#about time gravity falls got a resurgence | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

may-the-silicon-be-based · 2 years ago

Text

the Worlds II: heaven

locations discussed do not refer to the biblical location of heaven, this is just the result of Etymology.

heaven orbits the star Rigel, a blue giant approaching its end days...or end millennia anyways. Rigel is a system of 4 (possibly 5!) stars, but for the most part Rigel A the largest plays the greatest role in heavens enviroment. the planet itself probably didnt orignally belong to the rigel system, instead being ensnared by the stars gravity.

because of its massive star, heaven orbits at quite a distance, meaning that the sun lookly like a pinprick in the sky, dispite still being bright enought to light its planet. this also has the consquence of seasons being incredibly long, a single year in heaven is probably equivalent to 1000- ish earth years. heaven has no moons.

while the planet is far enough away for the water to not evaporate and the atmosphere to wear down quickly, it is still a very very irratiated ball or rock. for this reason, at its sometimes extereme tempuratures the planet is not suitable for long term human habitation, at least not without alot of luck.

while most of the organisims native to heaven are ruidmentary due to the stars young age, there are some more complex organisims that could be the mutated decendants of organisims native or earth

most plants are pale to avoid sun damage or blue to absorb light from the star, many plants and animals also use relfective coatings to deal with the suns rays.

radiotrophic fungi (which are a thing appearently had no idea) are quite common, they have melanin as a pigment and use ionizing radiation for energy.

also because of the solar winds, there is a near constant aurora occuring which can be visible even during the day. in other sky related details, sometimes earths sun is visible at night. the day night cycle is also slightly longer than earths, not very much to be noticable but enough that it requires a slightly different clock/timekeeping system.

uhhhhhh *looks at my notes*

"I don't even want to thing about what the fuck the wind is doing on this god damn planet" and "Got some hashtag weird structures on it that are like a little too fucking old to make sense"

...

seasonality is the single most important and impactful feature of the planets ecosystem, as mentions seasons are centuries long, which leads them to be very very extremes. almost all of heavens landmass is on the southern hemisphere, which also means that most terrestrial life will all experience the same season at the same time.

winter is arduous, most of the ocean on that side of the planet will freeze into thick ice floes, at the height of winter these basically become glaciers and are stable and long lived enough for semi-permanent settlement. food is scarce, most aquatic life migrates away and short days and years without sunlight near the poles makes it near impossible for anything to sustain life. most terrestrial animals enter some sort of dormancy period during this time and herbivores becomes less common as plant life becomes scarce. Many other plants and animals will reproduce in fall and then lay eggs or produce seeds that are able to survive winter in dormancy and then emerge in spring, the parents dying. this leads to large gaps of time between generations, a species that looks like it went extinct in winter will then suddenly reemerge come spring time. many organisms become albino for camouflage or develop more pigmented tissues to work with the lower levels of solar radiation.

the events of the book take place in early spring and at just the end of winter.

during spring time as mentioned there is often a resurgence of species who's offspring were dormant over winter. all the frozen glaciers begin to thaw causing massive flooding. most species that thrive during this period are amphibious. disease also becomes an issue during spring, many fungi coming out or dormancy and then wet and warming enviroment being a breeding ground for bacteria. monsoons also.

summer like winter, is harsh, especially with Rigel. if it was an irradiated mess then its more of an irradiated mess now. organisms employ similar strategies to those in winter, becoming dormant or producing seeds and eggs to survive the season. the whole hemisphere becomes a desert, the waterline recedes exposing seabed and at the height of summer the sun will never set for years at the poles. past the equator a more tropical enviroment forms on the seabed near the new water line, plants have to be highly resistant to saline soil and are thus specialized. similarly near the poles where some liquid water may exist oasis may form. radiotrophs thrive during this season due to getting the maximum of ionizing radiation they can. most organisms are small, have reflective coatings or large cooling structures to control the heat if they are still active. the aurora borealis also becomes much stronger during this time.

lastly there is fall [quick content warning for mass animal death and horror elements] fall can be split generally into two parts, the first part is much like spring where organisms come out of dormancy after summer. rains come in and rehydrate the desert and plant populations that migrated to the poles or coast begin to spread outwards. unlike earth most organisms reproductive cycles occur during fall, not spring. overall this is the most survivable time of the year, when food is plentiful, temperatures are moderate, weather is not extremes, and water is readily valuable.

the latter period of fall is relatively short, only occurring over a roughly 30 year period. when writing the season i like to take inspiration from earth's own seasons and then dial them up to their extremes. for fall i decided to go with that element of decay, leaves falling etc. So essential during this short period there is a mass death of most animal life as plant life begins to go dormant for winter. most plant shed their leaves and other nutrient rich parts to conserve energy and what's left is often too tough or nutrient deficient to support life.

because this happens so quickly there are no existing large populations of scavengers and decomposers to remove the dead. during this time practically the only strategy that will succeed for survival is dormancy or scavenging/decomposing. various fungi and insects are prevalent, as well as scavenging fauna.

*checks notes again*

Hey nice flesh world

No comment

the only reason this phenomenon does happen in spring when organisms are preparing for summer rather than winter is because a sufficient amount of plants, making up the bottom of the food chain, slowly migrate to the poles and coasts animals that eat them following. of course some still die but this migration is slow enough that no mass death occurs. autotrophs also usually do well during the summer because of the increase in energy they can absorb, most heterotroph deaths not being caused by lack of food but due to dehydration and heat exposure.

i know this post is way longer than the hell post, mostly because the seasonal explanation was long but really it was necessary so whatever.

i will in a later post get into the cultural implications of all this for the sentient species living there (the angels) as some of this stuff can make them pretty odd folks.

#scifi worldbuilding #worldbuilding #world lore #sci fi books #scifi #sci fi #wirteblr #writing #original fiction #orignal content #writer on tumblr

0 notes

maandarinee · 3 years ago

Note

what are all the podcasts you listen to?

anon I'm so glad you asked

Since it is a pretty long list including synopses (stolen from the podcast feed or website because I'm Bad at summaries and in some cases it's been a while since I listened) I'm going to put it under a cut.

I've separated the list into "Complete" (either finished or cancelled) and "Ongoing" podcasts. Some have additional comments by me. Current favorites are marked orange. My eternal beloved are Our Fair City and Wolf 359.

Complete

ars PARADOXICA: "When an experiment in a time much like our own goes horribly awry, Dr. Sally Grissom finds herself stranded in the past and entrenched in the activities of a clandestine branch of the US government. Grissom and her team quickly learn that there's no safety net when toying with the fundamental logic of the universe."

Blackwood: "Five years ago, Molly Weaver, Bryan Anderson, and Nathan Howell started a podcast focused on the local legend of a monster called The Blackwood Bugman. Quickly, the investigation grew out of their control, as they discovered that, not only are the legends seemingly true, many people in Blackwood have turned up dead or disappeared without a trace." --> [this feels like the Blair With Project, but as a podcast. Didn't get a second season due to no funding, but it works as a standalone]

Dreamboy: "Dane, a spun-out musician spending the winter in Cleveland, Ohio, has two main goals: keeping his job at the Pepper Heights Zoo and trying not to waste all his time on Grindr. What he doesn’t expect is to get swept into a story about dreams, about forevers, about flickering lights, about unexplained deaths, about relentless change, and about the parts of ourselves that we wish other people knew to look for. Oh, and also a murderous zebra." --> [very NSFW; does cool things with music! Didn't get a second season due to no funding, but it works as a standalone]

King Fall AM: "...centers on a lonely little mountain town's late-night AM talk radio show and its paranormal, peculiar happenings and inhabitants." --> [cancelled after 100 episodes, ends on a huge cliffhanger]

Our Fair City: "A campy, post-apocalyptic audio drama." --> [I know the description sounds like nothing but just trust me, I love it so much]

Steal the Stars: "...is a gripping noir science fiction thriller in 14 episodes: Forbidden love, a crashed UFO, an alien body, and an impossible heist unlike any ever attempted."

Stellar Firma: "...a weekly Science Fiction, Comedy podcast following the misadventures of Stellar Firma Ltd.'s highest born but lowest achieving planetary designer Trexel Geistman and his bewildered clone assistant David 7. Join them each episode as they attempt to take listener submissions and craft them into the galaxy's most luxurious, most expensive and most questionably designed bespoke planets. However, with Trexel's corporate shark of a line manager Hartro Piltz breathing down their necks and I.M.O.G.E.N., the station's omnipresent and omniinvasive stationwide A.I. monitoring those necks to within 3 decimal places, they'll be lucky to make it a week before being slurried and recycled into raw human resources." --> [semi-improvised, I thought I'd have a problem with the improv bit because that's not usually my thing, but no, I absolutely devoured this]

TANIS: "...is a serialized docudrama about a fascinating and surprising mystery: the myth of Tanis. Tanis is an exploration of the nature of truth, conspiracy, and information. Tanis is what happens when the lines of science and fiction start to blur." [+ spinoff The Last Movie] --> [I have no clue what the hell is going on here]

The Black Tapes: "...is a serialized docudrama about one journalist's searc for truth, her enigmatic subject's mysterious past, and the literal and figurative ghosts that haunt them both."

The Magnus Archives: "...is a weekly horror fiction anthology podcast examining what lurks in the archives of the Magnus Institute, an organisation dedicated to researching the esoteric and the weird. Join new head archivist Jonathan Sims as he attempts to bring a seemingly neglected collection of supernatural statements up to date, converting them to audio and supplementing them with follow-up work from his small but dedicated team. Individually, they are unsettling. Together they begin to form a picture that is truly horrifying because as they look into the depths of the archives, something starts to look back…"

Time:Bombs: "...a new audio drama podcast about the hilarious world of bomb disposal. Ride along with EOD technician Simon Teller on the busiest night of the year for him and his team - when business is, quite literally, booming."

Wolf 359: "Life's not easy for Doug Eiffel, the communications officer for the U.S.S. Hephaestus Research Station, currently on Day 448 of its orbit around red dwarf star Wolf 359. He's stuck on a scientific survey mission of indeterminate length, 7.8 light years from Earth. His only company on board the station are stern mission chief Minkowski, insane science officer Hilbert, and Hephaestus Station's sentient, often malfunctioning operating system Hera. He doesn't have much to do for his job other than monitoring static and intercepting the occasional decades-old radio broadcast from Earth, so he spends most of his time creating extensive audio logs about the ordinary, day-to-day happenings within the station. But the Hephaestus is an odd place, and life in extremely isolated, zero gravity conditions has a way of doing funny things to people's minds. Even the simplest of tasks can turn into a gargantuan struggle, and the most ordinary-seeming things have a way of turning into anything but that." --> [starts funny, turns very intense]

Ongoing

Alba Salix, Roya Physician (+ The Axe & Crown): "A witch, her apprentice, and her fairy herbalist treat the ills of a fairy-tale kingdom." + "Gubbin the troll tavernkeeper deals with his clueless new landlord, his shady niece, and some new competition."

Archive 81: "A found footage horror podcast about ritual, stories, and sound."

Arden: "A (fictional) true crime podcast about cold cases and the reporter and detective who try to solve them."

Brimstone Valley Mall: "The year is 1999. Lurking somewhere between Hot Topic and the food court, five misfit demons from Hell kill time inciting sin in a suburban shopping mall. When the lead singer of their band goes mysteriously missing, the demons only have two weeks to find him before they play the biggest gig of the millennium - or face the wrath of Satan herself."

CARAVAN: "First rule of Wound Canyon: No one who gets in, ever gets out. So when a brilliant, ghostly specter flies through the sky amid the rain and lightning, Samir stumbles off a steep cliff and into a hidden world, one in which demons, vampires, and all other manner of paranormal creatures take sanctuary." --> [also pretty NSFW and horny in general]

Death by Dying: "The Obituary Writer of Crestfall, Idaho finds himself deeply in over his head as he investigates a series of strange and mysterious deaths… when he is supposed to simply be writing obituaries. Along the way he encounters murderous farmers, man-eating cats, haunted bicycles, and a healthy dose of ominous shadows." --> [I had to stop listening to this in public because it kept making me undignified laugh and snort noises]

Desperado: "Blood magic, Voodoo magic, old gods, new gods: We've got it all! Follow the story of misfits from all over the world, as they try to survive and protect their heritage from modern-day crusaders."

EOS 10: "Doctors in space, a deposed alien prince, a super gay space pirate and a fiery nurse who'll help you win your bar fight."

Girl In Space: "Abandoned on a dying ship in the farthest reaches of known space, a young scientist fights for survival (and patience with the on-board A.I.). Who is she? No one knows. But a lot of dangerous entities really want to find out. Listen as the story unfolds for science, guns, trust, anti-matter, truth, beauty, inner turmoil, and delicious cheeses. It’s all here. In space."

Janus Descending: "...follows the arrival of two xenoarcheologists on a small world orbiting a binary star. But what starts off as an expedition to survey the planet and the remains of a lost alien civilization, turns into a monstrous game of cat and mouse, as the two scientists are left to face the creatures that killed the planet in the first place. Told from two alternating perspectives, Janus Descending is an experience of crossing timelines, as one character describes the nightmare from end to beginning, and the other, from beginning to the end." --> [absolutely harrowing horror]

Love and Luck: "...is a fictional radio play podcast, told via voicemails and set in present day Melbourne, Australia. A slice of life queer romance story with a touch of magic, it follows the relationship between two men, Jason and Kane, as their love grows both for each other and their community." --> [soft and gay, feels like a warm hug]

Potterless: "Join Mike Schubert, a grown man reading the Harry Potter series for the first time, as he sits down with HP fanatics to poke fun at plot holes, make painfully incorrect predictions, and bask in the sassiness of the characters." --> [the only non-fiction podcast on the list]

Primordial Deep: "When a long extinct sea creature washes up on the shores of Coney Island, marine biologist Dr. Marella Morgan is contacted by a secret organization to investigate the origins of the creature’s sudden and unnatural resurgence. Soon, she and a team of experts find themselves living on the research station The Tiamat, traveling along the abyssal plains as they search for answers far below the waves. But there are dangers in these ancient waters. Reawakened, prehistoric monsters are rising from the deep -- jaws wide and waiting, and in the darkness, something is stirring."

Red Valley: "No one at Overhead Industries wants to talk about defunct research station Red Valley, and account man Warren Godby is out of his depth. When he meets Gordon Porlock, a disgruntled archivist with a bag of tapes from the station’s last known occupant, they will begin a journey to the limits of experimental science, confront horror and trauma from the past, present and future, and try to remember the cheat codes from Sonic the Hedgehog 2."

Rusty Quill Gaming: "An actual play podcast following a mixed ability group of comedians, improvisers, gamers, and writers as they play through the extended, tabletop roleplaying campaign Erasing the Line, an original game world of the GM’s crafting." --> [took me a while to get into because I have trouble focusing on non-scripted things, but eventually I got really hooked on the plot and attached to the characters. This podcast is really fucked up at times if you think about it]

SAYER: "A narrative fiction podcast set on Earth’s man-made second moon, Typhon. The eponymous SAYER is a highly advanced, self-aware AI created to help acclimate new residents to their new lives, and their new employment with Ærolith Dynamics." --> [feels like Welcome to Night Vale but narrated by GLaDOS from Portal]

StarTripper!!: "Join Feston Pyxis on a road-trip through the cosmos, as he leaves behind his old life in search of the best and wildest experiences the galaxy has to offer!"

The Amelia Project: "...is a secret agency that fakes its clients' deaths, then lets them reappear with a brand new identity! A black comedy full of secrets, twists... and cocoa."

The Big Loop: "...a biweekly anthology series. Each episode is a self-contained narrative exploring the strange, the wonderful, the terrifying, and the heartbreaking. Stories of finite beings in an infinite universe." --> [I don't like anthologies, except this one]

The Bright Sessions: "Dr. Bright provides therapy for the strange and unusual; their sessions have been recorded for research purposes." --> [think X-Men, but with therapy instead of a school]

The Deca Tapes: "Recordings have surfaced of ten people that are locked into the same space together. We don’t know where they are, or if they'll get out. But the answers must be somewhere on these tapes."

The Silt Verses: "Carpenter and Faulkner, two worshippers of an outlawed god, travel up the length of their deity’s great black river, searching for holy revelations. As their pilgrimage lengthens and the river’s mysteries deepen, the two acolytes find themselves under threat from a police manhunt, but also come into conflict with the weirder gods that have flourished in these forgotten rural territories."

The White Vault: "Follow the collected records of a repair team sent to Outpost Fristed in the vast white wastes of Svalbard and unravel what lies waiting in the ice below."

Tides: "...is the story of Dr. Winifred Eurus, a xenobiologist trapped on an unfamiliar planet with hostile tidal forces. She must use her wits, sarcasm and intellectual curiosity to survive long enough to be rescued. But there might be more to life on this planet than she expected." --> [think The Martian, but on a water planet]

Unwell, a Midwestern Gothic Mystery: "Lillian Harper moves to the small town of Mt. Absalom, Ohio, to care for her estranged mother Dorothy after an injury. Living in the town's boarding house which has been run by her family for generations, she discovers conspiracies, ghosts, and a new family in the house's strange assortment of residents."

VAST Horizon: "Nolira is an agronomist tasked with establishing agriculture in a new solar system, but when she wakes up on a now- empty colony ship, the whole of her plan disappears. The ship has been set adrift, with numerous mission-critical problems requiring immediate attendance outside of her area of expertise. Nolira is aided by the ship’s malfunctioning AI, which acts as her confidant and companion during the fight for survival."

Victoriocity: "Even Greater London, 1887. In this vast metropolis, Inspector Archibald Fleet and journalist Clara Entwhistle investigate a murder, only to find themselves at the centre of a conspiracy of impossible proportions."

We Fix Space Junk: "...follows seasoned smuggler Kilner and reluctant fugitive Samantha as they travel the galaxy, dodging bullets and meeting strange and wonderful beings as they carry out odd jobs on the fringes of the law."

Welcome to Night Vale: "Twice-monthly community updates for the small desert town of Night Vale, where every conspiracy theory is true. Turn on your radio and hide."

Within the Wires: "Stories told through found audio from an alternate universe."

Wooden Overcoats: "Rudyard Funn and his equally miserable sister Antigone run their family's failing funeral parlour, where they get the body in the coffin in the ground on time. But one day they find everyone enjoying themselves at the funerals of a new competitor - the impossibly perfect Eric Chapman! With their dogsbody Georgie, and a mouse called Madeleine, the Funns are taking drastic steps to stay in the business…" --> [one of THE funniest podcasts I have ever listened to]

#ask #anon #please talk to me about podcasts at all times #podcasts #podcast recommendations

41 notes · View notes

signor-signor · 3 years ago

Text

Filling in the blanks…

I’m not watching ____________ because _____________.

DTVA Resurgence shows (aired on both DC and DXD, except Tangled, which aired exclusively on DC)

1. Phineas and Ferb*

2. Fish Hooks*

3. Gravity Falls*

4. Star vs. the Forces of Evil**

5. Tangled (series)**

6. DuckTales (2017)**

7. Big Hero 6 (series)***

8. Big City Greens***

9. Amphibia***

10. The Owl House***

11. Paul Rudish’s Mickey Mouse shorts series**

*I already watched every episode of this show at least once.

**I watched some, but stopped when it became apparent to me that Disney didn’t give a care about WOY’s cliffhanger.

***Never watched even one episode.

Reasons

a. It got at least 3 seasons

b. It got so much (or plenty of) love from the higher up bosses

c. Its fandom is ridiculously huge

d. It’s so gosh darn overrated

e. It got/will have gotten closure

Results

1. a, b, d, e

2. a, b, e

3. b, c, d, e

4. a, b, c, d, e (maybe)

5. a, b, e

6. a, b, d, e

7. a, b, e (probably)

8. a, b, d (if the trending section of TV shows on Disney+ is any indication), e (most likely)

9. a, b, c, d, e

10. a (S3 was said to be shorter than normal), b, c, d, e (only time will tell)

11. a, b, c, d

If I had to mention, say, Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero, I’d give it “e.”

None of the above apply to Wander Over Yonder, which is why I continue to give it as much attention as possible.

It’s not that I’m totally against DTVA’s other shows. I only want Disney to make sure they leave no incomplete show ignored, and I know from the cliffhanger in the end tag that WOY has been incomplete for more than 5 years. If other shows are already successful, what’s the point of supporting them? Don’t get me wrong. I’d still like to check out those shows, but I’m still holding a grudge against the people responsible for the misfortune of the one DTVA show that aired on both the Disney Channel and Disney XD.

Unless that cliffhanger gets resolved, I’m putting off watching DTVA shows. Of course, in the case of the Disney+ exclusive show, Monsters at Work, I’ve made an exception.

#Disney TV Animation #Disney Channel #Disney XD #SaveWOY #Mild Rant

8 notes · View notes

fretsaffron · 3 months ago

Text

erm what the frick

#artists on tumblr #about time gravity falls got a resurgence #gravity falls #bill cipher #billford #the book of bill #stanford pines #gravity falls fanart

1K notes · View notes

aion-rsa · 4 years ago

Text

Tumblr’s Top Fandoms of 2020

https://ift.tt/37LLRPI

It’s been a weird and often devastating year, and our social media has reflected that. Tumblr has just released its top fandoms of 2020 and it’s fascinating to see how a year of pandemic and quarantine has affected transformative fandom and broader cultural trends. In a year when almost everyone spent a lot more time at home, Animal Crossing: New Horizons was the most blogged about topic on the social media platform, followed by animated dramedy Steven Universe, Belgian SKAM adaptation WtFOCK, K-pop supergroup BTS, and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. We talked to Tumblr’s Trend Expert Amanda Brennan about how she interpreted the biggest trends of the year, how this was a big year for animation and international media, and why 2020 was the year everyone stopped worrying about what was cool and just embraced what they love. But, first, some 2020 Tumblr statistics:

Top 20 of 2020

Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Steven Universe

wtFOCK

BTS

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Artists on Tumblr

Critical Role

Avatar: The Last Airbender

Boku No Hero Academia

Black Lives Matter

Pokémon

COVID-19

The Witcher

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

The Magnus Archives

Reylo Rey & Kylo Ren, the Star Wars universe

RWBY

Sanders Sides

Catradora Catra & Adora, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

Zuko | Avatar: The Last Airbender

Top 25 Ships

Rey & Kylo Ren, the Star Wars universe (m/f)

Catra & Adora, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (f/f)

Richie Tozier & Eddie Kaspbrak, It (m/m)

Geralt of Rivia & Jaskier, The Witcher (m/m)

Aziraphale & Crowley, Good Omens (m/m)

Zuko & Sokka, Avatar: The Last Airbender (m/m)

Luz Noceda & Amity Blight, The Owl House (f/f)

Kara Danvers & Lena Luthor, Supergirl (f/f)

Park Jimin & Jeon Jungkook, BTS (m/m)

Dean Winchester & Castiel, Supernatural (m/m)

Live Action TV

Wtfock

The Witcher

The Mandalorian

Good Omens

Skam France

The Umbrella Academy

Doctor Who

Supernatural

The Untamed

Killing Eve

Animated TV

Steven Universe

Avatar: The Last Airbender

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir

The Owl House

Invader Zim

Ducktales

The Dragon Prince

Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Gravity Falls

TV Characters

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

Zuko

Catra

Jaskier

Sokka

Adora | She-Ra

Geralt Of Rivia

Katara

Aang

Crowley

Aziraphale

Movies

Frozen

The Old Guard

Star Wars: Episode IX The Rise of Skywalker

Birds Of Prey

Twilight

Hamilton

Little Women

Parasite

Sonic Movie

Lord of the Rings

Movie Characters

Kylo Ren

Harley Quinn

Bucky Barnes

Batman

Steve Rogers

Tony Stark

Rey

Spinel

Peter Parker

Richie Tozier

Actors

Chris Evans

Henry Cavill

Sebastian Stan

Adam Driver

Tom Holland

Pedro Pascal

John Boyega

Robert Pattinson

Tom Hiddleston

Timothee Chalamet

Actresses

Katie Mcgrath

Jodie Comer

Daisy Ridley

Margot Robbie

Zendaya

Lili Reinhart

Naya Rivera

Brie Larson

Florence Pugh

Jodie Whittaker

Books

Harry Potter

Percy Jackson & the Olympians

Warrior Cats

The All for the Game series

Pride And Prejudice

Midnight Sun

The Secret History

The Raven Cycle series

Carry On

Six Of Crows

Authors of Books

J.K. Rowling

Rick Riordan

Erin Hunter

Nora Sakavic

Jane Austen

Stephenie Meyer

Donna Tartt

Maggie Stiefvater

Rainbow Rowell

Leigh Bardugo

Video Games

Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Among Us

Pokemon Sword And Shield

Undertale

Minecraft

Sims 4

Fire Emblem: Three Houses

Danganronpa

Overwatch

Persona 5

Video Games Characters

Obey Me Lucifer

Obey Me Mammon

Tom Nook

Link

Sans

Cloud Strife

Dandelion

Kirby

Raihan

Arthur Morgan

Animal Crossing Villagers

Raymond

Marshal

Poppy

Fauna

Julian

Claude

Marina

Stitches

Bob

Ankha

Anime & Manga

Boku no Hero Academia

Haikyuu!!

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure

Beastars

Naruto

Mo Dao Zu Shi

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba

One Piece

Fruits Basket

19 Days

Anime & Manga Characters

Midoriya Izuku

Bakugou Katsuki

Dabi

Wei Wuxian

Aizawa Shouta

Hawks

Todoroki Shouto

Kirishima Eijirou

Lan Wangji

Levi Ackerman

And, now, our chat with Brennan. (This Q&A has been edited for clarity and length.)

Den of Geek: I’ve heard you refer to the users as the Tumblr hive-mind or the orchid, whatever it is. I was just hoping you could generally talk about what the Tumblr hive-mind is to you? Which is the way of saying, who uses Tumblr generally? And how and why? If you can even extrapolate those things. Go!

Amanda Brennan: Most of our audiences is Gen Z; it’s at 48%. Our new user registration with Gen Z is even higher; I’m pretty sure it’s 60%. These are people who come to Tumblr because they love something so much they just want to share that love with people who love it as much as they do. I know that feels like a giant umbrella, but that’s the thing: Tumblr is what you make of it. If you love sports, sports Tumblr is intense hockey Tumblr, so good. If you love TV, you’ll have all of that. K-pop Tumblr, totally amazing. Furby Tumblr is off the hook and they make these incredible creations. I’ve recently gotten into Stained Glass Tumblr.

There’s layers upon layers. No matter what you love, there’s something on Tumblr for you. That’s both the easiest thing and the hardest thing about it. You have to go in being like, “Alright, I’m so into this thing, what does Tumblr have for me?” It’s not like the other social media networks, right? It’s really about what you love rather than who you know.

Yeah, I like that. I did want to ask you specifically about the process of how you track trends and how you make decisions about what to track?

We built the whole taxonomy that powers fandom metrics based on what Tumblr talks about. I’m a librarian, as you know, and I kind of reverse engineered it. My first year in review at Tumblr in 2013, they handed me a spreadsheet and they’re like, ‘OK, go to town.” So I was like, “Cool, let me pull out the threads that I see.” We really let the data tell us how to analyze it, if that makes sense. So when it comes to what we track, I have a running notebook that I’ve kept all year of the things that I’ve wanted to have in year in review.

The Witcher has been on my list since it came out. Animal Crossing has been another one. The Old Guard had a huge moment. I was just writing notes, like, “Oh, what is this thing? And we’ll keep an eye on it.” I have an amazing team. We all are into our own pieces of Tumblr. So we’ll all work together to just keep an eye on different fandoms. I don’t know if you know about Minecraft YouTuber fandom?

Yeah. I was actually listening to the latest Fansplaining last night and they mentioned it in that. I was just like, “OK, a new thing.” There’s always a new thing to learn about.

There’s always a new thing. That’s the beauty of Tumblr. It’s so fluid in fandom. You can go from one fandom to another and then you’ll see like, “Ooh, what is this thing?” I’ve got Supernatural on the brain, as who in the fandom doesn’t right now. [This interview was recorded on the day of the Supernatual series finale.] I was telling someone, the whole reason I got into Supernatural was because I saw a gif from the show on Tumblr and I was like, “What is happening? Let me go back and watch this entire series.” That’s the vibe of Tumblr, right? You see a thing and you’re like, “Oh, I need to know everything about that.”

Supernatural Series Finale: Why Dean’s Fate Works

By Juliette Harrisson

Supernatural: The Internet’s Best Reactions to the Series Finale

By Kayti Burt

Hmm. Yeah, for sure. I was interested in talking to you or getting your insight into how trends you saw or data you saw that were maybe tied to the very unique experience of being in the middle of a pandemic.

Yeah. I was looking back at the predictions that I had made last year and like four of those things didn’t even come out. It was just so unexpected. There’s two things that we really saw tied to the pandemic. The first was “cottagecore” as an aesthetic. It kind of touched everything because it’s soothing, it feels comfortable. In March and April in the early days, when you didn’t know what to do, you’re stuck in a forest isolation. Cottagecore has got this vibe of chosen isolation. It was very fantasy-driven and something to reach out for.

That evolved also into nostalgia. I think this year’s really big theme is nostalgia and comfort. We saw huge returns to fandoms like Twilight and Avatar: The Last Airbender. Avatar going on Netflix was such a world-breaking moment. Not only did it introduce a new, younger fandom to the show, there’s a lot of Avatar content once you get into it, but it brought people back to a younger time in their lives. Remembering and rewatching. The Avatar fandom, as you see, it’s all over all of the lists. Zuko is number 20 on all of the things on Tumblr this year. Avatar was able to redefine people’s year. Because you know what, we’re all at home, I’m going to binge Avatar. Reignite my love for this fandom.

A lot of TV too, because TV is episodic, you get lost in it. Movies had a really rough year. When we look at the movies, movies like Megamind were trending this year. That comfort movie that you go back and watch 17 times.

Yeah. I was curious about that too. The balance or proportions between older fandoms and newer fandoms, like the Avatar example. I was curious how much that changed this year? How much you thought it was tied to the pandemic? How much is tied to accessibility and things, like Avatar coming to Netflix? Do you think that is an interest in older fandoms? Or that it’s going to continue past the pandemic?

Yeah. I think another high-level theme of this year is the rejection of cringe culture. I’m getting a little ahead of myself, but I’ll tie it all back in. I think people are realizing what their values are and not being afraid to admit that they like a thing. Not caring what other people think of the things they like. Unabashedly loving the things they love. That’s why I think we do see a resurgence in these older fandoms.

Because people who may have loved them their whole lives, or may have been nervous to share that they liked it when they were younger they’re not afraid anymore. They’re like, “You know what? Twilight, it’s not that great, but I love it. This is my emotional support vampire.” Recognizing that you can be critical of something. You can see where its flaws are, but you can still love it. That duality of fandom is something that is going to persist into next year. That freedom to just like a thing, because you like it. Be able to see its flaws, but still be like, “You know what? Overall, this brings me joy and the world is melting down.”

I’m on board with that mission, that plan for 2021. I did want to ask about the role of non-English language media, especially live action stuff. Generally because I was someone who fell into The Untamed this year, but I saw that there were two SKAM remakes as well that are on the top 10. In general, have you seen over your time at Tumblr, and maybe especially in the past few years, an increase in non-English language content? Do you think that is mostly English speakers and Americans being more open to that or being able to find it easier? Or do you think it’s also an influx of people from outside the United States coming to Tumblr? Or both?

Interesting. The data that we work with is actually stripped of all user information. I don’t really have an insight into where these people are coming from. I do think that users in general are more open to content in any language. Tumblr is more interested in characters than where the story comes from. Thinking about The Untamed, it’s just such a compelling story, it doesn’t matter if you have to read subtitles.

To parallel it to something in major pop culture, Parasite. People are becoming more open to just watching content because it’s good. SKAM is really fascinating to me because the number one live action show is wtFOCK. Then, I think two years ago, 2018, the original SKAM was number one at some point. This show really transcends language barriers. It transcends geographical barriers. At the core, the story of the teenagers is just so relatable to anyone. We’ve seen lots of translation happening and not just into English. Translation of SKAM into other languages, just because people want more of these characters and their iterations, no matter what locale they’re based in. I’m waiting for some professor to have a class on it, because it’s so fascinating to me.

I also wanted to ask about how you thought the election cycle affected Tumblr this year, if there were any trends or data that you were like, “Yes, of course this is what people were doing on Tumblr this year.”

Tumblr has always had this backbone of social justice. This year, it came out stronger and in more force. No matter what fandom you were in or interests, everyone I know on Tumblr was participating in sharing social justice stuff. Even politics, if they weren’t from the US, those kinds of memes that were like, “I feel for you”. The way that fandoms do. I see your show is ending and I’m sorry.

The one thing that Tumblr really had leading up to the election was such an appreciation for the postal service. Especially Gen Z, their world is so much larger due to digital connection. Mail order, just as well as sending letters and keeping in touch with your digital friends is just as important as keeping in touch with your IRL friends. All of the artists on Tumblr, so many of them turn to mail order to replace cons. This is their livelihood. By the time the fall hit and the postal service was having all these issues, people are ready to jump in. There were the Transformers dressed like mail people.

https://morethanmeetstheass.tumblr.com/post/626466946047705088/i-completely-forgot-to-post-this-guy-here-this-is

There were all these comments like “support your postal workers,” “support the USPS.” It really boils down to the fact that we are all connected and the mail service is something in the US that connects everyone. Even overseas. Supporting these artists whose livelihood went from IRL to online and having to deal with all of this.

And the “Super Putin Election.” The confluence of those elements. I was just surfing on my personal computer and I was on Tumblr and I saw a post being like “Destiel’s canon.” I’m like, “Excuse me?” I immediately texted my team. I was like, “Open up your work computers, let’s go.”

It’s time.

We all signed on trying to figure out what’s going on and watching the numbers. That, to me, is thrilling. I said this to someone else, but it felt like the night of The Dress. To have that moment where everyone on the internet is feeling the energy. The things that kept getting layered on top of it. Putin and Sherlock and all the anime mysteries. It was breakneck speed, and it was really thrilling just to be in that moment, and so Tumblr.

I did want to ask you about an increase in animated fandom and potentially anime fandom. A lot of these things I’m anecdotally or just observing things in my own little corner of the internet. It just seems like animation and anime, probably at least partially because Netflix has accumulated a much larger anime collection and seems to be investing in these sorts of things. Have you seen that increase? Could you talk about it, if so?

It plays into what we were talking about earlier, twofold. That nostalgia vibe, the late nineties anime vibe, that art style. Also your comfort zone and being open to more stuff just because it’s good. Not worrying about reading subtitles and stuff like that. But anime in general had a huge year. Haikyū!! ending also transposed into other fandoms because that moment of the final panels, it brings people together. People being so excited to see this massive thing come to a close. You might not be familiar with Haikyū!! in general, but you’ll see the fanart and be like, “Oh, I feel that.” It’s the emotion of it.

The popularity of Avatar did also open people’s doors to like, “Oh, well, what else can I watch? What else do I want to learn about”? Boku No Hero was consistently on our Week In Review every week. BEASTARS is another Netflix anime that’s at the top. Then Mo Dao Zu Shi, thinking about The Untamed, the story of Mo Dao Zu Shi is so fascinating. I don’t think I can name another piece of content that has that storyline. People are just ready to take it all on.

I did want to ask you, I think you’ve probably talked about some of these already, but what were some of the biggest fandom moments for you on Tumblr this year?

Oh boy. So many things going canon. Catradora was a huge, huge moment. I cried watching that. The Witcher, Jaskier, introducing this whole new world to Henry Cavill. I saw a post yesterday that was like once Superman was goth, a lot more people realize that he’s hot. Repurposing and looking at things in a new way. Among Us, so huge. There is a user who is doing a comic about White and Pink being in love. She’s giving them lore. She’s giving them backstory, personalities. It is amazing.

Unus Annus, I am not very into streamers, but I’ve caught some of those videos. When they had their final stream, I was tuning in. I was like, “Are you really going to delete the channel?” Then they did. Just watching the fans have that moment, even though I am not in that fandom, it was wonderful so meaningful.

Harry Potter being taken by the fans. Fans own Harry Potter now, and that’s what matters. The Old Guard also came out of nowhere and really blew Tumblr away. The Immortal Husbands. I love that ship. I’ve got to touch on almost all of the places, MCR, My Chemical Romance. Those fans have woken up and they didn’t get their tour, but they will. They’re not going to sleep until they do.

Because we maybe all have Supernatural on the brain, to a certain extent. I’m just curious how you think, that show’s been on for 15 years. The fandom has gone through literal generations. How do you think the fandom is going to change?

There’s always going to be a supernatural gif for everything. People will continue gifing it. It’s going to surpass what it is and it’s going to become that comfort show. This is a personal anecdote, but when I go to the dentist, every single time supernatural is on. It’s just like, “Oh, I get to watch my boys while I’m getting my teeth cleaned. That’s good.” It’s always going to be there. It’s always going to be there for people when they need it the most. We’re going to see a lot more fan creations. People love these boys, men now they’re adults. People love these characters. I haven’t watched this season. I am going to watch the finale tonight. I’m going in almost cold. I know that a lot of fan favorites have returned. My prediction for Supernatural fandom going forward is seeing these side stories come through in fanfiction even more than they already do. Lots more Charlie. That’s personal of mine because I love her.

I don’t think you’re alone in this.

Yeah. Who doesn’t love Charlie? Seeing these smaller characters come out and just shine in their own fan works, more so than the world might’ve provided them in canon.

It feels dangerous to make fandom predictions based on what happened this year, but if you have any predictions and or hopes for the coming year in terms of Tumblr and fandom?

Where we’re at now and going forward, it’s all about true authenticity. Screw what people think. We’re rejecting our old ways of thinking. We’re about flipping perspectives and forgetting what you thought was important in exchange for what you truly love. 2020 has helped us all figure out what our values at our core are. It’s about choosing something that makes you happy, that supports you, and your people. Choosing the happiness of those around you and making sure that you’re fighting for the goodness in life. Which sounds really sugar sweet, but one of the things, again, that I love about Tumblr is it is about putting people first based on the things they love. That’s what I see happening.

Explore the rest of Tumblr’s Year in Review lists here, and let us know what your biggest 2020 fandoms were in the comments below.

The post Tumblr’s Top Fandoms of 2020 appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3lPIRa9

#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

7 notes · View notes

junker-town · 5 years ago

Text

Which NFL team can finally win its first Super Bowl this season?

Let’s all pretend for a moment that it won’t be the Patriots again.

2019 is the year of the first-timer. The St. Louis Blues won their first Stanley Cup. The Toronto Raptors won their first NBA title. And, not long after the NFL’s regular season comes to an end, the Cleveland Browns will win their first Super Bowl.

Or the Houston Texans.

Or the Los Angeles Chargers.

Or maybe the Minnesota Vikings.

There are a dozen NFL franchises without a banner to hang in their stadiums or a Lombardi Trophy to host in their fanciest meeting rooms. If the current Big 4 sports trend holds, one of them will be hosting a parade in their honor come February 2020.

Here they are, sorted by their chances to finally win the big one next winter.

Probably not

Arizona Cardinals

Cincinnati Bengals

Detroit Lions

The Cardinals are breaking in a rookie head coach and a rookie first-round quarterback for the second straight year, somehow. If they win six games this season they’ll:

a) improve on last season’s record by 100 percent, and b) match the number of wins Kliff Kingsbury had against non-Kansas Big 12 competition in his last three seasons at Texas Tech.

The Bengals will be better if they can coax full seasons from Andy Dalton and A.J. Green, but this still looks like an extremely Marvin Lewis team despite the absence of Marvin Lewis.

The Lions beat the eventual Super Bowl champions last season and finally got a 100-yard rushing performance from one of their tailbacks. Those are about the highlights of their 2018, though, so it’s going to take a journey to even get back to the playoffs in 2019.

Hooo boy, it’d take some leaps

Jacksonville Jaguars

Buffalo Bills

Remember when the Jags were one quarter away from a Super Bowl appearance? That was less than two years ago!

This season, Jacksonville will blend a championship-caliber defense with Super Bowl 52 MVP Nick Foles and quite possibly the league’s least inspiring lineup of skill players. 2019 is the year Foles has to prove he can be good outside of Philadelphia — and that his mid-career slump was a function of Jeff Fisher’s soul-sucking gravity.

The Bills had a quietly great offseason, surrounding second-year quarterback Josh Allen with an array of the kind of free agent targets who can be lured to western New York following a six-win season: Cole Beasley, John Brown, Tyler Kroft, and the immortal Frank Gore. They’ll play against the backdrop of one of the league’s top defenses in 2018:

While Pro Bowl veteran Kyle Williams is gone, the team got an A-level replacement in first-round draft pick Ed Oliver. Buffalo’s got the chops to outperform expectations — though by how much will come down to how well Allen puts an inaccurate rookie campaign in his rear view.

I could be convinced

Carolina Panthers

Tennessee Titans

Since 2013, the Panthers have had winning seasons in years ending in odd numbers and losing seasons in years ending in even ones. 2019 falls into the former category, and it seems like a prove-it season for Cam Newton after an injury-filled and underwhelming 2018. He’s still lacking for targets beyond Christian McCaffrey and D.J. Moore, but Carolina worked hard to beef up both sides of its line (signing Matt Paradis, Gerald McCoy, re-signing Daryl Williams, and drafting Greg Little) to spark an odd-year resurgence.

The Titans fielded the league’s third-best scoring defense last fall and had that squandered by an impotent offense that faltered behind an injured Marcus Mariota. 2019 is the former Heisman winner’s make-good season since he’s due to hit free agency next spring, and that could coax a major performance from him. Factor in the growth of young playmakers like Derrick Henry and Corey Davis, along with new additions Adam Humphries and A.J. Brown, and you can see an emerging offense that could stay afloat in the suddenly competitive AFC South.

Actual, legitimate contenders

Atlanta Falcons

Minnesota Vikings

Houston Texans

Cleveland Browns

Atlanta’s quest to return to the postseason in 2018 was derailed by injuries that seemed to affect every single defensive starter. That snapped a budding two-year postseason streak for a team that combines the league’s most lethal combination of quarterback and wide receivers. If a healthy defense can snap back to life this year, the Falcons will be in the running to unseat the Saints in the NFC South.

Of course, since this is the team that once blew a 28-3 lead in the third quarter of the Super Bowl, expecting nice things may be a bridge too far.

That latter theory applies to the Vikings, too:

With the St. Louis Blues winning the Stanley Cup last night, the #Bengals move into fourth place on the list of oldest franchises in the 4 major sports without a title. Texas Rangers -- 1961 Minnesota Vikings -- 1961 Atlanta Falcons -- 1965 Bengals -- 1968

— Jay Morrison (@JayMorrisonATH) June 13, 2019

The Vikes used last season’s upgrade from Case Keenum to Kirk Cousins as quarterback to regress from 13 wins to eight. Minnesota tried its hardest to buttress the cheesecloth offensive line that allowed Cousins to be sacked 40 times last season by drafting interior linemen Garrett Bradbury and Dru Samia while signing former Titan Josh Kline. How much of an impact they’ll have in 2019 is up in the air, though.

The Vikings could win anywhere from six to 14 games and it wouldn’t be terribly surprising either way.

The Texans finished the 2018 season on an 11-2 heater while getting MVP-caliber play from a 23-year-old Deshaun Watson. While a suspect secondary and unfearsome offensive backfield are legitimate flaws, 2019 could mark the first time in franchise history Houston escapes past the Divisional Round of the postseason.

Or it could be a disaster portended by a post-draft firing of its general manager after only a single season, the tampering accusations lobbed by the Patriots in their quest to find his replacement, and the possible holdout of pass rusher Jadeveon Clowney.

Cleveland is the most popular pick to win the AFC North thanks to the offensive surge that made, in order:

a) Baker Mayfield a Rookie of the Year candidate (he lost to Saquon Barkley) b) the Browns an eight-loss team (their fewest since 2007 ... good lord) c) interim offensive coordinator Freddie Kitchens Cleveland’s newest head coach.

General manager John Dorsey rode that momentum into a showcase offseason by freeing Odell Beckham Jr. and Olivier Vernon from the Giants and adding players like Sheldon Richardson and Morgan Burnett in free agency.

That’s the roster of a Super Bowl contender — they just have to escape the Browns-ness of it all to get there. There’s a tremendous burden of expectation heaped on a team that’s so often been the league’s doormat, and there already appears to be dissent fomenting in northeastern Ohio.

The most likely champion (from this group)

Los Angeles Chargers

LA fits the profile of a champion, even if it’s been more than two decades since the club’s last Super Bowl appearance.

The Chargers have a veteran quarterback still playing at a high level in Philip Rivers, who recorded one of the most efficient seasons of his career last fall. They’ve got a bevy of skill players — Melvin Gordon, Keenan Allen, Hunter Henry — who can be game-changing threats as long as they can fend off injury. Their defensive holes have help on the way thanks to a hopefully healthy Joey Bosa (only seven games in 2018) and 2019 first-round pick Jerry Tillery in front of one of the league’s top secondaries.

And they stopped the Ravens’ momentum in its tracks in a playoff game back in January.

Los Angeles also has a problem; the team’s postseason resume is a disaster. Its lone Super Bowl trip ended in a 49-26 clunker against the 49ers. Rivers has a 5-6 record in the playoffs and a passer rating (84.2) that lines up closely with Case Keenum’s career mark. And if he has to face Bill Belichick, his body and brain malfunction in ways difficult for the human mind to grasp (0-3, four interceptions and a fumble against the Patriots in his playoff career).

And yet, the Chargers feel due. Defensive end Melvin Ingram, a man who should feast if he’s bookended by Bosa for 16 games this year, is into it.

“We’re definitely going to win the Super Bowl,” Ingram told reporters at LA’s minicamp. “Still ASAP — Any Squad Any Place. That’s what we’re about.”

Of course, this perpetually snakebit team could also wind up devastated by injuries while winning seven games as Rivers tries to heroically play through two broken legs. It is the Chargers, after all.

0 notes

joyofcrime-elinorhigh · 6 years ago

Text

2016 Year in Review Part 1:

Hello there, everybody! My name is JoyofCrimeArt and welcome to the fourth and finale part of my month long "Deviant-cember" event! Hasn't 2016 been a great year, guys!...guys? Okay, okay, I know that the grand majority of you probably hate 2016 and are really looking forward to a brand new year to get a fresh start. Though I have noticed that it seems like every New Year's people talk about how much the previous year has sucked and how they can't wait for the next year cause things are totally going to be different next year guys! You'll see! You'll see! I kid, I kid. I know why people are upset about 2016, there have been a lot of celebrity deaths (though there seems to be a lot of celebrity deaths ever year, though there has been a lot more this year it seems.) There was a lot of political tension in the United States with quite possibly the most divisive presidential election in recent history. Not to mention racial struggles, natural disasters, shootings, ISIS attacks....Yeah. Though to be fair most of those things I just listen didn't just "start" this year. They where problems in 2015 too, and will probably continue into 2017. Getting mad at the year, an abstract concept, just feels...unproductive to me. It seem's like it's the wrong target to be directing all this anger at. Sometimes bad stuff just happens, and there's a good chance that by the end of 2017 we'll hate that year too. Because most of the bad stuff that happened in 2016...probably won't just go away come January 1st. That's why I'm here today. To distract you all from the harshness that was 2016 and focus on something a little more fun. Why focus on the dark and depressing world of "reality" when you can focus on things like cartoons! (That's how I stay so optimistic.) Because while the world outside was burning itself to f#&king hell the world of animation has been a roller coaster of ups and downs, and one that I think is worth going over today. Hopefully this review will bring somebody some much needed joy in a year that was so insane. That's why I present the first in a (hopefully) annual tradition on this page in, the "2016 Year in Animation REVIEW" Now let me explain what exactly this is, because I have never done anything like this before. I have compiled a list of a series of new series and different cartoon announcements, controversies, or news stories that I will discuss in a brief manner. (Or brief for me anyway.) The events will go in a rough chronological order, starting from January 2016 to December 2016. And I will discuss my thoughts and feeling on all the changes that has happened in the animation world this year. I will not be talking about animated films or anime, just series and network updates. I also will not be able to talk about every show/event that occurred in 2016 and will be focusing on the ones that I found the most relevant to me, personally. So if I miss something try not to get to upset. I can't watch anything. Also I am completely acknowledging that I am completly ripping off online anime reviewer Gigguk and his yearly anime reviews. I loved the concept and the way Gigguk would go about his yearly reviews, so I borrowing the format to talk about something that I'm passionate about. If you want to check out Gigguk here's a link, www.youtube.com/user/gigguk&nb… if you are really into anime, or maybe even if your not, you should consider checking him out. He's a bit raunchy but he also has a great balance of comedy and critical thinking in his reviews, and his reviews have been a big inspiration for me and my reviews so check it out. But enough pointless blather, it's time to get into things! It's time for my 2016 year in review! The year started out...with a bit of a rocky start to be perfectly honest with you. The first big piece of cartoon news I noticed in 2016 was with the inclusion of a new main character in "The Fairly Oddparents." with the added inclusion of Timmy's new neighbor Chloe Carmichael

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D56T-r3Dz28

(My God, at the time of this writing this video has over 39 THOUSAND dislikes to 4.4 thousand likes. Jesus Christ!) So I'm going to be honest here. I don't watch the Fairly Oddparents. I haven't watched this show regularly in years, so I haven't actually seen any of the episodes that Chloe is in. Normally I wouldn't talk about something like this except it was kinda a big deal at the beginning of the year in the cartoon community. People who had stopped caring about Fairly Oddparents suddenly cared again as they ran to watch the episodes so they can see how bad the show had gotten. It was kinda a resurgence in the fandom to be honest. It does amaze me that the show is still adding new characters, and not just new characters, but like cartoonish exaggerations of what shows with new characters have. Like adding a baby I get, that makes sense. And even Foop makes sense given the established lore of the show's universe. But never since Scrappy Doo have I seen a show add a talking dog to the main cast of characters unironically...until Fairy Oddparents. It's kinda incredible in a way. Now I don't know how bad Chloe is, and adding another kid that Timmy has to share his Fairy's with is a dumb idea...BUT if you where to put a gun to my head and tell me that I had to make a new Godkid for Timmy to share his fairies with...I probably would come up with someone like Chloe. In concept Chloe as a character should work. She's kind, smart, and completely unselfish. She's the opposite of Timmy and should make a good foil. Plus, from what little I've seen, she does seem to have a bit of a crazy side that should keep her from being boring. It at least sound better than Sparky who, from the way it sounds at least, is just another Cosmo. Though keep in mind all this comes from someone who hasn't actually watched the show, and from what I understand the execution is what most people have a problem with. I've seem people say that she's a Mary Sue character, and the reason she has fairies doesn't make sense. Maybe this is true, maybe it isn't. (Though it probably is.) But I guess I'm a bit more open to the idea than most. I was honestly surprised how many people got mad at this new development. Like I just don't understand why people got so upset. Like if this was any other show I would understand, but It's the Fairly Oddparents. The show has already jumped like ten sharks by now. At that point what's the harm in jumping one more. Like, what do they have to lose? What I'm actually annoyed at is the fact that Poof and Sparky have been written out of the show! No, written out is to generous. Written out implies they gave a reason why there gone. There just gone, without any mention of why there gone! Poof is confirmed to be in ONE episode later this season, and Sparky has been confirmed by her voice actress to be gone from the entire season. She says that it was a decision from the higher ups, which is really surreal when you think about it. The artist was the one saying "Nah man, we need a talking dog." and it was the higher up who where like "Wait, what! Why?" Maybe it has to do with Sparky's voice actress going through a sex change operation between seasons. Maybe she went through voice therapy or something, and maybe that effected the voice. But I don't even think that's a factor 1.) I have no evidence that Sparky's voice actress did go through voice therapy and 2.) Poof is also gone, even though he's IN THE THEME SONG! I don't get it. The could of hand waved something but no. It makes Cosmo and Wanda look pretty frickin' neglectful when they don't even mention there son. And I know what your probably thinking. "Who cares, isn't it a good thing that Poof and Sparky are gone. They sucked." And that all might be true, but you can't just retcon them out of existence! You're not DC Comics! Retconning them is the lazy way out. THEY MADE THESE STUPID CHARACTERS AND NOW THEY HAVE TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEM! ...Okay, maybe I can kinda start to understand how so many people could get so upset about The Fairly Oddparents. But look on the bright side, next year the Fairly Oddparents will be switching over to flash! S...Some shows have Flash that looks good. I'm sure Fairly Oddparents will put in the effort to....Okay, screw it, next topic. Gravity Falls aired it's final episode after airing a three day long marathon in which Disney XD aired the entire season FOUR FRICKIN' TIMES! (Calm down Gravity Falls, your making Spongebob and Teen Titans Go jealous.) (WARNING: I'M GOING TO BE TALKING ABOUT SPOILERS FOR GRAVITY FALLS! IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN GRAVITY FALLS TO THE END SCROLL PAST THIS PART AND CONTINUE READING ONCE YOU SEE BOLD AGAIN! THIS IS NOT A SHOW YOU WANT SPOILED!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_t-aOeiFa0

Anyway, Gravity Falls aired it's final hour long episode as Dipper, Mabel, Stan and Ford go up defeat Bill once in for all. This finale was definitely and interesting one to talk about because, in my opinion, it did have a lot of problems. Oh God! Hear me out! Hear me out! A lot of things about this special, especially in the first half I didn't like. I didn't like how Stan so reluctant to save Ford from Bill. I know that Ford and Stan didn't get along, and Stan was still mad at Ford because Ford didn't thank him for rescuing him the first time, but it felt out of character for Stan to be that selfish. The whole series makes a big point about Stan being willing to do anything for his family. He spent thirty years trying to save Ford even though there last encounter was a giant fight. It shows that he still cares about his brother well being even after all of there bad blood. He was willing to work thirty years to save Ford the first time and now that he knows Bill has captured him and could be torturing him or killing him or worse and he just doesn't care. And I get it, Ford wasn't thankful the first time so he's not going to go through all the work a second time, but this is Bill where talking about. Ford's LIFE is on the line and Stan is basically leaving his brother to die just because he didn't apologize to him, and that made him seem very unlikable an goes against his whole "protecting my family" motivation. I see what they where trying to do, but I just don't think they executed it that well. Also there were a couple of other problems that, while not as much of a big deal to me, were still problems. Like how they make a big deal about how they have to whip Stan's mind to kill Bill, but couldn't they just write "Bill" on the memory gun and just erase him, without whipping out Stan's entire mind? Also the twist that Stan and Ford can do perfect impressions of each other did kinda seem like an ass pull, especially when they could of easily set that up some time earlier but didn't. I feel these are real problems that hurt the episode.. ...but for the most part none of that matters. Because the episode gave us everything a Gravity Falls fan could want from a finale. It had an epic conclusion with the entire Pine's family working together to stop Bill and save the world. It wrapped up all the lose threads and plot points and gave every character there happy ending, in a way that just felt complete. Unlike some other shows that either end without proper finales or end with the story left open this one felt complete. Not that those types of ending are bad, those endings can be great, but it is nice to see a show that delivers on all of it's promises in such an epic way. I really cannot think of many cartoon finales that felt as HUGE as this one. Where it really felt like the world and possibly the entire universe would be doomed if our hero failed. other cartoons have had finale's like that, but rarely do you really feel the weight of that kind of threat. In this episode you did. It was a grand finale and a perfect end for such an amazing series... (Though seriously Bill knew all the people who where in the zodiac and he didn't kill like, one of them, just to be safe. That pretty stupid Bill) (OKAY NOW YOU CAN COME BACK, PEOPLE WHO SKIPPED ALL THAT!) After Gravity Falls ending there was a void that lots of cartoon fans needed to fill. Gravity Falls had ended and Steven Universe was on hiatus and people needed there "cartoons with an ongoing lore." fix to be quelled. But nothing quelled it. This lead to several months of people freaking the f#&k out over Steven Universe being on hiatus from January to May. Now I get that they hiatus sucked and it happened right in the middle of a story arc, but I feel like people where really over reacting to this. It was a four and a half month break between seasons. That's perfectly normal for most tv shows. Show's like Adventure Time and Regular Show have had hiatus comparable to that and nobody seemed to care, but here people were freaking out, saying how Cartoon Network didn't care about Steven Universe and stuff like that, which I just felt like was a bit over dramatic, personally. And afterwards at least you got a summer full of new episodes. Maybe I'm just use to long and random hiatus due to being a "Young Justice" fan. (Which for real once had a three month hiatus, than a two weeks of new episodes, followed by another three month hiatus! DANG!) Anyway after that we got the news that Craig McCracken's "Wander Over Yonder." was going to be cancelled. This coupled with Gravity Falls ending made things hard for Disney XD fans, leaving only "Star and the Forces of Evil" and "Pickle and Peanut-"...leaving only "Star and the Forces of Evil" for most adult cartoon fans to be excited about. I didn't watch much Wander Over Yonder, only seeing some season one episodes and none of season two. That being said from what I saw, and this might be a bit of a controversial opinion, I didn't like it that much. Which is weird because I love "Powerpuff Girls" and "Fosters" was, from what I remember, pretty good. I don't know, the show just didn't seem like anything that new. It was another show where a dumb oblivious character annoys a rival who hates them while the main character doesn't realize said rival hates them. I just felt like we've seen that before in shows like "Spongebob" and "Camp Lazlo." and the show didn't seem to add much new to the formula. I didn't find the characters that interesting and even there space setting didn't seem that interesting. Maybe a lot of this improves in the episodes I haven't seen, but even though I didn't like the show I was still kinda sad to see it go. Even if it's a show I don't like I'm never glad a show ends, because I know it means a lot of people are out of a job and lots of fans are upset. So keep that in mind when I talk about cancelled showed. And speaking of cancelled shows it was also announced that Uncle Grandpa would be getting the ax sometime next year. Uncle Grandpa seems to be a somewhat divisive show, but I will say that I think the show is fine. Not great, but fine. Uncle Grandpa was always a unique creation, and I admired it for it's out there qualities. (And for helping create one of the best Steven Universe episodes ever! That's right, I said it!) The show was fun and wacky, and the comedy and characters were passable. It's no piece of fine art, but I don't think the show was trying to be. There was a lot of creativity in this show, and it always felt like the people behind it were always trying there best to make something good, even if it didn't always pan out. It is a shame to see it go, but not a grand shame. It got five seasons, and that's probably enough if where being honest. Plus with Cartoon Network having so many shows running it's probably a good thing to see some ending, making room for some fresh blood. Just as long as they don't cancel to many of there shows this year...he he he.... And speaking of fresh blood Cartoon Network premiered a new show this year. He he he....Okay, let's just do this again, and talk about the 2016 reboot of The Powerpuff Girls. May God help our souls!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbvC9Xtpm_8

Since I've already talked about this show before, I'm going to try to make this brief. (Ha! That's the funniest joke in the whole frickin' review!) What is there to say about this show that I haven't said already in my 6,836 word long three part review of the show. (Oh my God what is wrong with me?) Well, there is some stuff. As my opinion on the show has changed a bit since then and at the time of writing that review I had only seen twelve episodes, and now thirty nine are out. (Though I have not seen ALL of the episodes.) So let's briefly go into this. Once more, with feeling. Is rebooting The Powerpuff Girls a bad idea? Many say yes, I say no. I think that if we have to make a reboot out of any Cartoon Network show right now, I think Powerpuff Girls would be the best option. We know that superhero shows in particular are very easily reboot-able, and there are many different directions you can go with it. Just look at any Batman show if you want proof of that. Also unlike Ben 10, I think the Powerpuff Girls is old enough to warrant a reboot, as the show ended in a whole eleven years before this reboot came out. In concept I think there is a lot of cool things you can do to change the Powerpuff Girls and make it unique. I mean the Powerpuff Girls Z did it, and while I haven't seen that show, it does show that there are different directions you can take this franchise. Because, this isn't even the first time the series has been rebooted! I was excited about this show coming out prior to it's release. I think I was the only on who was optimistic about it. And how did the show do when it actually came out? Well...that's kinda the problem. The show is pretty mediocre. I do think I was a little to easy on the show when I first reviewed it, but a lot of what I said back then still stands. I think that the problems I have with the show are different from the problem most people have with the show. The main problem with the show is that it just seems kinda bland. It doesn't seem to have it's own identity. In a lot of way it seems like it's trying to be like the old show, by keeping the old character designs and most of the old voice actors, and not really explaining who most of the characters are. The show expects you to know the source material going in. Some episodes like "Bye Bye Bellum" don't make ANY sense unless you've seen the old show. So the reboot must be aimed at the older fans right? Well I don't really think that's true either because a lot of stuff that made older fans like the original Powerpuff Girls are gone. The humor doesn't really match the first show, and the action is for the most part gone. In terms of crime fighting we've still haven't had an episode with Sedusa, The Gang Green Gang, or Fuzzy Lumpkins as main villains yet and we're pretty close to being done with our first season. It seems like the show was trying to appeal to everyone and, judging by the ratings and online response, didn't end up hitting anyone. It seemed like they were kinda trying to be like the original, while also trying to be kinda like a less controversial Teen Titans Go! (focusing more on humor then the crime fighting.) While sprinkling in a little Steven Universe with some of it's more feminist qualities and it really just felt like there where to many cooks in the kitchen. That being said there are some things I do like about the show. I like how they tried to focus on the girls more, as most people seem to agree that the girls were the most boring part of the original show. Though the reboot kinda messed that up by making the girls feel like flanderized versions of there 98' counterparts. Still though, I do like how the Powerpuff Girl's personalities are a bit different in this version than in the 98' version. Most of the characters just act like how they did in the original but they changed it up a bit and I appreciate that. I know in my first review I said Buttercup was about as good as she was in the original, but after watching more episodes, yeah...she is kinda annoying in this version. There are really only two characters who I think they improved on, and that's Bubbles and Princess. I like how both of these characters are portrayed in this series, and I might prefer these versions over the originals. Both seem to change some stuff about the character while still making them still capture the spirit of the original. Bubbles is less of a crybaby and a bit more ditzy which is fun, and Princess is a lot less whiny and they do a lot more funny stuff with her being rich, and having her have a rap themed soundtrack is something I never knew I wanted, but I like. Also Princess is a lot more sympathetic in this show, which I also like. Also there are some good episodes, like "TTG vs PPG" (Which is technically a Teen Titans Go! episode but still) "Poorbucks" and "Tiara Trouble." (YES THAT EPISODE HAVE A "NO ME GUSTA" REFERENCE BY IT'S LITERALLY ONLY THREE SECONDS LONG AND THE REST OF THE EPISODES SURROUNDING IT WAS PRETTY GOOD!) And speaking of the "No Me Gusta" thing, let's talk about the whole meme thing. I understand if you think those jokes are annoying, there not funny, or were not executed well. I completely get if you have that opinion. But I feel like the whole meme thing has been so overblown that it's kinda ridiculous. If you look at any online review for the Powerpuff Girl reboot you will see that almost all of them will have wither the "No Me Gusta" face or the girls twerking as the thumbnail. While you may find these scenes and jokes dumb I don't like how people act like the show is just nothing but that. Even though that if you take all of the meme references in the entire show and string them back to back it probably takes up less than two minutes total. People obsess over these scenes even though tonnes of cartoons make references to memes. In "Painbow" Blossom makes a "I can't even" joke and everybody freaked out, but when Lincoln Loud said the exact same thing in the Loud House episode "Roughin' It" nobody sees to care. And that's not even counting all the other cartoons that reference meme's, like these examples.

And yes, that last one was a "surprised chipmunk" reference from "The Powerpuff Girls Rule." which was written, directed, and story boarded by Craig McCracken himself. And as for the twerking lots of other cartoons do that to. Again, Lincoln from the Loud House has his butt dance at the end of "Roughin' it" there's the infamous "Booty Quake" from "SymBionic Titan" and, again from "The Powerpuff Girls Rule-"

-Man, Mojo's been shaking his grove thang since before Miley Cyrus was even on the SCENE SON! And you might still see these things as a problem, I get that. After all execution is a big thing, which is why I love it the internet references in We Bare Bears, but am mostly indifferent to the ones in this show. All I'm saying is that this is far from the first show to do stuff like this. And it's seems odd to be that these are the moments that people are freaking out about when this show DOES have a lot of serious problems that holds it back, and yet it's the "No Me Gusta!" reference that everybody is freaking out about. The show, as a whole, is mediocre. I don't want it to get cancelled, I want it to improve. And hopefully that'll happen in season two, because I want a good Powerpuff Girls reboot to happen. And if the critical and financial of this series stops that from happening, I'll be very disappointed. It seems like everybody just wanted this show to fail almost a whole YEAR before it came out, and months before we even had our first clips of it and I just didn't want that. Plus if it wasn't for this show I probably wouldn't of started doing these reviews, so there's also that. But at least it wasn't the most hated reboot of 2016.

But then, after that, something happened in the animation community. A new show premiered that, really out of nowhere, took off like a rocket. A show that was a hit with both adult critics and in the ratings (sort of the reverse of Powerpuff Girls.) This show was none other, than The Loud House.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6MpT7lLwls

Yes, it was the Loud House, the show that changed Nickelodeon in the eyes of many people. Not only did this show come with many adults praising it but the ratings for the show were, and still are, huge. The shows popularity rivals Spongebob Squarepants! Think about that. What was the last show that aired on Nickelodeon that was both good and Nickelodeon actually gave reruns to on there main channel fairly consistently. I'd say T.U.F.F Puppy and that show was only reran at the beginning of it's run. For a show on Nickelodeon to be both good and not treated like garbage by the network was a big deal! And the fan made Loud House memes! OH THE FAN MADE LOUD HOUSE MEMES! So how was the show. It's pretty good. I don't think I love it as much as some other people do, but it is a good show. As someone who is the middle child with three older siblings and three younger ones the premise alone had me interested. I also really like the Sunday comic inspired style the show has. It's a unique look that really makes the show stand out. It's also neat seeing a cast of mostly girl characters in a show on Nickelodeon, that seems like it's really been trying to push shows for boys. Is this proof of my "Girliness Revolution" theory? PLUG! Cartoon Thoughts: MLP and the Girly Revolution. The show is pretty funny. Though the humor can be a bit to juvenile for me at times, with a lot of toilet humor and stuff like that. Also the characterization of most of the characters are a bit weak in my opinion, with most of them being pretty one note. Hopefully they'll be developed a bit more in season two, but as it stands there kinda bland in my opinion. Not bad per say, just a bit one dimensional. It's these things that make me say that the show is only good and not great. Also like a third of the episodes follow the formula of, 1.) Lincoln wants something incredibly simple. 2.) His sisters f#&k it up for him 3.) Lincoln is justifiably mad 4.) Lincoln learns he shouldn't be mad at his sister cause family, even though his sisters totally has the right to be upset. That's also a bit of a flaw with the show, but it's not a huge one or anything. If the characters could become a little bit more than there one trait I think we would have a great show on our hands. But despite all the shows flaws, I still like this show. It's not the best show ever, but it is a step in the right direction for Nickelodeon. I'm really glad that Nickelodeon has a show that is almost as popular as Spongebob that is actually pretty decent. Hopefully this can be a turning point for Nickelodeon, like how Adventure Time was a turning point for Cartoon Network. But only time will tell if that's the case. Also THOSE DANK LOUD HOUSE MEMES, BRA!

And that seems like a good place to stop for now. I would go on, but I'm afraid that if I make this review to long nobody will actually read it, so I'll be breaking it up into two parts. Part two will be up tomorrow, on New Years Eve, so get excited about that. What do you think of some of the shows that I've talked about here today? Tell me your thoughts in the comments down bellow. I would love to hear them, even if your opinion is different from mine. Please fav, follow and comment if you liked the review, have a great day. (I do not own any of the images or videos in this review all credit goes to there original owners.)

All credit for the "Clyde likes who blank Meme" goes to https://www.deviantart.com/cartoonteen18 It was fun to fill out, and here's the link to the original Clyde likes who Blank Meme.

#gravity falls #the loud house #editorial #powerpuff girls 2016 #fairly odd parents

0 notes

asctx · 7 years ago

Text

T*H*E I*M*A*G*I*N*A*L R*A*V*E

This is not so much about what raves are or aren't, than about what they MIGHT be.

So don't bother looking here for a rehash of the obvious: that raves are the latest thing in underground dance parties/about having fun/feeling good/Peace/Energy/Unity ... all of which IS true, needless to say, but there remains so much more to be said, so much more to BE!

CUT through the clouds of trendism and commercialization that attach themselves to any major new mutation in culture. What wants to be invoked (what I want to invoke--what I hope YOU want to invoke) is that imaginal, incandescent core out of which all the smoke & noise is generated; what a rave truly can be, for some people in some situations--what it could BECOME; and then, peeling away at the sides, ... falling off one by one, duller, flatter, greyer ... and ever so much more TAME ... all those would-be and almost-raves, unavoidable byproducts of anything too real.

An old Sufi saying has it that: "where there's counterfeit, there's true gold."

So next time you go to something that calls itself a rave but isn't, don't just write it all off; the real ones do exist, and why SHOULD they be so easy to find? And, after all, it's up to YOU to make them real.

Allright, we already know that raves are THE space-age tribal youth ritual, the return of the dionysian energy that first emerged in 50's rock 'n' roll and erupted in full force in the late 60's with the intertwining of music and psychedelic drugs. But the rave-current is itself only the more visible crest of something broader and deeper.It's no coincidence that it hits the States at the same time as a major resurgence of psychedelic usage.

You can take the toying with neo'60's motifs--day-glo, flowers, smiley faces, flares--as mere fashion recycling by a generation born largely post-Summer of Love. Or you can see these themes as the instinctual recovery of a project left hanging, next breath after a two decade-long lull. Or you can go ever furthur--and why not!?--and see "the 60's" as only one recent intrusion within the Flatland of (take a deep breath now) Gravity-Bound-Domesticated-HumanoidIndustrial Civilization (got that?) of a future that is already happening, a future that beckons us towards itself and sends its echoes spiralling back through the dark and narrow tunnels of terrestrial time to make itself come true...

But only with your help, of course!

Picture a wave forming on the horizon, a big one (talking late 50's, early 60's): the psychick surfers coasting out there, beatniks, nonconformists, oddball academics bored with the small town life at the shore and all its dismal soap-opera games, looking for something to carry them away into a wilder, richer world; the first swells of energy carry with them a tide of psycho-active algaes...

HOFFMAN/HUXLEY/BURROUGHS/GINSBURG/WATTS/LEARY/ALPERT/KE SEY & CO., issue their first reports and manifestoes; munching on the junk food of the gods, our proto-mutants are initiated into the mysteries of the Vortex; they come back to the cardboard facades of Main Street with their evocations of kaleidoscopic infinity, eyes lit with the light of alien suns. Their news answers a gnawing hunger among so many trapped within the greypastelboxroutines of the industrial-consumer-democratic hive; More, they activate dormant circuits of the hive's nervous system, and spawn a burst of deviance: forms of rebellion less interested in disputing what varieties of greypastelboxroutines are preferable and what's right and wrong for everybody, than in setting up scouting parties for heading out to sea...

Underline the word parties.

Dosed to the gills, beatniks in existential black mutate into rainbow-hued hippiedom. Up with the Flower Children, hedonistic and 'escapist'--so called because they withdrew from the arena of domesticated primate aggro-sports known as 'politics' in favor of actually learning about the infinite kingdoms within their own body and nervous system. Drop into the Haight, turn off powertrips, tune out conformism and competition.

Meltdown ensues. All the accelerated bondings through Be-Ins, LoveIns, communes. Awash in the incense of oriental exoticism and occultist bric-a-brac, a renaissance of the spirit decks itself out in raiments of psychic kitsch. And how much can we fault them, really, if their Love&Peace trip undercut itself by becoming a denial of the Darkness; after all, they are there for us to learn from.

But just as everyone is tumbling about in the cosmic froth, anticipating revolution or millenium tomorrow afternoon at the latest, the Wave suddenly evaporates beneath them. No, the Earth Egg didn't quite hatch yet, ...just some initial stirrings. And so the children of the Vortex find themselves hurtling through the air like Wil E. Coyote, wrapped up in all their newfound lifestyles, but the vital juice is gone, and it all becomes so tame and lame so quickly, and in any case, a lot of people couldn't handle the intensity so it comes time to settle back into a safe routine, in some cases lay the ground for those who come after; & all around are the Mr. Jones' of many guises, panicked at the imminent collapse of Normalville; some however take their chance to cash in on what they can of it, a lot of others are wholly freaked, and thus begins a Counter-Reformation. One the one hand, a retreat from direct encounter with the Abyss crystallizes into the New Age, and on the other, it's back to the Bible, dumb drugs, white-bread, and Family Values. And all the hipsters left posing without a clue, all the burnouts/fuckups/addicts & victims of some invisible multidimensional boogeying elephant; over there in the ivy towers, the blind men scribble their learned tomes, dissecting some stray paisley footprints; but something far stranger has happened, and its awfully hard to make out just what till the next, bigger cousin of that wave starts to surface offshore.

Meanwhile even many devotees of the Vortex ascribe it to the decline in quality of their psychoactive goodies, mistaking the portal for the vista beyond (but how do you enter the vista without the portal? hmmm...BE THY VISION! a distant curl of the Vortex whispers back).

Credit it all to upsurges of the Gaian mind, long-schemed scams of the giggling DNA-consciousness, or the flotsam & jetsam cast down by That Transcendental Novelty Item at the End of Time; choose your metapors--the more the merrier; but there's a mystery-in-process that all the nice rationalistic analyses will never get at: here I'll echo a point once made by Mr. Leary: the most subtle form of conservatism is that which views the present only through the prism of the past!

And yes, (to those for whom it's not patently obvious), IT'S HAPPENING AGAIN.

***

At the heart of the rave is a modern, technologically clad form of non-verbal, ecstatic communion. The ethos of openness, sharing, intimacy, touch and empathy--not to mention the pure intensities of trance itself--facilitated by the use of LSD & MDMA (hey, the fact that you have to take these things to loosen up is a sign of just how far down & lost we all are!!), in tandem with the all-night long pulsation of bodies to the same sound source, can and does create a context where layers of armoring and conditioning are shed, where those willing can find the joyful and mysterious realm of their bodies free of oh-so many enculturated ego-trips and bullshit, ... while also opening the "post-terrestrial" circuits of their psyches. (Whew! Pause, return to beginning of paragraph, read again slowly.)

In other words, a safe space where we can be as weird as we want to be.

A collective molting ritual for the new species.

***

Or take it from another angle: compare the rave-thing to a chemical reaction: a half-dozen ingredients (make your own list), inert & ordinary in the normal course of things; but combine them in right proportions, at the right time and place, apply the CATALYST (& what what THAT be?) and BOOM!, you've set off an explosion, a chain reaction producing ENERGY, LOTS OF IT, and in that process a dynamic that continues to transform many of the starting ingredients into new & unknown qualities. No question, of course, that bystanders can look in from the skeptically, and reduce it all back to something familiar: escapism, consumerism, fashion parade, whatever. But we'll leave them to their nervous calculations...

***

OK, so you want a schoolbook definition of TECHNO-SHAMANISM, that catchphrase everybody likes to invoke but no one seems to be able to actually explain? Prepare to jump levels: As the individual shaman/ess evicts demons and excises magical darts from the sick person through a mixture of magickal sound & motion, so on the level of the diseased and crisisridden 'global village' raves aim to heal the collective body by shaking it loose of its neurotic fixations and death-fetishes.

EXORCISM THROUGH DANCE.

Unhooking the talons and shadowy webs of control. A physical unlearning of a few thousand years worth of BAD HABITS.

Learning to be at once a little more human and a little more alien.

Healer, leader, visionary, outcast: the shaman/ess' role is multifaceted, both at the center but also relegated to the margins of the community; the use of sound and/or psychoactive compounds are central to shamanism. The shaman/ess chants, hums, drums and dances as a way of programming hir voyage into the "spirit realms" (aka hyperspace), as well as of healing the mind and body of others, ... all on a more face-to-face, way lo-tech scale, of course.

So there, chew on that for a while.

***

It's a pretty sad but predictable fact that self-professed "radicals" have been oblivious to this phenomenon, just because it seems to emanate out of NITEKLUBLAND; too bad--when will they figure out that all social alienation is ultimately grounded in an alienation from the body--that realm of nature closest to us but oh-so far away. Their heroine Emma Goldman once proclaimed to the grim socialist militants of her day: "If I can't dance in your revolution I want no part of it."

And what if dance could be a modality of social change?

A heretical thought, no doubt. "Free your ass and your mind will follow," so said George Clinton. But hey, he was just another crass capitalistic rock star, right?

Not to rescusitate, however, that burdensome word, Revolution. Scratch the R, hilite the E. Quote an obscure graffito from a wall in Paris, May 1968: "This is not a Revolution but a Mutation." And say rather, TAZ. Temporary Autonomous Zone.

Like the TAZ, the rave is wild, nomadic, outside the maps of Power. At its best, the rave opens onto a realm of free-form behavior and perception, one in which there is no hierarchy, no leaders or followers, at most the dj and the light-show artists. (Hopefully benign--be careful who you leave your sensorium with!)

...Not unlike the Situationist International's notion of the "situation" (sorry, I just had to drag them in here!), a space of liberated interactions... but where the participants are the art and the show, the synergy between them all the event (or event horizon?). If the insurrection was supposed to realize itself in a festival, we might ask, why shouldn't the festival turn into an insurrection--an insurrection of Love?

Anyone who has been part of a REAL rave, if only once, briefly, knows that its insane, insanely beautiful ferocity is something that exceeds all the contrived parlour-games that pass for alternatives, social or political. The mere fact of this ferocious hedonism is, without words or slogans, A REFUTATION OF DOMESTICATED EXISTENCE.

So FUCK IT if most of this California rave-scene is still ensnared in niteklubbism. Invade the pseudo-raves, instigate roving micro-raves. Doesn't take more than a ghetto blaster and a handful of courageous revellers to start a rave on any streetcorner or park, see how long it takes to catch..., or to be shut down...

THIS is OUR form of protest--our style of dance is angry and combative as well as loving and celebratory; to free our bodies first from the rotting carcass of history,,,

...and from there, ... who knows where we'll go?

***

Prediction: a few years down the road, the rave-scene will be looked back on as the primary networking mechanism for the tribes of starfarers.

But if ravers can't clean up after themselves, how are they going to clean up the planet?

***

DANCE

If you had to have JUST ONE metaphor for it all to live by and through, wouldn't that just be it. The spiral dance of life...so it sounds cliched, but cliched only in words, in words...

DANCE

but (& rave-friends can detour here for a sec, these are words for those who've never raved and long stopped going out to

DANCE

DANCE, --this kind of dance--is FREEING MOTION. Not just moving to the beat but letting the beat help you throw off all the constricted robotic movements that have been imprinted into your heart, your eyes, your ears, your arms, your ass, your dreams, by all the tricks, traumas & seductions of society; and find the REAL YOU; dancing with the world, but dancing off the consensus-trance, that narrow greyout rightangle robotic updown freezeframe pseudoreality.

Raves signal the return to Western culture of sacred dance. A dance that balances discipline with excess, ecstasy with focus. Look at the three great Monotheisms that have pretty much defined our psychosomatic matrix: Judaism, Christianity, Islam: none of them possess any tradition of Sacred movement; they have all been scared shitless of the Body, and have instituted its repression in a thousand and one subtle ways. How appropriate that the advent of a spiritualized form of movement to the center of Civilization should present itself in a totally decadent, seemingly profane form. And people wonder why raves are actively suppressed back in the UK? Raves represent the primal life-force suppressed so long ago it remains only a dim but real memory.

And let's get this out of the way too: dancing on a decent dose of a psychedelic is something else again: communing with the animal spirits encoded into the depths of your skin, letting them out of their millenial cages. Learning how you can be each of them when you need to be; and its also about learning how to fly, how to turn yourself inside out into a spinning glowing disc, though that's a little harder ... and then, once we've got that under our belts, we can do it TOGETHER.

It's been said before, but not clearly enough: UFOS R US.

***

So what if all this prepacked ravitis costs too much. Don't leave it to them and whine about how commercialized it all is: THROW YOUR OWN! AND MUTATE IT WHILE YOU'RE AT IT!

So some of the dinosaurs may not be happy seeing their way of life superseded and want to stamp out those noisy critters scampering between their feet; more intelligence and greater manoueverability will be our response. Haven't we gotten sick enough of the EnemyProduction Line?

Social transmutation can be fun too, right? There's fun, safe vapid alcoholic-nicoteine hedonism, letting off steam so you can return to Monday; and then there's fun that aims high, fun allied with Will. The path of disciplined excess (??).

But watch this--all those scouting parties of the future will be known by their capacity to throw great parties--and pioneer partying as a way of throwing off the legacy of the miserable Dominator culture we've all had to grow up in.

***

RAVERS, look a little ways forward: have you wondered yet what happens once you're burnt out after a year or two of intensive raving, once you've lost half your hearing, the beats become stale, and the Energy has leaked away. Where, what then?

Define the rave for me.

What does the verb TO RAVE really mean to you?

But first let's list all the stuff that seems to go with it: Acid/techno/deep house music; dancing from dusk to dawn; hi-tech light shows; lollipops, floppyhats, dayglo pendants, smart drinks; $15-20 tickets; zillion gigagawatts sound-systems; X,a cid, nitrous and 2CB; goofy outfits, sexy bodies; so many inane and beatific smiles...

SHALL we ask together: just what is the essence of a rave?

Suppose, just for a second that we subtract one by one each of the above accessories. Stretch your imagination to the limit, and take away even, yes, even THE MUSIC; till all we have left are the people, all those people who have found each other in this beat, in these hidden gatherings, but without the beat, just heartbeat, pulserate, breath, ... AND THE EXCHANGE OF LOVE-ENERGIES (isn't that what sex is, ultimately?) and each other's presence ... Radiant and revelling in our unearthly beauty ... so here we are: much as we adore it, do we really need the dance music to affirm our commonality, the patent fact that we are siblings of the the same spiritual family who through the raves have managed to find one another and in that finding remember who each of us truly is, orphan child of eternity. Do we need to confuse the rave with the quality of our common presence, our moving-loving together; can't we take the essence of the rave, freed of all the externals we associate with it, transfer and apply that energy elsehwere, to just about anything...?

It comes down to a challenge, a challenge posed in that leap from normal space to hyperspace that kicks in when the 'rave' really starts to rave: those altered moments when each of us in being truest to our uniqueness enters into a harmonious whole; elusive as this may be, it calls out, and asks to be realized in every moment of our lives; it asks for creation, CREATION OF LIFE, for the nurturing of real communities that last deeper & longer than a few hours on the dancefloor.

That creative energy, apply it not just to your style of dress but to your style of BEING. Free eros & intimacy from the shackles socially-inherited sexualities (gay vs, straight, male vs. female), from monogamy and the neurotic fixation on genital sexuality:

YES, CELEBRATE your arrival here at last after a long trek, but don't forget, this is only the point of departure. These parties are our loading docks and shipyards. (And there is Work to be done: enough healing & cleaning for us all.) Here is where we will build not just a House, but a ship of dreams, a starship. Woven out of LOVE. CHAOS. LAUGHTER.IMAGINATION. WILL.

And embark; post-nuclear families setting sail out along the unwinding multi-dimensional origami strands of alternity...

Our motto:

UTOPIA OR BUST.

#tribal donut #the imaginal rave

2 notes · View notes