#bigots don’t touch this post challenge (impossible)

[frenzyarts]

Terf should stand for Trans Exclusionary Radical Failure because I have seen the most misogynistic shit come from them

Feminist card revoked

[mimzilla]

Hi there! Three questions: What things do you think Gon and Killua need to work on respectively before they reunite? Do you think they are keeping in touch? And how do you hope/imagine their reunion and post reunion bond to play out?

I’m going to append this other ask onto these three questions, because it links up with the third one pretty neatly!

tl;dr: This is so long I’m dying Squirtle

Actual tl;dr: Gon’s had a failed coming-of-age story arc, and is at the beginning of a new one about who he wants to be. Killua’s arc focuses on his dependence on other people’s approval, so he needs to develop an identity separate from what others need from him. I think they aren’t actively not talking to each other, and I hope Alluka knocks some sense into these ridiculous boys.

Mild warning for minor post-ending-of-the-anime manga spoilers.

Busting out the big guns right at the start, huh? I’m doing my stretches. Let’s dance.

Gon is really interesting to think about, because his ‘hero’s journey’ is… done. He had a goal, struggled to overcome insurmountable odds to meet it, did overcome them through determination and sacrifice, and returned home in the end. So now what? He’s lost his Nen, which Hunters are said to need in order to truly be Hunters, but having taken the exam he’s also a Hunter for life. He’s landed in a grey area, not quite a Hunter and not quite a civilian. And I certainly hope he doesn’t just do the same stuff over again, because that would be kind of boring.

What I want for Gon is for the narrative to explore his story as a coming-of-age arc, because while his hero’s journey has reached the end of its circle his coming-of-age story has only just hit its climactic point. These stories follow a different arc, where the protagonist starts out suffering an emotional loss that compels them to journey in search of answers; they struggle through obstacles that contribute to their maturation; and in the end, their greatest obstacle is to overcome their own perspective on the question they’re asking.

Gon starts out with a very obvious emotional loss: he learns that Ging chose to leave him behind on Whale Island. The answer he’s seeking is to the question “What is it Ging is searching for that is more important than me?” He matures both in terms of his strength (learning Nen and developing his own fighting style) and in terms of encountering/being confronted by worldviews different from his own (e.g. meeting all his friends for the former, the Troupe truly loving one another and Pitou being more than a mindless killer for the latter). He doesn’t overcome the climactic last challenge, in fact he fails rather spectacularly. He can’t let go of his own perspective on the world, and as a result he hurts both himself and his most intimate friend.

As far as I’m concerned, that’s a good thing. It’s brilliant. The series builds a stunning structure of Jenga blocks atop Gon’s black-and-white perspective that wobbles (the Troupe love each other) and has new pieces added to it through the story (the Greed Island players killing each other is an expected part of the game), but doesn’t topple until he’s faced with a truth almost impossible to carry that kicks his foundation out from under him.

It’s really hard to actually accept and believe that the people who hurt you aren’t purely malicious. I don’t want to get into real world examples all that much, but suffice to say that ‘good’ people are capable of doing evil things and people with intensely bigoted views are also fully able to feel genuine love for others. It doesn’t mean they’re secretly actually not bigoted, or their views should be discarded as superfluous to who they are. It just means they’re people. Cruel people are still fully people.

Continuing on with the anime talk…

So Gon’s tower of metaphorical Jenga blocks has fallen. The prospective climax of his coming-of-age story falters and falls into a valley. Soon after, the climax of his hero’s journey… is abruptly handed to him. He doesn’t find Ging, Ging’s just there. Neither of them are ready to meet this way, for good reason; according to a standard story structure, Ging flat-out shouldn’t be there yet. Gon’s not ready to meet him, hasn’t completely faced the challenge of finding him, hasn’t come into his own. It’s jarring, out of place. It’s doesn’t match up to the structure of a hero’s journey.

But as another obstacle in a coming-of-age story, it’s perfect. Gon has seen enough of the world and learned enough to approach the question “What did Ging leave me in favor of?” anew. And here’s Ging, able to answer it directly.

Gon’s emotional collapse at the end of the Chimera Ant arc is beautiful (narratively speaking…) because it functions as a new coming-of-age story’s beginning. He knows what it’s like to be a Hunter, has experienced its joys and agonies for himself. He can answer the question he started out with, and does form the bond with Ging he’s sought from the start. But his story doesn’t end, because he hasn’t come of age yet.

He befriends Ging… but that’s all. The validation and intimacy he chased after isn’t quite there. He doesn’t even feel much drive to stay with Ging for long, and says the only thing that could convince him to chase Ging for any longer would be being able to feel how powerful a Nen user Ging is, which Gon can no longer do. Meeting Ging doesn’t truly conclude either of Gon’s arcs, and Gon is now home again, where the hero’s journey both ends and begins. Because Gon went through his emotional crisis, he has the tools to recognize the new question before him.

We know that Ging has accomplished great things. He’s restored sprawling ruins and uncovered who knows how many historical secrets that might otherwise have been lost forever. Satotz looks up to him as an inspiration and a mysterious figure within the Hunter Association. He’s influential enough to be partially in control of the Hunter Association (until he peaces out, anyway). He also acts like an asshole to basically everybody, is hugely manipulative, and makes the two people with the closest familial ties to him chase his footsteps to prove themselves worthy of his respect.

Gon, with his new perspective, faces a new question.

“Do I want to live my life like Ging has lived his?”

That sure was long-winded, wasn’t it? Phew. It only sort of answers the question, too. Whoops. Moving on…

There’s a character trait among Aristotelian tragic heroes that if one wants to sound smart is called “Hamartia” and if one wants to be understood is called a “fatal flaw”. I’m not going to adhere exactly to the fatal flaw as it works in Aristotelian plays, but suffice to say that a fatal flaw is a trait the hero possesses that leads them to their own downfall. For example, Gon’s black-and-white worldview is a fatal flaw that leads him to his breakdown.

Killua’s fatal flaw is basing his own self-worth on being important to other people.

Killua never really struggles with specifically not being an assassin. He just decides to stop. The ground-in bloodlust and mechanical killing instinct that rear their heads on rare occasion seem quite firmly within his control. It’s something else that’s held over from his childhood and the way his family raised him: being used as a tool.

Writing that first bit took a bit out of me, energy-wise, so I’ll just cliff notes this one, maybe...

Killua is, shall we say, in the habit of thinking of himself as something useful to other people

Even as powerful assassins, the Zoldycks largely just do what whoever hires them tell them to do

Illumi’s needle is a direct example of this

His goals from the start have just been “Escape his family” and “Help Gon achieve his goal of meeting Ging”

His second goal has now been achieved: he helped Gon meet Ging. This is one of the reasons playing into his decision to leave, since staying would get Gon mixed up in his primary goal of escaping/getting rid of the other Zoldycks. Alluka’s... “supplanting”? That’s not the right word for it but whatever, Gon in Killua’s priority list is emblematic of this

His helping Gon is different from his doing what his family tells him because he actively wants to help Gon. Just wanted to make that point

All the same, his affection for Gon is part of what keeps him in this self-destructive mindset

That Alluka can directly empathize with this mindset, having been held captive and literally having magic powers that depend on other people making wishes, means (I hope) that she and Killua together can have some adventures and grow into their own autonomy

Were I to posit a coming-of-age story question for Killua to be searching for an answer to, it would probably be something like “Separate from what other people need from me, what do I want to do with my life?”

 As for the other stuff-

I don’t think they’re keeping in touch, at least not regularly, but I think they definitely do both have an understanding that they can call on each other for help if they need it. Gon references what Kite tells him - that whatever changes have happened, they still are and always will be friends. And friends help each other when it’s needed! Killua does his tsundere thing and makes a fuss to Ikalgo about Ikalgo so much as thanking Killua for his help, because to Killua it’s not something that even needs saying. Of course he’ll help his friends. This no doubt still holds for his friendship with Gon. So maybe not sending each other weekly updates, but I also don’t think they’d deliberately avoid speaking to each other.

I’d say that both Gon and Killua agreed to split up with the understanding that it wouldn’t be the last time they’d see each other. Whether either of them have an outright plan to link up again and travel together indefinitely, it’s hard to say; I kind of doubt it, mostly because there hasn’t been much discussion for either of them on practical long-term plans. Killua has escaping his family, but he’ll need something to do after that as well. Gon’s back on Whale Island doing homework (bless his heart), and now that he’s met Ging who knows where he’ll turn his eyes next.

Personally, I really want Alluka to play an important role in getting Killua to a place where he can be totally secure and happy with Gon again. Partly because she’s already proven herself capable of asserting herself and setting him straight, partly because she needs some good ass character development herself (and her establishing independence would be huge in helping Killua establish HIS), partly because she has that great line about letting Killua go play with Gon again once she’s had her fill.

It’s kind of hard for me to say what exactly I want their reunion to be like because it relies so heavily on what they do in the meantime, and there’s not much to work with there yet. I love drama, so some dramatic circumstances and tension would be nice. A big ol’ emotionally cathartic payoff when they see each other again.

I guess I can’t really offer anything concrete in the way of their post-reunion bond, firstly because it’s hard to imagine them interacting in a way that’s really different from their canon relationship, and secondly because if I start going down that road it’ll be fanfiction city, baby. And I live there, but if we’re talking about stuff I actually consider canon… who knows! I’m looking forward to it.

[soundofawesomeblog]

Sound of Awesome’s review of 2016 Songs list: Mathieu

2016 was a challenging year, to say the least. As the weeks went on, we hopelessly witnessed the shitshow unravel before our startled eyes. Everything we had come to expect - shattered. On the other hand, everything we thought impossible has proven to be well within the reach of plausibleness. From bigot, tantrum-throwing reality TV star being elected leader of the free world to Frank Ocean finally releasing the long-awaited follow-up to Channel Orange. Then more reasons to fear clowns; the ozone layer slowly healing itself; United Kingdom saying farewell to Europe; Kim K leaving social medias for a while, Justin Trudeau legalizing anal penetration. All events mentioned above would've passed off as a hoax on your facebook newsfeed just 2 years ago, but that is what 2016 was like. We entered a new reality. The one concept that remained true while all hell was breaking loose is that thick or thin, rain or shine, good music is being made. People from Fort McMurray, Alberta may tell you they would rather have skipped 2016 and wait another year for Blonde, but the truth is: the two events are not connected. Therefore, I'm glad Frankie and the bunch were there to stick with us through the hardships that were thrown our way in the last year.

Faithful to my habits, I compiled a list of the 100 best songs of 2016 in my not-so-humble opinion. Just as previous lists from 2014 and 2015, no more than 3 songs from the same lead artist can be listed. Some might say I'm being naive but I'd rather refer to myself as optimistic when I say I'm hoping to remember these songs better than whatever happened last year in the long haul. 

A neat Spotify playlist awaits for you if you scroll down to the end of the post. Don’t forget to also take a look at Estelle’s and Léa’s lists as well as our countdown of the best albums of the year.

THE LIST

100 – Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – I Need You

99 - Kaytranada – Lite Spots

98 - Jenny Hval – Conceptual Romance

97 - Douglas Dare – Greenhouse

96 - YG – Who Shot Me?

95 - Grouper – I'm Clean Now

94 – Lapsley – Operator (He Doesn't Call Me)

93 - LVL UP – Hidden Driver

92 - Jessy Lanza – It Means I Love You

91 -  Skepta – Man

90 - Bon Iver – 33 "GOD"

89 - The Avalanches – Subway

88 - Father John Misty – Real Love Baby

87 - Underworld – I Exhale

86 - PARTYBABY – Overload – Final

85 - AlunaGeorge – Not Above Love

84 - Pinegrove – Old Friends

83 - Cozz ft. Bas – Tabs

82 - Nick Murphy – Stop Me (Stop You)

81 – PUP - DVP

80 - Rihanna ft. Drake - Work

79 - American Football – I've Been So Lost For So Long

78 - David Bowie – Lazarus

77 - Bronze Whale ft. 5-D – Shrubbery

76 - Spring King – Detroit

75 - Radiohead – Burn The Witch

74 - THEY. - What You Want

73 - How To Dress Well – Lost Youth/Lost You

72 - Beyonce - Sorry

71 - DJ Shadow ft. Run The Jewels – Nobody Speak

70 - Frank Ocean – Nikes

69 - Douglas Dare – Oh Father

68 - Danny Brown – When It Rain

67 - Whitney – No Woman

66 - The Hotelier – Piano Player

65 - Leif Erikson – Looking For Signs

64 - Kanye West ft. Kendrick Lamar – No More Parties In L.A.

63 - Noname – Yesterday

62 - Culture Abuse – Don't Worry

61 - Nicolas Jaar – Three Sides of Nazareth

60 – Isaiah Rashad – 4r Da Squaw

59 - Solange ft. Sampha – Don't Touch My Hair

58 - Parquet Courts – Human Performance

57 - ScHoolboy Q ft. Kanye West – THat Part

56 - Ariana Grande – Into You

55 - Cass McCombs – Bum Bum Bum

54 - Drake – Child's Play

53 - White Lung – Below

52 - Carly Rae Jepsen – The One

51 - Anderson. Paak – Am I Wrong

50 - A Tribe Called Quest – Dis Generation

49 - Angel Olsen – Intern

48 - Mura Masa ft. A$AP Rocky – Love$ick

47 - Cloud Nothings – Mordern Act

46 - Danny Brown ft. Kendrick Lamar, Ab-Soul & Earl Sweatshirt – Really Doe

45 - Saro – Test

44 - Beyonce - Formation

43 - Yellow Days – Your Hand Holding Mine

42 - Drake – Controlla

41 - Kero Kero Bonito – Trampoline

40 - Japandroids – Near To The Wild Heart of Life

39 - Kaytranada ft. Anderson. Paak – Glowed Up

38 - Chance The Rapper ft. Knox Fortune – All Night

37 - The XX – On Hold

36 - Childish Gambino – Redbone

35 - Whitney – Golden Days

34 - Joey Purp ft. Chance The Rapper – Girls @

33 - Dessert – Eyes Wide Shut

32 - Sampha – Blood On Me

31 - Kanye West – Real Friends

30 - LVL UP – Pain

29 - Rihanna – Kiss It Better

28 - Car Seat Headrest – Fill In The Blank

27 - Julia Jacklin – Coming Of Age

26 - A Tribe Called Quest – We The People...

25 - Radiohead – Daydreaming

24 - Rae Sremmurd ft. Gucci Mane -  Black Beatles

23 - Hundred Waters ft. Chance The Rapper – Show Me Love (Skrillex remix)

22 - Walleater – Can You Feel My Love?

21 - Drake ft. Kyla & Wizkid – One Dance

20 - Kevin Morby – I Have Been To The Mountain

19 - Pinkshinyultrablast – I Cherry Pit

18 - Frank Ocean – Ivy

17 - Angel Olsen – Shut Up Kiss Me

16 - Young M.A. - OOOUUU

15 - Blood Orange – Best To You

14 - Sad13 – Hype

13 - D.R.A.M. ft. Lil Yachty – Broccoli

12 - Bon Iver – 22 (over soon)

11 - White Lung – Kiss Me When I Bleed

Aside from ringing in the new year, nothing was as satisfying as Mitski's build-up to the last chorus of Your Best American Girl. This song alone had the necessary strength to carry me through every figurative wall I hit. It is a true picker-uper, an anthem and a masterpiece.

For most aspects, the bar is set so incredibly low for 2017, it's almost embarrassing. As long as they don't release a sequel to Jack And Jill, we should do just fine. Musically, though, new players and MVP brought their A-game and set the bar really high for next year. 

You can also check out the Spotify playlist below where you can stream every track from my list but beyoncé's since they are unavailable on that platform.

[arlingtonpark]

Top 5 News Stories of 2017 pt. I

(This list is probably being posted past its “best if posted by” date, but you know what? Posting year-in-review lists before the year is over is ridiculous, so I’m not apologizing. :P) 

So how’s the new year been so far? 

2017 was quite a year, wasn’t it? Never in my short time on this Earth have I ever seen a year that was simultaneously hopeful, despairful, and baneful and all in equal measure.

I pay close attention to the news and most people don’t, so I thought I would share what are, in my opinion, the top 5 most important stories of 2017.

5. Survivor White House

I don’t know how many people are aware of this, but Donald Trump is not actually a great businessman. His business was a glorified mom-and-pop shop, and the mismanagement of his presidential campaign was all you need to look at to see that he was an incompetent manager. He’s also not actually a billionaire.

No, the reason people thought he was a billionaire businessman extraordinaire was because he said he was and he played that role on a reality tv show. Unfortunately, the extent to which reality tv is fake eludes most people.

A big part of the reason Trump is such a bad businessman is because instead of setting up a clear hierarchy and chain of command, Trump likes to have a power structure with competing power centers. When he entered the White House, Trump gave the position of Chief of Staff to Reince Priebus. The COS is supposed to set the President’s schedule and control not just the WH staff, but also who gets face time with the POTUS. But Priebus was a very neutered COS, with Chief Strategist Steve Bannon most notably getting walk in privileges in the Oval Office. He could just go in whenever he wanted and talk to POTUS without having to go through the COS. But not just Bannon, but many, many other people, from Trump’s family to Hope Hicks, and even f!@#ing Omarosa got walk in privileges.

This is very important because Donald Trump is notoriously feeble-minded. His stance on an issue at any given time is the stance of whomever spoke to him last. Thus, getting unlimited face time privileges with him gave you incredible influence on Federal Government Policy.

This meant there was grueling competition between the high ranking individuals in the Trump WH. When everyone has unlimited face time privileges with the Boss, a nebulously undefined role, and no one person has authority to control everyone else, the end result is throat slitting competition. Trump encouraged this, of course, because he thinks the competition breeds strength among his flunkies. Adolf Hitler had a similar management style, actually. Guess what: it sucked too.

Another important factor was that it didn’t necessarily have to be a person talking to Trump in order for Trump to be influenced. Trump watches a lot of tv and his stance on the issues can also be influenced by that.

This plus the interpersonal competition among staff led to a truly ridiculous situation: whenever a WH staffer felt they were being shut out, they would go on Fox and Friends, or some other tv show Trump loves to watch, break from the party line, and advocate for their own personal beliefs in the hopes that Trump will see them and be influenced through the tv screen!

And the leaks! Another common strategy employed by staffers is to leak information to the public that they disagree with and hope the media’s reporting on it will influence Trump to not go ahead with the planned policy. Leaks were also weaponized by staffers against each other. If a staffer thought another was getting to far ahead, they would leak embarrassing information to the public in an attempt to diminish them in Trump’s eyes.

To make matters worse, these staffers were not strategic geniuses. By any means. These people are *stupid*. Very *stupid*. I’m sorry, but if you’re one of those people who believe that no one is truly stupid, you’re simply ignorant. Ever seen The Godfather? If so, then you probably remember Fredo Corleone.

The failson of Vito Corleone, Fredo is simply an idiot. On political Twitter, it became a running gag to refer to Trump as the Fredo of the WH. “The Trump WH is like the Godfather if Fredo was in charge.” This is completely accurate and it bodes poorly for the country, but it’s actually worse. Having a Fredo in charge is bad but can be mitigated if there are competent people underneath working to counteract their incompetence.

But with Trump? It’s f!@#ing Fredos all the way down! Everyone who works under him is a Fredo in their own right. It’s incredible!

Steve Bannon

First off, there’s Steve Bannon. Bannon is a former financial executive turned Hollywood producer turned professional right-wing fear monger. (He gets between $50-100K from Seinfeld royalties yearly.) From the start Bannon was billed as a mastermind. The puppet master who would control Trump from behind the throne and plunge America in to a neo-fascist dystopia. Even I was sweating bullets! Two months of this and people were starting to give this nonsense the mockery it deserved. Bannon is like an edgelord teenager you find on Reddit. He thinks he’s a learned individual and for the shallowest of reasons. For example, he thinks he’s a cut above the rest simply because he can quote Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. As if reading the Art of War makes you an intellectual! Did I forget to mention that Bannon is over 60 years old? The Bannon-as-puppet-master meme got so much buy in from the media that one commentator wrote that Bannon could run out of the West Wing with his pants around his ankles and the media would still say was somehow more powerful than before. Also, he dresses ridiculously. Steve Bannon was fired as Chief Strategist August 2017.

Kellyanne Conway

Conway is probably the most shameless Trump sycophant. She goes on cable tv and will say almost anything to either build Trump up or deflect blame. A consummate liar, she’s more annoying than stupid, honestly.

Hope Hicks

Ah, Hope Hicks, the potted plant of the Trump entourage. The best way to think of Hicks’ place in the Trump orbit is to think of a piece of furniture or appliance that’s just always been there. Hicks has been working for Trump since before the campaign started in June 2015. She was previously his assistant, but since then has become mainly involved in handling his comms work. Depending on the type of person you are, you might doc or add points to her score for this, but she’s a true believer. She legit believes that Trump has the country’s best interest at heart and is just misunderstood by most people. So not a flunky, just delusional.

Sebastian Gorka

Oh my God, where do I start? Sebastian Gorka is a total clown in an entire White House of clowns. Just listen to him speak. Everything about him is ridiculous, from the unflinching smugness with which he spouts his obviously wrong bullshit to his absurd accent. Like many people who work in the Trump WH, no one actually knows what Gorka’s actual job was other than to go on tv and praise the President. That said, Gorka’s area of expertise, and I say that charitably, is counterterrorism. Specifically, he took a hard line against Islamic extremism, to the point that he was outright bigoted against Muslims. Gorka’s PhD dissertation provides a window into his knowledge, or lack thereof. Indeed, Gorka’s dissertation is so shoddy that it couldn’t pass muster as an undergraduate thesis, much less as a PhD thesis.

Omarosa

Omarosa was a contestant on Trump’s tv show back in the day. They kept in touch and now she works in the WH doing...something. She was such a delusional person, she actually claimed that she “delivered the black vote for Mr. Trump.” Nine out of every ten black people voted for Clinton. In December of 2017 she was fired (she claims she resigned; don’t listen to her), but, refusing to have any of it, she tried to break in to the White House to appeal her firing to Trump himself. She had to be literally dragged off the premises kicking and screaming. Hilarious.

Stephen Miller

Miller is basically a younger version of Bannon. A far right xenophobe and a total buffoon who thinks highly of himself.

Sean Spicer

Sean Spicer, in fairness, had to pull double duty as the press secretary and as comms director. Both jobs are challenging on their own, and together they are virtually impossible to do. That said, Spicer is a total doofus. There are many different gaffes to point towards, from the inaugural crowd size imbroglio to him favorably comparing Adolf Hitler to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Anthony Scaramucci

The Mooch! Scaramucci was brought on board the Trump team in the Summer of 2017. When he was first brought on he was the best evidence yet that we live in a badly written tv show. That whole episode was like the shake up in the status quo you sometimes see during the season finale. Press Secretary Spicer was fired and Scaramucci was his replacement. Chief of Staff Priebus vehemently opposed this and he was shown the door shortly thereafter. And then Scaramucci totally imploded and was tossed out not long after. He called Ryan Lizza, a New Yorker reporter, and, not understanding the rules that govern journalistic sourcing (you’d think a comms director would), gave what seemed in print to be a totally wild rant. “I’m not like Bannon, I’m not trying to suck my own cock.” They released the audio of the call and it turns out he wasn’t angry at all, he’s just casually vulgar.

Brown M&Ms

The final thing to cover is what I like to call the Brown M&Ms factor.

I borrow this idea from political scientist Brendan Nyhan. Whenever the Trump administration makes an embarrassingly unprofessional mistake, like misspelling the name of a world leader on official government documents, he references the brown M&Ms story: supposedly the band Van Halen would stipulate in their contracts that there be a bowl of brown M&Ms in their dressing room at concerts. This minor yet exacting demand was used by them to gauge the attentiveness and professionalism of the staffers organizing the event. If there was a bowl of brown M&Ms in their room, then they could rest assured that the staff actually read the fine print.

The point is to highlight a very ominous fact: if the Trump administration can’t do even basic things right, then how can they handle something like North Korea or a natural disaster.

The reason why this incompetence matters is because it’s the job of these people to formulate policy and govern the country. Yeah, that’s right, the administrative state of the most powerful country on Earth is in the hands of these morons.

Part 2 | Part 3