#nostalgic negative emulation

[motherfuckingcat]

#fujifilm #fujifilm xs10 #fuji xs10 #digital photography #photography #film emulation #nostalgic negative emulation #abandoned mall #urban decay #fujixs10 #fujifilmxs10

[radioactiveflower]

Red panda appreciation post because I took too many photos for the photography blog to handle :)

#fujifilm #fujifilm xs10 #fuji xs10 #digital photography #photography #red panda #film emulation #nostalgic negative emulation #zoo #fun day trip :)

[canidkid]

hi friend!

saw the ask game and wanted to see if you could do #1, #3, #13, and #20 for jonah? if that's not too much!

since we seem to share the headcanon that he's a flip, just wanted to see your thoughts! :)

How did they find out about age regression? did they stumble upon it online? did a friend tell them about it?

Jonah's been regressing for a really long time. He also didn't realize it was even happening for a really long time.

He'd write off those "weird, foggy, unstable moments" as not taking care of himself properly, blaming it on poor rest or diet.

He came across the actual term for regression in a medical journal! We know he loves to educate himself about quite a lot of things - So he thought he'd see what this "adults thinking they're children" business was about. He definitely didn't expect so much of it to line up with his own experience.

why do they regress? is it trauma or stress related? do they regress to go back to simpler times, or to create new memories? what causes them to regress?

He usually regresses in emotionally charged contexts. Be it positive or negative. It's involuntary every time. It's like his brain just short-circuits and oh, whoopsies, he's 14 again!

He tends to stay pretty solidly in the middle range (10-18), with the older spectrum blurring together quite heavily. When he does fall into a younger spectrum (6 and under), he's more likely to regress emotionally rather than cognitively. Basically a toddler who knows big adult words. He *can* be coaxed into cognitive regression by the right triggers. But when he's in public or by himself, it doesn't happen on its own.

What he does voluntarily do is age dream as a way to de-stress!

So, his genuine regression is due to stress & his age dreaming is to cope in difficult times!

what do they like to do when they're regressed? do they like to play pretend, watch tv/movies, color, etc.?

If he happens to even recognize he's regressed out and about - he'll play games on his phone or watch kids' media. There isn't much else he feels he's able to do at that point.

If he's at home, he can take a bit more time for himself. He'll run a bath and get out soaps with nostalgic scents, bath crayons, and sometimes even toys ! He also loves to collect things that pertain to his interests and just...stare at them. Like a visual stim! Speaking of - he has a butt-load of fidget toys.

In his middle range, he still loves to learn. He'll spend hours on Wikipedia or those clickbait news sites. Also!! Video games!! Minecraft, lego games (and physical bricks), or older console emulators are some favorites!

He does like outings, but he's too insecure to go out while regressed without someone else present.

what is age regression to them? what do they like/dislike? are they proud of their regression, or feel a bit more insecure about it?

He's definitely insecure about it for a long time. He doesn't want people to see him as this incompetent child who can't even control their own headspace.

I feel like Glenn and Amy would pick up on some of his outward tells pretty quickly.

With how many kids Glenn and Jerusha have fostered, I wouldn't be surprised if they've had a regressor with them before! - so he's a bit gentler with Jonah sometimes (just to be on the safe side)

[miopet]

re: new kpop songs being generally less interesting to my ear…. i feel like the big corporations i.e SM make less dance music now. just in general. obviously 70s/80s/90s through to 2013 maybe 2015 dancey pop music was SO trendy and a lot of my nostalgic fav songs in any language from any country are from these time periods, especially 90s - 2013.

compare to the 2019 song “Groove” by EXO, a slow “vibey” heavily ambient song that isnt really danceable until almost a minute in, unless you’re slow dancing or idk, filming a tik tok lmfao. these older songs i love IMMEDIATELY make you want to move your body in some way. to pick a more dancey new song, Non Stop is okay, but I’ve been listening to boyband tracks from the 90s that sound exactly like it since I was itty bitty, so it’s not exactly new to my ear.

this is all passive observation, but i notice a lot of western (largely american, especially Black american… and cultural appropriation rampant in the pop industry is an already well discussed issue by the people it negatively affects, so thats not the point of this post) genre emulation in what is effectively mass produced k pop music that forces the individual members of each group to conform to a specific vocal or visual role they were cast to fill (lead vocals, visual kei, dance talent, rap vocals, etc.) and this role often seems to have influence over their solo careers by limiting what their fans will be willing to accept from an artist once they go solo.

musical/ artistic experimentation is stifled by the mainstream pop genre expectations, because what has been proven to made money before is the only thing “worth” pursuing under global capitalism. appealing more and more to a western (largely white, including myself) audience in order to make this money drives these companies to continue extorting artists by recruiting them as teenagers and not encouraging their individual careers, treating them unethically - i.e. LOONA’s current struggles, members of EXO who left due to mistreatment by management, etc etc- and i think we’ve all seen the way us overseas fans ultimately encourage this because we are all so used to interacting with art as consumable content.

i’ve seen how the artists in these groups are treated, by their fans and the culture of constant content creation, like robotic content dispensers before they are seen as individual people with their own desires, interests, personal lives, creative interests, strengths and weaknesses, and limits.

that is true for all celebrities to an extent, but it’s unfortunately clear that white celebrities are more likely to be rewarded by their fans and with money for going outside of the box creatively, while the same white fans repeatedly fail to treat non white members of idol groups as people and demand they never grow, change, stop creating, or voice their own opinions.

#talk tag #long post #kpop #<- for bl. love u #im not saying ppl dont make dance music anymore. i think especially post quarantine theres been an uptick #but its not the same </3 #also i dont even losten to exo much lol..

[iwouldexistwithoutyou]

I have successfully exorcised from my life the tiresome. To have achieved self-actualization is to have scraped the social gunk from the underside of my life’s sink. I endeavor for meaningful conversations, not to defend my actions. Loneliness is freedom, perhaps unwittingly or more insidiously with intent, social creatures will invade self-assurance with their pedantic affirmations purchased with increasingly enlarging portions of what you’d label as “self”. Not much unlike an alcoholic pushing through the recompence of the previous day’s temporal jubilance, I have with spade in hand exhausted myself, sweating through layers of defenses against the forces that would see me succumb, dug a path through the unforgiving sleet which obliviously hinders this would-be master of his pain. Exasperated, my carriage is like a lover’s touch, it glides through the once injurious biome insisting on nostalgic anthems and simpler spells where the tempo of life seems forgiving. “I am tired of Earth. These people. I am tired of being caught in the tangle of their lives.” As if a Wizened philosopher I am ironically obsessed with manuscripts written by the very same interlopers, and the comforts of the emulation of penultimate surroundings as best I could muster.  Returning to the halls of academia I simultaneously am provided succor and imposter syndrome. Throughout my interactions with the tiring masses, I have been prescribed the negative, the meddling interceptions of my desires. With a resounding “crack” they have repeatedly been refuted and debunked. Their ideas of self-actualization will not hinder nor the memory of them be allowed to trespass. Once more into the breach, once more the smirking champion of the disobedient.

#writing

[geekedchapstickers]

First Post - Video Game Lover

Just a short blog post below.

I love games, books, movies, mixed martial arts and other forms of entertainment, and have been wanting to start writing about my interests in some format, to both get my thoughts out in the open and possibly spark some interesting conversations. Tumblr may not be the best place for this, but I figured I would at least give it a try.

I want to focus on my history with video games in this post. I have 3 brothers that were born 11 years before me, so I had a pretty familiar relationship with video games from a very young age. My brothers were bringing home new games periodically and borrowing some from friends, so I was playing games like Mario, Zelda, Mike' Tyson's Punch Out, Mega Man 2, Baseball Stars, and Tecmo Super Bowl since I was 3 years old. I then was lucky enough to have a neighbor that was only 4 days younger than me that also had a Nintendo. He had a plethora of games that we would trade back and forth for years to come.

I remember the first times that my friend and I were able to beat some of the games that were playing so often back then. Most games that we played seemed unbeatable for the most part, and I don't think we were able to beat anything on our own until we were maybe 5 or 6 years old. It was definitely a sense of accomplishment that I had not felt at that point my my life, being so young, so it still definitely sticks out as a special moment in time.

Mega Man 2 was the first game that I actually beat, and I don't believe I ever beat it again without some kind of saving capability within an emulator, so It still boggles my mind that I was able to do it as a kid. I remember getting to the final form of Dr. Wily, firing some shots at him and thinking to myself "Don't blow it! You've almost got this?" I remember seeing the shots being ineffective and going through my list of projectile types thinking, "I wonder if bubbles will hurt him since his rib cage is exposed." and sure enough, the bubbles worked and I made it to the kill screen. It felt great watching the credits role and Megaman walking off into the metaphorical sunset. I couldn't wait to tell my brothers and friends what I had pulled off.

Later in life I found similar feelings after beating longer games like Final Fantasy 7, 9, and 10 and even the first Half-Life game. It felt great to do beat those types of games and then I felt like there was a a period where making it to the end of games was a lot more accessible and some of that magic was lost, but I do feel like the Souls games rekindled some of that fire. At this point in my life I feel like my ADHD has reared it's ugly head, causing me to bounce around and try anything that looks unique and interesting.

I'm not here to say anything poorly about the gaming industry, I know many have voiced their opinions on it both negative and positive. These are just some of my personal experiences that have lead to me chasing nostalgic feelings throughout my life. I still have a strong interest in video games and sit on the edge of my seat every time there is an expo that could potentially reveal the next big game. The ups and downs of the industry have always been fascinating to me and I love playing new games and reminiscing about the old ones.

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

Give Rachid Lotf some love for his artwork I used with the post. I'm pretty sure I've been using his artwork as my phone backgrounds for the past 5 years at least.

#video games #nostaliga #blog post

[existentialmagazine]

Review: Ariana Fig’s new dream pop single ‘Guilty Pleasure’ encourages accepting your flaws in a soundscape of bliss

After making her highly anticipated return earlier this year, Canadian singer-songwriter Ariana Fig is sharing yet again another incredible new single ‘Guilty Pleasure.’ Since her musical adventures began around the age of thirteen, where she grew inspired by 70s rock bands like Fleetwood Mac, The Beatles, and The Rolling Stones, Ariana began writing her own music and nurtured her sound over years to come. Now a little older, her style is truly perfected to the max, looking now to get her music heard by the masses - as it deserves to be.

Exploring a sound that lies between dream-pop and indie-rock, Ariana’s newest single ‘Guilty Pleasure’ finds itself tantalisingly delivering a sonic experience for listeners that’s refreshing and bright. Utilising a shimmering production of synth-esque beats amongst a bed of echoey electric guitar strums and a steady drum beat, the aura of ‘Guilty Pleasure’ falls delicately between an atmosphere of reverie and a catchy earworm of an experience as the looping rhythms reverberate around your mind. As Ariana’s vocals interweave between this warm soundscape, she boldly takes the lead with an unparalleled confidence and expertly expressed range, dancing between haunting highs and rich lows all dripping with emotion at the core. Intended to bridge the gap between nostalgic and contemporary, ‘Guilty Pleasure’ certainly brings an edge of modernisation to a sound that heartily belongs within the past - and doesn’t hesitate to bring you back to it, either. Wielding an electronic edge that further builds a sound so light and anthemic, the most enthralling part of ‘Guilty Pleasure’ lies within its ability to flaunt an emotionally multifaceted front of joy when below the forefront lies edges of honest sorrow in each word.

Alike its title ‘Guilty Pleasure’, Ariana writes a narrative that explores accepting the negative sides of yourself, as well as your mistakes, and giving yourself some much-needed leeway to be what all humans are - flawed. As she uses much of the track to discuss wanting a man who certainly isn’t good for her, varying lines like ‘I thought you were a better man than that… guilty pleasure in my head, I’d rather have you in my bed’ reflect on the human instinct of hopelessly desiring someone that you know you should avoid at all costs. Universally relatable to listeners, ‘Guilty Pleasure’ more than encompasses a natural charm in how Ariana manages to so openly discuss what others may find shameful, when in reality everyone at some point has probably found themselves entangled within a messy relationship. This specific narrative nicely fits the notion she set to promote within her words, showcasing the harsh reality often hidden between sugarcoated captions and photos, and reaching out to every listeners own flaws as they hear a confident woman clearly unashamed of her truths nudging them to accept their own. Quite unparalleled to the calm sound Ariana forms within her soundscape, the juxtaposition of brutal truths in her words compared with this ever-so airy delicacy makes her narrative lead with a softened blow, as well as the intention of always being able to put on ‘Guilty Pleasure’ for a listen without being burdened by any melancholia.

Speaking about the new release, Ariana adds that, “Guilty Pleasure is about not sugar coating what you really want even when you know it's bad for you. People, places, memories. We all like to ponder on these thoughts for some time and beat ourselves up over the "one that got away". I think there's something beautiful about accepting your flaws and desires, which is what I wanted to emulate with this song.”

To experience Ariana’s dreamy soundscape and eloquently written lyricism that’s quite unlike anything else out there right now, you can check out ‘Guilty Pleasure’ for yourself here!

Written by: Tatiana Whybrow

Photo Credits: Unknown

#music #singlereview #arianafig

[ducktracy]

Do you have any art advice for people looking to improve their art?

my top three pieces of advice would be: surround yourself in what you love/actively look for material to be inspired by, draw draw draw, and keep a positive and open mind.

i really think that looking for inspiration is half the battle. your art is YOURS. it always will be. no matter how much you may try to imitate others, your art will always have your own distinctive fingerprint. GOOD. own it. search for material that inspires you and speaks to you. find what you like about the art of others—what works? what doesn’t? what speaks to you? what do you want to emulate? why? how can you make it your own?

i have a private Discord server where i send myself various resources, and i have an entire category dedicated to art that inspires me, sectioned off into channels depending on what the art is. save things you like, save things that appeal to you, save things you want to try. there is NO shame in using references and they are so, so beneficial. it varies for everyone, but i personally have been told i have more success when i use references in my own work, so USE YOUR RESOURCES!

it doesn’t have to be just art, either. photographs, games, YOUR OWN EXPERIENCES! music is a very big factor in my own art. i have an archive where i save snatches of music in cartoons (usually inconsequential music cues, purely melody based) and often sift through that and will incorporate the feelings i get from that music into my own art. “oh, i like this chord that plays in the music when Daffy does this. it feels bold, energetic, and makes me nostalgic—i want to incorporate the nostalgia and boldness i feel from this music cue into a piece.”

obviously not everyone does that and it’s hard for me to describe accurately because it’s admittedly a very deeply personal, weird, hard to describe connection HAHA but what i’m getting at is that that inspires me emotionally and artistically, so i incorporate that into my art and you should too! surround yourself in what you love and build a giant repertoire of resources. go outside your tastes and comfort zone, find out what you like and incorporate it!

and, yes, i know nobody wants to hear this, but if there’s anything i’ve learned while working on SpongeBob, it’s that practice makes perfect. results won’t be immediate, and it can be incredibly frustrating. i was (and still am to an extent) INCREDIBLY hard on myself when starting out and had a very real fear that i would get fired if i drew something wrong (all me being irrational) and i thought i’d never get better. but, funnily enough, drawing the same characters over and over and over again really does help you get better and this is advice i’ve been told myself by my colleagues. and it’s true! it’s frustrating, i know. but you WILL improve the more you draw. the forms will come more naturally. you may feel it gets harder, but that’s just because your eye is getting sharper and you’re growing to the point that you’re able to catch mistakes you weren’t able to previously. THAT’S GOOD! art is a very gradual process and results won’t seem immediate… but you also can’t get better if you give it up (which, there is no shame in doing, but if you do want to get better, pushing through and doing it more is the way to do it). it really is true.

and finally, a positive outlook is really important. art is hard. it is frustrating. i try not to broadcast it for the reasons i’ll be listing, but i am VERY self deprecating when it comes to my own skills and have internalized a lot of really negative, harmful things. it’s hard not to be hard on yourself. but you will always be your harshest critic. let that be a comfort instead of a detriment. chances are, people will not see the same mistakes you will, and people will not go “wow, this is horrible”. i am a bona fide QUEEN of overthinking things, and can be quick to make assumptions. a good rule of thumb to combat the “everyone hates this” feeling is if they don’t say it, they don’t mean it. if i show someone my art and they don’t say “this is awful”, then i’ll assume they aren’t thinking that either. the alternative is equally true and even MORE important—if someone compliments your art, it’s best to assume that they genuinely mean it.

i think it’s important to accept any and every compliment you get, even if you personally don’t agree with it. and when you don’t, just say “thank you” and move on. if you reject a compliment and say “no, it’s terrible” or if you introduce your art in general with any negative self talk like “wow this looks terrible haha but here you go”, even if you mean it in a joking manner, people will believe you. people will be less inclined to offer the genuine compliments they have and will not want to engage. i know how hard it is to take a compliment, but the best thing you can do is thank them and listen. there are good people in this world who mean the good things they say to you. embrace it!

i guess that’s more in regards to reception rather than drawing itself. it’s imperative to keep a positive mind and reassure yourself that art is a process, you will continue to grow and thrive and improve, whether the results are gradual or not. ask yourself why you draw in the first place, what set off that spark, and hold it close. encourage others and encourage yourself. know that one had drawing is not the end of your career or your world. there will always be ups and downs in the art world—embrace it! ask what you did that you don’t like, ask how you can fix it, and ask how you can embrace it. be appreciative of old art and always keep going.

i know this is very general and much more philosophical rather than actual, physical drawing advice. i’m still learning how to improve myself. art is incredibly subjective and INCREDIBLY personal—the experience varies for everyone, and what may work for me may not work for you. keep an open mind, surround yourself in what inspires you, draw what makes you happy (not what you think will please others), and ALWAYS. KEEP. DRAWING!!!

it’s a journey, but if it was an easy one it wouldn’t be nearly as rewarding. i KNOW you’ll get to where you want to be. keep your chin up and know we’re all in this together!

#i shouldn’t apologize it contradicts what i said in this but i do apologize for such general advice #i mean every word and it’s not me trying to be dismissive i just don’t have as much physical advice because art varies so much for everyone #but these aspects have all helped me a lot and i hope they can at least be of inspiration! #anonymous #long post

[jonathanrook]

legally i have to give you intern 2

em you have awoken an ungodly beast inside me so i need to warn everyone that this post is. incomprehensible. but so is mymusic so i guess we're all used to it.

How I feel about this character:

i watched mymusic as it was airing/running/coming out specifically bc i'm a jack stannie, and as a kid melvin was my second favorite character (w scene being in first, obvs) for mostly that reason. he basically hovered around this ranking until my most recent rewatch in the summer of 2020, which was actually spurred by some events in my personal life that vaguely reminded me of scene's season two arc w jeff, and i thought it'd been a funny/nostalgic way to get my mind off things.

(i want to side note here that -- i know you didn't ask, but -- i love jeff. i have since i was a kid. like, obviously not as a person but i think he's honestly the best written character in the series, w indie close in second. idk what it says about the f*nes that their most interesting and well rounded characters are the villains, but i digress. to this day i'm salty that jeff never got added to the theme song and wasn't really included in promotional merch.)

however, in said rewatch, certain things about how he was written started to really get under my skin, and certain moments in particular have really stuck out to me in a negative way. like, for the entirety of season one and a good chunk of season two he's one person, and then he leaves mymusic and we have an entirely different person, but not in a nuanced character building sort of way.

i've said a few of these points before but i'll repeat them here regardless. at the risk of sounding like i've put on a tin-foil hat, it's my sneaking suspicion that scindie was supposed to be endgame, but since fan reception to it was pretty neutral, and scenechart stans were, at the very least, more vocal, changes were made to the intended finale, which is why in the last scene he's basically just. indie. like, if everything about the show was exactly the same but indie was the one who had ended up w scene in the end that would have made so much more sense since a) scene had a crush on indie that he/everyone knew about and b) indie was kind of a dick despite the half-assed attempts at redemption, so both combined make it slightly less weird/out-of-nowhere that he kisses her w/o her consent (since, even though like. implied consent is not real at worst and a fuzzy subject at best but you could argue that scene would want indie to kiss her); and this isn't even taking into consideration that c) melvin is heavily queer-coded in both seasons, with his friendship with nerdcore being, dare i say, homoerotic at times, and his arc about leaving the company and changing his name mirroring nerdcore's almost perfectly (with nerdcore being a character who b*nny [at least] has all but confirmed is actually gay).

i've also been on the fence about melvin's behavior in that final scene making more sense for indie's character being an intentional decision as a way of shoe-horning in a theme about the lasting effects of abuse/cycles of abuse/the corruption of power but i also don't think the f*nes are smart enough for that. however, for the sake of defending my straw theory, i also point to the scene where indie comes to visit the acid factory after melvin told him to shut up, and we see melvin use reggie as a foot-stool, going as far as to say that it feels good to do so (which, in all honesty, i think is a bit that was entirely improvised, since the f*nes were "notorious for never saying cut" [paraphrased from a bts video], but work w me here). he's also given a seltzer mug that perfectly resembles indie's kombucha mug. in these moment melvin is directly emulating the behavior of his previous abuser, purposefully or not, literal moments after being promoted to an equal position of authority, which was totally just included as a joke, but could also be argued is meant to show that he's becoming indie; or, if we acknowledge that the f*nes have no fucking clue what they're doing and were just directing like chickens with their heads cut off, it at least shows that melvin's new position of power is leading him to understand where indie was coming from, which is supported by their conversation in the finale.

the following contains a couple brief mentions of irl sexual assault so if that's something you'd like to avoid skip to the next section!

HOWEVER, that alone isn't what i have a problem with, since i think melvin is completely justified in being a dick to indie (and also reggie enthusiastically consents to being used as an ottoman so good for him i guess). the issue comes completely in how he treats scene in the scenes where the f*nes clearly thought what they were writing was super romantic. like, the fact that the only thing he's got hung on his cubicle wall is a single picture of scene taken from the fucking opening credits (like. how hard would it have been to have. literally any other photo[s] esp since there's an abundance of cute bts pics of the cast in costume that could have been put there) and him scrolling through her twitter at work really creep me out (and at the risk of oversharing the weird, like, social media stalking angle really fucks w me bc that may or may not have been the exact fucking thing i was trying to escape in rewatching mymusic in the first place). also, having him sexually assault scene as a means of comforting her after she had just been sexually assaulted in the same way by someone else was... a choice (which is also, uh, personally familiar).

again, i recognize that demonizing melvin wasn't what the f*nes were trying to do here, and i perhaps seem hypocritical for opening liking jeff, but what makes jeff work is he's intentionally "the bad guy." having melvin do the same things as indie and jeff uncritically only proves further that the f*nes can't write for shit, and ruins his character which had, up until he quit mymusic, been unironically good. like, it's obviously not beneficial that the exact asshole things he does are personally triggering, but the character would still be a mess and i would still dislike him regardless.

i want to say though that jack delivers a surprisingly great performance despite how shoddily his character is constructed and how little experience he has as an actor. like, it's clear he was having a lot of fun on set and i would love to see him in something, like, good; i think he could pull off even like, guest television roles, which is a lot more than can be said for other youtubers.

-----

All the people I ship romantically with this character:

nerdchart should have been canon i'm sorry. i know that close, nonromantic male friendships are valuable, esp between queer men, but also gd wouldn't it have been baller to have a canon interracial mlm ship. like. c'mon. and they could have been such a good friends to lovers story! we already got to see how melvin was the only person nerdcore could really be himself around so it would have been so cool if melvin's self-advocacy arc/flowchart arc had revolved more around nerdcore with a little role-reversal! and then they kiss! like god intended!

also i ship him and indie bc i'm a grubby little gremlin man ohoho. enemies w weird sexual tension? sign me up. not even enemies to lovers i'm not saying this one should have been canon i just love the vibes. do you think melvin and indie ever explored each other's bod-- *gunshot*

-----

My non-romantic OTP for this character:

i wish him and scene had just been bros. god remember in season one when they were just bros that was the life.

alternatively, i wish we'd seen more bonding w him and metal, as a means of reconciling that. uh. moment from season one. along similar lines i would have loved to see him get closer w rayna in a similar way to how she bonded w nerdcore in season two. i think that could have also worked to show how she'd grown between the two seasons.

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My unpopular opinion about this character:

HIM. AND. SCENE. SHOULD. HAVE. JUST. BEEN. BROS. (though i think my general dislike of him is pretty unpopular, lmao).

when the show was coming out i don't think it's unfair to say that scenechart/scenetern 2 was the most popular ship (aside from potentially techstep whatever) but luckily we're all gay and have better taste now. unfortunately i totally fell into this camp and scenechart was even my otp for years (until it was arguably more unfortunately usurped by reddie in 2019) and i didn't even realise that it's a hot mess until, again, the summer of 2020.

when actually watching the show the choices the f*nes made in regards to how the ship actually became canon are so odd and out of place, too? okay, so, on one hand everyone just shipped scenechart bc it was the whitest hettiest ship in the show (esp in season two when idol left) aside from scindie (and we already discussed what's wrong w that). but, on the other hand, lainey and jack clearly also just got along? and i suspect that lainey probably also admired jack's work and was happy to be working with him bc we have so many shots throughout even the first season when the ship wasn't the intended endgame of lainey scene looking really fondly at jack melvin at times when it doesn't make much sense at all, esp since she's smitten w indie? this trend continues into the second season which arguably works but it still seems really out of place for him to be the one to ultimately make the first move on her since it's clear she was the one crushing this whole time and also he's gay! this bitch is gay what the fuck!!

-----

One thing I wish had happened with this character in canon:

at this point i'm struggling to think of anything i haven't covered yet. oops.

i've talked at length before about how he should have been a woman/lesbian, but the tl;dr is that it would have solved a lot of the queer-coding "problems" that just didn't get resolved in the show. if he'd been a lesbian then not only would the friendship w nerdcore still made sense, but scenechart would have as well (not even mentioning that both of scene's other relationships w men make a lot of sense as comphet anyway).

#long post #this took me an hour to write i literally had to get a snack in the middle of it #mymusicshow #mymusic show #question #mlentertainment #also having a character named scene when you have to write about scenes like. in a story is an absolute bitch

[guruji]

Website Colors That Turn Off Your Customers

Using too many colors or the wrong combination of colors could alienate or turn off customers completely. Out of any form of non-verbal communication, color is the quickest way to communicate a message and meaning.  Many studies have been done on the psychology of color and the subconscious emotions that they create.  Studies have shown that color can help improve recall, comprehension, and understanding by 75%.  In fact, color accelerates the ability to learn by 20% by keeping readers focused and improving retention.  

Choose Colors with Care.  

Marketers spend oodles of time and money determining the colors to best market their product: the colors that will prove the highest amount of return on investment.  You may want to hire a professional web designer to help you.  Make sure the web designer you hire is not just a programmer, but also a graphic designer and/or marketer.  After all, the reason why 99% of all websites fail is because it was created by a technician, rather than a marketing expert.

So, What Colors are Best for Your Website?  

That is hard to say.  Again, you may want to hire a professional to help you.  However, the following tips will help you understand the underlying meaning behind color so you may be guided to make the right choice.   Keep in mind that depending on its value or intensity, one color can give very different emotions.

Red - Stimulating. Exciting. Energizing. Appetizing.  When you eye sees red, chemical responses in your body cause your blood pressure, pulse rate, and adrenaline to increase.  Fire engine red is more energetic than a more traditional burgundy.

Pink - Happy. Romantic. Spirited. Youthful.  Best used for less expensive and trendy products.  Vibrant pinks are common in the cosmetic industry.  Bubble gum pink can be considered immature, but fuchsia or magenta are considered more sophisticated.  

Orange - Friendly. Adventurous. Energizing. Inviting.  Of all the colors, orange is the hottest.  Similar to red’s arousing effect, orange is often associated with bright sunsets or fall foliage.  Orange contains the drama of red with the cheeriness of yellow.  Neon orange tends to be load and is the most disliked color, but a more tempered vivid orange is highly effective for point-of-purchase graphics and specials.

Yellow - Warm. Sunny. Cheerful. Vibrant.  Yellow is equivalent to enlightenment and imagination.  This color is especially effective for food service industries because of the -association to bananas, custards and lemons.   Pale yellow is an excellent choice for point-of-purchase materials (materials at the cash register or reception area) because the eye sees the highly reflective yellow before it notices any other color.

Brown - Rich. Sheltering. Durable. Sensible.  Brown is an earth tone and is related to the earth’s nurturing qualities and stability.  Generally speaking, brown provokes a positive response, but the wrong shade could lead to customers relating it to dirty, which could be detrimental for a product in the fashion industry, for example.  Brown works well with food products since customers also relate it to root beer, coffee and chocolate.

Blue - Cool. Trusting. Serene. Consistent.   Similar to the earthy color brown, blue is related to the sky and water, both dependable constants in our lives.  Blue is an ideal color for websites, especially e-commerce websites.  Many banks and financial institutions use blue in their marketing because it makes customers feel more trusting.  Blue also can generate a cold, distant, corporate feeling, the opposite of generating a personal relationship with the customer.

Green - Refreshing.  Healing. Fresh.  Soothing. Green offers the most variety of choices out of all the colors of the rainbow.  Green works well for personal hygiene or beauty products because of its soothing and flattering tones.  Most people link green to nature; they think of foliage or grass.  Mint green is seen as fresh while bright greens are associated with grass.  Emerald greens are elegant and deep greens are linked to money and prestige.  Green is also combined nicely with many other colors and can also work as a neutral.

Purple - Elegant. Sensual. Regal. Mysterious.  Purple is seen as sensual and spiritual as it combines the sexuality of red and the sereneness of blue.  It is best used with creative products, new products, or cutting edge products.  Deep purple is associated with regal sophistication and lavender has a more subtle nostalgic appeal.

Neutrals - Classic. Quality.  Natural.  Timeless.  The neutral tones of beige, gray and taupe emulate the psychological message of dependability and timelessness.  They are regarded as safe and non-offensive and will not go out-of-date as they are always in style.  

White - Pure.  Bright.  Pristine.  Simple.  While white can signify clean elegance, it can also be considered generic and stark, unless you have stylish graphics to compliment the white.  

Black – Strong. Classic. Mysterious. Powerful.  Black is most closely associated with the night.  Black is seen as powerful, dramatic, elegant and expensive.  In food packaging, a customer will actually pay more for a gourmet image.  Although black is associated with mourning, its positive associations far outweigh its negative.  Warning: too much black can be overkill.

Thanks and regards,

Guruji Softwares

#Website Colors That Turn Off Your Customers

[dccomicsnews]

Review: DETECTIVE COMICS ANNUAL #2

  [Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]

Writer: Peter J. Tomasi

Art: Travis Moore & Max Raynor

Colors: Tamra Bonvillain & Nick Filardi

Letters: Rob Leigh

  Reviewed by: Matthew Lloyd

Summary

What makes a great comic book?  Plot?  Characterization? Humor?  Nostalgia?  Well, Detective Comics Annual #2 is a great comic and it contains a lot of these elements.  Most importantly, it manages to tell a street level Batman tale and at the same time incorporate numerous elements from Batman’s past.  Additionally, by utilizing “The Black Casebook,” this story in effect emulates the high concept of “the Black Casebook.”  While not necessarily one of the self proclaimed “unusual and unexplainable adventures,” this issue does incorporate that notion with the antagonist in the opening sequence…..

After stopping an attack in an alley by The Eraser, Batman returns home to read of an attack in France by an old foe- The Reaper.  After a recap of The Reaper who was the antagonist in “Batman: Year Two” (Detective Comics #575-578, 1987), Bruce heads to Europe with Alfred to hunt down this apparent copycat.

They set up the Reaper with Alfred playing the role of a local drunk. After Batman arrives and stops the Reaper from killing Alfred’s erstwhile muggers, Batman learns that this Reaper is not simply a copycat.  He manages to uncover the truth and to his surprise discovers a “Reaper, Incorporated” approach to this copycat and his crimes.

Positives

The cover of Detective Comics Annual #2 shows that this story belongs in “The Black Casebook.”  This concept was introduced back in Grant Morrison’s “Batman: R.I.P.” story from 2008.  Morrison developed a way to integrate some of the strangest and most bizarre stories from Batman’s publishing history.  Everything was suddenly canon.  To his credit, nothing ever feels forced, but rather the effort evokes a warm, nostalgic feeling.  “The Black Casebook” is a collection of these tales both as a trade paperback collection in our world, and as seen in Detective Comics Annual #2, a real book on the shelf in Batman’s library in Wayne Manor.   Tomasi is playing off all of this in the script.  It should be noted that Tomasi was the editor of the Batman line who first approached Morrison about writing Batman way back when.

Tomasi goes on to utilize the elements of “The Black Casebook” to expand the scope of this story.  The Eraser is a truly odd and bizarre Bat-villain that doesn’t fit in with the more realistic approach to modern Batman comics.  But, with Morrison’s “Black Casebook,” Tomasi can easily pick a strange villain from the ’60s to include in this story that fits with the original notion of “the Black Casebook.”

“Batman: Year Two” while not immediately recognizable as a “bizarre or unexplainable” Batman story is related to the idea of making everything canon.  ‘Year Two” was the first Batman story to depict the Dark Knight using a gun since his earliest appearances.  At the time it was published, it kept this aspect of Batman’s earliest days intact.  Detective Comics Annual #2 references this part of Batman’s past with Bruce admitting it was a time he “also made mistakes” as he is pictured brandishing a handgun.  In some ways, acknowledging this aspect of Batman’s publishing history because it is incongruous with how Batman has come to be portrayed makes this a difficult depiction.  Filing it in “The Black Casebook” makes complete sense.

Positives Cont’d

There are a number of strong character moments in this issue from Alfred’s acting ability and willingness to put himself in harm’s way to the underused trope of Bruce as the bored millionaire playboy.  Too often this element is forgotten as the nightlife receives the bulk of the attention in Batman stories.  His true mask of “Bruce Wayne” is useful and always a treat when utilized effectively.

Bruce himself acknowledges the fall of Batman, Incorporated in this issue, but the idea is recapitulated in the Reaper’s own worldwide network of vengeance.  This copycat has not only reused the Reaper identity, but also the modus operandi of Batman, Incorporated, having developed a worldwide network of Reapers.  Not surprisingly, it all ties back into “The Black Casebook” which includes the tale, “The Batmen of All Nations.”

Above all, this story succeeds because it meshes nostalgia, history, iconic depiction of Batman and a slew of engaging references.

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Negatives

The only possible negative to this issue is the cipher quality of Sopia Zervas.  She’s set up wonderfully as Bruce’s companion to the business summit in Europe that Bruce uses as a cover to suddenly be on the continent, and is nothing more.  She doesn’t even get a night with Bruce as a traditional “Bond Girl” would.  I was expecting some account of her in Bruce’s past, but…nothing….

Oh, and it’s far better than the most recent issue of Detective Comics….   Ok, not so much a negative as a lament about Detective Comics #1004.

  Verdict

Grant Morrison’s idea of “The Black Casebook” is used masterfully by Tomasi and company.  Not only does Detective Comics Annual #2 integrate the idea of “bizarre and unexplainable” cases, it is peppered with phenomenal character moments.  However, the issue succeeds because these aspects are molded into one coherent tale that plays off the history and the iconic elements of the Batman.

  Review: Detective Comics Annual #2 Review: DETECTIVE COMICS ANNUAL #2 Writer: Peter J. Tomasi Art: Travis Moore & Max Raynor Colors: 

#Batman #Batman R.I.P. #Batman: Year Two #bond-girl #DC Comics #DC comics news #Detective Comics #Detective Comics Annual #grant morrison #Max Raynor #nick filardi #Peter J. Tomasi #Rob Leigh #Sophia Zervas #tamra bonvillain #The Batmen of All Nations #the Black Casebook #The Eraser #the Reaper #Travis Moore

[motherfuckingcat]

#photography #digital photography #fuji xs10 #fujifilm xs10 #fujifilm #film emulation #nostalgic negative emulation #tree #trees #fujixs10 #fujifilmxs10

[kuonjinobunaga]

Ok, I don't usually write things here, but I'm into talking about Pokémon today, my top 3 favorites pokémons and why I like them.

3 - Primarina

I love Primarina, her design alone got my heart. She's so beautiful, and I like the fact that she's based on mermaids, and she uses her voice to attack, her Z-Move is one of my favorites too. While she's not the strongest, I enjoyed using her on my UM playthrough. I whish she's had a better Signature Move, I like Sparkling Aria, but the atks effect feel really bad. Also, I usually name my Primarinas as Marina, It's the perfect name for me.

2 - Gardevoir

My Pokémon Partner. While she's only my second favorite, I feel a conection with Gardevoir. I love everthing about her, her color scheme, her design, Trace is one of my favortes abilities, her movepool, her Mega, her Shiny, and her japanese name, Sirnight is a badass name. I was neutral about her when I first played Ruby, I only started liking her after I started playing Showdown, but after that I feel in love, I always try to use one when there's a chance, also I love using her Mega, my favorite Mega. If I can have one Pokémon, I will totally chose Gardevoir, creating black holes to protect me while nobody else can.

3 - Blaziken

Oh boy, things are getting hot here. My favorite Pokémon since the fist time I played Ruby on a emulator, using a badass fire chicken and destroing everyting on my way with Blazekick and Sky Uppercut make me feel in love with this Pokémon. Like Gardevoir, there's nothing I don't like about Blaziken, her design is great (I usually only use females Pokémons), her shiny is cool, Mega-Blaziken is badass, Speed Boost is God Like. I see Blaziken as a old friend, I can remember me choosing her as my starter, and making all my way to be the Champion with her on my side, viewing her and my growth through the journey, I feel so nostalgic while I think about my first Pokémon experience, and I enjoyed a lot thanks to Blaziken, maybe if I choosed other starter that time, everything could be different, I feel like some of the credits of my love from Pokémon come from Blaziken.

Well, thanks to all that read it to the end, I'm not the best with english, but I think that I passed the feels just right.

@negative-diva @akuseruhijiri tagging my friends, maybe they want to talk about they favorites Pokémon too.

#pokemon #gardevoir #blazikem #primarina #my posts

[viandnyl]

#004-Stellie

Stellie

Bedroom artist

Based in Australia

Genre:Bedroom pop/Indie-pop/jazz

Instagram：@stelliemusic

Q:How did you first start doing music? (For example: what made you fall in love with music, how did you start working with music)

I first started doing music pretty much as soon as I could talk. My mum first introduced me to singing lessons when I was maybe 5 or 6, and I’ve been in love with it ever since. I loved the way it made me feel, and how it made others feel too.

Q:Which of your songs do you recommend the most? (a song that represents you as an artist) and please explain the reason why you chose it.

My latest single ‘Bullet Through The Heart’ is currently my favourite (although it is really hard to choose). I describe this song as the new introduction into the world of ‘Stellie’ as it does sound a little different to my previous releases - but in saying that it still has that same nostalgic, dark and shimmery feeling that I try emulate in all of my tracks.

Q:Tell us about your next music release or other upcoming activities you have planned.

I do have my next release in the pipelines but can’t mention too much about it just yet! But I can say that it is going to be special. Im looking forward to playing some shows across Australia and touring as much as possible.

Q:Any music or other art that has had an influence on you.

Im really into the world of fashion at the moment and think that music and fashion really do go hand in hand. I also really love photography. Sometimes certain photos can tell stories, and I use this to influence my writing from time to time.  

Q:What was the first song/album (and from which artist) you bought, and why did you buy it?

My first album was a bit of a random one - I believe it was ‘Monkey Business’ by the Black Eyed Peas. I don’t think there was any particular reason why I gravitated towards this album, my friends and I at the time just really loved the Black Eyed Peas. I vividly remember dancing around to this album in my bedroom.

Q:Do you have another job besides working with music?

Yes! I work as a singing teacher too. I guess it’s still in the music world, but it’s something that I’ve really loved doing over the years and find it really rewarding.  

Q:What do you think you would be doing if you didn’t work with music?

I probably would have gone to university and studied something - maybe nutrition? Im not too sure. I really love cooking and baking so maybe something to do with that?

Q:What is the story behind your artist name?

‘Stellie’ is a nickname. It comes from the Italian word ‘Stellina’ which means ‘Little star’. My Nonna (grandmother) calls me this all the time, so I thought I would just shorten it and make it ‘Stellie’

Q:How were you as a child?

I think I was pretty quiet, well behaved and very very mature. Im a Capricorn and these are pretty typical traits of a true Capricorn. It took me a while to open up to people (it still does now) but once I do, Im hard to keep quiet.

Q:If you could give any advice to your younger self, what would that be?

Try and find the positives out of every negative situation - and don’t get a fringe before you know how to style it properly.

Q:What is something about you that hasn’t changed since you were a kid?

My love of strawberries. I used to eat a whole punnet in one sitting as a kid, and I definitely still do now.

Q:What is a word you like?

Infatuation.

Q:Something you have been really into recently? (For example: a game, a type of food or dessert, a show on Netflix. Please share a specific example)

Im currently watching a show called ‘Entourage’ and im super into it. The show is about an up and coming Hollywood movie star who takes his best mates with him everywhere he goes. Its such an easy watch and the episodes are quite short which I like. Always manages to put a smile on my face after a long day.  

Q:Do you think that you have changed in some way recently? And if so, how?

Yes - I think we are constantly changing and evolving. In the past year I’ve moved out of home, so have done a lot of maturing and taken on a lot more responsibility than I once had. Most of the time its great, but sometimes I still wish my mum did my washing.

Q:What is something you bought recently that you really like?

I recently bought a new pair of running shoes(which I desperately needed as my other ones were falling apart). I love them so much, they are super comfortable and might even make me run faster.

Q:Any social issues you have been paying extra attention to lately?

Just like i’m sure everyone has, I have been been paying extra attention into the ongoing Covid19 pandemic and the impact it has had on the music industry. I’ve taken particular interest in how my other peers are trying to find innovative ways to navigate through this time. It certainly makes me appreciate every opportunity that i’m given 100 times more - such as interviews with International magazines. Its opportunities like this that I don’t take for granted.

Q:Tell us something good about your country.

Australia is beautiful in so many ways. My favourite thing would have to be the people. Everyone always seems to be in a good mood. If you’re having a bad day, receiving a friendly smile from a stranger can be so heartwarming and this is definitely a typical trait of a typical Aussie.

Q:What do you think is important when it comes to communication?

Being honest. Even if its a confronting conversation to have, being honest is always the best place to start. I struggle with this at times but always find that in the end, telling the truth and expressing your true feelings is always the most important thing in terms of good communication.

Q:What do you do to relieve frustration or stress?

Go to the gym. This always helps when i’m having a particularly tough day and really gets my natural endorphins flowing. I always feel 100 times better after a good gym session.

Q:What are your hobbies?

I really love cooking - especially baking. At the moment i’m trying to find the perfect banana bread recipe (its not going so well just yet).

Q:What is the best news you’ve had recently?

That I will finally be playing some live shows in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane next year! I’ve been waiting so long to go on tour and now i’m counting down the days.

Q:What is something that has caught your interest recently, and why?　(For example: NFTs, an election, Climate change, or some other general topic that you have been interested in recently)

Ive recently been taking an interest and have been learning about the World of fast fashion. I was completely oblivious to this not long ago, but through some research have become aware of the negative impact it is having on our environment and am now trying my best to shop ethically.

Q:What is a fashion brand do you currently like?

Im currently loving an Australian brand called ‘Bec and Bridge’. They make the most beautiful clothes and there is never anything that I don’t like. I recently bought a few pieces from them and cannot wait to receive them in the mail.

Q:Please tell us about your latest single (or album).

‘Bullet Through The Heart’ Had been sitting in my back pocket for far too long, just waiting for the perfect moment to share with the World. But I don’t really think the “perfect” moment really exists, so I decided to release it in September of this year.

I’d like to think this track is the perfect blend of the old and the new “Stellie”. Still always dripping with nostalgia and shiny, old Hollywood references - but this time the production has been given a bit of a modern facelift. It’s heavier, darker and sexier than ever - Bullet Through The Heart is certainly going to leave you with a scar. )

Q:What is important to you when making music?

Being unapologetically and authentically me. I don’t want to try and be or sound like anybody else when making music because it just wouldn’t work. I want the words to be real and the music to be sweet.

Q:What is music to you?

Music is everything to me. Its what gets me up in the morning, makes me laugh, makes me cry and ultimately what makes me the happiest.

Q:Who is a person who has influenced you?

Amy Winehouse was a big influence for me growing up. Not only was she the most interesting and beautiful vocalist, but she was just so pure in the way that she wrote music. Even if her lyrics didn’t make any sense to anyone else, they meant something to her and I think that is so inspiring.

Q:What is something that makes you feel glad that you are working with music?

Being able to make other people ‘feel something’ through my music I think is very special. Whether it makes them feel happy, sad or angry - I like the idea of making others really express their emotions. The impact that a certain song can have on someones life is really crazy, and to be the person that could make that impact makes me love my job.

Q:Any artists that have caught your interest recently, or any artist in particular you are feeling respect for at the moment?

I’ve really been loving an artist called ‘Laurel’. I have been a fan of hers for a while but have just recently gone back and listened to her music again and have fallen in love for a second time. She’s just way too cool. Her songwriting is spot on, her aesthetic is so amazing and she’s just all round really great.

Q:In what kind of environment and with what equipment do you make your music? (For example a guitar in a park, in a studio using an AKAI MPC2000 etc)

It really depends on the day! Sometimes I like to be in my little home studio and just sit at the piano all day, and other times I love travelling to proper studios in other cities where I can feel inspired. I don’t use any particular equipment - as long as there is a piano lying around, i’m good to go.

Q:What is your dream?

Ultimately, my dream is to just be happy - with whatever i’m doing. I’ve recently learned that there is nothing more valuable than your mental health, and if you’re happy and healthy, then you are successful.

*このインタビューは2021年12月30日に発売されたVI/NYL #004のために実施されました。

*写真は全てアーティストからの提供です。

■VI/NYL

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[beinglibertarian]

Rolling Stone Gathers Moss

“Why bother with newspapers, if this is all they offer? Agnew was right. The press is a gang of cruel faggots. Journalism is not a profession or a trade. It is a cheap catch-all for fuckoffs and misfits – a false doorway to the backside of life, a filthy piss-ridden little hole nailed off by the building inspector, but just deep enough for a wino to curl up from the sidewalk and masturbate like a chimp in a zoo-cage.”

– Hunter S. Thompson

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by “Raoul Duke” first appeared in Rolling Stone magazine in November 1971. The preceding quote from that publication sums up the environment that led to the rise and, eventually, the fall of the great Rolling Stone itself; the shift away from the counterculture that it once represented and the pathological deterioration of principled liberalism.

If these words were to be circulated on the campuses of U.C. Berkley today the same way they were in 1971, you could expect firebombs launched through windows, police cruisers overturned, and any poor fool in a red hat to be viciously assaulted with a bike lock. University students today surmise that musings this offensive, have been manufactured by the primitive IBM computer that once spat out numbers used to help exterminate Jews in the Nazi death camps; a right-wing hate machine. Or maybe Milo Yiannapolous wrote it?

The suffocating media bias of the 1960s was difficult to escape. A lethargic gray specter of middle-class America was distributed with cunning sterility through the generic, bogus smiles of cable news networks and traditional print. Despite the election and assassination of Kennedy and the signing of the Civil Rights Act, if you had turned on a T.V. this was still Eisenhower’s America: regimented, religious, conservative. And the cultural vacuum created by the Eisenhower years had began to suck even harder with Lyndon Banes Johnson at the helm.

American media was out of touch with this new generation. Elitist authoritarians were preaching their moral superiority stamped with stars and stripes to a generation of cynics. These kids didn’t have a fucking clue what they wanted, but they wanted no part of what they were being given. So rose Rolling Stone, a counterculture bible for babyboomers, co-founded by Jann Wenner.

The adjective “cruel,” meaning to willfully cause pain or suffering to others and feeling no concern about it, paired with the noun “faggot,” the antiquated pejorative used to define a homosexual man, is Thompson’s description of the media community of the day. A description evidently endorsed through publication by Jann Wenner in 1971. Because according to Thompson: “…there is no such thing as objective journalism. The phrase itself is a pompous contradiction in terms.”

Wenner today lives with his common law partner Matt Nye in, I’m guessing, New York City. He gives big money to Democrat candidates and makes millions off fabricated stories about the gang-rape epidemic at the University of Virginia. Then loses that money and gives more money to Democrat candidates. Wenner’s closet homosexuality in 1971 didn’t have him take any offence to Thompson’s comments, or at least not enough to hinder publishing the “hate speech.” Maybe it was the dollar signs flashing in his eyes, knowing that something as wild as Thompson’s Vegas adventure was a viable revenue stream. Or maybe liberals back then had more important things to bitch about.

Things were different in the 1960s. The anti-war movement and the civil rights movement were a just cause. The catalyst for a just movement of equal rights for women and gays and minorities was free speech, of which Jann Wenner was a huge proponent. When students at U.C. Berkley marched in the streets in the 1960s, it was an attack on the elitist, authoritarians and an establishment hellbent on keeping opposing viewpoints and the ideas of personal liberty stifled. The gang of “cruel faggots” kept the official narrative running but no one under 30 was listening.

The whole goddamn world had had enough of the travesty of war in Southeast Asia. There was no ignoring the ineptitude of American politics. The only reasonable thing to do in 1969 was to drive out to Altamont for the weekend, load up on heinous chemicals, hunker down and rethink your approach to the political process.  

Thompson, the then-young, liberal anti-hero, could often be found gobbling LSD and firing his guns (he was a lifetime member of the NRA) at propane bottles for a crowd of jeering burnouts or Bay area bikers at his fortified compound, Owl Farm, in Woody Creek Colorado.

It was Jann Wenner’s idea to put Hunter, with all of his fear and loathing, on to the campaign trail in 1972. Why not get the guy who wrote Hell’s Angels? Hunter was someone with a penchant for dealing with vicious thugs and sick freaks gone crazy on power, someone who could draw a parallel between Richard Nixon and Sonny Barger.

Thompson’s openly-biased, subjective and wild account of the 1972 presidential election was the red Chevy convertible of campaign coverage. ‘Sympathy for the Devil’ on repeat and at full volume, barrelling across the country at 110 miles an hour or so and in search of an honest politician. In Hunter’s eyes, the only one that even came close was George McGovern, the senator from South Dakota.

McGovern’s non-interventionist platform focused on a complete withdrawal from Vietnam, amnesty for draft evaders and a Milton Freidman inspired, negative income-tax meant to replace the bureaucratic burden of social welfare programs and a complicated tax code. Thompson’s version of events is the story of an idealistic underdog fighting against the odds only to be crushed by postmodern Americanism and the establishment incumbent, “Tricky Dick Nixon.” McGovern might have owed a White House win, in part, to Thompson’s and Rolling Stone’s relentless support had he not owed his White House loss to the mental distress of his vice-presidential pick, Thomas Eagleton.

There’s no way to properly explain how great Rolling Stone was in those early years. How well the magazine represented the anti-establishment culture, individual liberty and equality for everyone. It can’t be compared to anything else because there was nothing else, only the traditional mainstream garbage and Rolling Stone.

In the four decades that followed, the magazine continually fell behind market trends in the music industry, clinging nostalgically to some bygone era. They were late to the party covering punk in the 70’s. While they tried to figure out what had happened in 1991 Seattle they had totally dropped the ball on hip-hop. All of a sudden it was three years later, Kurt Cobain was already dead and they had lost so much ground in the L.A. scene that the black community had given up on them.

Wenner had pompously brushed off having any type of internet media strategy until around 2009, when he appointed one of his sons in charge of the “digital media” division. The type of position acquired only by a millionaire trust-fund brat of a rich liberal.

For years, Rolling Stone was unable to get a handle on what was happening in music or technology. Incompetence was a bad rash that spread through the entire organization. Getting caught with the University of Virginia gang-rape lies was an obvious black eye on the magazine. Wenner’s ability to make sound decisions was in question. His son should have been sent to North Dakota to learn how to weld. Despite all of that, the magazine was still making money, selling something like 1.5 million copies monthly. Not that anyone would admit to reading it or spending money on it.

On February 20, 2005 Hunter Thompson blew his own brains out in the kitchen of Owl Farm. His chronic alcohol and drug abuse had rendered his writing profitless and that was of no use to Rolling Stone. He had survived the last 10 years by republishing old articles and collections of his work from different outlets. He had already lost faith in the American political process. After Bill Clinton failed to appease his concerns over firearms, marijuana legalization and the American constitution, Hunter simply lost interest and poured himself a stiff drink.

One of the core tenets of Thompson’s “Gonzo journalism” was: total subjectivity; blatant, outright bias. An approach emulated by current Rolling Stone top shelf contributor, Matt Taibbi; a pliable, milquetoast impressionist with a learned sense of Thompson’s wit and scorn. The trick, which Taibbi understands as did Thompson, is that good journalism has a subjective theme, of course, but doesn’t blur the lines that keep public servants accountable. Taibbi likens journalists cozying up to politicians to the separation of church and state. Lacking objectivity, a good journalist should still keep an arms length from politicians and be critical of all of them, especially ones entrenched for decades in unashamed cronyism, a disregard for human life and vicious foreign policy.

“Reporters are supposed to be unpleasant, grumpy people who instantly deface the posters of the powerful whenever they get the chance”

– Matt Taibbi

In 2008, Taibbi had the opportunity to join other journalists on one of Obama’s campaign flights. He liked Obama, but when he noticed all the pictures that lined the walls, pictures of Obama and all the different journalists, all with their arms around then candidate Obama and smiling, he admits that he felt a little dirty.

The real downfall of the magazine was that Jann Wenner had hitched the Rolling Stone wagon to a political party instead of a political principal.  

Obama graced the cover of Rolling Stone annually through his presidency. Jann Wenner and him had carved out their friendship and put it on display. Few presidents have had the opportunity to sustain 8 full years of foreign bloodshed without any outrage from Wenner and co.

Now that Obama was out, there was a constant theme in the election for his replacement and the primaries leading up to it. Americans were sick of the status quo. They were sick of being fed lies from mainstream media and “fake news.” People were waiting to revolt in the wake of establishment politics. Just give them a guy who’s going to shit on everything and see what happens.

American media today is out of touch and not only with this new generation. Outlets like Rolling Stone keep the official narrative going, but no one under 30 is listening.

When Rolling Stone endorsed Hillary Clinton for president, that was it. The joke was over. Jann Wenner had finally come out of the closet as an elitist authoritarian and a cruel faggot.

* Darcy Gerow is a family man and tradesman. He is a national board member for the Libertarian Party of Canada and the co-founder of @TheHardTruthsBookClub, an organization committed to causing greatness in working age me through brotherhood and literature.

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[hikayagami]

I thought that since I didn’t get to run any Mew Mew marathon streams this year, I might as well still try to keep with tradition and show this thing that everyone always tells me to show when I have one XD.

For those who don’t know, this was a MMP fandub that was made years ago by someone who wanted the English dub to have a continuation. I was asked to be the video editor and to voice a couple of characters. So while I was labelled “Co-Creator”, I didn’t really have much control when it came to script or final decisions. While an ambitious attempt, the first 3 episodes (this being the 3rd) were rushed, so they turned out very “amateurish” to say the least. I always give a sort of war-flashback story of how this episode was made.

Due to the script straying away from the original translation (it was trying to emulate the 4Kids dub after all, so that wasn’t a negative trait) and some of the VAs not given video for reference, most of the lines didn’t match the lip-flaps (the only exceptions being me and 1 other VA for this episode). Also, due to this being 2 episodes being squished to a 25 minute-ish special (not counting opening sequence and credits), there was a lot of editing that had to be done to make it all fit. It also didn’t help that I was only given a limited amount of sound effects to mix with. I had to use some sounds from my editing folder to help make up for it. The microphones used for recording weren’t very good either. Even mine, admittedly, was a shoddy headset mic.

Editing this was a pain too. I’m usually able to take my time. However, due to this fandub actually having a deadline and the extensive editing that had to be done to it, I had to spend most of my time on it. It took about 2 solid weeks to complete it all. Even worse, due to my old laptop not being able to process all of the edits for a video of that size, I had to buy some extra hardware to act as a backup hardrive. So, when I’ve said in past livestreams that this fandub cost me $30 dollars and gave me carpal tunnel, that wasn’t an exaggeration XD.

However, I’m grateful for this dub for giving me most of my experience with extensive video editing. Despite its weird script (to the extent that some of the VAs actually pronounced the misspellings XD), story that kind of doesn’t make much sense, poor quality mics and limited voice cast (The male characters especially, to the point that their voices are obviously girl voices with the pitch lowered.), I’m starting to look at it with slight nostalgia. My right wrist still kind of hurts thinking about it but still nostalgic X3. This episode, along with 27 & 28 were made this way. Fortunately, a lot of these issues were fixed, so 29 & 30 came out so much better.

So watch and... enjoy I guess? XD

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