG mechanics, as a two player RPG would be light on material to work with. UNLESS, you go the route of Kingdom Hearts and put a focus on different technique and combos. This would allow for RPG elements to be kept, keep the leveling benefits versatile and also justify experience points without feeling hollow. And really showcase the creative creature design in the wild life and Fal’Cie.

Sequels on the other hand could easily just avoid forcing a 30 hour campaign upon the player and just make a movie just as VII did. No giant leaps through times, let the characters pick up their lives after the huge battle and roll with that. Otherwise a game could take place hundreds of years afterwards and give light to the legacy the original cast gave upon the world. This kind of world would be similar to that of what we saw in FFVII’s after credit scene with Red XIII, only this time this idea could be explored.

And of course this implies that Noel, Yuel and Caius can just be dumped. These character just did not do anything for me. We never actually see enough meaningful moments that drive home the relationship that the game says these three have. Caius is a ham lord with a dumb convoluted sword. And Noel’s simple brightly colored outfit was the beginning stray from the earthly, lived in designs of the XIII party.

  I liked the first XIII, and looking at the aftermath saddens me that the creators became a bunch of dunderheads throwing the story to the wind. XIII is over, and that world will never be explored again, because it was literally destroyed.

There is a glimmer of hope though. There was a tech demo released some years ago called Agni’s philosophy. It proposes a similar setting, a barren, desolate setting, but a similar one where anything like magic is attacked and demonized. I like to believe that if assets exist, there are possibilities to be explored.

Here is a link to those who don’t know to what I’m referring to.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVX0OUO9ptU

Thank you for your time to hear out what’s basically my fan fiction and do take care.

#Mister23 #Final Fantasy XIII #Final Fantasy 13 #Lightning #agni's philosophy

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laurenredhead · 6 years

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Marx Music

The BCMG opened their programme this year with a series of concerts in Birmingham and Trier celebrating the 200th Anniversary of Karl Marx. The music in these concerts comprised large ensemble pieces, duets, and acousmatic/sound art pieces. The ensemble frequently referenced that the programmes were made up of 14 new works which, on reflection, did bear repeating since when I thought of similar projects - on other themes, by other organisations - I most often recalled programmes that were a selection of older works with a few newer pieces. So, as well as to its theme, this project really revealed a commitment towards new work both by supporting it and then by supporting the pieces by performing each on more than once. The BCMG’s programme was made up of a mixture of commissions and works received from an international call for scores leading to prizes awarded in three categories (large ensemble, small ensemble, sound art).

I am not on facebook, and so missed some apparent controversy about whether the BCMG should have chosen this topic or not. Aside from the inflammatory nature of such social media debates, there doesn’t seem to be any question that this could be – and, indeed, was – a fruitful artistic topic. The concerts fitted into a year-long programme of events in Trier that examine Marx’s relationship with his birthplace and the cultural heritage linked to such a relationship; the pieces presented by BCMG reflected a range of topics from the artistic, to the personal, to the political (past and contemporary). The concerts certainly presented the topic as a multi-layered and nuanced one, and also one that was musically fruitful. After the season launch in Birmingham (I wasn’t at that event), three concerts were presented in Trier. I don’t have space here to describe every piece so instead I’m choosing to write particularly about those that particularly appealed to me.

Cecilia Arditto’s music was a real discovery for me over the weekend. Her prize-winning piece, The Dearest Dream, brought together elements of spectralism and feminism through the inclusion of particular objects and gestures that have both a musical and a symbolic meaning. She spoke about the importance of Marx’s ideas in various resistance movements in Argentina, with specific reference to the feminist movement (symbolised by the colour green) and the movement for the separation of church and state (symbolised by the colour orange). In the piece, these ideas could be found in what she describes as an ‘anti-soloist’ part for the percussionist, who performs using various objects including fans, a sweeping brush, a tin can, and a ‘rainstick’ sound using plastic glasses and lentils. Visually, these objects symbolised a ‘poverty’ within the ensemble – for example, she described the four tin cans that are operated by with strings as a ‘string quartet’ – and also various aspects of struggle (after hearing her talk, the orange lentils spoke a lot more clearly, and seeing the percussionist sweeping away also spoke to the theme of the piece). However, beyond this visual symbolism, the work also invited consideration of the project’s themes through its sound, which was often delicate and studied. Beginning from a single note, the music opened to close and then more open harmonies that spoke to admitting many voices; the including of the often quiet and delicate sounds of the objects was carefully managed as an equal role within the ensemble. Where sometimes the use of objects in a composition can seem like a gimmick, the music only had more to offer on a second listening.

I’m clearly already familiar with Alistair Zaldua’s music, but I hope that it is acceptable to say here that I enjoyed the ensemble’s treatment of his piece. The piece manifesto is for 14 instruments and a spoken part which was performed by baritone Marcus Farnsworth. It would me a mistake to think that a part for spoken voice is easier than that for a singer. As well as some rhythmic complexity, and various theatrical modes of delivery, the piece presented the text in ways that were at times in opposition to the ensemble and at times as a single voice within it. I’m aware that it’s commonly assumed that in any music that uses text, the text should always be heard as the most prominent voice, but that wasn’t what was intended here. Alistair spoke about how multiple small variations of the primary fragment of text were used and quasi-repeated throughout the work to present many possible meanings and interpretations of a specific idea from The Communist Manifesto (that the historical conditions need to be right for revolution, and that the working class would need to work together to achieve this), and how this ‘voice’ becomes one of many ‘voices’ within the ensemble who perform a chordal and harmonic material in a way that gains momentum throughout the piece. This working-together was clear in both Trier and Birmingham, even though the sonic relationship between the voice and ensemble differed in different kinds of spaces.

The work of conductor Michael Wendeberg was commendable throughout the project: the music performed was extremely varied and required, in many cases, a lot of physical effort. Nevertheless, his work brought out many of the unique aspects of the individual works, particularly, for example, in Frédéric Pattar’s Deflation - Eine Kleine Marxmusik (a piece whose title doesn’t do it justice) which was extremely quiet and dealt with subtle and distant changes of sound. This music in particular benefitted from the direct environment of the CBSO centre, in which the performance became much more intimate.

Kaspar Querfurth’s Bloßes Zubehör der Maschine – a commission rather than a prize winner - was, for me, the most interesting all of the duet pieces. This piece for baritone and bass flute was tightly-knitted and required a particular ensemble work to bring out its many aspects. In each phrase the flautist performs a variety of techniques in as a fluent musical expression that intertwines with, harmonises, and sometimes contradicts the voice part. Flautist Veronika Klirova offered an excellent performance that was, many times, almost vocal and although we heard Marcus Farnsworth both sing and speak in other works this piece was an opportunity for him to demonstrate his ability in contemporary vocal techniques.

Another of the BCMG commissions, Robert Reid Allan’s work Terry Helens’s Revolutionary Dreams for large ensemble offered a much more theatrical take on the theme. He worked with Gareth Mattey who created a libretto-like text for the piece. On seeing the text in the programme, I wondered how the amount of it would be managed in the duration of the performance and, in fact, the piece was more like an opera scene than an art song. At times other musicians in the ensemble contributed to the delivery of the text which was mostly, impressively, performed by soprano Elizabeth Atherton. Alternation between speaking (as ‘interludes’) and singing (as ‘dreaming’) offered some slightly surreal reflections on the mundanity of day to day life as compared with utopian ideals, and the role of the past, present and future in considering such ideals in the present day. The music itself was quite complex, in that there were multiple layers and senses of time within the progress of the piece, and this was managed well by both the composer and the musicians who maintained the sense of drama and strangeness.

These two commission pieces showed good consideration of handling the text and timing – which was not the case throughout the concerts. It will continue to amaze that some composers have seemingly no sense of time, or else simply disregard the duration of their pieces. This has a clear knock-on effect to the work of musicians and the time taken over the presentation of not only their own but all of the music – something that resonates with the theme behind Celeste Oram’s work presented in this series. The venues were perhaps not considered ideal for all of the music, and Celeste Oram’s piece Pierrot Laborieux, for example, did not fare as well since its electronic elements weren’t communicated as clearly as she probably would have liked. That performance, however, is derived from an installation titled work & The Work that examines the real conditions of musicians’ working lives in contrast to, and as a part of, the creation of musical ‘works’. That installation was in Trier although I didn’t get to it; it will now be at the V&A in London. Its description is particularly interesting to me, so I hope to get to it and experience her ideas more directly that I did during the concert.

Of the sound art works, the piece by Aldo Brizzi presented a clear and audible relationship to Marx through its intermedial relationship to Luigi Nono in its construction and sonic materials. The music of this work was sensitively constructed both in the nature of the sound and the music’s structure. A further piece by Christophe Lambert engaged my interest in Sprachmusik, presenting text in English, French, German and Spanish. The text was a quote from Marx, reflecting on the length of the working day. Stephan Fricke, who introduced the piece in Trier, made the point that although working conditions in Western Europe are much improved from those described by Marx, in other places in the world the same or worse conditions are still being experienced. The music presented individual speaker voices, and the use of different languages presented how such information can be both ‘familiar’ and ‘other’, as well as how something that seems ‘neutral’ (such as speaking numbers) becomes ‘political’ in the context of voicing something such as the length of the working day. These materials were sparsely and sensitively handled.

It was unfortunate that a misunderstanding between the organisers and the gallery meant that the sound art works presented on the Saturday night were affected by a lack of equipment. The three pieces were heard in a mono format which left me wondering about aspects of the music (such as space) that were not rendered so well. These works will be broadcast on German radio and re-presented at a concert at The Dome at the University of Birmingham on 29th September. At that concert, they’ll experience the treatment from the mini-Beast system – probably about as far away from a mono performance as you can get – and so I think this opportunity to hear these works will be worth it for anyone who can make it.

The project offered the opportunity for an interesting comparison between the spaces in Trier (historical buildings, shiny surfaces!) and the CBSO centre (modern building, acoustically treated). The latter is certainly an excellent space for contemporary music, as the sound is very direct. This room, therefore, brought out for me aspects of the music that weren’t so clear in the performances in Trier. But the spaces in Trier were also able to offer something different to some of the pieces, too, and created an immersive atmosphere in the concerts even when the music could have been seen to be out-of-place in its slightly imperial surroundings. Overall, this has been an interesting and fruitful musical experience for me; one that was brought to life by informed and engaged musicians, and I was very glad to hear many of the pieces more than once. Radio broadcasts (on German radio) are planned so there will likely be future opportunities to hear this music.

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spynotebook · 7 years

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Praise Zeus, Wonder Woman is finally here and it’s even better than we hoped it would be. While it’s a standout superhero film all on its own, there’s something inherently special for women to see Diana of Themyscira, an iconic female and feminist role model, onscreen for the first time.

io9's Katharine Trendacosta, Alex Cranz, Cheryl Eddy, and I sat down to discuss every aspect of this groundbreaking superhero film, including Steve Trevor’s role as a male ally, and what the film’s success could and should mean for the DC Expanded Universe. No boys allowed! (Except in the comments.)

Beth Elderkin: All right, ladies. Welcome to Themyscira! How’s everyone feeling?

Katharine Trendacosta: I am feeling great and not like I need those hours back again, which is such a relief.

Cheryl Eddy: I agree with Katharine... I don’t think it was a perfect movie, but I had a really good time watching it.

Alex Cranz: Yeah, I was genuinely concerned before the premiere that people were so eager for a success for DC—and for women superheroes—that people were being unnecessarily kind to Diana. They were not! Her movie is good!