#consuming media critically but still consuming it lol

[princemonday]

only taemin could make a song about his "rizness" and still come off like a badass

#when he “up on the boeing” yessirrrr #i dont know man the song is a mess but....i kinda fux with it #me with kpop at this point #consuming media critically but still consuming it lol #lee taemin #taemin #shinee #ksoloists #...💌

[transmascwillbyers]

Me: Alright, time to sit down and work on this totally new, original, great writing project I have! It's such an inventive, fully original idea!

15 minutes later

My brain: Huh, this relationship really reminds me of byle-

Me: Okay, then, let's jump this other new, original, great writing project I have! Gosh, the concept is so cool, it'll be great!

10 more minutes later

My brain: Whoa, your main character is so Mike Wheeler coded-

Me: You see? This. This is why we can't have nice things.

#byler #no because in every single thing i write i always have like a couple elements or characters i can relate back to stranger things #although i also can relate almost every piece of media i consume back to stranger things so maybe it's not my writing #it's just my media criticism #either way it's been months and this fandom still has me in a chokehold lol #it's me. hi. i'm the problem it's me.

[stayatsam]

why has homestuck been trending on twitter for the past few days did something happen

#the forbidden h word im sorry im sorry #i had a little autistic obsession with it as a teen as many people did in 2012-2016 #also yes i consume media critically and no i didnt read the epilogues nor am i still into it #just getting those all out there lol

[troonwolf]

I don’t understand people who are like “yeah the show is shit here’s everything wrong with it” and then you go onto their blog and it’s all gifsets from the show

like you realise by continuing to watch shit, when you know it’s shit, will mean shit keeps getting fed to you, right? this is exactly why these crappy studios can get away with tearing apart original work with no respect for the material, because bitches complain then still give them money and advertising

no offense but are y’all just, like...dumb?

#I'm sorry but I go to some of these blogs and all I see is big clownfaces everywhere #it's the same with the D/A fandom which Ieft for similar reasons #people will be like ''here's a huge essay on why Dr/agon A/ge is the worst video game writing everywhere'' #and then immediately after they're talking about wanting to buy DA/4 when it comes out #like I'm sorry but if you do this you are basically a hopeless consumer #exactly the type of sucker that these assholes want lol #because all you do is spread controversy for their media while still buying their media #meaning they actually profit MORE because of your criticism #becuse you still watch/play the thing and encourage other people to do so also #like why even pretend you have standards or that your opinion has worth #when you're clearly happy to continue consuming trash #and paying for fucking AA prices for it too in the case of shitty games #sometimes on release #sometimes even pre-ordered #just so you can complain about how bad it is #while still giving them money so they can keep pumping shit content into the world

[transmutationisms]

I was reading your porn addiction post, and I just wondering what you consider addiction if not some sort of disease? I also think porn addiction and stuff in that vein is fake but I also can’t think that addiction is just people choosing to be that way even though they hate it. I say this as someone who was actually addicted to substances like I feel like there was something going on there that can’t be explained by the idea that addicts just choose to be like that. (I don’t think you think addicts just choose to be like that I just don’t really know any alternative schools of thought lol) I don’t mean this in an accusatory way I’m sorry if it comes off that way, I am genuinely curious what you think cause your posts are always so enlightening.

first of all you have to keep in mind that 'addiction' has no singular meaning. even if we confine ourselves to talking about psychoactive substances, 'addiction' can range from the 'classic' case of increasing, compulsive, self-destructive use, to cases where a person's usage may actually be stable in the long term but they're chemically dependent on the substance (think: the way doctors talk about chronic pain patients who are dependent on opioid painkillers; then compare to how they talk about psychiatric patients who are dependent on SSRIs. for example). you can get dx'd with a 'substance use disorder' purely on the basis of how much you take/consume, even if you don't feel it's causing impairment in your life, particularly if you let slip that someone else in your life has expressed concern or tried to stop you. race and class contribute to distinctions here as well, where certain people have leeway to be seen (even in a psychiatric setting!) as 'experimenting' with substances, or using them 'recreationally', where the same usage pattern in a person who's otherwise marginalised might be flagged as 'addictive' and in need of intervention. all of this gets even messier when psychiatrists and physicians try to justify applying discourses of 'addiction' to eating, gambling, sex, social media, and so forth. recall that 'addiction' in the roman republic and middle ages had contested legal and augural meanings that could be positive as well as negative, and that by the seventeenth century it was largely used as a reflexive verb with a predominantly positive meaning—as in, "we sincerely addict ourselves to almighty god" (thomas fuller, 1655) or, of plato, "he addicted himself to the discipline of pythagoras" (thomas hearne, 1698). it was not until the twentieth century that "addict" came to be widely used as a noun defining people who were passively suffering on a medical model.

i don't mean to be evasive here but to point out that asking "how do we define addiction besides a disease model?" presumes already that the disease model is the singular and inescapable way of understanding addiction in the first place—this is not true historically or presently. addiction is a muddled concept and has always involved moral discourses; attempts to present it as a 'pure' or 'objective' medico-scientific judgment are in fact recent and still unstable.

to the extent that it is useful to talk about addiction as a disease—that is, as a state of suffering that is imposed upon the sufferer, that is a disruption of a desired state of health and well-being—i think it is critical to keep in mind that such a disease is social as much as biological. you can start here by pointing out that substance use is often precipitated by the necessity of withstanding miserable life conditions (ranging from extreme poverty, domestic abuse, social marginalisation, &c, to the 'standard', inherently alienating and miserable conditions anyone endures in capitalist society). but there are other social factors that contribute to the presentation of substance use as compulsive, escalating, and self-endangering. eg, lack of a safe, steady supply is a huge factor here! when people are forced to rely on inconsistent, unregulated supplies to get high, this contributes greatly to drug 'binge' behaviours and endangers users. there is also the fact that drug users are often already marginalised (esp along lines of race, class, ability, &c) and are then further marginalised on the basis of being drug users. what would substance use look like in a society where using didn't relegate people to the social margins, or render them socially disposable? what if people had social supports, and weren't forced to toil away their entire lives at jobs that make them miserable for pay that's barely enough to live on? what sorts of patterns of substance use would we see then? so then, is it the drugs themselves that are the problem here, purely neurobiologically? or is there a larger story to tell about how people come to exist in such a state where substance use is increasingly hard for them to engage in with safeguards; where being a substance user causes them to lose whatever degree of social connection and support they may have had, which was often insufficient already; where they are often unable to integrate substance use into a full and connected life because they are told they must either give up enjoyment of a substance entirely, or be continually branded 'relapsing', 'non-compliant', 'dangerous', &c &c.....?

at the end of the day i don't think it's helpful or accurate to talk about addiction as a disease because it decontextualises drug use from all of these factors: why people do it, why it becomes harmful for some, why it's assumed we must simply 'stop' and 'resist' in order to 'get better'. disease explanations blame the substances themselves on a reductive bio-mechanical level (& again, this becomes especially untenable philosophically when we think at all about 'behavioural addictions'). the point here isn't to say that addicts are just blithely waltzing into addiction—or, indeed, to say that drug use is intrinsically a bad thing that should be avoided! it's a pretty typical feature of human existence that many of us enjoy consuming substances that alter our mental and physical states, and that's not inherently bad. when i push back against a disease model of addiction, i'm not invoking a model of personal responsibility or individual choice. i'm asking how we can understand drug use within a much broader social and historically contextualised frame, and how that can help people who are in many different states wrt drugs, from 'currently engaging in patterns of usage that feel compulsive and terrible' to 'never done a drug in their life'.

#drugs

[incorrect-riordanverse]

It's really disheartening that Rick Riordan stance on the war I understand that he wants to be neutral on this stance but in my opinion by becoming neutral he only worsening the issue as many Palestines are dying that are mostly children, how the majority of Israeli are supporting the Genocide of Palestine, and how the government is trying so hard (but miserably failing) to justified the genocide. I will hold him accountable for what he said on this issue as during this period the choice is basically "you are with us or against us."

Part of me wishes he will realize what he said was wrong and understand the bigger issue that plays at hand. I will criticism for his actions as how can a man who promotes LGBTQIA and representation of minorities and disabilities in his books turn a blind eyes to Genocide of people. However we can only wait and see on his next move.

One last thing about your previous you said you don't group Riordan with other authors where do you would group him with? Also this is more on an opinion base answer but many people are boycotting companies that support Israel there as been another post on Twitter on boycotting authors. Rick Riordan happens to be one of them. Do you believed that he should be boycotted with other authors or he should be properly educated and apologized for his previous statement? If you believed he should be boycotted what do tou have to say to those who might have the mentality of "separate the art from the artist"

thank you for this ask, and i completely agree with you! it is extremely hypocritical of him considering what he preaches for in his books. i think he’s convinced he has properly addressed the apartheid by using very vague language that can be applied to anything, and in doing so, he’s addressed nothing really.

your first question on who i would group him with— probably other authors who are doing the exact same as him in their virtue signalling. i always like to link my other blogs to each other, so i don’t think it’s a secret that i have a red queen account and i’m pretty passionate about that. unfortunately, victoria aveyard is another fantasy author who has literally wrote a whole four-book series on the uprising against oppression but is now playing neutral in her address of the apartheid. rebecca yarros is in the same boat, although i haven’t read ‘fourth wing,’ fans have said there are large themes of oppression within the book. so if i had to group riordan it would probably be in the ‘i-like-to-write-about-it-for-profit-and-praise-only’ group.

in terms of boycotting, i think that’s a great idea! i would also like to remind everyone that the percy jackson tv show is coming out in a little over a month, but disney is a huge industry financially supporting israel as well ($2 million in funding), which is obviously far more damning than a poorly written address by one person. there is a boycott happening for disney as well— and the pjo show will be released on disney + . i implore everyone to not watch it on that platform!! personally i will be pirating it online (idk if i’ll get into trouble saying that here but lol oh well), because im pretty sure the boycott is only for withdrawing financial support, not simply consuming media.

i feel like separating art from the artist only works if that artist is… like, dead, and you’re using that art and its values as a historical insight to how the world was during its time. you can still like a piece of work that has a problematic artist, you can engage with the work (to an extent). but separating art from the artist barely works because either:

to engage with the art is to support the artist in some way, so that artist is making money based on your interaction with that (particularly in the case for singers and streaming of songs)

that artists’ views and values are so rancid that it’s literally embedded within the text itself. to ignore it is harmful.

harry potter is my all-time favourite example to use, because jkr is the scum of the earth, and her views are entrenched in her work. a lesser known example is sarah j maas and her books (she’s also not as dogshit as jkr, but then again, its not hard to be a better person than her). i’m not going to bag on these people for liking things by problematic people (would be hypocritical of me), i just think it’s cowardly not to address it when you come across it, or at least admit to it. to simply write things off as ‘separate to the artist’ is like purposefully turning off your critical thinking skills.

on whether boycotting or an apology is enough— if riordan did apologise and used specific language and not the nonsense he had in that blog, expressed his remorse for his ignorance and then actually did or said something to support the people of palestine then, yeah. that’s fine and that’s how we learn ig. but he should educate himself, too many activists, people from the arab community and especially palestinians are expected to be all-knowing and to educate everyone else on an already draining and personal tragedy. it’s been exhausting for me, i can’t imagine what they’re going through. if riordan (or anyone) needs to be educated, he should do it himself, and (at least in my opinion) i don’t think the info is very hard to find now. it’s just about weeding out the misinformation.

i think boycotting is a good idea as of now. it can serve to be a catalyst for self reflection for many people. also, as much as i hate most online discourses, talking about it online needs to happen. i don’t want these authors to forget, for a moment, about the ignorance they posted online during a time of international crisis.

#sorry if this is so messy. its 3am where i am rn #i finished two exams today and my brain is deaddd #but ty for this ask! #i have sooo many opinions about the whole ‘separate the art from artist’ and when to boycott something #because usually im actually not a big fan of boycotting. i just dont think it works most of the time (at least recently) #boycotting as a way of ‘canceling’ someone is something i think is a bit silly for instance. #esp when people gonna forget about what that person did in like. two months at most #but i feel like this issue (especially for corporations funding millions of dollars into genocide) is big enough to warrant a call for- #-everyone to abstain financially from things #like it isnt someone saying some dumb shit online. theres a whole country being wiped out. #unfortunately so many corporations fund israel. an insidious amount. so just do ur best to navigate thru it #riordanverse #incorrect riordanverse #rick riordan #hoo #heroes of olympus #percy jackson #pjo #trials of apollo #toa #ask #anon #free palestine #percy jackson disney+ #pjo tv show #rewriting

[olderthannetfic]

I think the discussion about if loli guys are into actual children misses the point tbh. Even when they’re well aware that it’s not actual children and they don’t WANT it to be and they’re specifically into the non-realism of it…. A lot of loli (and moe, which is not unrelated since it’s rooted in the aesthetics of it but applied outside the specific genre) in anime is still about this fantasy of women as helpless and innocent and needing to rely on you and, above all, not having real world problems. Granted, a lot of romantic fantasy is like that, arguably especially stuff about women aimed at men…. But I think that is what personally makes me not really want to deal with guys who are super into it that in my own personal life. Like, let’s not pretend that a certain kind of guy getting used to expecting women to be like that in anime and video games hasn’t had some real consequences for women in nerd culture who insist on being full human beings over like, the past decade and a half lol. Like it’s just hard to imagine that being the fantasy of a guy who specifically wants a take-charge, dominant, independent kind of woman over like…. Idk, lady villains stepping on his face or something, lol

I’m hardcore anti-censorship and don’t believe that preferences in romantic or sexual fantasy in fiction has an exact relationship to what we want in real life…. But it seems strange and anti-intellectual to argue that media *never* has that influence. Like, just divorce this from arguments about porn and “problematic shipping” for a second. There are a ton of people, of multiple genders but especially over age 20 or so they’re more likely to be men, who seem to think that if they’re friendly enough to someone of their preferred gender (or really, opposite gender, since this is based on an “everyone of my preferred gender is a potential partner” norm that people into the same gender just can’t assume) they’ll eventually reciprocate their feelings, or they *should*. The Nice Guy thing. Do you really think that the numerous romantic comedies that have that as a dynamic, or the video games whose “romance” mechanic is “give them gifts and talk to them enough and they’ll eventually be a love interest possibility,” doesn’t play into that at least somewhat? Like, we’re all smart enough to know that Stardew Valley and Harvest Moon aren’t like real life romance, I think…. But did you know that yet when you were 13? Do you think *everybody* who plays those knows that?

Take it out of the context of romance at all. If you’re a lawyer, how many times have you heard people who have misconceptions about what you do based on legal dramas? Or for doctors, about medical dramas?

And that doesn’t put any responsibility on the creators to change stuff (I mean, the “reward = romance” thing is just a very easy video game mechanic for instance, and programming in something that more closely resembles actual romance would be impossible, and it’s not like it’s any less realistic than like, how you fish or mine or farm in those games), it’s still on consumers to think critically (again, that the video game that has you fighting slime monsters in mines or where you grow broccoli in just a few days and harvesting crops is just one click isn’t going for realism perhaps. People wring their hands about the general popularity of farming games like it’s yearning for some political/cultural thing, and forget that the specific fantasy is it without all the toil. Just like plenty of people love playing restaurant games who work(ed) in restaurants irl and hate(d) it). But like, we talk about “society” influencing people in terms of stuff like racism and sexism. Mass media is part of society. This is why a lot of feminist criticism over the years has focused on critiquing broad patterns that recur in media, to the point that they become societal trends — and a lot of people take this in *unconsciously*.

I think what that one earlier anon meant with “especially with porn” is that porn shouldn’t be like, an exception to this. It’s kind of weird how people who are all for media analysis of problematic patterns in other kinds of media think it suddenly doesn’t apply if it’s media designed for the purpose of getting off. And sure plenty of us are into things in porn we have no desire for IRL (I love mpreg and I love kidfic, I have less than zero desire to have kids and especially be pregnant irl, to the point that it’s actually a squick for me in *het* fic), plenty of people are into specifically the fantasy version minus the Issues they have with that stuff in the IRL version. But… that’s not everyone. Some people’s porn preferences do match up with what they’re into irl. Even when they don’t, as with the loli example there’s often some other particular reason they like that

I don’t think it’s right to go around asking strangers to go around explaining their porn preferences to you, but I think it’s fair to think about it yourself (in the interest of introspection if nothing else), and to critique broad patterns in fandom, same as we would for any other kind of media. Why is porn the special exception for which all the other rules about 101 media analysis don’t apply?

--

[mobgoblin]

As someone who has steadily kept up on almost all Watcher shows and side projects, this backlash really does come down to how out of touch the guys have become, even before making Friday’s announcement.

Ryan and Shane (certainly the biggest draw to the channel) got their start with lower-brow, boyish humor and riffing off each other. Can’t forget the capitalism-critical and “power to the underdog” attitude that resonated with so many fans early on either. Now though, if you watch/listen to Pod Watcher, it’s hard to overlook just how unrelatable they’ve become in recent years. Which is whatever—it’s not like we only consume media in order to intimately relate to hosts/characters—but it does mean they’ve lost something integral from the charm that netted them their initial success.

To add. If you watched their latest season of Too Many Spirits, they weren’t even funny, just trashed and off-putting, lol. Frat-style drinking by a backyard pool and Ryan overhand throwing bones at a neighbor’s dog for barking.

Maybe not as bad for Shane, but the egos have really grown uncomfortably outsized. And at some point I got tired of watching videos based around lavish over-indulgence. Even if Steven’s videos cost less to produce than Ghost Files (I assume), they clearly rub viewers the wrong way on principle alone.

All in all, and not to minimize their hard work in getting out the content that they do, I think the Watcher guys should’ve been much more careful in considering this move and its rollout.

For years, I’ve maintained a Patreon subscription to a separate and unrelated funny-guy trio (for the same monthly price Watcher Streaming is now asking). However. The group I subscribe to is more than situationally-funny-sometimes, and always come across as grounded, emotionally intelligent, and likable people. Which makes me want to see them succeed and help how I can (though I would still be able to access 95% of their content even without subscribing).

So yeah, idk. Steven Lim driving a Tesla and wanting a second one or whatever is kind of just the tip of the iceberg.

#watcher #⬆️ I think this is why people have felt as insulted as they have #I know there are some calling the level of backlash unfair. But………… #I was talking with someone and we almost even wondered if this was actually an exit plan. lmao. #like they know they can’t do it forever so they figure they’d do another couple years juicing their most loyal of fans #before bowing out with a comfortable amount 💰 put away (not to be pessimistic tinfoil hat gang. lololol) #Because it really does seem like poor decision-making #where business model would do very little to gain new viewers #and subscriber base would amount to small-small percentage of current fans #a number that will just dwindle over time #Youtube #I will also say I only sometimes watch Charlie’s stuff but I thought this was a pretty solid and informative summation

[tocomplainfriend]

Can I be honest? I feel kind of guilty that Alastor is one of my favorite Hazbin characters, considering he is a racist stereotype of Creoles and Vodou practitioners. I just want to take him and completely rework his character into something less lazy and offensive. I love his personality and his backstory could potentially be very interesting and unique, but Vivzie is so bad at writing any sort of marginalized character that she always just ends up making offensive stereotypes. At this point I feel guilty that I even like her shows to begin with since they're just so full of stereotypes!! ;_;

That you are aware of the problem is amazing already! It's difficult to consume many pieces of media with these problems. It doesn't make you a bad person to still enjoy part of it, as much as you knowledge of the serious problems it has.

I enjoy a lot of characters and concepts in Helluva and Hazbin- that's why it makes me sad, all the bad stuff that it has. But I did like Millie before unhappy campers. I know the amount of effort the animators pun on it. I like Tom and Katie. I love Nifty and Sir Pentious. But there are bad and hurtful things important to point out and criticize.

Also, where there are problems, there is always an opportunity for people like you to create something good upon it. The amount of beautiful redesigns are crazy.

(either way I'm not watching Hazbin in Amazon Prime lol)

Take Aggretsuko for example, I really liked the series (before the final season). But how they dealt with many problems, it wasn't good. The way they develop Haida and Retsuko's relationship was awful. Haida needed therapy, not a screaming match. They tried to deal with the problem of Homelessness, they drop the ball on that one.

I also liked so much about the potential of rwby, but God damn. The tournament part of the story and what happen in it WAS CRAZY. But it has many flaws in writing, many having a bad take on racism and discrimination.

I love Dragon Ball and like Naruto. It doesn't delete how bad the pervert jokes were. -And the problem it has had with writing female characters and otherwise.

-and so on and so forth.

#vivziepop critique #vivziepop critical #helluva boss critique #helluva boss criticism #hazbin hotel critical #helluva boss critical #hazbin hotel criticism #hazbin hotel critique #aggretsuko critical #rwby critical #anime critique

[writingquestionsanswered]

One of the most common advice for new writers is to read and engage w books/shows/movies more critically, what does that mean exactly? how do you train yourself to find flaws or inconsistencies or things that were done well in media you consume? (esp when the person who has created these is definitely way more skilled than you are lol)

Learning to Consume Stories Critically

The first thing to learn is that what's good and what's bad about stories is entirely subjective. In other words, there's no single standard that decides that some element is good or bad, or done well or poorly. This is why book, movie, and TV show reviews are all over the place. When something is done really well or very poorly, you might have more audience agreement, but that still doesn't mean you won't find people who loved it. For example, on Rotten Tomatoes, the 2002 movie Pinocchio starring Roberto Benigni has a 0% with all 55 movie critic reviews being negative. However, 33% of the audience who rated the movie rated it at 3.5 stars or above. So, while movie critics panned the movie across the board, there were people who watched it and enjoyed it. Likewise, Colleen Hoover's book It Ends with Us sold 2.7 million copies in 2022 and was the year's best selling book in the U.S. It has over 286,000 ratings on Amazon where it has 4.7/5 stars. However, almost 21,000 of those reviews are 3-stars and below, with 4,000 being 1-star. So, despite the fact that this was a huge bestseller and most people agreed it was a good book, there were still thousands of readers who disagreed.

So, you have to start by learning what YOU think is good and bad about stories. When you watch a TV show or movie, or read a book, pay attention to what you love about the story and what doesn't work for you. When something does or doesn't work for you, think about why. Talk to others and see if they agree or disagree with your opinion. If they disagree, see if you can engage them about why they feel the way they do. Sometimes they may have information that changes your opinion.

Once you get a good feel for what YOU like and dislike in stories, then you can start paying attention to reviews from others. When you finish reading a book, write your honest review, then go see what others thought. Read a few reviews that rated the book higher or lower than you did. Book review videos are great, too. See if you can find some professional reviews, too, and see what book critics are saying. Do the same thing with movies and TV shows. Figure out what you liked and didn't like first, then go to audience and critic reviews to see what others thought. Over time you start to get a more solid sense of what you like and what others like, and that helps you find a happy middle ground (if you want to) when writing. :)

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

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[zsakuva]

If it’s not too personal, I wanted to ask:

How did you learn how to sing and va so well?

What’s your mbti?

I’ve considered studying film because it’s something I’m mildly interested in, and I’m not sure what else to study. From your experience, is it worth it? Even just for the skills?

Happy early birthday, by the way!!

Sing, I can't really LOL. VA work has been plenty of trials and errors, as well as honing skills through the years, seeing what works and what doesn't, etc. I still have a lot to learn!

INFP-T

My course was great for critical thinking. You see things in a different light, and themes come to you quicker when consuming many types of media. It's also good to see behind the curtain of what these productions actually entail, and it's honestly astounding! I really enjoyed my course because I've applied some lessons to my work, and if you like collaborating, it's a wonderful way to network!

Thank you!

#zsakuva

[kiku070]

proship/anti discourse is stupid. revive media literacy. the relationship between fiction and reality is inherently complex and can never be simplified into words.

fiction is a foggy reflection of society and the best we can do is be critical of what we consume. we should be able to freely express ourselves while at the same time understand the power of art and bear that power responsibly.

whenever this discourse comes around, i tend to think of the effects art has had on culture, particularly the jaws movie and how minecraft devs wont allow "hostile" real life mobs. arts and communication hit different; we need critical thinking more than ever.

be critical and responsible for what you create and consume.

also I will still judge others for what they produce along with their intent lol

#rambles #discourse

[rivetgoth]

Man there is this weird historical revisionism that happens with terminally online “alt” posers where they like, assume that all the cool underground alt counterculture stuff of decades past were easily accessible within the mainstream and nowadays it’s been suppressed or hidden or is even entirely nonexistent in favor of the “lame” mainstream media. And like, I have said before and will say again and again that there is PLENTY to criticize regarding the entertainment industry and arts as a whole in the 21st century, it has not just been some forwards progression of positive change and improvement and I know that, but it also just frustrates me ENDLESSLY because the reality is the things y’all are idolizing were NOT mainstream. You were not guaranteed to walk down the street in the 80s and hear gothic rock and industrial or even more accessible synthpop that remains popular today, there was plenty of absolute shit music in the 80s lol. Movies were not just inherently better 20-30-40 years ago and in fact plentyyyy of major blockbuster hits absolutely sucked shit and there was an insane amount of garbage being manufactured by corrupt production companies. Fashion was not all cute GNC boys with long hair and eyeliner or whatever. It was not like some safehaven for queer gendernonconformity it was LITERALLY the AIDS crisis. And the stuff y’all are idolizing are now extremely popular in hindsight! Everybody knows Nine Inch Nails and The Cure and The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Hellraiser! This is household name media!

I just constantly see posts that are like “back then there was UNDERGROUND COUNTERCULTURE EVERYWHERE and now all we have is TikTok and Taylor Swift and Marvel 💔😡” and honestly it makes you sound like clowns. You are not finding the underground counterculture because it is fucking underground. The stuff you’re consuming from years ago withstood the tests of time. But there were not goth clubs lining every street corner and cool cult classics coming out every fucking week back in the day lol. This stuff was considered underground, alternative, cult, etc for a reason. You are comparing the most successful underground media from decades ago with mainstream media of today and honestly all it actually reveals is that you don’t really care about keeping underground art alive and uplifting the artists who are doing so now in modern time, or even have the knowledge of how to do so. You aren’t finding today’s “underground” subcultures because THEY ARE UNDERGROUND. It takes effort beyond looking at what’s trending on social media or what’s getting major theatrical releases. You have to engage with music that is not even on Spotify, film that at best may run the festival circuit. And, frankly, some of y’all have wildly rose tinted glasses about what good art is and are judgmental as fuck of anything that forces you to expand your horizons-- Alt music genres have a huge amount of fusion within them now. Deal with it. Lots of y’all sound genuinely racist with your aversion to alt music drawing more and more inspiration from rap and hip hop. CGI is a relatively accessible and still very experimental art form with tons of potential and many poor or indie artists are experimenting with it. Deal with it. CGI is not inherently evil or ugly. Genres evolve and sounds change. Back then plenty of the experimental stuff that we find cool now was made with dogshit quality because it was just people scraping together the few resources they could afford to make something. You only think it’s better because it’s older lol. You are the alt TikTok NIN fan Hot Topic equivalent of people who think they were born in the wrong generation because their idea of the 50s is poodle skirts and milkshakes at checkered diners.

I would be less of a cunt about this topic if the result was not a staggering amount of people calling themselves fucked up deranged alt punk gothic freaks only to turn around and quite literally say that there is no longer an alternative/underground subculture and that capitalism has destroyed any semblance of independent or experimental art because they are not fucking looking for it. Which in turn shits on so many struggling indie creators desperately trying to get their art out there within an increasingly tumultuous, hostile, anti-artist landscape of capitalist modern society. Engaging with underground work does actually require digging for it. The underground work you are engaging with from the past is literally no longer underground. If you exclusively enjoy alt music from the 70s or 80s or exclusively enjoy oldschool cult classics that is FINE but I better not see “back in the 80s we had Cronenberg and Carpenter and now we only have Marvel and Star Wars :( Why did they get Bauhaus and now we only get Billie Eilish? Why is there no more community, no more subculture, no more actual interesting art?” as if these are normal comparisons and actual reasonable observations rather than an admittance of your lack of understanding of the way that underground art actually evolves or even a desire to seek it out. Problems with modern industries aside, with social media and the internet and the improvement of technology like personal cameras and digital art programs both creating and finding independent art is EASIER now than EVER in many ways. You can discover enough music to last you your entire life from the comfort of your IPHONE.

[hierophant-meme]

Random late-night thoughts because insomnia & i ran out of meds. Does anyone in the Lupin III fandom sometimes feel guilty for liking it? And not just Lupin but for anime as a whole or for things that have problematic stuff. But then it’s hard to talk about it to ppl because they just assume that you like the problematic parts which you absolutely do not, but it still looks bad because you’re supporting the ppl who make it. And then you try to pirate/thrift the stuff because you like it but don’t wanna give money to the weirdos that make it. And it’s not that you brush the problematic stuff to the side, it’s just you focus on the good stuff about it because it contains themes that wouldn’t otherwise be in media deemed “safer” to consume?

For example like there’s ppl that think you criticizing something is complaining or you liking even a little bit of it makes you a bad person. And even if you wanted to watch media that doesn’t have the themes you’re looking for (ie lgbtq+, intentional or unintentional neurodivergent/mental illness representation, changing the system/anti-government portrayal) there aren’t a lot of “safe” media options to consume. Like okay if Lupin III wasn’t written for someone like me, where else can I get the unintentional but pretty good AuDHD, polyamory, bi/pan rep? Where else am I gonna find a story about a group of adults being silly when most of adult media is serious or satire shows like the Simpsons or Family Guy?

Like yeah, there’s stuff like that out there but it’s kind of hard to find when the stuff you’re into is either niche or in the minority. Idk if any of that makes sense but I’m still on my journey to figure out exactly why I like stuff like Lupin III, Catherine, Persona, One Piece, and other Japanese media with problematic stuff. It’s like they have the kind of stuff I’m looking for but it’s sometimes hard to view it in a Western lens, but I also don’t wanna condone some of the icky stuff that’s included. I am also trying not to feel guilty about it but genuinely hear out other people’s perspectives. I want to be open-minded but not too open-minded, you know? I don’t know, lol.

#lupin iii #lupin the third #lupin the 3rd #irepsectmonkeypunchbutthatdoesntmeanidontgotbeefwithhim #anime #video games #late night thoughts #anime discussion

[narcissiah]

Build A Bear | Black Noir x GN!Reader

yo so last week or smth i went to build a bear with my little relatives and when i saw chubby cubby (look it up you wont be disappointed) i fell in love, then i was struck with inspiration. so my chonky teddy bear and i hope you enjoy this lmao

warnings: heavy cursing, SPOILERS FROM S2 but not too specific in the bulleted fic? still be warned. other than that pretty mild, fluffy? yeah fluffy and probably ooc for black noir but whatevs

VAGUE (but still) SPOILER AUTHOR'S NOTE AT BOTTOM OF POST!!!!!!!!! DO NOT READ BEYOND THE ###

when news spread of Black Noir being in critical condition, a lot of internal questions were raised at Vought: who did this? was it an accident? was it on purpose? was it another supe? how can we market off this? etc

once crisis control handled the public nightmare that was social media and news outlets (special thanks to Cameron!), did the flood gates open

in the first few days, there were countless cards and money chip-ins for charity donations that Black Noir advocated for

i mean you could not take a shit without someone thrusting a card in your face and saying, "Wanna write something sweet to Noir so he gets better soon?"

hence came the little lie, "oh, i already got him something with a card. thanks tho"

you worked in the crime analysis department, so you did not have a close relationship with Black Noir personally

but that didn't mean you felt bad; i mean, critical condition? you had to give him something

and people at Vought would easily find out you lied and who knows what would happen then?

there are definitely some snakes in the grass if you know what i mean

but what would you get him? everyone else was giving cards and flowers and balloons. no doubt his hospital room is flooded with all those things

so while you're agonizing over what to get him because god forbid snakes figure out your "white" lie, you're stuck on babysitting duty for a friend's eight-year-old kid one day

while you're not too hip on what eight-year-old kids do in their spare time nowadays, you decide to take them to the ol' reliable of your childhood: the mall

as you both are walking around bored out of your minds do you see the answer to your agony: the holy golden glow of build-a-bear workshop

you have to drag the kid you're babysitting inside, but they dont put up a fight for long when they see a stuffed animal they like

unfortunately, you dont see anything you like, but you buy the kid your babysitting his bear (a frog dressed like Obi-Wan)

At the check out do you see another saving grace: "exclusive customizable bears online! order one today!!"

so the second you drop the kid off and you're at home, you immediately go incognito on your browser

you buy a stuffed (animal of your choice) and dress it up like Black Noir because build a bear is in an obvious partnership with Vought for younger consumer marketability

for the extra hell of it, you buy a "get well soon" shirt bc you thought how cute it would be to put it over the Black Noir getup

for the customization, on all 4 paws do you write: Black (front right) Noir (front left) For (back right) Ever! (back left)

you buy expedited shipping and when it finally arrives, you put on the get well soon shirt over the black noir outfit, but you stop from putting on the black noir helmet

why you didnt put on the helm was beyond you. maybe because you thought the sentimentality was stronger since you're recognizing he's still human beneath the suit??

who the fuck knows, anyway

you ask Ashley to give it to Noir (which took a lot of convincing, and a pricey meal for lunch).

funnily enough, you dont leave a card or any sign the gift was from you

you doubted yourself and regretted your decision because why not

but as long as you got him something with a little more personalization (and therefore make your lie true), you'd live with it

and forget about it eventually lol

fast forward like a few months

Black Noir recovered and had just finished his tour across the country selling his bullet-proof backpacks

you indeed forgot about the bear as time went on

one day you're at work and fucking around on the company computer to pass time when you feel a very warm and very heavy hand on your shoulder

the entire crime analysis department goes gravely silent

*sweatinglikeJordanPeelememe*

you slowly turn in your creaking office chair, and stare into the bottomless abyss that was Black Noir's goggles

he gestures for you talk outside privately (a secondary location? aw hell naw) but you oblige

as you both walk out of the department, the looks your co-workers give you... one of them even salutes you off

oh jeez oh fuck oh jeez oh fuck x100

when you're both outside in the back where there's literally not a single soul in sight, do you apologize

because its Black Noir, and of course he knew that was your gift

"ah jeez, Mr. Noir, sir, im sorry if you didn't like the bear. I didn't mean to offend you, please dont--"

and then the most confusing fucking thing happens

he pulls out a motherfuckin build-a-bear which was your favorite animal (how did he know?) wearing a freakin "thanks a bunch" shirt

*confusedwhiteguyblink*

he holds it out to you; you're quick to snap out of whatever fucking dream this was and gingerly take it from him

then you start giggling, relieved and so bewildered because what the fuck???

"hey...thank you," because of course you would say thank you for a thank you gift

and as if the day couldnt get any fucking weirder

Black Noir pulls you into a hug

like, a minute-long hug

while you're not as quick as earlier, you still reciprocate the hug—you even gently (read: awkwardly) pat his back!!

and then he removes himself from the hug, stares at you, then fucks off doing Black Noir shit

for a place of honor, you keep the toy right next to your monitor and look at it whenever you're feeling not like yourself

also, coincidentally, when Black Noir needs something from your department, he goes right to you and only you!!

#

i get the vibe that no one really cares about Black Noir at Vought; so i personally headcanon that except for the kiss-ass usual gifts, he got jack shit while at the hospital, if any at all. that's why i headcanon? imagine? that the second someone puts some thought into a get well soon gift like reader does, he's over the moon. my boy needs positive attention!! 😭😭😭

#the boys amazon #black noir the boys #black noir #black noir x reader #the boys tv #the boys headcanons #black noir imagine #black noir headcanon

[showtoonzfan]

So, serious question from someone that doesn’t watch the show but thinks this whole ‘critic blog thing’ is very strange.

Why? Why do you still watch and consume something you clearly don’t like? There’s a lot of new media you could consume instead. If you still like the world or the characters, why not just write fanfiction AUs or draw fanart instead? Just feels very strange to devote a lot of time and energy to hating something. Do you get enjoyment out of this?

I don’t know how many times I have to say it or how people can’t grasp this concept but….making fun of a show and shitting on it for how bad it is is fun. I wouldn’t have the blog if I didn’t enjoy doing it. Of course I consume other media, I have a life outside of this, but when I feel like ranting, I feel like ranting lol, because this show desperately needs more people to critique it and I’m just one of them. 🤷‍♀️

#reply #ask #Vivziepop is also a clown and I enjoy calling her writing out on it’s bs #vivziepop critical #spindlehorse critical #helluva boss critical #hazbin hotel critical