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#reblog2018
argumate · 2 years
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the 20th century is basically a competition between Hitler and Stalin as to who can kill more Slavs, after Hitler rejected Stalin’s initial moustache competition proposal
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arbitrarygreay · 8 months
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Serendipitous timing, given the reblog2018 this week about how I have yet to experience an original meta-narrative story that quite works.
What this affirms to me is that fanfiction can tell certain stories that original stories (even serial-numbers-filed-off stuff) cannot, and especially so with meta-commentary.
When I read this post, instantly I thought of the many OUaT fanfictions I have adored over the years. Those fanfics are most exemplary when they lean into the poor choices the source material made and re-contextualize them. It's to the point where I tend to feel disconnected from the fanfic that diverge from the source material from early seasons, because I love the way having to deal with the plot turns of the later seasons deepens the characterization.
Consider also Asian pop culture, where filing the serial numbers off and genre meta-commentary is engulfing the industry. The example for this particular post will be "The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady". The key world-building point is that the noble class was constructed out of their ability to use magic, in contrast to magic-less commoners. This is a conceit pretty widespread across otome isekai stories. MagiRevo's plotting is basically about interrogating this setup, letting its implications became its conflicts.
This would be absolute gangbusters as a fanfiction. Instead, though, I can only think about how the setup just inherently doesn't make sense as a system that could exist for more than like a decade. It doesn't matter how much the whole point of the story is as a commentary on a genre trope, it being an original story rather than fanfiction means that I can't accept that genre-gimme as a gimme anymore.
Original stories have to stand on their own foundations, but meta-commentary stories are deliberately choosing to build their houses on sand. In this metaphor, fanfics are not houses at all, but manipulations of a photo of one. Fanfic is MC Escher architecture, and a meta-commentary original story is trying to build one in real life.
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regicide1997 · 4 years
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I can picture it now:
#reblog2017
#reblog2017
#reblog2016
#reblog2018
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budgerigorous · 5 years
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all australians and britons do, also 'herb' may have a silent h in america but 'herbivore' is more variable
Hi anon! I was mad confused until I realized this must have come up in relation to a #reblog2018 – and, lo and behold, it did. Thanks, argumate.
You are correct about “herbivore” being more variable over in, uh, the States… I guess back in March 2018 I wasn’t hearing it said aloud too much. :P
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arbitrarygreay · 8 months
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The KyoAni Dilemma
Rewatching Dragon Maid S, particularly the ep with the Tohru/Elma flashbacks. And like most fans of the show, it's basically "gdi why does the story which is capable of being This also have to include all of That Shit?" KyoAni, in particular, has long been the studio of this lament! Their execution craft is absolutely impeccable, elevating and polishing some real otakushit turds again and again. Why, many critically-minded anime reviewers cry, can't KyoAni just do something serious with all of their talent? But then, like, it turns out that looks like Violet Evergarden. Ehhhhhhhhhhh. And honestly, the way I feel about Violet Evergarden extends to how I feel about all those PA Works "working girls and/or teen relationship drama!" shows, where it feels like they're high on their own "taking it seriously" supply. A Silent Voice is teetering on this, but may be more of a "this is too pretty and polished to be true to the ugliness driving the narrative" thing, as opposed to a "pretty and polished substituting for nuance" thing. But either way, these critic-bait efforts feel unbalanced in their own way. I had a reblog2018 post this week about how cute pop songs work the best with a mature performance contrast, instead of cutesy saturation. However, the desired effect of the optimized result is the best kind of cuteness, not an elimination of it. I also finally watched the Trigger OL show this week (Turning Girls), and it's clear that they relate hard to the gremlin otaku characters, whether it be the VK queen Bloodstained Bloody Roses, Twitch streamer Expy Nico (6 months after LL first aired), and most relevantly, a fujoshi shipping ALL OF THE THINGS while at work. One does not work at an anime studio that has a distinct artistic identity/culture without being some kind of weirdo! If they were normies they'd be working somewhere else. So, putting it together, I think perhaps that KyoAni can't actually "just do it seriously." Their own artistic feelings don't run that way. Their best nuanced work can only come out if they can vent their actual niche tastes as well. The multitudes within a weirdo only result in even more depth, for the sheer range. See also: Nisemonogatari, while who talks about Katanagatari, like ever? Of course, KyoAni has plenty of counterexamples in their oeuvre to damn this theory: Hyouka, FMP TSR, High Speed, Tsurune, Euphonium. But when I list them out like this, and also consider the likes of Nichijou and even K-ON, another reason to loathe the prospect of an only-serious KyoAni becomes apparent. KyoAni can bring out the true potential of genres that are otherwise ill-served by the industry. Crunch and the layouts crisis are making the state of most shows pretty dire, with upper-mid-table efforts often scraping by through manga panel recreation, and the lack of customizing to medium hits comedy especially hard. Some serious dramas can get their intent through even with subpar layouts. There are also other studios who can succeed at putting out critic-bait dramas. But can those same studios or critical darling auteurs pull off the fast-paced high-energy comedy that made KyoAni famous? I can think of single examples, but the track record of the responsible staff members is so far from consistent (and many of those productions nonetheless plagued by the usual industry ills). If KyoAni remaining in love with Les Problematique within their artistic tastes is the price for a healthier work environment and and "finally, some good fucking non-serious output", then yes, let the rising tides lift the Weeb Ass Shit, too.
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argumate · 3 years
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the other awkward symmetry for “men find it difficult to get the sex they want” is that women find it difficult to get the sex they want, too.
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argumate · 4 years
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an obvious reason to tax the wealthy is that it’s preferable alternative to beheading the wealthy, which has been the option generally taken when taxation is considered impractical.
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argumate · 4 years
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he oppressed manfully down the stairs
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argumate · 4 years
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so it just goes to show that if you’re a blowhard who can’t stop yourself posting whatever crosses your mind at 3am, happily contradict yourself three times in a single paragraph, consider taking bribes to be a badge of distinction that shows you are smart, and have never met a teenage model or Russian spy you didn’t clumsily try to sleep with, the combined might of the American national security apparatus with all of its communication intercepts and insiders and informers and black ops and journalistic shills working together will ensure that you only just manage to win the presidency.
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argumate · 4 years
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there’s no victory in being the last bacteria left alive in the petri dish before it gets sterilised.
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argumate · 4 years
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I’ve heard some people argue (seriously) that anti-white racism is bad because it leads to anti-black racism, which is probably true, though a somewhat amusing angle to take.
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argumate · 5 years
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Marius, a man who attempts to flirt with a girl by sitting on an adjacent park bench and making out with the handkerchief her father left behind while she looks on in utter bewilderment, would be an incel in any sane world
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argumate · 4 years
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one cannot dismiss with rigour what was asserted without rigour, besides saying “this was asserted without rigour”.
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argumate · 4 years
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100 years after losing their jobs the people will be really impressed by the way the resulting efficiency improvements compounded annual growth
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argumate · 4 years
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that’s the dilemma for any political ideology: it either promises to change everything, leading to drastically different lives for everyone (for better or for worse), or it promises modest, largely invisible improvements on the status quo.
the more modest the improvements, the harder it is to scream about tyranny with a straight face, the more dramatic the changes, the harder it is to claim that they’re realistic and for the better.
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argumate · 4 years
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tell them about Apple iRock, the smooth white boulder that sits in your living room and does absolutely nothing but be a conversation piece.
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