#Its imperative that you know that i had to force myself to look for memes on pinterest because i was making myself insane watching

[raccoonspooky]

Heres some candids of u and the sinclairs as these random couples from pinterest:

Vincent: 

Lester:

Bo:

[16ruedelaverrerie]

  [Today, Courtesy of This Diagram Generated by @sebdoesstuff, a Performative Reading of the Natal Chart of Detective Gavin Reed, Born October 7, 2002, in What We Take to Be Detroit, Michigan, at an Unknown Time of Day. All Standard Disclaimers from This Post Apply, Including the One about This Being a Generalization, Because Even with the Natal Chart We’re Not Going to Get into Aspects or Full Houses vs Empty Houses or Anything Like That, I’m Not an Astrologer Nor Was I Meant to Be, Also I Need to Go Eat Dinner Now]  

1. Rising Sign: presentation Sagittarius (blunt, outgoing, independent)

[The rising sign is dependent on the time of birth; it’s Sagittarius here because 12PM is the default time this website uses. My original choice for Gavin’s rising sign was Aries, because an Aries is just a Leo with an inferiority complex THAT’S RIGHT FIGHT ME ARIES but I rather like Sagittarius, actually! Did you know that every man I have ever been into but also simultaneously hated myself for being into had a Sagittarius sun sign? It’s a personal note you didn’t ask for but also it’s a broadly applicable truth.]

“I’ll make my own scrambled eggs,” says Gavin. “You cook like someone who made a deal with the devil to trade in their taste buds for pointlessly overdeveloped fine motor skills, which is exactly what you are. Your food tastes like a fucking instruction manual.”

“Is that any way to talk to your lawfully wedded husband?” asks RK900.

“THE LAW IS NOT JUSTICE,” proclaims Gavin.

Capitulating to the oppressive institution of marriage had provided them with certain tax benefits, muses RK900, but it had not done a thing to socialize Gavin. It's just as well, he thinks.

  2. Sun: personality 14 degrees Libra (diplomatic, superficial, indulgent)

[Again, this post is probably more than enough contemplation of Gavin Reed, Actual Libra. This sun sign continues to be completely absurd and I am on board for this bogus journey.]

“No wait, not-- not from the back,” pants Gavin, struggling to turn himself over under RK900′s insistent hands. “I want-- I want to see your face.”

“Okay,” breathes RK900, startled by the tenderness of the request.

“I mean, otherwise there’s no point,” continues Gavin. “What? You think I’m with you for your personality?”

“...Thanks, you ruined it,” says RK900.

  3. Moon: emotion 01 degree Scorpio (passionate, secretive, committed)

“You... I...” falters Gavin, fidgeting viciously with the zipper of his jacket. “...What I mean is-- that is to say, I... here’s the thing, you’re... I’m in-- I might be in-- ...I-- you--”

“Would you find this ordeal easier if we were both undressed and I was banging you like a screen door in a hurricane?” asks RK900, because it isn’t like he doesn’t know what Gavin is trying to say, anyway.

“Yes please right now,” says Gavin.

  4. Mercury: intellect 28 degrees Virgo (analytical, detail-oriented, perfectionist)

“Reed, this is ridiculous,” barks Fowler. “Your report was due two weeks ago, I can’t have you sit on your ass forever. Just get it done.”

“But have you seen the body text typeface for the new electronic filing system?” protests Gavin. “The x-height on it is hideously minuscule! What it does to the counters-- it’s completely illegible, Captain! I am ASPHYXIATED by its lack of sufficient aperture! I can’t work in typographical squalor, this aesthetic is a disgrace to the force! I QUIT!”

“Your gun and badge,” says Fowler.

  5. Venus: relationship 15 degrees Scorpio (loyal, possessive, adventurous)

“Here’s a handbook of sexual perversions that I’ve compiled for you,” says Gavin. He drops a gargantuan dossier in front of RK900, where it lands with a thunk hard enough to make the table shake.

“I... really don’t think this is necessary,” says RK900.

“Listen, I would literally keel over and die of grief if for some reason you suddenly decided to go slam your cock inside someone else instead of me,” says Gavin. “Tell me what freaky shit you’re into, and I’ll do it. You tell me what it takes to keep you around.”

“Isn’t there a nicer way of saying all this?” asks RK900.

  6. Mars: action 24 degrees Virgo (occupied, particular, critical)

“This folder is for solved cases that haven’t been filed yet,” says Gavin, cursor hovering. “This folder is for solved cases that are partially filed. This folder is for solved cases involving drug offenses. This folder is for all cases east of Woodward but west of Broadway. This folder is for bad crimes. This folder is for cases that when I looked at them, I was like, huh! This folder is--”

“Please, your organizational scheme doesn’t make any sense,” says RK900. “I’ve had to patch up several critical errors during your attempt to explain it just now.”

“It works! I have a system!” insists Gavin. “You know how Fowler feels about me, would I still be here if I didn’t have a system that worked and got cases cleared?”

“Your continued employment at this station is a source of persistent mystery to me,” says RK900.

  7. Jupiter: development 13 degrees Leo (dramatic, proud, demonstrative)

“You requested me?” demands Gavin as soon as the door to Fowler’s office swings closed, too befuddled to let his irritation silence him. “You asked to be partnered with me? What the fuck did you do that for?”

“You have... unorthodox methods, Detective Gavin Reed,” says RK900. “The capacity for improvisation is a quality I find lacking in myself. I intend to learn from your extraordinary proficiency in adapting to unforeseen circumstances.”

Gavin opens his mouth, only to close it again without managing to say anything. He turns on his heels and starts stomping away.

“Come on, you dumb shit,” he calls over his shoulder. His ears are flushed, RK900 notes.

  8. Saturn: limitation 29 degrees Gemini (concrete, inarticulate, intuitive)

“As Democritus said, happiness resides not in possessions,” announces Gavin as he bursts into the bedroom, glasses on the bridge of his nose, squinting at several closely printed pages that he clutches in his hands. “There is an ethical imperative to question whether it is beneficial to hold onto that which can be held onto; if it is not, at times, more salubrious to our spiritual health to cast off that which we let fester by keeping close to ourselves. For indeed, as stagnant water breeds disease, so do we find that the objects--”

“Gavin,” interrupts RK900, “are you... are you trying to thank me for taking out the trash an extra time last week?”

“You have to let me finish,” says Gavin. “I’ve been working on this since then.”

“Hold on,” says RK900, “you spent a week writing a speech because you couldn’t say th--”

“--SO DO WE FIND THAT THE OBJECTS WHICH SURROUND US CEASE TO GIVE US JOY WHEN THEY HAVE OVERSTAYED THEIR WELCOME,” shouts Gavin.

  9. Uranus: freedom 25 degrees Aquarius (scientific, original, technocratic)

“I’m a Gen Z chaos child and proud of it!” says Gavin. “We’re the generation that invented androids!”

“Some might say that you were adamantly refusing to be proud of this accomplishment until very recently,” remarks RK900. “Some might also say that it’s not your accomplishment in the least, that you had absolutely nothing to do with it, and point out that you have trouble operating a microwave on your best days.”

“They all have different ways you need to enter minutes and seconds,” says Gavin, hotly.

  10. Neptune: transcendence 08 degrees Aquarius (humanitarian, secular, modern)

“I’m a Gen Z chaos child and proud of it!” says Gavin. “We’re the generation that replaced religion with unparalleled medical advances and brought us one step closer to a post-scarcity society!”

“Wouldn’t know it from looking at you,” says RK900. “Generation that replaced religion with memes, more like.”

“Who taught you to talk like this?” demands Gavin.

  11. Pluto: transformation 15 degrees Sagittarius (confident, principled, revolutionary)

“I’m a Gen Z chaos child and proud of it!” says Gavin. “We replaced religion with memes and the whole world is better for it!”

“You smoke actual cigarettes and use voice-to-text to take notes,” says RK900. “I’m starting to think you might not even be Gen Z at all. How old are you, Gavin Reed? Are you a Highlander? Can you only be killed through decapitation?”

“Don’t threaten me with a good time,” says Gavin.

  BONUS. North Node: purpose 10 degrees Gemini (interaction, partnership, community)

“Go talk to him,” Tina hisses under the clamor of the bar, elbowing RK900 in the side.

“He has been uncommunicative and belligerent since my return,” says RK900, keeping his eyes fixed on the glass of Thirium in front of him. “Correction, he has been especially uncommunicative and belligerent since my return. I believe attempting to engage with him at this point would only cause him to lash out further.”

“But have you figured out why?” asks Hank. “You know what’s got his panties in a twist?”

“That is an unsolicited mental image,” says RK900, “but I believe it is related to my dereliction of duty while I was confined to Cyberlife for repairs. The damage was extensive and I was unable to assist with Detective Reed’s caseload for much longer than he has been accustomed to. The evidence leads me to conclude that he is still resentful of my prolonged absence.”

“Unbelievable,” says Tina. “Brain the size of a planet and that’s what you conclude.”

“Nines,” says Connor, kindly, “replay your memories from the night of the shooting. My hypothesis is that you may not have taken all the evidence into account.”

The memories from the night of the shooting. Why, when the way that Gavin’s been acting ought to be explanation enough? Why go back to the sound of the gunshot like a cracking whip, the split second of frenzied calculation, the bullet in motion -- straight as the crow flies -- Gavin’s eyes widening as RK900 shoved him away, the sharp brittle crack of his shell coming apart, and then the terrible, painful static filling his head-- and Gavin’s fingers, slicked with blue, shaking uncontrollably as he fumbled to hold the shards of his skull together-- Gavin shouting something at him that he couldn’t hear over the noise, then Gavin’s lips still moving noiselessly when his audio processors cut out, just a deafening silence as the countdown began, and barely visible beyond the angry blur of error messages and critical malfunctions that had filled his view -- only now in the solemn clarity past the moment, RK900 could see -- in the low light of the alleyway, on his knees in filth beside him, Gavin looked--

RK900 glances up from his glass, turns to the far side of the bar where Gavin has been all night. The giveaway flurry as Gavin whips his head away, pretending for all he's worth as though there’s something very interesting on the wall next to him. He knows RK900 is looking, and RK900 knows that he knows because he stubbornly refuses to look back.

“Go talk to him,” says Tina, again.

His ears are flushed, thinks RK900, and stands up.

[allenfromthetc]

Blog post #2: Participatory Culture

So, what is participation theory, anyway? I can’t speak for the rest of you, but I had never truly discussed this topic prior to entering this class, much less even hearing the phrase. However, that doesn’t mean I hadn’t thought of some of its concepts as I grew up in the digital world, specifically how our usage of social media isn’t simply a means of passing time, but rather is a shared collective experience in which we both contribute and take in other people’s work, opinions, and language. In our week 6 agenda, it is mentioned that participation is a part of our skill set for digital literacy, and through that being able to actively engage and be a part of our communities; the digital era has allowed us to not be restricted to our geographical location, and actively explore the communities we are involved in on a larger scale and explore things that can become a part of our identity. Henry Jenkins in Participatory Culture in a Networked Era, defines culture as as the “sum of total human experience”, and with that views participatory culture as “one which embraces the values of diversity and democracy through every aspect of our interactions with one another”, bringing up the idea that this culture may not be something completely dynamic or groundbreaking, but rather found in the things that we do everyday (Jenkins, ITo, & boyd, 2016, p.2). With constant tweets, snaps, emails, and instagram updates becoming the common place for how we interact with each other, our culture is heavily influenced by the digital interactions of our lives. With more and more people having access to social media and tailoring it to their social needs as opposed to professional, it has transitioned from a technological asset to now a mundane constant. I view participatory culture as people using social media in order to create, comment, and share content that is easily accessible and contributable with a purpose. One way in which I have seen social media trends be prime examples of participatory culture is the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge of 2014In 2014, to raise awareness for Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, people on social media would dump buckets full of ice on their head and tag people they know, under the condition that they either continue the trend of donate an amount of money to the ALS association. This swept through both Facebook and Instagram, becoming a common post to see with many of people's friends engaging in the conversation through comments or shares. A simple act, video taping someone dumping ice on themselves, yet because of its simplicity people were able to replicate, contribute traffic to the videos as well as funds, and with that able to support an association with a higher purpose. These types of videos are mentioned in chapter 4 of the book Participation and User Generated Content, in what is referred to as User Created Content, or UCC. The section brings up the fact that high quality cameras and the ever improving smartphones continue to become a more commonplace item, and with that the ability to produce media. This has paved the way for “vernacular creativity”, or creativity that is easily accessible and more concurrent with the everyday things of our lives (Hinton & Hjorth, 2013) With TikTok becoming one of the most popular social media sites, solely based on video creation, it exemplifies easily accessible and connected culture. TikTok provides music, “sounds”, audio sound effects, and filters to allow anyone with a smartphone to easily customize and create content. One of the most popular features of TikTok is their “sounds”, which is audio created by one user which can be used for anyone else’s videos, allowing people to replicate and put their own twist on trends. This has allowed a wave of dance trends, workouts, and other activities that people can watch and recreate- specifically in the movement #Flattenthecurve. This movement is dedicated to encouraging people to stay inside and practice social distancing, all the while having fun and being enjoyable to the average users. Even something as simple as a hashtag can advocate for the good of society, while still being accessible and recreational. 

In Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century, they mention that scholars “suggest potential benefits of these forms of participatory culture”, in the same way that connected learning allows for an education separate from the traditional institutions; that is, peer to peer communication, development of skills, and collaboration (Jenkins, Puroshotma, Clinton, Weigel, & Robison, 2009). While our technology is advancing and becoming more accessible, it doesn’t mean that everyone has the same access to it or the same experience and exposure. They acknowledge that as a Participation Gap, and I have seen that firsthand. While studying at University, unrelated to studies people are connected and communicating through social media and experiencing culture through information, memes, and videos- and while this might be commonplace there, this isn’t the same in all places where technology and staying up to date with pop culture is not the forefront. Though it may not be imperative to living, smaller communities or less advantage don’t experience or use them in the same way, and may not have a full grasp of how much social media affects the world as a whole. 

Something that I have been doing to involve myself in online communities both to enrich my personal identity and reach out to others that share similar experiences with me is actively following Filipino tik tokers and other minority creators, as well as joining multiple Facebook groups (namely, Subtle Asian Traits, Subtle Filipino Traits, and Subtle Asian Veterans). Though I have yet to create my own content for Tik Tok, being able to see other people that look like me and have experienced similar upbringings create humor based upon their own upbringing in the culture or post content (music, dancing) that is trending within these communities has allowed me to have that exposure that I hadn’t had while overseas or as much experience while I was at University. Instead of having to rely on visiting family or meeting up with members of the Phillipine Student Association on campus, I can instead turn to the internet and still feel engaged with my heritage and people my age. Though it’s important to have these real life communities and in the case of PSA, it’s important to congregate in real life- however, being able to participate and engage with a community that would otherwise be a niche subculture in certain locations, allows people to contribute more and have more connectivity. And this certainly doesn’t mean that real life groups can’t use social media, it’s quite the opposite in fact. Having social media linked to groups and using it to promote, communicate, and coordinate, allows for culture to grow outside of meetings. It can promote and enhance friendships, and be a place where culture can cultivate and thrive. I have been able to laugh at memes that I wouldn’t find in “mainstream” social media streams, as well as have viewpoints tailored more to my experience; while opinions differ, as a collective I am able to relate more and discuss topics with people who have a better understanding about the Asian-American/Asian/Minority Experience. 

I also joined the Subtle Asian Veterans group, due to me recently serving overseas and feeling as if I was the only Asian a part of the group I had been serving with. While there aren’t quite that many Asian/Asian Americans serving in the Armed Forces, that doesn’t mean they don’t exist- and with that meaning that I wasn’t quite so alone, after all. I participate in discussions often; as a new soldier I often ask for advice on career planning and people’s experiences with their service, as well as networking and finding out how to use my benefits and experience back into the civilian world. Currently on the page, people are posting different T-Shirt and Hoodie designs that are customized with the flags of both our heritage, as well as the country we currently serve or have served. I’m currently in the works of my own design, as the proceeds of all the designs will be going to a charity supporting the healthcare workers on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic. Not only has their group allowed me to connect culturally in both humor and professional development, but has allowed us to contribute to something bigger than ourselves, and show our support for healthcare workers in this time.