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orionsangel86 · 11 months

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Subtext Glorious Subtext! A Dreamling on Netflix analysis in The Sandman - Part 7

1989

You've given me shattered dreams, but I know you'll come back to me...

Here's where we step into unchartered territory - what is a show to do when its source material ends 33 years too soon? Apparantly lean fully into the angst, pining, and misunderstandings tropes that all good fandom ships thrive on!

After the disastrous break up of 1889, Hob is clearly nervous about whether or not Dream will show up to the next meeting. In both comic and show, he calls out that he will still be there in a hundred years, and if Dream is too then its because they are friends. Dream doesn't answer leaving Hob to wonder whether he pushed Dream too far.

In the comic though, Dream escapes from his imprisonment in time, and is able to reunite with Hob, having spent 70 odd years contemplating his past behaviours and actions in his solitude, and evidentally makes the decision to meet Hob and accept his offer of friendship:

In the comic, they reunite with Dream reassuring Hob that they are in fact friends, and it ends there. The next time they meet in Season of Mists Hob states how surprised he is to see Dream before their next meeting. There is no hint in the comics that they had changed their once-a-century date to be more frequent.

But the show changes all of this. Dream doesn't escape until 2022 so he misses his date with Hob. Instead we get to see Hob grow more and more concerned as he waits all day for Dream.

Whilst Hob waits, they show the passage of time by playing a mix of popular 80s songs, and although I know the fandom talked about this a lot when the show first aired, I can't not bring it up here because it such a hugely important part of the 1989 scene. Song choices in media are always carefully picked out. Nothing is unintentional. Producers have to apply for the rights to use songs in their shows and get those songs signed off and it isn't always an easy process, so song choices are always significant. ALWAYS. They are one of the principle ways we can analyse media and theorise about what the creators are trying to tell us. Every song choice has meaning.

For example, in Stranger Things both Kate Bush's Running Up That Hill and Journey's Worlds Apart are important song choices which reflect the emotional conflicts and journeys of the characters in season 4.

Our Flag Means Death also uses modern songs in an exceptional way to support the story and the emotional journeys of the characters. Using Fleetwood Mac's The Chain at the emotional climax for the characters in episode 8 was a work of genius.

Whilst songs specifically about love, romance, and break ups aren't always used for romantic character arcs, using three break up songs in a row for what should be interpreted as a falling out/misunderstanding between platonic friends is... unusual. Outside of comedy where the song choice could specifically be used in a humorous way (for example an overly emotional lovers break up song used for friendships in comedy could be a commentary on how ridiculous and overdramatic the two friends are being, with them acting like dramatic lovers being part of the joke.) But the scene in 1989 isn't a comedic one. Hob is genuinely hurting and Dream at this point is imprisoned. The song choices are therefore sincere. The message in the song choices should be taken at face value.

So please dear reader. Tell me what you think the following is supposed to be telling us?

Song 1: She Drives Me Crazy by Fine Young Cannibals

I can't stop the way I feel Things you do don't seem real Tell me what you've got in mind 'Cause we're running out of time Won't you ever set me free? This waiting 'round's killing me

She drives me crazy Like no one else She drives me crazy And I can't help myself

I can't get any rest People say I'm obsessed Everything you say is lies But to me there's no surprise What I had for you was true Things go wrong, they always do

She drives me crazy Like no one else She drives me crazy And I can't help myself

I won't make it on my own No one likes to be alone

Song 2:Shattered Dreams by Johnny Hates Jazz

So much for your promises They died the day you let me go Caught up in a web of lies But it was just too late to know

I thought it was you Who would stand by my side

And now you've given me, given me Nothing but shattered dreams, shattered dreams Feel like I could run away, run away From this empty heart You said you'd die for me

Woke up to reality And found the future not so bright I dreamt the impossible That maybe things could work out right

I thought it was you Who would do me no wrong

But now you've given me, given me Nothing but shattered dreams, shattered dreams Feel like I could run away, run away From this empty heart

You've given me, given me Nothing but shattered dreams, shattered dreams Feel like I could run away, run away From this empty heart

From this empty heart

I thought it was you Who said they'd die for love

And now you've given me, given me Nothing but shattered dreams, shattered dreams Feel like I could run away, run away From this empty heart

You've given me, given me Nothing but shattered dreams, shattered dreams Feel like I could run away, run away From this empty heart

Oh, no, no, no You said you'd die for me Oh, for Die for me So much for your promises So much for your promises

Song 3: Keep on Movin' by Soul II Soul

Keep on moving Don't stop, like the hands of time Click-clock, find your own way to stay The time will come one day

Why do people choose to live their lives (lives)

This way?

No-oh-oh (Keep on moving) (Keep on moving) Keep on moving yeah, yeah (Keep on moving, don't stop, no) (Keep on moving)

It's our time, time today The right time is here to stay Stay in my life, my life always Yellow is the color of sun rays

I hide myself, from no-one I know the time will surely come when You'll be in my life, my life always Yellow is the color of sun rays

Keep on moving (Keep on moving) Don't stop! (Keep on moving don't stop, no) Like the hands of time (Keep on moving) Click-clock, find your own way (Keep on moving) To stay (The time will come one day)

No-o-oh (Keep on moving) Hey-ey-ey (Keep on moving) (Keep on moving, don't stop, no) (Keep on moving) Oh!

I know the time, time today Walking alone in my own way Extremely cold and rainy day Friends and I have fun along the way Yes we do!

I hide myself from no one I know the time will really come when You'll be in my life, my life always Yellow is the color of sun rays

Keep on moving (Keep on moving) Don't stop (Keep on moving, don't stop, no) Like the hands of time (Keep on moving) Click-clock (Keep on moving) Find your own way to stay, yeah (The time will come one day) Yes!

Oh! (Keep on moving, don't stop, no) (Keep on moving) Ah-hey! (Keep on moving) Keep moving along, moving along (The time will come one day) Hey-yeah!

Keep movin', don't stop, no (Don't stop, like the hands of time) Hey-yeah! (Click-clock, find your own way to stay) Find your own way to stay (The time will come one day) (Why do people choose to live their lives this way?) Oh-woh-oh Oh, why do they choose to live this way?

Yeah! Ah-hey! (Keep on moving) Keep on moving (Keep on moving, don't stop, no) No-woh-oh (Keep on moving) No! (Keep on moving) Keep on moving in my own way I know the time will come today (The time will come one day) Ah-hey! Yeah! (Keep on moving) Yeah-hey Keep on moving, don't stop, no) Don't stop Keep on moving) Ah-hey-ey (Keep on moving) Hey-yeah! (The time will come one day) The time will surely come one day!

Hey-yeah! (Keep on moving, don't stop, no) No-oh-oh! (Keep on moving) Oh-woh-oh (Keep on moving) Hey-yeah!

I mean... *gestures at all of this*

The way I interpret these songs is a very linear emotional journey. It's a narrative in itself of Hob's state of mind as day turns to night and he waits and realises that his date isn't going to show.

First he contemplates how he can't help the way he feels. The waiting around is killing him, he's being driven crazy by his feelings, he's obsessed. But his feelings are true, and he won't make it on his own without [Dream].

Next comes the heartbreak. He dreamt that things might work out, but his dreams have been shattered. He feels like he wants to run away from his empty heart.

Finally, he realises that life goes on, he's gotta keep on moving, because he has hope that the time will come when [Dream] will be in his life again and this time [Dream] will stay.

I don't think I even need to attempt to make this any clearer! All these songs are about love, either obsessive love, heartbreak, or hope for future love. This is the kind of shit Johnlock and Destiel fans would have eaten up back in the day. At this point in Dream and Hob's relationship, at this point in this half hour sequence of television, I am not sure how else to interpret this, which is why the conversation Hob has with the bartender comes across so bizarre.

Bartender: You waiting for someone?

Hob: I think I've been stood up. We had a fight, last time we were here, but it was my fault. wish I could say I was drunk at the time, but I was just an idiot.

Bartender: I've seen plenty of friends get into fights in pubs, even more of them laugh about later.

Hob: *chuckling* maybe in another hundred years.

We all agree how bloody bizarre this is right? I have to praise this bartender for not jumping to conclusions but it would have been far more natural for him to assume Hob was stood up by a date, a woman (this is 1989 after all) and instead given his apologies and said something like "Don't worry mate, just send her some flowers and be honest with her. She'll come around."

Why does he assume they are just friends? Being "stood up" is commonly used to indicate a failed romantic date. It just isn't a natural assumption for someone to make based on the information Hob gave him. Hob cleverly keeps his explanation gender neutral, so the bartender does too, but even with gender neutral language the immediate conclusion should be that Hob was abandoned by a romantic date.

But the natural conclusion would have prompted a clarification. A definitive from Hob on the nature of his and Dream's relationship, and for whatever reason, the writers decided they didn't want there to be a definitive clarification here. Just like how they removed all the references to canon queer characters in 1589 to avoid distinguishing them from Hob and Dream, here they made sure that Hob was unable to refute or deny any implication that he and Dream may be more than platonic friends. Instead they chose to go with clunky language that doesn't really make sense, all to avoid having to make clarifications. Sorry y'all, but thats some SPN writer levels of ambiguity layering and I ain't buying it *side eyes Neil Gaiman suspiciously*. What are those writers up too eh?

I did read an interesting meta on this that the bartender could have assumed that Hob was talking about a man, clocked him as queer, and spoken in safe language to avoid an accidental outing (1989 was a difficult time for the LGBTQ+ community) but I couldn't find it or remember who wrote it to link it here. I found that interpretation to be really interesting and certainly worth considering, even if it's not my initial reading of the scene.

The other explanation is that maybe it was an attempt to "no homo" what otherwise comes across as a failed romantic date. But if that was what they were going for, it was very sloppily done and in fact only called further attention to the very romantic implications of the whole scene at least from Hob's side of things. If they really wanted to "no homo" the scene, why not just have Hob tell the bartender that he was supposed to be meeting his friend?

Then in a totally new decision made for the show, Hob finds out that the White Horse Tavern is closing its doors for good. This adds a further layer of angst and drama to Dream and Hob's relationship that the comics do not have. The worry that should Dream ever decide to return, how would he find Hob if the tavern is closed? It's once again pretty tropey in that its yet another external force keeping our boys apart. Anymore of this and we start falling dangerously close to star crossed territory.

The 1989 scene ends with a distressed and sad looking Hob, with a hint of determination, leaving the audience expecting him to do something about this.

Then we get that final glorious transition, from the whiskey glass to the glass sphere holding Dream, reminding us all that no, Dream did not stand Hob up, he was in fact stuck in his prison. Dream looks stoic as always, but the glance upwards indicates that he too remembers the date, and is regretting his inability to be there to make things right.

That look then transitions seemlessly into the modern day, as Dream stares sadly at the ruins of the White Horse tavern. Which is where we leave this chapter.

Check out Part 8 for my analysis of the glorious reunion!

#Dreamling #dreamling meta #the sandman #sandman meta #dreamling week #dreamling week 2023 #dream of the endless #hob gadling #sandman comic spoilers

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arsonality-archived · 3 years

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am i the only poc that goes extremely murderous upon seeing a white artist making every single depiction of the characters they normally draw (who are canonically white) ambiguously brown/tan or

#ask to tag #honking #i'm talking about one (1) specific fandom we're in but this also applies to ANY fandom at all #also like. you're not immune to possibly being ripped to pieces in MY house (@ white ppl)

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who-is-page · 3 years

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Twitter is exploding with furries dumping the galaxy brain take "if you're alterhuman and you've ever drawn NSFW of yourself as your species then you're a #zoophile" and I am thiiiiis close to straight up picking someone up and throwing them directly into the ocean. It's such a phenomenally bad take. Discussion about it below the line, because I don't want to spam with a long-ass post.

Like, I'm guessing the disconnect is different definitions of what "zoophile" means, where in the alterhuman communities it's generally (though not always) used more to mean someone who supports bestiality, engages in bestiality, or publicly aligns themself with people who do such without necessarily vocalizing their stance on the subject politically. Meanwhile the (Twitter) furry community--judging from the reactions on hellsite 2.0, at least--seems to define "zoophile" as closer to someone who is attracted to any depictions of non-humanoid creatures. So things like traditional monsters (ex. dragons, werewolves, centaurs), modern fictional 'species' or characters (ex. sparkledogs, pokemon, Simba), and extinct/extant species (ex. Tyrannosaurus rex, giraffes, ladybugs, oak trees) depicted in NSFW art of a sexual nature all falls into the "zoophilic" category by furry standards, but the alterhuman communities don't really have a solidified perspective on such because we just don't operate in the realm of fictional content in that way. (A part of me wonders if that uber-broad definition of "zoophile" is why the furry fandom struggles so much with its missing stairs in real life spaces, like the bigger conventions... it's hard to focus in on people who are causing harm to other real people and animals when you broaden your definition of what constitutes as "harm" to such an insanely large degree.)

It's the difference between how content is treated by an identity group in comparison to how content is treated by a fandom. For a (non-alterhuman) furry, what you've drawn is a character, and that character is taken as a reflection of what you desire as a human. So if you draw, say, a minotaur, you're interpreted as wanting to fuck minotaurs within this scenario. But for the alterhuman, there isn't a distinction. That's not a character; it's them. That's them, or otherwise reflective of an internal, integral part of their identity, and it's not something they can just switch on and off.

And the justifications the furry fandom uses in its own spaces just fall flat when you bring them out against alterhuman artwork featuring the alterhuman in question.

1) "It's normalizing sexualizing nonhumans!" doesn't work for several reasons, most notably because the alterhuman community is so immensely small. It's quite literally impossible for our community to have a wide-reaching, substantial, lasting effect on the world around us. We do not have the capacity to change norms on such a massive level as to change the public zeitgeist around porn and if someone thinks that, they're genuinely stupid. More than that, it's a miniscule subset of a small community we're talking about here: not every alterhuman can draw or wants to draw NSFW of themselves, and of those that do, it's much more likely they're not going to publish their work to public spaces, further removing any chance of horny alterhumans somehow magically encouraging every American to decorate their house in Bad Dragon horse cocks, or whatever else "normalizing sexualizing nonhumans" might mean.

2) "Nonhumans can't consent!" doesn't work either, because...the nonhuman in the picture is the one who drew it, so clearly they do consent. (Even iif n this case it's just that they consent to be depicted in a specific NSFW way, because we also have to acknowledge that fictional kinks don't always transfer over to what people would be interested in IRL.) This also applies to the "Drawing NSFW of nonhumans is the same as drawing child porn!" argument; if the adult artist is depicting themself then...that's automatically not child porn, by definition! That comparison makes no sense, and I don't get why it ever even gets brought up.

3) "It's a red flag, it means you want to sexually abuse nonhumans in real life!" Aw yeah totally, let me go spank my fucking jalapeno plant to go get myself off (/sarcasm). That's not true anymore than someone being more likely to go on a school shooting spree because they play GTA, first off, and second off, what nonhuman does the art of themself prove they want to 'abuse' by that logic? Themself? (Honestly, this reeks of the same sort of anti-kink rhetoric aimed at people who engage in BDSM and are told that they're "abusing themselves," and this also doesn't even make sense within furry contexts, given that some of their community's most well-known zoosadists and zoophiles have all had anthro fursonas.)

All in all, it's a fucking stupid argument to even be having, and I'm facepalming over the Twitter furries even starting it. The real harm that we see going on in alterhuman spaces isn't happening on the pages of someone's horny personal comic about them and their medusan polycule; the problems are coming from the people who are harming actual living animals and who are encouraging others to do similar. And those are missing stairs our community is actually working to fix and deal with in a lot of spaces, which I'm damn proud of. We still have a long way to go and we're definitely not perfect in our perspectives all the time, but it's a hell of a lot better than just nonstop flailing around and crying wolf over something as stupid as some rando's private artwork of themself.

#/rant over

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terubakudan · 3 years

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This may be an old article from 3 years ago, but these cultural aspects/observations still apply even today. And though this is strictly a Chinese perspective, a lot of these everyday life bits are observed in Overseas Chinese communities in countries such as The Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, etc. as well as countries heavily influenced by Chinese culture like Taiwan, Japan, and Korea.

I've always liked learning about other cultures and making comparisons between how things are done East vs West. Which probably stems from growing up with two cultures and Mom raising me on American movies xD

So the irony is if you asked me how many Chinese, Taiwanese, or Hong Kong actors I know, chances are I know as much as you do xD Like Jackie Chan, Andy Lau, and that's about it. But if you asked me about Western (specifically American and British) actors, then I have a useless brain dump of movie trivia and who was with who in what movie xD

Hmmm, both Taiwan and the Philippines are two distinct cultures but both look up to a certain country and are fascinated by that. In Taiwan's case, Japan and the US for the Philippines. In both cases, this is due to being under the rule of those countries in their history. Taiwan being under Japan for 50 years, and the Philippines being under Spain for 300+ years, followed by periods of American and Japanese rule. To put it simply though:

Taiwan is "mini-Japan with a very Chinese culture".

The Philippines is "former colony of Spain with lots of American influences".

But unlike the author, I've never set foot in any Western country, so my understandings are strictly what I've observed in media, which while it can be accurate, doesn't compare to actually experiencing the culture.

Some further elaboration on most points:

#1 We quite literally use chopsticks for everything. We use it to pick rice, viands, vegetables, fruit, smaller desserts, almost all the food you can think of.

But where do you put your chopsticks when you're not using them? Just put them on top of your bowl or flat on your plate. But do not ever stick them vertically. It's taboo, since it looks like incense sticks, which we use to pray for those who have passed, like our ancestors or during funerary services.

#3 The majority of Asia is obsessed with fair/white skin. In my time at the Philippines, I grew up watching all these Dove Whitening commercials and my classmates often commented on how fair my skin was, how they envied it etc. In Taiwan, girls often say they don't want to 變黑 (biàn hēi) 'become dark'. Japan and Korea too are not innocent of this either (if their beauty/skin products weren't a dead giveaway).

People here at Taiwan often mistake me for being from Hong Kong or Japan (as long as I don't speak Mandarin with my heavy accent xD). A Taiwanese classmate of mine joked that she often gets mistaken for being from Southeast Asia due to having a darker complexion. And while I laughed it off with her at that time, looking back, I now realize she was lowkey being racist. xD

And believe me Filipinas have mentioned literally being told 'your skin is so dark' here in Taiwan, or being given backhanded compliments like 'you're pretty despite having dark skin' and...*facepalms*

My point is, beauty is not exclusive to skin color. People who still think that are assholes.

#5 Not to say we don't have salt and pepper, but yes soy sauce and vinegar are the classic condiments you see on the table, be it at home or at a restaurant.

And if I may add, Taiwanese love their pepper. xD If you ever get to eat at a night market or a smaller "Mom n' Pop-style" restaurant here, some dishes/soups tend to add quite an excessive amount of pepper. Not like anthills, but quite liberally and way more than average. Enough that you see traces of pepper at the bottom of the food paper bag or swirling in your soup. xD

#6 I know this all too well from personal experience. In my years of studying at Taiwan, I always had roommates. 3 in my first school (I graduated high school in the Philippines pre K-12 so I had to make up 2 years of Senior High), followed by 2 in college, with the exception of 1 in freshman year.

My college did offer single person dorms but at around 9000 NTD ($324) per month compared to around 6000 NTD ($216) per semester. Because I wanted to save, the choice was obvious for me xD. But ah, this doesn't mean I don't value personal space, in fact I love having the room to myself, and since both my roomies would go home to their families every weekend, weekends were bliss for me xD

And you don't have to be friends with your roommates (that's an added bonus however), you just have to get along with them. I was quite lucky to have really great roommates all throughout my schooling years.

#9 In the Philippines, we do. Owing mostly to American influences and maybe being predominantly Catholic? xD

#10 *sigh* Chinese parents and parents from similar Asian cultures tend to put too much emphasis on grades, so much that kids could get sent to cram school as early as elementary. This is because what school you get into could literally affect your future job opportunities, and while that's not exclusive to any particular country/culture, I feel it's especially pronounced here in Asia. I'm really lucky my own parents weren't that strict about it. However, if your parents don't point the mistakes out to you, chances are you'll do it yourself, if you're an Asian kid like me anyway. xD It just becomes a habit.

#11 My family is an exception to this. xD We do say 'I love you' directly, but complete with the 'ah eat well ok?', 'don't scrimp on food', 'sleep well' and similar indirect words/actions of affection. We were doing 'Conceal, Don't Feel' before it became popular. xD

#13 I'm kind of confused about this but this has sort have changed over the years in which eye-contact is now more encouraged. But don't stare, especially at elders and authority figures. Sometimes it's just shyness though. xD And I've observed this with my own Taiwanese friend, especially when I'm complaining or ranting to her about something. xD I'm a person who likes to express my opinions strongly, which tends to scare/alienate some of the locals here, as doing so is kind of frowned upon. Thankfully, she does listen and offers her take on things.

#14 Ah this. xD In the Philippines, this is a common greeting known as beso-beso, and I freaked out too when an auntie did that to me. xD Needless to say, Mom lectured me later on what that was. ^^"

#16 Along with #3 another crazy beauty standard. In my view, people always look better with a little meat on them and when they're not horribly thin. Asia still has a loonng way to go with accepting different types of bodies if you ask me. This combined with modern beauty standards has made the pressure for women especially to 'look beautiful' higher than ever.

I know many people love them but please, starving yourself or glorifying eating disorders is never OK just to get this kind of 'ideal' body. I'm not part of the Kpop fandom, but even I think when idols get bullied just for gaining the least bit of weight among other insensitive comments, that's really going too far.

#17 'If you want to make friends, go eat.' <- I couldn't agree more. In the Philippines we have a greeting: 'Kumain ka na ba?' (Have you eaten?) . Similarly in Taiwan, we have 吃飯了沒? (chī fàn le méi), both of these can mean that in the literal sense but are often used as greetings instead. By then which invitation to having lunch/dinner together may or may not follow. Food really is a way for us to socialize and to catch up with what's going on in each other's lives. Not to say we don't have regular outings like going out to the mall, going shopping, etc. but eating together is a huge part of our culture, be it with family or friends.

And while I'm at it, some memes that are way too accurate good to pass up xD

Parents, uncles, aunties alike will fight over the bill xD

Alternatively:

You just space out until your name is called xD

My parents are guilty of the last one. Logic how? xD

#18 True. xD I like giving compliments out to people but I have a hard time accepting them myself, though I've learnt how to accept them much more now than before. We're kind of raised to constantly downplay ourselves so we often say things like 'ah no no' or 'I'm really not that good'. The downside of this of course is that it can come off as somewhat fake. xD

Again from personal experience, that same classmate who made the lowkey racist remark, she was good, she was on the debate team, was a honor student, knew how to mingle with people, but she downplayed herself way too much, while praising me but I honestly thought that she never really meant it from how she treated me. She wanted to keep me around her yet make backhanded compliments at me and she didn't want me socializing with my other classmate who is now my friend. *sigh* It was only after discussing this with one of my roomies did I realize how this 'excessive downplaying' might come off to people like me who more or less grew up with a more 'Westernized' mindset. I'm not saying brag about your achievements but don't be overly humble about them either, which can also be a turn off.

#20 We do tend to be a lot more realistic on how we view things, neither entirely optimistic nor pessimistic. We try to think of things practically and often analyze things on pure logic. A downside of this however, is that Chinese people can be overly practical. Taiwanese for instance don't like to 'find inconveniences' and generally keep to themselves, meaning, they won't help you in your hour of need even when they do have the capabilities. Sounds really harsh I know, but in my 6 years of living in Taiwan, while this doesn't apply to all the people, a lot of them really do only find/talk to you when they need something.

So for some people saying Taiwanese are 'friendly', that's BS xD If you ask me, Filipinos are infinitely more friendly, and again while not all, generally make more of an effort to help you when you need it. I really felt more of a real sense of community during my years growing up in the Philippines compared to Taiwan.

#21 Children do tend to stay with their parents well into college and adulthood, since Chinese families are indeed very family-oriented, in a lot of cases, grandparents often live under the same roof as us as well! And it really does save a lot of money. I see there's a real stigma in the US when it comes to "living with your parents", but that's starting to change especially because of Covid and having more and more people move back in with their parents.

Housing unfortunately is pretty much hella expensive no matter where you go, and Taiwan is no exception. Steep housing prices and the very high cost of raising a child (schooling + buxiban fees, etc.) contribute to a very low birth rate and thus an aging population like Japan. It's not uncommon to see both parents working in Taiwan.

#23 I'm an overthinker myself, but I totally agree with the author that the best is to strike a good balance between these two. Which I guess is why I love drawing or any other related creative attempts, it helps me be more spontaneous or well, creative! I like to remain intellectually or artistically inspired.

#24 Is French high school really like that? xD My friend did watch SKAM France and more or less got a culture shock from what was depicted on the show. I can confirm however that most high schools both in the Philippines and Taiwan require students to wear a uniform, only in college is everybody free to wear casual/civilian clothes.

#26 Ah this is part of our Asian gift-giving etiquette xD We always open gifts later after the event/meeting and in private. Never open them in front of the person who gave it to you or in front of others. This is to prevent any 'shame/embarrassment' that may result both to yourself and to the gift giver. I know this may come off as something weird since some people may want a more honest response or immediate feedback when it comes to gift-giving, but that's just how it is in our culture. You're always free to ask us though (in private) if we liked the gift or not ^^"

#28 I want to say the same goes to drinking, partying, and drugs however xD Those are things which are still frowned upon in our culture. And to be honest, whenever I see those in movies, it does kind of turn me off xD It doesn't mean that we're "uncool" or "boring", we just think that there are much better or healthier ways of "having fun".

#31 Is this true in France?! Man I would kind of prefer that instead of people being on their phones all the time xD This kind of goes with #20 in that Chinese are overly practical or logical, and don't read fiction as much as nonfiction. My Taiwanese friend is an exception though, she's a bibliophile who loves the feel of paper books compared to e-books, and it's a trait of her that I like a lot. Both the Philippines and Taiwan however have a huge fanbase when it comes to manga and anime though.

I'm all for reading outside of "designated reading" at schools especially. Reading fiction improves your vocabulary too, and can be quite fun! It helps you imagine and really invest in a world/story, and if you ask me something that I feel Westerners are better at, they're more in touch with their emotions and creativity, and are thus much more able to write compelling or original stories. Believe me, I've seen a fair amount of Chinese movies that rip off Western movie plotlines xD

#33 Nothing much to add on here..except that since I'm a "weird" person, Mom often jokes that she got the wrong baby from the hospital. xD

#35 True. While I agree with the care and concern that your fellow community can give you, the downside of this is we tend to only hang out with our own people, e.g Chinese with Chinese, Taiwanese with Taiwanese, etc. I've seen too that it's especially hard to make friends in Japan and Korea as a foreigner. Not only is there the language barrier, but the differences in culture too. In a way, Asians can be pretty close-minded on getting to know other cultures or actually making friends with people from other countries. I know this all too well being half-Taiwanese/half-Filipino, being neither "Filipino" enough nor "Taiwanese" enough. xD It's more of people here being too used to what they're comfortable with.

#36 Oh this is something I feel that Chinese students and other students from similar cultures should really improve on. xD How will people respect you if you don't speak your mind?

I felt bad especially for my Spanish teacher in college, granted it was an introductory course (Spanish I and II) but the amount of times that our teacher had to prompt a student to recite/speak even with clear hints already made her (and me too) extremely frustrated. The thing is, these are college students, I personally feel they don't have any reason to be so shy of speaking and technically by not doing so they're slowing the pace of the class too much and a lot of time is wasted.

Unfortunately you can't always be very vocal with your thoughts and opinions in most Asian cultures. I would say strive for that, but at the same time, play your cards well, especially if you're in a workplace setting.

If you made it to the end, thank you for reading and here's a cookie! 🍪 I'm not perfect and there's bound to be something I missed so please let me know if you spotted anything wrong. Feedback/questions are very much welcome and please feel free to share about your country/culture's differences or similarities!

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igarbagecannoteven · 2 years

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oh megs these are good ones i have a lot of questions. 1, 2, 7, 10, 20, 21, 28, 33, and 38 if you would like! -hazel

hiya hazel! thanks for sending these in i hope you're having a good evening!

1. which of your fics would you keep the basic plot of but rewrite completely? oooo that's a hard one! ig if we're talking about my posted fics (since i'm doing just that with some of my unposted fics lol) maybe roll the window down (let the air blown 'round you)? not because i think it's a bad fic or anything, i'm actually rather proud of it as a drabble, but i think it would be fun to take that from a little snapshot of a moment and expand upon it into a full length fic.

2. anything you'd like to write but feel unable to? i talked about one concept here, but another thing i'd love to write that i'm currently unable to write but am determined to get there eventually is my hotel california songfic concept. it will happen someday or i will cry but it'd be long and have a lot of moving pieces plus the plot is hard to puzzle out so overall it's just. not at my level atm. but i promise when i do finally become good enough to write it it'll knock everyone's socks off

7. your favorite ao3 tag? answered here and here, but my favorite unofficial ao3 tag is the "no beta we die like [insert character(s) with a canonic death]" it's just so fun and gets tailored for each fandom which i enjoy! (i'm down the rabbit hole of the batman 2022 fics and there's been a lot of "no beta we die like bruce wayne's parents" which is exactly my kind of morbid humor lol)

10. top three favorite fic tropes? slowburn!!! friends to lovers!!!!!! mutual pining!!!!!!!

20. do you work on a single project or many projects at a time? how does that work for you? i am currently working on well over thirty wips (it's grown significantly since the last time i counted so we could be around 40) and those are only the ones i'm *actively* working on so. yeah def many projects lol. it both works very well and not so well in that it's great bc no matter what mood i'm in to write a specific kind of vibe i have a wip ready and waiting to be expanded, but it also means it takes me even longer to finish things so. bit of a give and take thing going on lol.

21. can you accurately predict how long your fics are going to be? if you can, what’s your secret? answered here, but i didn't really go into the second part of the question so i'll touch on that! i can estimate shorter fics lengths largely because i tailor the idea to fit that word count (even if it's longer & less specific than a drabble/555 fic). generally this means the fic will take place over a short period of time with only one or two locations and with little need for exposition, as well as being okay with the reader only seeing a specific fragment of the character's/story's arc!

28. any writing advice that works for you and you feel like sharing? be kind to yourself and keep writing! writing is hard, and anyone who tells you differently is lying. but it's also a skill that can be honed over time as long as you practice it. if you let your insecurities hold you back then you will not get better at writing! so write something terrible! write something so bad you want to set it on fire and then write something worse! everything you write is part of the learning experience, even if you can't see it right away! and when you finish something or see a great line that you wrote, stop and say "hey! i did that! look at me!" because you deserve some love for your writing and there's no guarantee other people will give that to you! so you gotta give it to yourself first and foremost! if there's a writer whose style you want to emulate but don't know how, slow down when reading their stuff and look for the mechanics of the story! how do they make you feel this way? what about that line you loved makes it good? then take all that new knowledge and apply it to your own writing! after you've been writing for a few months/years, open up a word doc just to hype up how awesome you are and describe you overcoming writing obstacles like you're an action hero and then save it to read back on a bad writing day! don't be afraid to look your writing flaws in the eye! never delete anything permanently, you never know when you might want to look back on it/frankenstein it into something new!!

33. give your writing a compliment. (i'm referring to my own action hero writer doc for this one lol) i like that i'm able to tackle a lot of different kinds of stories and themes! you can call my writing many things but one-trick-pony is never one of them lol. also i love how i've grown and am still growing even though writing is very hard for me!

38. “this never happened” fix-it fics or “this happened but” fix-it fics? "this happened but" fix-it fics! in terms of writing, i like the challenge of having to wrestle around the flaws in canon so as to still create the story i want out of it! it's a lot harder to do imo *presses cheek against the glass of my percy weasley character breakdown that's been incomplete for several years and sighs* but it can be worth it in the end!

writing asks!

#wowza i went a little overboard in the writing advice section sorry about that lol #can you tell i just got out of my creative writing class? klsjdflksjd #these were really fun to answer thx for sending them in!#answering mail #hazel #long post #jsdlkfjdsldsjkjldsjg sorry

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thehollowprince · 4 years

Text

CONTEXT IS EVERYTHING

I got a reblog from one of the people that really dislike Scott McCall on one of my asks today. Like, an actual reblog and not just another anon chasing their tail in circles trying to convince me, themselves and the rest of the world that Scott was truly just Bad™. I was super surprised because that usually doesn't happen until after their leaders Athena and Cole give them the signal, but in the same breath I wasnt surprised because they had me blocked so that I couldn't reply. Par for the course, I guess, but I managed to snag screencaps of the reply and I'm here to just... go through them.

My favorite part of this is that they seemed to have been under the impression that my answer to that anon was a challenge of some kind.

For anyone interested, this was all in response to this ask that I answered yesterday. I went through and debunked all of their points and that's what I'm going to do again with this.

1: are we referring to the first season when they broke up after Night School because Scott "abandoned" them to save their lives from Peter? Because, yes, Scott did send her texts and a picture of them when they were together, and she got upset, and after explaining things, guess what, he did, in fact, leave her alone!

2: I've already talked about Scott's interaction with Isaac in Anchors ad nauseam, which can be read here and here. If anyone doesn't want to read the second one (I admit, I can get a little long-winded), what I said was that I didn't like that scene because of how out-of-character it was for Scott. As for Jackson, with the way he treated people, Scott in particular, I'm honestly surprised that no one beat him before that. Scott has the patience of a saint to deal with that for as long as he did without snapping.

3: what's really weird about this is how these people who really dislike Scott (and just by how that was phrased I think I finally found the anon) always fixate on that time Scott shoved Isaac. Just that one moment, and you know why, because their were no moments after that. Scott had no objections to Allison and Isaac hooking up (they never got around to actually dating).

4: this is one of those moments where I want to shake people and say "please watch the damn show!", because what this dingus left out, like everything else in their reply, was context (more on that in a minute). In that scene where Scott yells at Allison (Raving), its after their plan starts to fall apart. That's one of Scott's legitimate flaws in the show (conveniently overlooked in favor of fictional flaws). When things don't go according to plan, he gets frazzled and upset. It's why he and Stiles work so well together, because Stiles excelled at the spur-of-the-moment stuff. Their plan to capture Jackson (to save his life) and discover who his master was wasnt going according to plan. As a matter of fact, it went completely belly up, and a lot of people were in danger. Forgive me if I give a scared sixteen-year-old some leeway in that situation.

6: this is another instance where you just know that they either haven't watched the show, or they've seen the episode once (probably when it aired) and have never gone back to watch it again, relying solely on their Tumblr community to reaffirm their stance on the situation. What this person failed to include, was that the hunters were already hunting Isaac and Erica and Boyd. They were after Derek's pack since the moment Gerard came to town and declared war on all werewolves, whether they were involved in Kate's death or not (Omega). No thought as t all is given to why Isaac, Erica and Boyd were even in that situation to begin with. Why did Derek involve children in his issues?

What this person is also leaving out is that Scott and Allison didn't get to talk about what happened to her mother at the rave until season three. After she killed herself, she was manipulated by Gerard into actively hunting Derek's pack, and basically told Scott to leave her alone while she contemplated murder.

But once again, we have that double standard rearing its ugly head. Why is Scott supposed to tell everyone everything, but the same doesn't apply to characters like Derek or Stiles? Why didn't Derek tell Scott about his history with the Argents and why he hated them so much? Why didn't Stiles tell Scott about Donovan's or Josh's deaths or Theo's involvement? Why is that the fandom allows themselves to empathize with how these characters are feeling, with allowing them to be emotional in their decisions, but not the lead?

This is where context becomes incredibly important, because without context, we get people making blanket statements about a character in order to paint them in a bad light. Without context, I could make statements like "Stiles is a murderer for killing Donovan" or "Stiles nearly killed a police station full of people" or "Lydia was in league with Peter to bring him back from the dead". Those statements by themselves don't put those characters in a good light, do they? But once you add the context to those situations, it changes the entire perspective of things.

With context, I know that Stiles didn't murder Donovan, but that it was an accident that happened in a life-or-death situation. With context, I know that it wasnt Stiles that planted those explosives, but the Nogitsune possessing him. With context, I know that it was Peter's hijacking of Lydia's mind and untapped power that allowed him to rise from the dead. We're allowed to remember the context of these situations, but why not ever when it concerns Scott and his hardships? Another good example is painting Scott as an idiot because he had bad grades, while completely ignoring the circumstances around his life that led to his grades slipping, namely the werewolf shenanigans he was getting dragged into. The double-standard comes in when a legion of fans come to Stiles' defense for writing an essay on the history of circumcision for an Economics class, because "he has ADD/ADHD" all over one throwaway line about him taking Adderall.

Context is everything, and it's amazing how often it's completely ignored when it comes to Scott.

Two more points.

Sadly, this isn't just something specific to the Teen Wolf fandom. Fandom in general seem to think that romance is the final evolution of any kind of relationship. It says something about them that that's where they're putting the emphasis on Scott's and Allison's relationship, and not the fact that they found their way back to being friends after everything that happened between them in season two.

And then there's this gem.

Wait... what?

I am so confused by this, because I'm not talking about a character I hate, but rather defending one I actually live against a campaign of misinformation. They use the word irony, but I don't think it means what they think it does (this isn't the Alanis Morrisette song).

Final thoughts: I often find myself wondering why I even humor these people anymore because it doesn't matter what I say, or what evidence I produce, they're just going to go out of their way to twist everything into making it sound like I think Coolsville sucks. But I'm like a cockroach, I persist. It's going to take more than they can throw at me to make me stop calling out the racism and double-standards that permeate this fandom.

#scott mccall defense squad #teen wolf fandom problems #teen wolf meta #fandom racism #context is everything

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arethereanyoriginalusernames · 5 years

Text

Character Spotlight 1, P1

DAMIAN BEELZY

DISCLAIMER BECAUSE YES,

I do not own zoophobia. Zoophobia would belong to the lovely Vivian Medrano (I believe that's how her last name is spelt? Meh, I'll check later), otherwise known as Vivziepop

Also, while yes, this is a series where I am going to be critical of the source material, this is NOT a critique of vivziepop herself, as zoophobia is...2, 3 years old? It'd be unfair to judge her and her writing skills based on something she did a while ago.

I'm not doing this because I hate the source material either. On the contrary, I love Zoophobia. The reason I'm doing this is because I believe that if we find flaws in media we enjoy, we could all learn something valuable from it, and apply it to our own work.

If you disagree with something stated here, that's alright. Feel free to tell me what you think and ask questions. I'm not telling you what to think. I simply hope you enjoy.

I apologize for wasting your time.

-ATOUN

-----------------------'---------------

......So, I'm back.

I've already talked about Dame before in my favorite zp characters list. I've already stated why I like him. For anyone who might not have seen that list, let me give you a spicy recap. I found Dame to be one of the more entertaining characters throughout the comic and he was one of the better written characters during the 5-ish chapters we got from this series. I've already stated what I like about him, so let's just get into some things I don't like.

Oh come on, let's be honest. We all know why we're here. We all can see how much attention my least favorite character list got compared to my favorite list (even if admittedly some of that attention was me thanking people, which btw is something I should really do more often ). You're all here because you want me to tear a hole in this series. It's the same reason most people watch car racing. We don't wanna see who wins. We wanna see some epic car crashes.

Still, I want to start with critiques towards this character I don't agree with.

-----------------------------------

1. Damian is a bad main character because he only has negative character traits

A character having only bad character traits does not in itself mean a character is bad. If that character is poorly written, then it's a bad character. Also, I'd advise you read chapters 3 and 5 where Dame is shown to have some good traits about him. (Ex. Chapter 5 where he expresses concern for Addi )

2. Damian's design is too bland compared to other characters

While I agree with this to some extent, something I want to say here is that Dame is not unique in this regard. You could apply this to Spam, Vanex, Jackie, and Kayla as well. This is more aimed at those who single Damian out as the only one with this problem.

3. Damian is a bad villain

Damian is not meant to be the antagonist. He has been confirmed to be apart of the main cast, and you'll notice that in all of Vivz's villain line ups, he is not present. At most, he may a rival or adversary to either zill or Jack.

4. He is unoriginal as a character.

.....and any other characters in media today are? It's very rare in this day and age to come across anything 100 % original. It's even been proposed that there are no longer any original ideas left. Besides, a character being bad does not mean the character itself is bad. At most, it's a reflection on the writers laziness.

5. He's too edgy.

Ah yes, a commonly used complaint you'll hear spouted by angsty 13 year olds who think (despite the fact "edgy" characters are often fan favorites since they often turn out to be the most interesting / relatable characters ) that edginess = bad, and that anything bad happening to a character like, I dunno, EMOTIONAL ISSUES THAT REAL PEOPLE DEAL WITH makes that character edgy by default. Edginess can be done wrong, but not every edgy character is bad. Shut your pie hole, and hustle your buns out of my Italian styled soup kitchen, you cotton headed ninny mugginses. *cue air horns*

Also, hunny, if you hate edgy characters, oh boy, you do NOT wanna read ANY of my stories.

----------------------------------------

There. Now onto the main event. The butchering of a popular character. Let's get ready to break the hearts of fan girls everywhere! MUAH-HAHAHA!

Actually, I wasn't really able to find too much wrong with a character save for a) something completely subjective, b) something related more to a problem a have with zp's pacing as opposed to the character and c) a concern about how the character is written.

A) Damian being too much of a jerk. I disagree with this, but I didn't mention this above because. ...yeah, some people can feel that Dame is too much of a jerk, and I get why. It's more subjective as this attributes more to a subjective opinion on the character.

B) Damian's freak out in chapter 3. It's just the pacing in that scene that gets to me. It feels as though Dame goes from 0 to 6 in only a few frames and that entire segment where he's slowly becoming angrier and angrier feels rushed. According to Dame's character sheet (shown above ) Damian is supposed to be good at hiding his more demonic tendencies, but you would've never guessed that from this scene. This is something that kind of happens throughout zoophobia where the pacing with be slow, then all of a sudden, we just speed through an entire scene. For instance, the start of chapter 5 is pretty slow. However, we speed through the scene with Tom so fast, his appearance doesn't really do much or become really memorable. This more of a story problem and less of a character problem.

Now.... onto c.

First of all, by concern, I'm referring to something that might be a problem depending on how the rest of zoophobia turns out. The problem with both critiquing and defending Zoophobia is that we only have 5 chapters to go off of to determine its quality. This is something more like the tangent I had about Addison in my least favorite character list. I suggest for this, you grab a spoonful of salt and force it slowly down your throat as you read this as my concerns could easily be proven wrong here.

So what problem could I possibly foresee? Well, for an example of what I'm about to discuss, let me take you to a dark corner of the internet. The RWBY fandom. Specifically, let me introduce you to one of it's main cast

Blake Belladonna.

For anyone outside the loop, Blake is (currently ) one of the most hated characters in the series. There are many reasons why, but for this, I'm going to lock in on one problem in particular. Throughout Volumes 1-5, Blake was notorious for being an inconsistent character. Granted, in volumes 1 and 2, this was not a problem unique to Blake as the writers were still trying to figure out how to write her and the rest of the characters. They couldn't decide weather they wanted Blake to be the introverted, bookworm, straight man character, or to be silly. In later volumes, however, the problem just got worse. While all the other characters were sorted out and had settled on their own personalities, Blake's character seemed to change whenever she was in a new scene. While it's not bad for a character to have multiple sides to them, this is not how you want to do it. One scene, Blake was a bitch who wanted nothing more than to be left alone. Next scene, she was an emotionally mature figure helping her gay chameleon friend with issues. Next scene, she was a trauma victim. Next scene, she was a freedom fighter fighting oppression. Next scene, she was a badass haunted by her past. Next scene, back to bitch.

You see the problem?

This made Blake a hard character to fully connect with, and eventually, the fandom ended up agreeing that Blake is better whenever the scene isn't focused on her.

So what does this have to do with Damian? Well, one thing I noticed with him when I first dipped my toe into this fandom was the three main interpretations of Damian's character there seemed to be. One, a flirty, yet cartoon villainy jerk; two, a misunderstood, rebellious boi who was somewhat mischievous; or three, an overposessive, yet tolerable brat who hated not getting his way. Just to clarify, I'm referring to fans who had only read the comic and had not seen any posts about him from Vivz.

I pondered why during the third zoophobia rewrite, and I eventually came to this conclusion : the type of Damian fans seemed to remember depended on WHICH Dame they remembered best, Ch2, Ch3, or Ch5. Why? Well, it basically wolloped me upside the head after reading a post where Dame's personality was described as "diverse". Because yeah.... It's diverse alright.

Let's put Dame under a microscope for a second and go through each of his appearences, and his character sheet which (someone correct me if I'm wrong ) came out between ch. 2 and ch.3.

His character sheet lists the following about his personality : he ranges from mischievous to a downright brat, he loves entertaining and messing with others and making them laugh, he's flirty, he's open, he can be spoiled or arrogant at times, he gets bored easily, and he is secretly lonely but hard to impress and has an enormous heart. He also has a dark side he's good at hiding

CH 1. Appears to be that one kid who enjoys messing with others, acts slightly flirty towards Kayla, and doesn't seem to take much very seriously.

Ch 2. I've often described this Dame as sociopathic, because honestly, he kinda is. He doesn't care about anyone here but himself. He acts flirty towards Kayla, and torments both Zill and Jack just to further his goal of charming a girl he supposedly knows will "give into temptation eventually " and he's outright manipulative here. He even finds Zill's pain amusing to some extent and mocks him and Jack while aggressively leaning on his cousin (probably to assert dominance (can aggressively leaning be the new t-posing? Please? ))

CH 3. Dame still has some lack of empathy, finding the idea of his cousin being burned alive funny, however this seems to be limited to just Jack. He's a lot more fun loving here, as seen in him running around town with his friends. He darker side makes an appearance. We see him entertaining others at the beginning, and oddly enough, he's more self conscious here. He gets embarrassed by Tenta, is bothered when he is teased about his nanny, and is triggered by the priest spouting that tasty religious bull shit. His conversation with his parents also makes him seem like he needs his daddy's approval, and may have daddy issues.

CH 5. Here, he's more of a brat. He's possessive of Addi, and at the beginning, he's more flirty and care free.

Thus far, Vivz seems to switch between various sides of dame depending on what she needs him to be for a certain scene. As scene with Blake, this isn't something that really works out well. And it's not like Vivz can't write characters with different sides to them. We see her do this with Jack, Kayla, and Cameron. In one chapter, these characters can show more then one side to them. In Damian's case, he's like play-doh. He just molds into whatever Vivz needs instead of just being his own character.

Like I said before though, this is a concern. Future chapters can easily prove me wrong here. This is just the sad ramblings of a Canadian who is obsessed with covering themselves in glitter. Tell me what you guys think and if you enjoyed!

Now to wait for zoophobiapika to either message me or reblog this, quoting a line from it.....

#zoophobia #zoophobia damian

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bakagamieru · 7 years

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Gami do you think the news the other day about Harry's music being released around May could finally indicate OT's time running out? Because I see people thinking Zayn's second album and Liam's album are still gonna be tied to OT. I'm not sure why that would be but I think it's partly bc we're still stuck with all the beards etc. Dunno why Harry would be different but bc he's being kept silent rather than whored out it just feels that way.

Just keep in mind that no one in this fandom has more than half a clue what they’re talking about. It’s not anyone’s fault so much as that there just isn’t enough information available to us. Even if people claim to have information about legalities and entertainment industry procedure, there are always exceptions to the rule, 1DHQ are corrupt enough to do illegal things if they can get away with them (and they can), and no one really knows what’s going on with this particular situation.

This got long, so a summary of what’s under the cut:

the information about first option rights to solo material is probably coming from an unreliable source being taken out of context

if 1D’s original contract wasn’t already fulfilled by MITAM or MoM, it most likely wouldn’t be fulfilled by any further solo albums

MoM was actively sabotaged into the ground, but what we’re seeing with everything since is different, it’s more passive sabotage/stalling

if 1DHQ had control of all the upcoming solo albums and wanted to stall the releases to stall the contract, they would stall the later releases instead of the first

we’re almost done with the Syco BETRAYAL!!!! media campaign and it’s likely the end of that will mean 1DHQ no longer has much say in the official narrative, we’re waiting on the 2nd half of Louis’ cycle

Niall and Louis’ single releases may have been special exceptions allowed/forced/negotiated by 1DHQ to save face for Syco and Modest

there’s every indication 1DHQ’s contracts and control were supposed to end around March 2016, so it’s unlikely an album requirement is still unfulfilled, it’s more likely the holdup is elsewhere

we’ve seen things lately that look a lot like March 2016 although we’re stalled again at the moment

to actually answer the question: I don’t think Harry has special circumstances, but I think the numerous dates we’re getting around May/June are significant

Where Are Contract Terms Coming From?

I’ve never understood why everyone is so insistent that 1DHQ has any right to any of the boys’ solo albums. (MoM is different for several reasons). I think people are interpreting the BS that was spewed about Zayn to explain why he “left” as meaning that 1DHQ gets the first option for any solo stuff the boys ever do. Maybe there are other reasons for thinking this? But none that I’ve seen mentioned come to mind.

The idea of 1DHQ having rights to solo material is being taken out of context if it’s from the articles about Zayn, especially since this was all speculation in the media and we don’t have the actual text of the contracts. The article I remember had a specialist talking about common clauses in entertainment contracts and applying them to Zayn. It didn’t claim to have specifics about the 1D contracts.

The stuff about solo options was put out there to uphold the lies about Zayn leaving in the first place, so that alone makes the information less likely to have any truth to it. I know that people who think Zayn left of his own free will won’t question the information, but if you know Zayn leaving was fishy, you have to know it’s likely that the information isn’t valid.

An alternative and more reasonable explanation, if there’s even any truth to start with, is that if the boys wanted to release solo stuff while under their original contract or if they wanted to leave their original contract early, that 1DHQ would get first option on solo material. Neither of those situations would apply to right now.

I can’t see why any contract would give first option rights to a former contract for the rest of the artist’s life. 1D should be able to just not release anything for a few years while waiting to be able to perform as a group again rather than giving 1DHQ the satisfaction in that case.

If 1DHQ has control over 1D’s solo albums, it would have to be a new contract or negotiation and I don’t see that happening. It’s too big of a loss on 1D’s side to trade those rights for anything else.

1 Album = Any Solo Album or Compilation

I don’t see any reason why any of the upcoming albums should be under 1DHQ. We can never know for sure what deals and compromises have been made, but as far as we know, the conditions for the 1DHQ contract to end should have long been fulfilled.

There were conflicting reports of 5 albums vs 5+1 albums. MITAM would be the last album necessary to fulfill the contract if it’s a 5 album one. IF the original contract hasn’t been fulfilled, that still only leaves 1DHQ with 1 compilation or solo album under their control. If any of the boys’ solo albums would be considered sufficient to fulfill the group contract, there’s no reason that Zayn’s MoM wouldn’t have already fulfilled it.

It’s absolute BS that Zayn left the band or his contract with 1DHQ. If he had, he would have a “new team” that doesn’t actively sabotage him. That means MoM was under 1DHQ and should have fulfilled the +1 requirement if it exists. If MoM doesn’t fulfill the requirement, then none of the other solo albums would and there’s no reason that the 1D boys should be beholden to release those solo albums under 1DHQ control. At most, if the contract hasn’t ended for some reason, then they’d have to wait to release solo material. Coincidentally, THAT’S what we seem to be seeing more or less.

It’s possible that the album HAS to be a compilation album, but I don’t think that’s ever been stated that way anywhere and I don’t see why the contract would allow 1DHQ to stall the release of such an album for an undue amount of time. Given the group’s normal release schedule, last November would have been the reasonable time to release it.

Active Sabotage vs. Stalling

Something else that doesn’t add up with believing 1DHQ has a say over the solo albums is that we’re seeing the other boys being sabotaged in a very different way to Zayn. Zayn was screwed over at every turn.

Zayn never got to perform his hit single live because “it didn’t sound right live” even though he released a fantastic acoustic version of that very song.

Zayn’s hit single wasn’t given nearly enough time to breathe with more singles being released at an absurdly accelerated pace.

No one can even say for sure how many singles were released from MoM because of conflicting information from press releases, album stickers, and promotional follow through.

With just 1 single, Louis has made more promo appearances and interview appearances than Zayn was able to for his entire album. Ditto to an even greater extent for Niall.

Fashion and Gigi are ALWAYS promoted heavily while Zayn’s music gets left in the dust despite Zayn himself showing his priority is with the music.

The promotion of Zayn’s music always centered around Gigi and Perrie even when it didn’t make any sense for the songs to be about them according to when they were written and the lyrics.

Rather than 1DHQ actively trying to bomb the albums like they did with Zayn, the other solo albums aren’t coming out at all despite being teased.

Niall has released a single, but there’s no concrete date for an album release. It seems to have maybe gotten pushed back slightly since he first gave an estimate.

Louis has released a single, but he isn’t announcing intentions of an album despite making it sound like he’s planning on continuing to release material in the future.

Liam’s collaborations were supposed to be released last year and there were heavy hints of his album being released towards the end of last year, then they were moved to the beginning of this year, and we still don’t have a single.

Zayn’s 2nd album started being teased immediately after the release of Mom (why?) and a year later we still don’t have any further concrete info.

Harry’s album has been vaguely teased for quite some time and does look like it’s real based on how the teasing was done, but we have no solid information at all.

This isn’t all coincidence. It’s a pattern and it means something.

No Reason To Stall Next Album

If 1DHQ can earn money while still bombing the solo careers, I think they’d have already released at least 1 of the other albums already. It would have made sense to release 1 in the fall when fans were missing the normal yearly 1D album.

Even if they wanted to stall to stretch contract time, if we’re for some reason assuming they have control over all of the 1D solo albums, they’d still be able to stretch out the time between that 1st (not including MoM) release and the other 3 that would be left. There’s absolutely no reason that they would need to wait like this. If anything, the wait would happen between the 2nd to last and the last solo album release if that was the case.

Also, if they had control over the releases, I would think they would have had Harry go first to further the “Harry is solo and 1D is dead” narrative. As it is Harry is the last one to have solid rumors or release anything, so that actually serves 1D’s best interests instead of 1DHQ’s.

It might be overly optimistic, but I’d like to think that the reason we haven’t seen those albums is because they don’t belong to 1DHQ and they’ve been delayed because of 1DHQ finding ways to stall the end of their contracts. I don’t see why they’d have control over the albums of the other boys and yet wait to have the releases happen. This is conjecture, but I wouldn’t think a contract would allow one party to demand a release to fulfill the contract and also allow that party to stall the release for an undue length of time.

Solo Louis

While Louis and Niall have unquestionably gotten better promo for their songs than Zayn did, Louis’ solo career so far is odd. It’s obviously Steve Aoki’s team and Ultra Records that are pulling the weight when it comes to promo rather than Louis’ team. My opinion is that this is because Louis is a guest on Steve’s song rather than an equal in the release.

We went through the whole “this 1D member will stay with Syco because Syco said so” and then “this 1D member has BETRAYED!!!! Simon Cowell by signing elsewhere” thing with Zayn, Liam, Niall, and less so with Harry. They started the 1st part with Louis and we haven’t seen the 2nd part yet. Still, it’s the same pattern.

Syco never gave an official announcement of Louis signing with them. They gave vague statements like they did with the others. Louis’ solo song makes it seem like he must definitely be with Syco, but the song wasn’t released through Syco and he’s not on the Syco website. At most they may have tweeted about him on the official account a few times. If they’re using Louis guesting on Steve’s single as a way to legitimize the idea of Louis being with Syco, that would make sense. It would also explain why Syco isn’t lifting a finger to advertise. It’s not really their song or client.

I’m still waiting for that other story to drop. The timing of that is another reason to believe Syco at the very least doesn’t have control over any further 1D solo albums. They’ve been piecemealing the “1D has left Syco” information out as slowly as possible. We’re already down to Louis as the last member left that’s officially linked to Syco, so it’s got to be pretty close to the end of their control. If not, they would have drawn out the announcements even further apart than they already did.

Zayn still needs to end up leaving his current “new team” and joining one that actually gives a fuck about him, but he’s not officially tied to Syco publicly anymore, so I’m going to guess his part is already done in this cycle of BETRAYAL!!!!

Why’s Niall Different?

I realize that people will probably wonder why Niall got to release a definite solo single. I think the key thing is to remember appearances. If there’s a contract saying 1D can’t release solo material until X has been fulfilled or X amount of time has passed, it’s possible 1DHQ can still allow exceptions.

Allowing Louis to release a collaboration with Steve Aoki while everyone is led to believe Louis is with Syco serves Syco’s purposes. It makes Syco look like everyone in 1D didn’t just ditch them because they suck.

Allowing Niall to release a single under Modest does the same thing for Modest. It makes them look like they weren’t just ditched by everyone.

Since Modest and Syco are pretty incestuous and might both possibly have power, Louis releasing something supposedly under Syco and Niall releasing something under Modest might be the two companies scratching each other’s backs.

The other explanation for Louis is that he might have gotten away with a release since it’s actually Steve’s release, but that would beg the question why Liam wasn’t able to collaborate last year.

With Niall, I’m pretty sure he stayed with Modest as part of some sort of negotiation and that he’ll leave them when he can, but staying with Modest might have given him some special privileges. Personally I don’t think this is the case because 1DHQ was announcing that Niall would have a single the day after Niall straight out claimed he didn’t have plans. That doesn’t seem like they’re on the same page to me.

Can’t Forget Past Narrative Flow

I don’t know why all this BS is taking so long to go away, but there’s obviously got to be some reason. Still, I don’t think this was the original plan because the flow of narrative has headed towards non-1DHQ control and then abruptly reversed at least once back in March 2016. I would say we’ve seen some other mini instances a few times since then too.

If they knew they had to release several solo albums under 1DHQ, then it doesn’t make sense for them to be preparing for the end of the contract in March 2016. At the very most there’s 1 unreleased album they need to fulfill the contract and I personally doubt that’s the issue. There are so many ways 1DHQ could have been dicks and found some sort of loophole or leverage to try to stretch things out.

New Preparations

as inappropriate and infuriating as it is, the anxiety and eating disorder stuff from the end of last year seems like a probable way that they’re going to have Zayn leave his current BS team

announced that Zayn’s Japanese shows were NOT cancelled and were instead moved to June which is different from the norm with his sabotage

resurgence of Zayn being publicly ok with 1D, Louis, Niall, and Liam (still waiting on Zarry though)

rumors about a full 1D group reunion towards the end of the year from professional fans and other sources

everybody is due/rumored to release an album later this year, everyone piling up like that seems odd unless it’s because contract restrictions are finally over

Louis is no longer bearding with Danielle

there was some movement that looked like it was heading towards the end of babygate 1.0 like the closing down of some Briana/Freddie UA’s with vague explanations given, Briana’s old boyfriend being brought up in the news again, etc.

we still haven’t gotten an official confirmation of babygate 2.0 and the papers have been pushing a separation narrative with Chiam

This happened more towards the end of last year and beginning of this year. Right now we’re stalled again, but all of this happened around the same time, so my guess is that it’s March 2016 again. Now we just have to wait and see if things go through this time.

The Actual Question

I always do this thing where I talk around the problem and forget to answer the question directly.

I don’t think Harry has a special circumstance with his album. There’s not a concrete date for anyone’s albums right now, Harry’s included, and I think that’s because they don’t know 100% when they’ll be free.

However, the fact that everyone thinks they’ll probably be free in May/June probably means that they can see an end. Zayn’s Japan concerts were moved to June, Niall said he’d release his album somewhere around June or July, the word is that Harry’s album might be in May, and Liam’s album should be soon although it may get pushed back more towards April or May.

Hopefully everything goes right and we finally get clear of all this nonsense.

#Anonymous #one direction #team change #1dhq sucks!#speculation #bakagamieru

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