#it started from some reaction video from like 2018

[userparamore]

PARAMORE'S DORK INTERVIEW

i thought i'd gather some of the highlights/important quotes from their newest interview with dork magazine; all from new music, more solo music from hayley, and fine print. i've put it under the cut as it got a little long:

– hayley talking about new music:

Well, the band have already started toying with new music. At home, before the tour began, Paramore created some early demos that "really surprised" Hayley, with the tracks taking inspiration from the Bjork-fronted alt-rock band The Sugarcubes. But they've also spent a few days off from tour in the studio. In Hamburg, they visited Clouds Hill Studio and started messing around with another idea that "felt like it was on the other side of the tracks to what we'd been working on at home," offers Hayley. "But that excites me."

"Lyrics have always been a huge driving force for me as well. I feel a deep sense of discomfor when we go home to the American South in this political climate and a lot of poetry that I've been writing lately feels like adulted versions of the themes I was writing about in 'Brand New Eyes'." The band's third album was an exploration of faith, betrayal, community and pain. "Also you mid-30s are wild. I was told they were supposed to be breezy but it's like another puberty."

After the overwhelming positive reaction to the glistening pop of 'After Laughter' and the scuzzy rage of 'This Is Why', there's a real sense of liberation to whatever comes next. [...] "It does feel like there's more space now to do whatever it is we're inspired to do and not look back," she adds. "It doesn't have to be on thing either."

– hayley talking about more solo music:

"Fine Print is about creating a better ecosystem for our creativity," explains Hayley. And that includes potential solo stuff as well. "Paramore has always been the thing that I want to do the most, and I get really passionate and protective of it," says Hayley, but something shifted after seeing that nothing major changed with the band after releasing solo album 'Petals for Armor' and follow-up record 'Flowers for Vases/Descansos'. "I don't feel done with it at all," she adds. "And that feels so good to say."

"Originally she wanted her solo music to be released under the Petals for Armor name because it felt like a nice cloak. "Even when I was doing press for 'Petals', I was really worried people would think I was done with Paramore because those rumours fly so fast, but now I don't feel that fear at all. I know the three of us will be creative until we die, and that's going to manifest as a million different projects," she explains. Some projects will be Paramore, sure, but others might be Zac shooting music videos on film or Taylor acting as a producer for other people's records, like he did with 'Petals for Armor'. "I think Fine Print is going to be a really great catch-all for those things."

– on "Fine Print" and independence:

Not having a label is the closest Paramore have ever got to the "total freedom" they felt when they first started the band. "I think the creativity is about to get cranked up," offers Hayley.

With Fine Print, Paramore want to find a balance between creating art and living life, especially because "the music industry does not reward taking care of yourself," says Hayley, who is also asking questions about fairer payments for musicians and how to support new artists as well.

Paramore are still laying the foundations for Fine Print but the whole thing is being built on the same ethos of their 2018 Art + Friends festival. "If it's not people I would be happy to have a cookout with, I don't want them involved," says Hayley. "Music is community. It's such a great connector, and that's the energy I want around anything that we do."

– on their inspirations right now:

Right now Hayley is inspired by the fearless, slightly chaotic world of pop that's being ushered in by the likes of Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo and Chappell Roan. They're not afraid of messy feelings and they don't care if they don't have all the answers either, which is something Paramore have always done really well. "You have all these women ruling the world, and I don't think pop has ever been cooler," says Hayley. "It's so inspiring to see young artists being really bold, expressing themselves freely and making good shit that everyone wants to sing along to, while also speaking about things that perhaps don't always feel good to speak about," she adds, with that new generation of pop stars kickstarting discussions on politics, abortion rights, body image and predatory fan behavior.

"But there's also so much exciting stuff happening with guitar music as well," Hayley adds, name-checking Amyl And The Sniffers and "sick" new band Font. "I'll always love indie sleaze and bands like The Rapture and Yeah Yeah Yeahs, but I'm ready for whatever comes next in the dystopian future that we're all entering. We need punk music, and we need those underground movements," she explains. "Not because I want to hide from pop music, but because there's life there that I want to live."

– hayley said she thinks zac is the most underrated drummer:

"Can I also just say in an interview that I think Zac is the most underrated drummer in whatever fucking genre we're in," says Hayley, still struggling to find a label for the band. "When he was 11, and I was 13, I saw him play for the first time, and I just knew." She can't explain how she knew, because what does anyone really know at that age, but at the end of every Eras show when the rest of the band huddles around him for the furious, cathartic conclusion to 'This Is Why', it's every dream Hayley ever had for the band come true. "I'm so grateful Zac came back for 'After Laughter' because he's the backbone of Paramore. He makes us better."

– hayley on performing:

"I remember when we were touring 'Brand New eyes' and our tour manager kept telling people the only time we didn’t fight was when we were onstage. I didn't want to accept it, but he was right," says Hayley. "We were beat down, uncomfortable, and that was such a rough time, but there's a reason Taylor and I never quit, and it was the shows. Paramore gigs did get a lot of the poison out."

"My smile is sorta too big for my face but make no mistake, I am but a bird-sized woman still filled to the brim with rage. If i didn't get to make music or throw my body around the stage every night, I wouldn't survive."

"I've realised I can't be alone," says Hayley." I can't be by myself in this, so I guess we'll keep touring until we physically can't. Can you imagine seventy-year-old Taylor York doing light choreography on stage?" she laughs. "Honestly, I am so excited for the next incarnation. It feels like there's something in the water."

[On playing The Only Exception] "It's not 'Misery Business' but I didn't want to endorse that message either," she explains. This time it was her vocal coach who had a word. "He said, 'You're in a band with your partner. Just look at him and pretend nothing else ever existed'. You know what is so dumb about me?" asks Hayley. "I felt so stupid doing that at first. I felt stupid having this pure expression of adoration and tapping into the hopefulness I had as a 19-year-old. This tour completely changed my relationship with that song though. Now when I sing it, I feel happy."

[pseudophan]

TW for discussion of homophobia.

Hi, Nora! In the spirit of pride month I want to tell the story about how becoming a demon phannie has deprogrammed my bigotry when I was a teen.

I grew up with homophobia being the norm amongst the kids. In my country it was quite precise though, a bit different from what Dan described in BIG. We didn't use "gay" as a synonym for "bad". Boys wouldn't be called gay for crying or liking theater or just being well-behaved. Not in my school at least.

No, there was a clear-cut definition that gays were only the boys who liked boys. But if you fit that definition, if someone knew you fit that definition, then god help you. You would be constantly mocked, bullied and beat up at school. The headmaster would call your parents and tell them to fix their broken little pervert. Your parents reaction could fall anywhere from a stern talk and calling you a disgrace to a beating and sending you to a military type boarding school. Treating a teen this way was perceived as completely normal. Nowadays the kids have thankfully become way more accepting despite our governments best efforts. But now you can also add a visit to the police station to the pile.

Sapphics just didn't exist, as always. That's why when I told my friends "I genuinely think boobs are more attractive than dicks - they are more esthetically pleasing to look at" the only reaction I got was confused laughter and strange looks. No, I did not realize what that said about me back then. It was just foreshadowing.

I remember my parents occasionally saying that it's a sickness and shouldn't be allowed to be demonstrated in any way. Peppering it with the usual "they can do whatever they want behind closed doors". And if people got beat up on the streets for being gay...well they just brought that on themselves by flaunting their sexuality, didn't they?

I lived with that worldview until I was 15 or 16.

Then I started finding out that some famous people were gay. But it only got me to the point of "I like his art, so I won't stop consuming it, despite him being gay". In my mind if you were gay and wanted people to tolerate your existence, you had to be talented in order to justify it. And have the decency to not act gay in public. Yeah, I know, bare with me.

When I found Dan's channel in 2015 I instantly fell in love with his videos. Soon I also started watching Phil and then the gaming channel.

My gaydar was non-existent at the time and, ironically, I was conditioned into thinking that gay people just like to announce that they're gay to everyone. So, since Dan and Phil never did, I just took their word for it. For almost a year I just enjoyed watching their content without a second thought.

Then one day I saw the compilations. The radio show clips. The old videos. That was all it took really. My brain couldn't compute, couldn't connect the "sick perversion" I heard so much about to what I was seeing on my screen. It wasn't unnatural, or disgusting or deliberately demonstrative.  It was fucking beautiful. They simply couldn't help being extremely adorable.

Starting from that day the thought "keep it to yourselves" never occurred to me. I just wanted to be a fly on the wall.

I never dared to write fanfiction or make compilations or, god forbid, directly ask one of them in a qna. I was happy to just lurk and snort that yaoi cocaine in silence.

In hindsight, Dan and Phil were the reason I didn't instantly hate myself after having the first crush on a girl and realizing I was bi in 2018.

Later I got into breadtube and realized just how insane and baseless all those conservative talking points were. But DnP were the sole reason I left that eco-chamber in the first place.

So thank you to Dan and Phil and thank you to all fellow demons 💜

fujoshi-ism saves lives is the thing

no but isn't it odd the way things work out.. the fact that dan and phil were able to help you like that is amazing, and also it's very funny that they did it through the power of rpf

[thankyouforthememoriesworld]

I did send that timeline to several folks but I knew you would come through in terms of posting with lots of back up! Everything on that list has either a photo, video, article, social media post, etc. minus a few things I questioned as speculative like 2016. I was able to find some proof.

In a way all I had to do is lay out the years of the major known stuff and their tiktoks/overtime/slam videos and fill in blanks. For those curious about how I figured out some of these tournaments, each high school player has a recruiting page on ESPN so at least with some major tournaments and recruiting notes, I could match it, which is why I was actually pretty shocked to see they were in the same tournament in 2016 but didn't really know each other until 2017.

https://www.espn.com/high-school/girls-basketball/recruiting/player/_/id/225154

https://www.espn.com/high-school/girls-basketball/recruiting/player/_/id/230098

Also high schools like their programs always had schedules out that you can find the archives for. St. John's and Hopkins have their full schedules and results posted from back then so just lining up tiktoks and the significance of the date and it started to fall in place.

What's not in that timeline is the fact Azzi was in a Penn Relay and also national flag football?!?! Like if we want to talk about an incredible athlete. She won flag football in January 2017 and actually scoring the touchdowns and everything. This is before 2017 Team USA tryouts. And then won her race for 4x400 for Penn Relay on April 26, 2018 but it wasn't enough to qualify for championships. That's still insane though. Because she did that and then played that Capitol Classic game a few days later.

You can even watch the relay if you want to sign up apparently (I didn't bother haha). Here's the link to the result and the video link is embedded in there.

https://pennrelaysonline.com/History/results.aspx?cy=2018&en=138

Also not in the timeline are Paige's high school injuries. "In January 2018, as a sophomore, Bueckers was sidelined with an ankle injury that had been hurting her for the first two months of the season. Toward the end of her [senior] season, she suffered from a stress reaction in her right leg due to overuse. Bueckers sometimes wore a walking boot as a preventative measure, was limited in practice and missed the first game of the state tournament." Wiki has the articles for citations. I actually wonder if the right leg issue in high school then caused overcompensation on the left leg which then led to the knee issues. (That's a whole other level of introspection I could probably provide).

Anyway like I said in an early version of this - did all this to provide actual facts since so many like to speculate and make things up based on some random rumors.

I am absolutely not making a future version of this - that's someone else's job :P

So I'm not your favorite and I thought there was something special between us 😞. I have so many more photos or videos I could have used but I had to choose to respect Tumblr's restrictions.

Thanks for telling us how you found your information, I'm gonna bookmark the pages 🤗.

It is so impressive how she is a champion in basketball, football and track. I don't know how she managed between all that and high school.

[desire-mona]

Opinions on jacksfilms v sssniperwolf?

Penny for ur thoughts plz 🪙 (<- pretend that is a penny shhhhh)

this ask is an equivalent to asking for my hand in marriage just btw.

so in case anyone doesnt know anything abt this old ass drama (i dont know as much as i could either, this is a retelling from the bits and pieces i remember):

so basically sssniperwolf used to be this gaming youtuber but she eventually turned into a half baked "reaction" channel where she just watches tiktoks, makes low effort surface level commentary, and then doesnt credit the creator of said tiktoks. jacksfilms is a comedy youtuber who does a bunch of stuff (sketches, streaming, something called YIAY where he gives ppl prompts / questions to answer n reads em out(with credit!(also hes been doing stuff with ai recently but mostly to show how mid it is which like. eh idk how i feel abt it but its not a dealbreaker))) and he at one point in 2023 called out sniper for her content stealking and lazy content.

he started doing this thing where he reacted to her videos the way she reacts to the videos she steals? i think? and then he gives credit to the creators that sniper reacts to i hope ur following. sniper eventually got mad and was like "uhhhmmm ur stealing from me....." which is rly funny considering she steals from SO many ppl. they had lowkey beef for a while (and obv jack was in the right the entire time) and on uhhhhhh lemme look this up hold on. october 13th of last year sniper posted an instagram story poll like "jacksfilms is close to this place im shooting at should i go see him" i guess to like? talk things out?

(src)

and then some amnt of time later while jack was playing jackbox on stream with his editors and stuff (dubbed the council) sniper showed up at his house, stood outside, and posted a video OF HIS HOME ON HER STORY. ON HER INSTAGRAM WITH OVER 5 MILLION FOLLOWERS. also to add even more context that i found out from youtube comments, sniper has been arrested for armed robbery before, so! some council member alerted jack and erin (jack's wife) was like "erm im gonna go outside" and everyone was like NO DONT OMG. eventually she deleted the story but by that point it was like wayyyy too late. and photos of his house were alr on twitter and stuff. the most ridiculous part is that when jack was rightfully like WHAG GHE HELL she was like this guy is creepy and hes been harassing me! i just wanna talk!!!

jacksfilms made a video being like heyyyyy youtube can u do smthn abt this???? youtube, of course, did nothing in response. i honestly dont know how it ended but snipers still doing her thing and so is jack so ultimately nothing substantial came of it, i guess. i wasnt on stream when it happened but i was GLUED to twitter as it was unfolding since ive been a big jacksfilms fan since i was 12ish. crazy times

WAIT EDIT I FORGOT TO ADD MY OPINION OOPS LOL: FUCK SNIPERWOLF

also fun fact! ive had a couple convos with a council member (marshaldoesstuff u will always be famous) and i was in his discord FOREVER ago. like 2018 forever ago. got groomed in that server it was kinda goofy (NOT marshal's fault - nor the mods of said server, im still friends with a few of those mods and they were always so protective of me and were there to put a stop to everything, i love them dearly.) so yeah im kinda etched into jacksfilms lore in a way that VERY few remember. which is the case for a few different fandoms tbh.

second fun fact: jack and erin r house md fans (erin has a crush on house and jack has a crush on cuddy which is sooo based of them)

thank u for asking and thank u for reading :3 i luv jacksfilms

[sagurus]

Sure! When you have time I would love it if you any interactions between Saguru and any of the Gosho girls. It doesn't have to be shipped or whatever, but it's just because I've read so many of his interactions with the Gosho boys and I feel like the girls are underrated in that sense. I love crack and I love Saguru and I adore your writing and edits :)

Hey anon from 2018, lmao. You're right, there really do need to be more interactions between Saguru and the girls. I have a WIP I started recently that I feel really shows Aoko's acuity. It's not crack, but instead a tense interaction between two friends.

Eventually this'll make its way to AO3, but for now, here it is:

--

“So, Saguru-kun…”

Saguru finds himself bracing. Aoko has seemed to be in a strange mood the entire evening. He’d almost wondered if she was irritated with him at first, or maybe just more disappointed about Kuroba’s last-minute cancellation than she wanted to let on. But their plans had gone as expected otherwise; they studied, watched a show Aoko had been excited to show him over some reheated leftovers, all without incident. Now they’d settled in the living room, occupying themselves with their own activities.

But now, as casual as she was trying to seem, Saguru detected an underlying tension.

“Yes, Aoko-san?” He kept his eyes on his book.

“Did you know that Aoko’s dad thought Kaito was KID once?”

Saguru’s entire train of thought stuttered to a halt. Every thought vanished — and then his mind raced with questions. For what reason was she bringing this up? What kind of reaction was she expecting?

Her gaze was drilling into him, he could tell. She hadn’t turned away from her video game, but she had to be concentrating on him in her periphery. The sensation of it raised the hair on the back of his neck..

He turned the page, but wasn’t reading anymore.

“Did he? I’ve never heard anything about that,” Saguru said mildly. His heart rate was elevated. He focused on breathing normally.

“Yeah!” Aoko said, and she said it with a giggle. A feint. “He told me that and I thought it was so strange. Sure, he’s obnoxious, but he’s not stupid Kaitou KID.”

It was best to leave space in the conversation. He didn’t say anything, waiting for Aoko to continue.

“Anyway, Dad got a look at him at one heist, and he was sure he looked like Kaito. So to prove him wrong, I asked Kaito on a date!”

“A date?”

“Yep! I mean, thinking back that was pretty silly, but it got him to come. But isn’t that so weird? That he’d even think for a second that Kaito was KID?”

She sounded so cheery. The version of herself she put on in class when she was getting along with everybody. Masking away her acute intelligence and calculations. He used to think she wore her feelings on her sleeve - and to an extent she did. But these days he knew that there was plenty she kept under wraps. She and Kuroba were truly quite the pair.

“It does seem like a strange conclusion for the inspector to come to.” He tried to keep his voice neutral as he could. “How did the date go?”

Aoko stuck her tongue out, and for the moment turned her eyes back toward the screen, organizing her character’s inventory. “Oh, you know. Bakaito. He was his normal annoying self, but he showed up on time. We met up at Tropical Land and had a lot of fun! We saw a 3D movie and everything.” She paused, then added, “Actually, I even handcuffed us together. Which was probably overkill, honestly.”

Great minds think alike.

“And the heist?” Saguru asked.

“Oh, the heist still happened. And Kaito was with me the whole time.”

“Well, I imagine that remedied the inspector’s suspicions?”

“Yeah. Dad never said anything about it again.”

The conversation lulled into silence, but the tension in the room was palpable.

“It’s just weird. That’s the only time Dad has ever had a suspect. Honestly, I don’t get why he’d even entertain the idea.”

Saguru hmmed, hoping it sounded like agreement.

“I mean, Kaito is way too young to be KID. Everyone knows Kaitou KID has to be in at least his forties.”

“That does seem to be the most prominent theory,” Saguru said neutrally. It wasn’t the most satisfactory response, he knew. But he could toe this line, if he focused on the commonly-held beliefs and not his own hypotheses and opinions.

“I wonder who Kaitou KID actually is. Whoever it is, I really can’t stand him. I’d like to give him a piece of my mind for all the trouble he’s causing everybody.”

“That’s fair of you.” Saguru wouldn’t condemn KID himself. But he’s already made clear to her that he doesn’t share the same hostility. “What with KID’s talent, I wouldn’t be surprised if the public never comes to know his identity.” After a moment, he amended, “Not to imply the task force is lacking in talent or capability. Your father has prevented many thefts from coming to fruition.” Never mind the fact KID so far still hadn’t truly stolen anything regardless. “But no matter how successful plans are on this side, KID has still proven successful as an escape artist, if nothing else. We’ll just have to see if ever he’s caught, or we get a hint.”

“It would be nice, though,” Aoko said, and Saguru had a hard time reading her tone. “To know who it is.”

What was she trying to accomplish here? It felt like she was fishing. Like she wanted a specific response from him. She might want him to agree that it was a ridiculous idea, confirm that the suspicions were completely unfounded. But he couldn’t imagine lying to her outright. But on the other hand…

“Have you ever suspected anyone of being KID, Saguru-kun?”

Ah.

“Well,” he said.

He couldn’t bring himself to lie to her, but he certainly couldn’t tell the truth. Saguru wouldn’t betray Kuroba like that; Kuroba may not trust him, but Saguru wasn’t going to confirm Kuroba’s own impressions.

And it wouldn’t just be betraying Kuroba. It would be a betrayal of one of Aoko’s closest friends.

No winning. Catch-22.

He forced himself to turn the question over in his mind, as slowly as he could allow without seeming as if he took too long. It wasn’t like he’d obtained any real proof. Other than observable evidence that Kaito wasn’t KID. And the DNA proof he’d destroyed. Of course, Saguru knew, but technically he’d proved the opposite.

“You’ll laugh, but I actually suspected Kuroba once myself.”

Aoko paused her game. “You did?”

And now the tension amplified exponentially. Did she know? He’d suspected before that she might. With how perceptive she was, how could she not have at least considered it?

Even then, that didn’t mean he could confirm it. Kuroba was the only person who could do that.

Steady. “Yes, well. I did test the theory, and my suspicions were proven false.” Based on the happenings, anyway.

“How did you test it?”

Saguru crooked a slight smile now. Casual. Easy. Amused. “Much like you, I handcuffed myself to him just before the heist began.”

She still didn’t say anything.

“So, in both of our cases, the heist still went on. So that would appear to clear Kuroba’s name on two different accounts,” he said lightly.

“Yeah, I guess it does.”

She’d slipped a little, seemed more pensive than casually amused. She recovered quickly. “It’s so funny that both of you thought it was Kaito.”

The way she continued circling, the way she persisted… on some level, she must know.

Aoko asked, “What made you think it was him, anyway?”

At least the capacity of the labs was something he wasn’t at liberty to discuss. “Probably proximity bias,” Saguru said. It wasn’t entirely untrue. “KID has a tendency for elaborate magic tricks, and Kuroba is certainly the most talented magician I’d ever met.” And then, after a beat: “But there’s plenty of talented magicians out there.”

Aoko hmmed, and fell silent again. Saguru imagined her putting him under a microscope, considering everything he said. Everything he didn’t say.

She unpaused her game and resumed playing. “Yeah, Bakaito could never be KID,” she said.

But all Saguru could think was that there was no way she didn’t know how false that was.

[5and3nevermind]

🐱: Jimin, let’s get you shirtless and do a dance just like that.

🐥: I’m on it.

🎬: [cut]

⚠️ 🤡 Speculation ahead:

Ok, I included that moment at the top because I want to start with something positive before we get into this.

I don’t believe in the “2018/2019 break-up” theories. I just don’t see it. And trust me, I’ve looked for it because let’s be honest…you can’t have a break-up without a relationship to begin with, right? In other words, you could argue that it would actually help prove that yoonmin is “real.” Not to mention the fact that many yoonminers see a rift during that time. It’s human nature to want to see what everyone else is seeing. No one likes feeling like “I must be missing something.” But…I have looked and I don’t see it. During that time, we do see some restraint when it comes to their physical affection, but there are enough wonderful moments scattered throughout that time that I just don’t see a break-up. That’s my opinion, and I understand I’m kind of on my own on this. 😉

Now…where I do see some bumps in the road is late 2019 and early 2020. This includes Jimin’s visit to the Shadow set, which clearly didn’t go the way Jimin had hoped and which was still the subject of some debate a couple months later at the MOTS7 purple sweater day. (Sorry, I can never remember the official name of anything.)

The Black Swan contemporary dance reaction video, where that screenshot at the top came from, was released on 200119…in other words, right in the midst of this period.

I see good and bad here. Yoongi says Jimin should do a shirtless dance too. Jimin says that Yoongi’s video (I assume this was a reference to Interlude: Shadow) was amazing.

On the other hand, there were some little bickering moments in this video that don’t quite feel like the “for fun” Tom-and-Jerry bickering that we’re used to.

But enough about that! Rather than dwelling on the negative, what I find incredible is the way we are able to see them repair this problem (whatever it was). Because that’s what people who are extremely close do. With Yoongi and Jimin, we see them making extra efforts to fix things throughout mid 2020. They put in the effort and emotional energy to rectify things. And we see the result of this effort during surgery era when Jimin was so attentive and concerned about Yoongi, and Yoongi in turn was appreciative and outspoken about Jimin’s support.

- at the MOTS7 event, Yoongi mentions that Jimin showed up at the Shadow set and that he appreciated it even though he didn’t express that at the time. Remember, at this point we hadn’t seen the visit yet. So Yoongi isn’t saying this for our benefit. He’s saying it for Jimin.

- radio live in May 2020: Yoongi brings up the fact that Jimin did not show up to the Daechwita set and asks why. They discuss it pretty openly, the fact that Jimin had wanted him to ask. He wanted to be appreciated more fully/openly. 🐱: “Do I have to beg?” 🐥: “Of course!” Bravo to Jimin for being up-front about this and telling Yoongi what he wants. And bravo for Yoongi for listening and then demonstrating that he understood…

- also during that live: Yoongi lists the times in which he’s publicly stated that Jimin is special to him. He also mentions that he originally wrote People for Jimin.

- and let’s not forget Yoongi’s absolutely glowing intro for Jimin that day, and Jimin getting so giggly and telling Yoongi he loves his radio voice.

- during ITS, Yoongi invites Jimin into the trailer to listen to songs he is working on. We know one of those songs was Amygdala, which is very special and personal to Yoongi. We also know this song was for Yoongi’s solo album, not BE. So, Jimin’s role as Music PM was not the reason Yoongi invited him to hear the song.

- also during ITS, we see Yoongi make an effort to spend time with Jimin. They ride together in the car, do woodcarving together, play video games. Yoongi makes an effort to invite Jimin to participate, especially in the gaming.

- Yoongi was very vocal about wanting Jimin to be the music pm for BE, and he praised him more than once for his efforts during the BE promotional period.

- and then sprinkle in a dash of matching shirts during the yoonminjin dance live.

We are talking about real adults in a real relationship/friendship/partnership/whatever you want to call it. There will be challenging spots along the way. That’s an absolute guarantee. What tells me a lot about yoonmin and their bond is that we see a problem and then we get to see them implement a solution. To me, from my perspective as a yoonminer, I think all of this shows that they’re willing to put in the effort to overcome hurdles when they come across them. It also shows a lot of emotional maturity/emotional intelligence on both of their parts.

Sorry I didn’t link to receipts for all of this because I had a lot to say, but feel free to ask if you’d like a source for any of this.

[dearweirdme]

Responding to some of the comments from my last mole anon ask I'm not new to the group but I am new to the ship. I first started listening to the group around 2018 but watching stuff like Run and the festas a few yrs later and from that, I wouldn't have guessed taekook were dating or even one of the closest friendship. They seemed touchy yeah but i think that for the whole group tbh. It wasn't really until solo era that I started focusing more on fan stuff. I'd say before that I was more fo a casual fan who enjoyed watching the content but wasn't really desperate to see everything bts. Like I knew the basics and the memes but never really was inclined to delve any further and my knowledge of shipping was mostly critical. I did see some of the narratives in the backlash to shipping such as taekook being less close than other members and with (what I now know is edited) official content reinforcing that, it was much easier to believe that than a secret taekook love affair.

But Layover turned out to be one of my favorite albums because it was closest to my musical tastes and culture of music i grew up with and so I started hitting up twitter and specifically searching stuff up to discuss more about tae and his musical influences coz I thought he did such a great job with that album and had some real soul in it despite not being raised in that culture or country of that kind of music. And I think because of the algorithms and how popular taekook is that's when I started seeing my taekook posts pop up on my timeline and from a ship critical perspective, I brushed most of as delulu coz wlmy first exposure of ships being discussed in fandom was that it was weird and inappropriate to ship.

And the stuff that I did see out of morbid curiosity (and I admit it wasn't a lot at that time) just really validated the 'fake' accusations because it was all slow mo'd edits and taekook seemed to have 7 different anniversary dates according to the taekook stuff I read so it was seeming more like shippers were just trying to fit a circle onto a square hole or something. Plus I'd see people responding to those slo mo edits with the real time links and that made it seem even faker.

The I recently saw the mole video on twitter that brought me here and that was the first thing were I couldn't really rationalise it with a platonicary answer because one of the first things I can remember doing in a relationship is laying in bed counting and mapping each others marks and freckles.

So that to me seemed just highly romantic for a couple of bros.

Except I lost the video on twitter so I tried YouTube to find it, nothing. Searched the Internet on general, nothing and I ended up stumbling across this blog. I think I discovered while browsing after seeing a response to an ask that I thought sounded fair enough a d really kinda middle ground for a shipper. It was framed as like 'idnk for sure but here's what I think' and after looking for the link and coming across people who were more definitive in their theories and stuff, I thought somewhere like here would be the best place to ask for the info.

Because at that point, shipping didn't have any good associations to me and I wasn't really comfortable with my own speculation that the mole vid was leaving me with but I also couldn't stop second guessing my own first reaction to deny, deny, deny and make an excuse for it.

So my intentions really were to post here, get a link to the vid, watch it again and be like 'oh yeah, that's been blown out of proportion. No ships sailing here' like I had when people sent those real time links in response to ship edit videos.

(Except we all know what happened next)

While waiting for a response which came pretty quickly, I was looking up for more info on taekook in general and was coming up with mostly horse shit but I was also noticing the more reasoned stuff now that I was actively looking for it.

And in the response, DWM mentioned and tagged the taekook timeline which really topped off me taking a second look at the ship because again it was presented as kinda 'this is what I think, beware, I could be just high on delusional and this whole post could be wish fulfilment but here's what happened and what I think' and angles like that I can appreciate because I find it way more trustworthy than someone presenting a theory as fact which is what it felt like taekook lyves was doing a lot of, imo.

The timeline really sealed the deal for me, tbh, because seeing all their interactions in one place and running on concurrent really blew the hinges off the 'distance' narrative.

Which lead me to the ultimate question which I think is the fossil fuel that taekook sails on; what's with all the fucking secrecy and what's bighit hiding??

Because to me and with the timeline on front of me there was no distance on their distant relationship.

And so I've recently started a rewatch of some of their biggest hits. Like I started with bon voyage and I'm kicking myself and wondering why I didn't consider stuff like the room choosing situation in Bon Voyage Morrocoo or Malta wherever they were, more closely. I can't even explain why I just took it at face value as a joke because looking back JK made it so damn obvious.

And I started noticing the subtleties of their touching and the lack of space. I think part of me started reqatching the BV and Run episodes to be kinda proven right that there was nothing more to the ship and I was being delulu but the more I watch, the more Im starting to notice and those fossil fuel questions keep popping up in my mind.

And as a logical creature who said taekook isn't real when I couldn't see anything proving it, I can't then refuse to consider the possibility that it might be real now that I'm seeing stuff that I consider legit proof or support of a relationship.

As for theories, I don't want it to come across like I'm acting smarter or more superior than anyone else because I think everyone is working off theories even the people who don't believe in it because none of us know these guys or their lives but I don't like when theories are pushed as fact or manipulated or framed as the only possible conclusion to a question. Like could I make another theory as to why taekook ate mapping out each others moles, yeah, course I could but based on my own experience perception and no real clear arguement otherwise etc---the romantic reason is still the strongest supported to me.

So I don't have anything against theories just the way they're framed.

So yeah I guess that's my looong (sorry) story about how I accidently became a taekook shipper.

Hi again mole anon!

It’s really nice to hear your story actually. I think skepticism is definitely a good way to get into this. Also, props to Kayla @taekooktimeline for documenting so well 💜.

[pinkscaped]

can we get some info on myrah plz? 🤞🏾

"I never said she wasn't talented. I just said she wasn't good."

Said during an AllTalkMe episode between her and former Allume member Bora, Myrah would openly criticize their former member Sooah, who she had publicly feuded with for years at this point.

"I never said she wasn't talented. I just said she wasn't good." Bora laughs into her microphone at Myrah's deadpanned statement before turning away, covering her mouth. Myrah, with one hand out and wrist limp, chuckles like she doesn't get the joke before looking at the camera, the video zooming in on her.

"What? It's the truth."

"Yawn! Next."

Most of these are from AllTalkMe, but this was a reaction to her and Bora getting an ad for a DeepDive music video which she instantly skipped. Later, Myrah would admit to not even knowing who DeepDive was, saying: "I don't listen to boy groups. I barely listen to Kpop."

"Well, if I owned a company, I would also a slut. Who wouldn't?"

She said this during an Instagram live when someone asked for her thoughts on the Angelico vs. Baebi trial. She'd also go on to say...

"Yeah, totally on her side. I'll be honest, she could've beaten his ass, and I would still be on her side. Sue men if you can."

"Sue men." Would soon become a popular term used on Twitter primarily. She would then go on to make a tank top with the phrase on it, putting it for sale on her merch store where it would sell out in 30 minutes.

"We kiss sometimes."

Immortalized by a fan-taken video during Paris Fashion Week 2018, Myrah was signing autographs for fans waiting for her outside the building. Waiting patiently and holding her Metallic Birkin 25 was her boyfriend of two years, Gong Yoo. When asked by an unknowing reporter if they were together, Myrah would laugh and tell him: "We kiss sometimes." With a shrug.

"Sometimes I wanted to rip your hair out and shake you until you got what I was saying, but you always meant the world to me, you know? That's true love to me. We're in love."

Said during the fifth-anniversary episode of AllTalkMe between Myrah and Bora. The pair reminisced on their time together and their friendship. Bora, who would be quietly crying during this spill, would sniffle and nod before giving Myrah a simple finger heart then bursting into tears. Myrah would burst out in laughter, dabbing her eyes as tears would slip out.

"Just fucking do your job. Your job is to sing and dance. Sing and dance!"

Known to run her generation like the navy, this iconic quote would be shouted during a rather tense practice session that was filmed for the Allume documentary. Myeah would actually yell this at member Sora and surprisingly not Sooah, who she would later go on to snap at for missing a beat.

"Stop asking us about groups we're not in. We don't care."

Myrah would interrupt an interviewer when they would start to ask her about BigBang. In her defense, this was the fourth boy group the interviewer had asked the girls about, and Myrah was over it.

"Why would I have children? I'm too hot and successful to take care of a child. Be serious."

Another iconic quote from an Instagram live stream. Ever since Myrah turned 30, she's been constantly asked if and when she'll become a mother. Though she's been mothering since 2000, Myrah has stated multiple times she has no plans to actually birth a child and will continue to focus on her career until she dies.

"Never date an idol. Idols don't last unless you're me but-"

This piece of advice was given to a viewer of AllTalkMe during their call-in segment, which has since been discontinued. Due to her inflections and quickness, this was one of the first clips of Myrah to go viral. Plus, Bora's reaction of bursting out into laughter, hitting the desk, and falling over in her chair was the cherry on top.

[wewillbeseen-butnotbeheard]

i took a walk earlier. you’d think that surrounding yourself in nature would at least provide some sort of relief, but really nothing came out of it. it was a nice environment to be in for a while, i guess, but now i’m left craving all these things even more.

it’s a very strong array of emotions, yet it really feels like nothing at all at the same time. i want to enjoy things like i used to. i’m not sure what’s happened to my own brain over the last few months

all this reminds me of last November and a very similar “crisis” that i went through then, the biggest difference being that it was simply regarding me being a furry. looking back, it really is trivial, but i took “furry” as a VERY serious personal identity and it took several months to come to terms with.

..i think that, even though “being a furry” is a totally unserious thing and a choice, i (as an individual) am sort of “inherently” a furry, just because of how my own mind works, which isn’t exactly something i can control

again, i explicitly remember it’s never primarily about enjoying that theme in fiction, art, etc, but BEING it in real life first, always. it must have been 2017/2018 when i had my first “furry phase”, i learned what it was from some youtube video. i EXPLICITLY remember thinking “well, if i can’t be (x) in real life then at least i can call myself (x)” and the physical emotional reaction in my chest at the thought.

it was a very brief phase, and then the same thing happened sometime around 2019 for a similar amount of time.

only since the beginning of this year have i been FULLY immersed in that sort of stuff (even if my own recent experiences aren’t necessarily related to being a furry, the correlation of being an animal makes it relevant enough)

and, again, it made me happy for a while. i enjoyed it. but now i honestly wish i didn’t start doing any of this in the first place, and furthermore i wish i never did as little as ENTERTAIN the thought of ever being an animal in the first place.

it’s been a thing for me since i was so very young, yet it’s never been a distracting and distressing NEED until the last few recent months.

maybe i could be able to find some sort of joy out of it. but it’s so mind-numbing at the moment that i can’t even take the time to begin to think of something that would help, never mind bring gratification.

simply put; despite everything, i’m not an an alterhuman/therianthrope, etc even if i hardly consider myself human at this point. i don’t have the full scope of experiences, feelings, and so on that come with it. is that an issue to me? i don’t find it to a problem. not like i should. it’s just irritating how i get to go through the negatives of it specifically. i’ll manage. i think i could make a whole other post about it, honestly. i don’t even need to mention anything about “not being human” to be mistaken for one

either way. i need a job. i need a family. i need a house. i need children. it’s moments like right now that i feel so determined to achieve the normal life that my own mental state prevents me from wanting/achieving. this will pass. i will move on. i want to make sure i get that sort of life, no matter what i tell myself. the nature of my situation means that the negatives will always outweigh the positives. i will outgrow this. i will run far away from these thoughts as soon as i enter a mentality that will let me.

[minsungchronology]

My Personal Opinions on Minsung's Dynamic (2020)

Disclaimer: I am not trying to pass off my opinions as facts. This is my personal interpretation of what is laid out right in front of us. I could be completely off base because I don’t know these guys personally, so take this with a grain of salt and feel free to disagree!

I think it’s more than safe to say Lee Know and Han find each other attractive.

They don’t even try to hide it.

You really start to see it this year, especially from Han’s side (how the turn tables).

2020 was such a good year for them. You can tell that the guys are a lot more confident and vibrant, especially when you compare it to the latter half of 2019. I think Lee Know really starts to come into himself during Gods Menu era (like I mentioned previously), like his confidence here is another level. Compare him to his 2018 self and you'll really notice the difference.

But as I also mentioned before, Han’s attitude really changes this year.

First with the Osen Star Road video: Lee Know talks about working part-time at a restaurant flipping steak and Han blurts out “Flip me!” The members’ reactions to that are priceless if you replay that clip. His intrusive thoughts won that day.

Then there’s the Unlock concerts: the clip of him staring at LK through the giant monitor like he saw the galaxy and LK catching him in the process has me in stitches every time I watch it. (Almost foreshadowing to another instance where he does the same exact thing in 2023, but for a different reason 😉)

The fancam from Music Core during Gods Menu Era where Han literally fans himself right after he stares at LK.

And then casually calling him “Hot” as he films him in one of the SKZ talkers.

Last but not least, the “All in” clip where he goes “You” (Dangshin) after Lee Know asks “What have you been all in?”. Intrusive thoughts win again!!

And the feeling is mutual too.

During the Weekly Idol episode when Han does yet ANOTHER sexy dance, Lee Know tries to create an exaggerated, taken aback reaction much like what the other members are doing. (Some of them are playfully grossed out) But he can’t hold it for that long at all lmfao. Like, his body language completely betrays him. (Man literally says ‘wow’ and bites his lip skjdhaksjhkjashd)

Lee Know also seems to really like Han’s look in the “Easy” MV. (this is one of his best looks imo so I don’t blame him) First, he draws it in one of his vlives and then makes it his mission to mention that was his favorite part (exact time stamp and everything!) before getting all teeheehee shy. Like bro??? How do you even remember that?

Much like last year, it’s not as obvious as it was in 2018. But the occasional "slip up" doesn't ever really go away. Though, they come back in full force around 2022 and 2023 (especially!!).

We get to see a little bit more of their little hangouts. Either that or they just casually mention them in passing. They really do take the time to hang out together outside of work schedules. As much as they’ve mentioned hanging out together, fans have also spotted them out together on many occasions throughout the years. Imagine living with someone, working with them 24/7, and then wanting to spend the very limited amount of spare time you have with them as well, when you…already see them every day.

Oh! and Butt-hunter LK makes his official debut this year. His unique way of showing affection towards the members. Han seems to be his number one victim though (ooooh wow how shocking 🤥).

My personal opinions:

Again, I’m preetty sure they are just friends this year. From what we are shown, I personally don't see anything more (outside of potential feelings) unless you purposefully take moments out of context and ignore how they perceive each other around this time.

Though, they don’t shy away from the mutual playful banter and flirting, as well as being appreciative of each others looks. They seem a lot more comfortable and confident with themselves than they were in previous years, so its not something they refrain from doing. It also seems to carry onto 2021 and future years. But it’s not something you saw as much prior to 2020.

However, I do think Han, for the first time, starts developing feelings that go beyond platonic this year. If I had to pinpoint a year for him, it would probably be 2020. Han’s "Han's Communication Show - Stay 2nd Bday" Vlive gave a lot of insight in such a brief time. He seems like someone who wants to put a distance between himself and any sort of feeling that crosses the platonic/non-platonic boundary with LK. He says he doesn’t want to spend too much time with him, but they always end up together. 🙃 He literally says "Lee Know is annoying" while giggling/laughing like that. (Is he attempting to convince himself or us? I don’t know.)

It kind of goes back to him saying stuff like: “I stared/glared at him b/c he was so handsome...cause i was jealous of his looks." "I ranked him as one of the lowest b/c I don’t like good looking men." "I don’t like when he winks at me it’s so annoying" etc etc.

I honestly don’t think he’s even aware of it. Like sometimes he’ll blurt something out that kind of….gives him away in a sense? Like a Freudian slip or an intrusive thought.

I’ve also noticed he tends to pay extra attention/laugh extra hard at Lee Know’s jokes or little quirks that might go undetected by the others. 

In 2021, the playful back and forth flirting really ramps up between them. I think that year (and onwards) is when they are the most secure with themselves, at least compared to 2020 and the years prior.

[foxes-that-run]

Boyfriends

A self aware take on Boyfriends, including Harry and boyfriends of those he cares for. The lyric video features a lone swan, a symbol of commitment. Harry was with a swan in every image for his May 20 2019 Gucci Campaign, released the week Boyfriends was first written. Harry and Taylor were pictured with a Swan on her birthday when they went to The Lakes. Harry who has spoken about the song with pride and deference. Let's start with the gorgeous first take:

Harry said to Zane Lowe it was written at the end of Fine Line:

"There was an extra week where we wrote some stuff, wrote Adore you, TPWK and we were recording Lights Up. [...] At the end of that session everyone left and I started writing Boyfriends and it almost felt like OK there is a version where we get this ready to put on this album, and I think there was something about it where it felt like it's going to have it's time. [...] I am learning so much by saying it [...] It is both acknowledging my own behaviour, looking at behaviour I have witnessed and looking at I grew up with a sister, so it's like watching her date people and watching friends date people and you know people don't treat each other nicely sometimes. And it turned out about boyfriends because I started paying it and saying boyfriends. [...]Just say what you think of boyfriends.

Harry was in the studio from 15 May 2019, the Swan Gucci Campaign was released on he and Taylors anniversary that week. It was also 2 weeks after Me! Was released. When speaking about Boyfriends Harry constantly mentions these other songs. They have a common theme about the impact of the behaviour of others on his relationships and self, true his nature it is subtle and gentle:

Adore you's video asks fans to respect the partner(s) of his choosing, in contrast to fan reaction who he dates.

TPWK, as the title says, Harry told Rolling Stone " It made me uncomfortable at first, [...] I feel like that song opened something that’s been in my core.”

Lights Up - to Rolling Stone Harry spoke about stepping out from 1D on his own, the lyrics of "I'm not ever going back" and "All the lights couldn't put out the dark running through my heart", link the experience of the band and fandom to mental health and knowing who he is, rather than who others want him to be.

To me, coming at the end of that session adds to Harry taking ownership his role in failed relationships in that time by being unaware of the impact his 1D persona. fan treatment of his partner(s) and emotional unavailability. Taylor has also described her anxiety dating him in Slut! and Gold Rush. However, as Harry said, it is not limited to himself. On its release at Coachella, (3 years after it was written) "To Boyfriends Everywhere, F*** you". This was weeks after Taylor wrote You're Losing Me about Joe. His face to the end of this is everything:

Setlist and Tracklisting

Harry placed Boyfriends on HH between Satellite and LOML. Harry stopped playing Boyfriends after November 15 2022, when he played it live with Ben Harper at the end of the L.A. Forum residency. It was only played once in 2023, at Wembley June 16. The next night was the only time he played Sweet Creature since 2018. When it was on the setlist it proceeded LOML or Lights Up.

Ben Harper

To Variety Ben Harper said: "It was a wonderful recording session — one of the most memorable and most musical I’ve ever been a part of. [...] Harry invited me to stick around because he wanted to finish the song right then and there. To get to watch Harry in his process was eye-opening, and I learned a lot. [...] Yeah, I mean, he orchestrated the vocal harmonies like a classical composer, spot on, note for note. He just stacked them perfectly in pitch, one better than the next, and it was really eye-opening to see somebody step on the mic and have the parts orchestrated in his head. I’ve never seen anything like it actually."

Lyrics

Hoo Niaga ti ta kcab er'uoy, loof Boyfriends They think you're so easy They take you for granted They don't know they're just misunderstanding you You, you're back at it again

The opening is Backwards 'Ooh Fool, you’re back at it again'. Sunflower Vol 6 also opens with 'Sunflower' backwards. I think of this as about a backwards life, success followed by a normal life.

The first verse describes how boyfriends take their partner for granted and misunderstand.

Weakened When you get deep in He starts secretly drinking It gets hard to know what he's thinking You love a fool who knows just how to get under your skin You, you, you still open the door

The second verse describes where partner has met their guard down some boyfriends withdraw, and start drinking. Harry has sung of this before in Half the world away “I’ve started drinking”. Harry has mentioned drinking in other songs, but HTWA has a similar meaning, of drinking in secret to cope.

Harry touches on common themes in his discography:

Not communicating, similar to MMIH “we don’t talk about it”

Not getting over this person - Getting under you skin is a reference to Taylor’s The Lakes: “What should be over burrowed under my skin in heart-stopping waves of hurt” and IWYW “You always knew how to push my buttons”

Doors - here Harry's muse is opening the door, Harry has 7 songs that refer to knocking, opening or not opening doors. Taylor also has 13 songs about Harry and doors.

You're no closer to him Now you're halfway home Only calling you when Don't wanna be alone Oh, and you go Why? You don't know

While the first 2 verses the Boyfriend was uncommunicative, emotionally unavailable and didn't consider their partner. In the third verse the boyfriend and partner are learning from failed relationships, but still no closer. Now the boyfriend is only calling when they want company, rather than to be there for their partner.

Halfway home: The X Account 'I am Halfway Home' was started to promote HH. The term could have several meanings:

a Halfway house is a place to reintegrate into society from an institution.

The song is a play on words of having no more emotional closeness despite being physically halfway home, and

Halfway home is the name of a documentary about the toll war takes on veterans and their families.

Home is an important theme to Harry's work, Home meaning being with the right person rather than a physical place. To me, this lyric is Harry is saying that despite his growth since leaving the band and break down of this relationship they are still not emotionally closer.

Boyfriends Are they just pretending? They don't tell you where it's heading And you know the game's never ending You, you lay with him as you stay in the daydream You feel a fool You're back at it again

The closing of the song is a sense that the boyfriend is being a player, not communicating.

But Harry's muse gives in, wanting to stay in a dream. Slut! has a similar idea of choosing to stay in a love haze when you know it's not going to last "Got lovestruck, went straight to my head / Got lovesick, all over my bed / Love to think you'll never forget / Handprints in wet cement". Harry also says this in Daydreaming: "Livin' in a daydream"

Harry and Taylor have both used 'fool' in reference to their relationship before (in Fools Gold, Cardigan, Illicit Affairs, Joker and the Queen and in Long Pond Taylor said it 7 times about James in Betty.)

Finally, it refers to the cyclical nature of their relationship with 'back at it again' as OOTW 'built to fall apart and back together' and Style "when we go crashing down we come back every time' and many other songs.

[hetalia-club]

Giving you this bc ur like, the only hetalia blog i still follow that still posts. But like.

Okay back in 2018-2019(?) i had a pretty big hetalia phase, i watched hetafacts videos n every episode that was on YouTube, i listened to the music on repeat. It was a major hyperfixation before i knew that i was autistic.

For the longest time after i stopped, engaging with hetalia for some reason i would. Cringe really hard whenever i saw anything hetalia related. Like. On ao3 when you go to search things it tells you how to search things and one i got (and keep getting) is like "hetalia tag:f/f" or something idk how proper ao3 searches work. Id like screenshot it and go to my friends n say "it haunts me" or some shit.

But like recently ive been. Embracing that part of my past? I guess? Like. Almost like coming to terms with it? Idk i started having a less bad reaction n like, realized it probably one of the more normal fandoms i was in. I was, cringe, as all kids are, but i was. Happy.

And then like. At a sleepover a few weeks ago, one thing leads to another and im telling my friend abt the songs and how ich leibe is. Just a recipe, and how i used to listen to almost all of the songs. I show them the clip of France trying to get England to sign a marriage contract, America ordering fucking condoms from Russia.

It has been at least 2 weeks since, and i can feel the hyperfixation coming back, half the music ive been listening too again is hetalia character songs (theyre so fucking good???) and ive been getting. Urges to watch the show and. I dont know how to feel or what to do?? Like. I'm afraid almost to get back into hetalia? Like i watched black butler a while ago, and i realized how. Theres some weird fucking tension between ceil n sebastian n i think im afraid im going to have that same reaction to hetalia?

Cause like there is shit i just completely forgot about. Like. The Bad Touch Trio. And im scared man.

Im sorry to fuckin, give you all of this, but i just. I dont know what to do ig. None of my friends like or used to like hetalia, the one i do info dump hetalia stuff too does not like hetalia and is learning shit about it against their will.

Idk, should i watch the show again? Is it, good? I genuinely can't remember anymore.

Sorry for using ur ask box like a confessional

I mean I’m right there with you man. The sole reason I am still in the Hetalia fandom is because hetalia got me through some real dark chapters and events in my life. I discovered Hetalia years ago in Highschool while with a very abusive ex who had to know everything I was doing at any given time. He wouldn’t let me go anywhere without him there. I tried to break up with him but he actually wouldn’t let me. He would threaten to off himself if I did so I felt bad because his mom was an alcoholic and his houses burned down. I stopped really going anywhere at all because if I did he would come with me and he ruined my relationships with most of my friends just by being ‘the worst’. I stopped cheerleading, I got depression really bad, I started to do terrible in all my classes but I discovered Hetalia while on deviant art and was instantly intrigued. It was like “idk what this is but I will now make it my personality”

Years later while with my most recent abusive Ex that I just broke up with last November I got back into Hetalia when our relationship started to get really bad and hard to cope wit on my own. I needed an escape and something to help me avoid him and no care so much about his insults something that I could think about instead of being sad all the time. Hetalia is something that just brings me joy. Instead of venting to people, getting therapy or increasing my meds Hetalia was just always there to go back to and escape. No idea what it is about it. Won’t go into details about the relationship, it’s irrelevant right now but I’m sure you can guess.

To answer your question, no Hetalia isn’t ‘good’ it makes zero sense and is confusing as hell. But for me it’s fun to use as a spring board for basically any kind of AU I could think up. The characters can fit into any type of situation you want to shove them in.

I would say give it a rewatch, as much as you want anyway. What is the worst that could happen? You continue an interest that brought you joy? Worst case. You are a bit cringe? Who cares if you are cringe if you are happy? Also not encouraging you to live a double life but if you are embarrassed to like Hetalia you don’t actually have to tell anyone how obsessed with it you are. No one but my ex knows how much I like Hetalia and he really has no idea just how deep I am in this shit. But if people knowing about one of your interests humiliates you then just don’t share it. At the end of the day it’s your comfort and it makes you happy it’s no one’s business.

There are a lot of old fandom tropes that have disappears the BTT being one of them. They put them as a group still but I guess they call it ‘bad friends ti’ now. There are still some things that make me side eye. But that’s every fandom I feel. You can choose who you wish to associate with and who you want to block or avoid. It’s your blog you don’t own an explanation to anyone.

Personally I don’t interact much with the people of the fandom itself I got a few people it talk to every now and again but really i just do my own thing. I write my own fics for myself. I got my little tumblr, discord and TikTok, I post about my little AUs and dumb thoughts and continue on. If people want to follow me that’s great, welcome. If they don’t that’s cool to!

Thanks for sticking around with me even after your Interest in Hetalia fizzled out tho haha! That had to be difficult I am very annoying at times I’m sure 😭.

Again worst thing that could happen than if you are a bit cringe. But not being cringe is boring as hell. Irl I’m one of the most normal bitches you could find. Carbon copy white girl. Absolutely no one would guess I were a Hetalia obsessed loser irl. In a line up you could not pick me out and guess my interests. So in February I got my hair done right? I got like. 500 dollar biolage it fades from brown to strawberry blonde. Want to know the reason I got this hair style? Because of Italy that’s why. I wanted red hair like him. Did I tell anyone that? No. When people said they liked my hair and asked me why I went red I would just go “idk just felt like it” but I would be thinking about him knowing the real answer.

Good luck anon, if you stick around welcome back the water is fine. If you don’t can you toss me that life vest up there if you don’t mind? Thank you!

[mrs-monaghan]

I'm not one big on reaction videos but a while back I watched a couple do a reaction video of Taekook and then Jikook. When they were watching the Jikook video they both mentioned how much longer the video was and how it appeared that Jikook spent a lot more time together than Taekook because of the quantity of footage--old and new. This statement got them into a lot of hot water...many taekookers commented under that video that this was simply because Big Hit (at the time) was hiding taekook and that's why there wasn't a lot of footage of them together or not as much as Jikook.

Now I'm not going to touch on the ridiculousness of tkkers claims, rather I want to focus on the statement these two Youtbers made regarding the quantity of Jikook content we have. Like have you ever just stopped and realized or considered the amount of Jikook moments there are starting from 2013! No other pairing in BTS...shit...K-pop has this much footage.

To lay it out-> Since I'm bored and missing Jikook I've been reminiscing on past moments by watching a lot of timeline videos. A YouTuber titled In-Orbit did a timeline series starting in 2014 and ending in 2017. Each year has a separate video and each video has about 40 minutes to an hour of content.

2014 video 47 minutes

2015 video 40 minutes

2016 vide 58 minutes

2017 video 54 minutes

That's about 4 hours of non-exhaustive/cut Jikook footage. Like, they excluded so many moments and shortened many moments so that each video wasn't it's own separate movie.

The Best of Jikook also does a lot of timeline videos...their's starts in 2013 and goes until 2020.

2013's video is the shortest, running time being 15 minutes.

Then her 2014 video had a running time of 30 minutes.

2015 video 40 minutes.

2016 video, 2 minutes shy of an hour.

2017 video 1 hour and 6 minutes

2018 video 1 hour and 38 minutes

2019 video nearly 2 hours

2020 video 1 hour and 40 minutes.

That's around 10 hours and 30 minutes of pure Jikook footage that again was also cut down. Also 3 years of Jikook footage is missing from these timelines.

So what does this prove? Well . . .

Best friend Status: The quantity and length of footage alone proves one thing and that's these two are beyond a shadow of any doubt the closest pairing...and always have been...yes even fetus jikook. 2013 Jikook still has more footage being together than any other BTS paring. This narrative that JK hated JM then is just a blatant lie told by those that can't tell the difference between playful banter and hate.

Jikook Grew closer in 2016: The running time for each year across all timeline videos I've seen, increased dramatically in 2016 and thereafter. The duration of these videos at the very least shows us that Jikook grew increasingly closer throughout the years because they were undoubtedly spending more time together.

Dynamic Shift started in 2015: If you watch the videos you will see that from 2013-2014 JM and JK were very playful and giving off very boyish best friend energy. There was a degree of flirting but it was masked as childish banter and it often seemed like JM just liked to poke fun at shy JK and JK liked to push back by playfully rejecting JM. However, a major shift took place in their dynamic starting in 2015. If you watch these timelines you'll see how their boyish banter becomes an exchange of Jimin exercising his "feminine wiles" and JK trying to exert a degree of masculine dominance over JM. JM's "flirting" is no longer boyish it's clearly feminine and it seems like at some point in 2015 JM became highly aware of the power he had over JK and he loved to use it. This dynamic has only increased throughout the years. JM knows that if he "acts cute" and bats his eyelashes at JK he can get him to do anything he wants. And JK knows that JM likes when he's more rough with him and they play into that often. Now People can say I'm reading into things but the transition in their dynamic is so stark from 2014 to 2015. Also, JK often talks about JM's cuteness and seems to be attacked by it...JM often talks about how he's JK's play toy and how he likes to be scolded by him. This isn't just my assumption JIkook have both confirmed this dynamic and we can see the beginnings of it starting in 2015.

Jikook are intimate: This becomes very clear towards the end of 2016 videos and on...like have you ever known a person before they've had sex and after? Or better yet have you ever seen a couple before they've been intimate and after? There's a clear shift in their behavior towards one another after they've had sex. I mean the touching, proximity, possessiveness, all of it increases. There's also a greater degree of familiarity and physical boundaries blur. You see this all happen with Jikook starting towards the end of 2016-> their physical interactions increase, they no longer seem to care about things like rubbing up against each other even when they're both sweaty, JK becomes increasingly possessive over JM and follows him everywhere, the staring OMG the staring increases so much...I mean look at JK during Fire era...I think this was pre-sex Jikook because the boy looks ready to risk it all in some clips.

I could say more like the difference between JIkook pre and post GCFT and how they are now settling into a domestic era... but the post is way more than long enough. I will just end with this...the quantity and quality of Jikook footage out there debunks literally every anti claim there is. I don't care that there's not much 2023 Jikook content---JM has been busy as hell, what do people expect? And even if he wasn't busy and we had zero content this year that still wouldn't mean Tk are a thing or that jikook broke up. What these timelines show us is how consistently close Jikook are, their growth and development and relational maturity. No other ship alive has what we have! So all the antis and insecure jikookers can Stfu!

I will only add to say that i think the deed had happened by 2016. Might even speculate that's what 8/11/15 is about. And before that most prolly other things were already happening. There was certain behaviour and tension that points to this in 2015. But other that anon, this.... all of this...

[charliethomascoxuniverse]

He who Dares: Marvel star Charlie Cox on moving to Dublin, gangland crime, and perfecting the accent

The Kin and Daredevil star has played alongside greats such as Robert De Niro and Al Pacino, but he says as an actor you never presume you’ve ‘arrived’

By Niamh Donnelly  March 24, 2023  (X) (X)

Charlie Cox is on the move. When I Zoom-call the British actor to talk about his role in the latest series of RTÉ drama Kin, he’s in the back of a car, phone camera swaying slightly from the movement of the vehicle. More precisely, he’s in New York being ferried to and from meetings for what he calls “this new show”.

Cryptic. Might he be referring to the much-anticipated Disney+ Marvel series Daredevil: Born Again in which he plays the title role? He might. “We start shooting next week.”

In the run-up, the 40-year-old has been doing “gym work, and stunt work, and accent work, and just brushing up on a lot of the stuff I would have done before,” he says. “It’s been a while since I’ve played the character in his own show, as it were.”

Indeed, Cox played Daredevil in a Netflix series of the same name from 2015 to 2018. But given the licensing saga that followed, he’d be forgiven for thinking he had long since hung up his superhero suit.

Briefly, a clash of contracts between streaming platforms Disney+ and Netflix left some characters caught in the crossfire. Netflix lost the rights to air anything Marvel-related, while Disney was pumping resources into new Marvel projects and pretending the Netflix version of that world and its characters didn’t exist. Daredevil was one such character. Fans were so miffed that their favourite blind New York lawyer turned vigilante crime-fighter was stuck in no man’s land, they launched a #SaveDaredevil campaign.

Whether for this or reasons pertaining to complex contracts and their expiry, Cox’s hero eventually became the first lead character to cross the threshold from Netflix to Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). He made a cameo in Spider-Man: No Way Home, guest starred in She-Hulk and is soon to be “born again” in his new show.

It must be an extraordinary feeling when people campaign to see you on screen. Did Cox’s world change when he became a Marvel star, and was exposed to its fandom?

“When you play a Marvel character, you do immediately become more recognisable, and the fan base is incredibly enthusiastic and passionate,” he says. “It’s great when the fans feel like what you’re doing is good and they appreciate the character that you’ve created, and the show is successful and well regarded. But equally if that wasn’t to be the case, I’m sure it feels pretty lonely.”

Cox hardly need worry about such things: YouTube is chock-full of glowing reaction videos to Daredevil’s appearance in Spider-Man and the buzz around his new show is strong. But even aside from his Marvel chops, Cox has an impressive CV. From his early appearance in the 2007 fantasy film Stardust to starring in two seasons of HBO’s Boardwalk Empire and his leading part in the Netflix spy miniseries Treason, he’s amassed a stellar list of acting credits.

His role as Michael Kinsella in Kin might never have come about were it not for his wife, Samantha Thomas, and her role as executive vice president at Bron Studios which produced the drama along with RTÉ. When Thomas first got Peter McKenna’s script, she showed it to her husband.

“Initially, she just thought I should read it because she was interested to hear what my opinion would be,” he says. “And I read it and I immediately fell in love with it.”

Because a Covid lockdown had hit, the prospect of keeping their family together while the pair worked on the same project made perfect sense. Along with their son and daughter, they set up camp in Dublin.

“And it ended up being a really fantastic decision. We had such a great time. We’ve now spent two seasons in Dublin making the show. [During] the first one, we didn’t get to see much of the city because obviously everyone was in lockdown, and it was all just about working. But this past summer, I really got to experience Dublin in its full glory.”

This included partaking in what now seems a rite of passage for Hollywood stars who come to Dublin: jumping in the Irish Sea.

“I did it almost every day. I absolutely loved it. In fact, during the second season of the show, I actually chose living accommodation near Vico [Baths in Dalkey], so I could walk down every day. And for me, the colder the better. I couldn’t have been happier, waking up and getting in the sea before work.”

Whatever was in the water, it must have worked. The first season of Kin, which saw Cox’s character return from jail and attempt to get his daughter back while becoming embroiled in his family’s gangland feud, broke RTÉ drama streaming records with 2.1 million views.

Peter McKenna, Kin’s co-creator and showrunner has remarked that the cast is “probably the strongest thing about [it].” Cox’s co-stars include Clare Dunne (The Last Duel), Aiden Gillen (Game of Thrones, Love/Hate), Emmet J Scanlan (The Fall) and Maria Doyle Kennedy (The Commitments).

What drew him immediately to his role, he says, was the contrast between what we know of Michael and how we perceive him as we follow his story.

“When we meet Michael at the beginning of season one, he’s just coming out of prison. And I felt like it was pretty clear that the man we were meeting was very different from how the family members described or remembered him.

“As an acting exercise, I found that to be quite an interesting challenge: to play someone who has a reputation of being someone you absolutely do not want to cross. There’s a side to him that’s incredibly scary and violent and dangerous, but the man we’re meeting for various reasons is actually in a very vulnerable place and trying to hide that vulnerability from the world.”

Indeed, this sense of vulnerability or morality is something often Cox brings to his more cut-throat roles, be they an MI6 agent (Treason), an ex-IRA enforcer (Boardwalk Empire), a vigilante crime fighter (Daredevil), or a gangland criminal (Kin).

“I always try to approach any character as if it’s a clean slate. So I’m not knowingly trying to do things in a similar fashion. But I always think that there must be more to [people] than meets the eye. And so often when you’re playing, a ‘good guy’, I think it’s important to make sure that you focus on the qualities he has that aren’t maybe so righteous.

“Similarly, if you’re playing someone who’s got a pretty violent history, it’s also important to see the sides of them that an audience might identify with, where you could easily be friends with one of these guys and not know what they get up to in their business life.”

Cox wasn’t familiar with the Dublin gangland scene before Kin, but as research he listened to episodes of Eamon Dunphy’s podcast The Stand with journalist Nicola Tallant.

“I was kind of blown away,” he says. “What I was reading – what our show is loosely based on – is happening right now. It’s current. It’s not in the past. It’s a real thing. You know, that was a little disconcerting to me at first. I was like, wow, I can’t believe [it] . . . this is ballsy.”

Similarly, Cox didn’t have any particular connection with Dublin before signing up to Kin. All the more impressive, then, that he manages to produce a pitch-perfect accent. How did he master such a notoriously difficult task?

“I have an amazing accent coach – two really fantastic accent coaches, actually,” he says.

The first is Poll Moussoulides, a dialect expert who had worked on Normal People with Daisy Edgar-Jones. The second is Emmet Kirwan, the Irish actor.

“I got in touch with him – I’d seen one of his movies, and I felt like his accent was really good. So, I copied [it]. I had him record a lot of my lines.”

Along with Kirwan, the voice of ex-footballer Shane Supple provided inspiration for Cox.

“Poll found this interview with him, and there was a quality in his voice that I thought would be kind of right for Michael. I would listen to that and try and learn [it] by rote. And then once we started filming, I’d stay in the accent all day while I [was] at work.”

The on-screen Cox might make a convincing Dubliner, but the off-screen one hails from East Sussex. He is the son of Trisha and Andrew (a publisher) and the youngest of five, with one older brother and three much older half-siblings. Acting was something he always enjoyed as an extracurricular activity, but it wasn’t until the end of his schooling that he began to take it more seriously.

“I was doing lead parts in plays and enjoying it more and more. It was during the production of one of those plays when an audience member who worked at LAMDA [The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art] came up to me and suggested I might want to audition for drama school.”

Cox took this advice and tried out for some of Britain’s most prestigious acting courses. He ended up at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, but just a year into his studies was offered a role alongside Al Pacino in the 2004 film adaptation of The Merchant of Venice. Because the school had a policy of not letting students take part in outside productions, he decided to leave and make a start on his career.

Cue a succession of screen and theatre roles alongside the likes of Claire Danes, Steve Buscemi, Michael Caine, Robert De Niro and many more. Were there moments along the way when he really felt he had made it as an actor?

“You know, it’s funny because in retrospect, there have been moments where it just feels like everything’s clicking and you’re getting a lot of the jobs you’re going for, and you’re working back-to-back. But in the moment that it’s happening, I have never really felt that way,” he says.

“On paper, you go on IMDB and you see [Stardust and Boardwalk Empire], and that looks like a really clear trajectory. But in reality, I shot Stardust in 2006. Boardwalk Empire was in 2011.”

He also points out that his Boardwalk Empire role got bigger as the series continued.

“When I got it, it was a small part. They only offered me three episodes. And if you think about it, I’d been the lead in Stardust which was a big Hollywood movie. And then in 2011, five years later, I’m taking a three-episode arc on a TV show because things had not escalated in the way that I’d hoped they would from being in a movie with Robert De Niro.”

Perhaps owing to this early wobble, or perhaps because of the insecure nature of acting as a career in general, Cox has always had the feeling of “staring down the barrel of looming unemployment – not knowing where the next pay cheque’s going to come from”.

“I have been very fortunate. The phone has always rung, and I’ve always gone back to work. But there have been, you know, long periods in between. I’ve never felt completely confident in the idea that the work will continue to present itself.”

Cox does however, say that he’s learnt a lot from the uncertainty of his career. “It’s a great discipline, because it really [teaches] you – and it took me quite a long time to learn this – [that] you have to really learn to love the job you’re doing in the moment that you’re doing it. And try not to project too far into the future about where you’re going to be this time six months, a year. Because you can ruin the experience of a really amazing job by worrying about what’s coming next.”

Being in the moment is also key to how Cox approaches acting. “A lot of it is instinct, and a lot of it should be instinct, but for your instinct to be well informed is a really good thing. My experience has taught me that you do as much homework as you possibly can, so that when you’re on set you don’t have to think about it. It’s a bit like sports: an athlete [or] a tennis player. You drill, and drill, and drill all your shots so that when you’re in the game, you don’t think about it, you just play them.”

On the topic of sports, Cox is a devoted Arsenal fan. Will his beloved team, now seated at the top of the Premier League table, pull off the win this season?

“I can’t answer that question. It’s too fraught with emotion for me at the moment. All I’ll say it’s a very exciting time, and I hope we can maintain the standard. I believe it’s possible. I’m starting to believe it’s possible.”

Besides, Cox’s busy life doesn’t allow a whole lot of time for fretting over league tables.

“I have a young family. So right now, whenever I’m not working, it’s spending time with my kids and my wife. That’s my priority. I’m really conscious that when I do work, I work really hard. And I love my work. I’m very grateful to have work. But when you are filming something it’s a huge commitment. So it’s really important to me that I don’t want to blink and my kids are going off to college . . . that’s my whole world. They’re my whole world right now.”

~*~

[talenlee]

Game Pile: The Beginner's Guide, Midjourney, and Praying to Coda

The Beginner's Guide, Midjourney, and Praying to Coda

Watch this video on YouTube

This is a rebuild and expansion of my article on The Beginner’s Guide from back in 2018, with a newly developed thesis about authenticity and access to artists.

And below is the script I worked from!

The Beginner’s Guide

The Beginner’s Guide is an interactive storytelling video game created by Davey Wreden under the studio name Everything Unlimited Ltd. The game was released for Linux, OS X, and Windows on October 1, 2015. The game is Wreden’s follow-up to the critically praised The Stanley Parable, his previous interactive storytelling title that was initially released in 2013.

The game is narrated by Wreden and takes the user through a number of incomplete and abstract game creations made by a developer named Coda. Wreden challenges the player to try to come to understand the type of person Coda is from exploring these spaces in a first-person perspective. Wreden has stated the game is open to interpretation: some have seen the game as general commentary on the nature of the relationship between game developers and players, while others have taken it as an allegory to Wreden’s own personal struggles with success resulting from The Stanley Parable. When the game sold, a reviewer – at least one, but I can’t find records of more than that – made a bit of a stir by suggesting that the fiction presented in the game is true, and that therefore, the game was built out of stolen material, and gamers buying it could hypothetically, get it refunded if they felt that were in any kind of moral quandrary.

This is, as best I understand it, the ‘story’ of The Beginner’s Guide, the entity in media, the confluence of reporting and reactions to a game. And now, in that same disjointed way of The Beginner’s Guide, I want to tell you about s1m0ne.

S1M0NE, stylised however you wanna, is a 2002 Al Pacino movie about a dude who creates a virtual actress. That’s not even how the movie goes in full, it’s way more involved than that and it includes bestiality, and it has this nasty kind of undercurrent about the fundamentally exploitable nature of women in media spaces. It’s an interesting film.

I didn’t say good.

Anyway, the thing is S1M0NE’s central premise is the virtual actress, Simone. In-movie, she doesn’t exist. To reinforce this, she isn’t credited as having an actress. The movie does do an extensive cgi sequence, showing Simone being constructed digitally, but it was… let’s say it’s very 2002, and leave it at that. Anyway, a bunch of people including representatives from the Screen Actors Guild believed it and they started a fuss about it. I think. It’s hard to find sources about it now, but I remember a fuss.

I mean it stands to reason, if you’re a union you want to oppose things that hurt the interest of your members, and that’s a perfectly valid concern to be worried about around about now with things like deep learning technology allowing us to transplant faces and details across multiple media works and the complex relationship between motion capture and voice actor and fully integrated action – like, if you weren’t aware, motion captured faces are not a 1:1 acting thing, they’re a structure for animators to work from. Gollum is not ‘Andy Serkis is amazing,’ they’re Andy Serkis and the fifty people doing all the rest of the work are amazing, and yes, Andy’s ability to disappear into the role and do the physical acting element is impressive. That’s a real conversation.

But it’s not the conversation they were having in 2002.

There were some people, in late 2002, who genuinely thought that an Al Pacino movie with Winona Ryder and a budget of $10 Million had successfully replicated the human form with complete authenticity, and that the much cheaper and easier tack of using an actor wasn’t more likely. Then they thought it’d involve, y’know, pig-doinking.

Simone was played by a Canadian actress, and the movie otherwise glanced over its very interesting questions of identity and artificiality and technology to instead tell a story about a dude who was very, very anxious about his inability to control women. The real story of the movie, then, is less about what the movie wanted to talk about and much more about the fact some people couldn’t tell where the movie was fiction and where it was fact. The boundary of the diegesis confused people, and there were some critics who were genuinely unsure of how confident they could be about dismissing the fears of people who thought the end of actors had come.

This comparison is because, yeah, it’s kinda stupid that videogame criticism was duped into believing that maybe an author stole all their work and then recorded themselves having a nervous breakdown then edited that nervous breakdown and cleaned up the audio and packaged it up and sold it on Steam without at any point considering that the art was stolen, it’s not like videogames are unique in this regard. We have a history of people not knowing the boundary between art and real and sometimes, when people play with that, especially in areas of new technology, people make mistakes. But also, like, yeah, we are now living in a time when the idea of ‘someone tried to sell entirely stolen assets on steam for $15’ isn’t even a joke or punchline, it might just be a fact of a thing that happens regularly.

As a game experience, The Beginner’s Guide is fine. I like it as a game because it needs the medium of games to make sense, complete with the idea of incomplete games and the way games are made not from a coherent single point but a sort of constantly exploding set of interconnected steps. Like, you couldn’t make this as a book because this isn’t how a book would look when you’re exploring its dismantled bits. The Beginner’s Guide, if it were a book about books and making books, would look like collected pieces of paper in different hands, with a sort of formalising hand over it all.

Funnily enough it’d look a bit like the book of Genesis.

(There’s a long reach of an academic poke)

It’s a perfectly interesting work about imposter syndrome and emotional boundaries and creative processes and a lot of other things you can see in your own inkblots. It’s an artistic piece that tells you a narrative in a really blunt way, but it uses its framing to create a blurred diegesis. It uses real world markers to confuse you about the actuality of its narrative, or it did at the time.

There’s a forking challenge here; on the one hand, I want to berate videogames, as a culture, for being so woefully ill-equipped to deal with meta art as to be convinced that the narrative presented in The Beginner’s Guide was actually real and have at least one actual journalist be so unsure of the reality of the presented narrative as to hedge their bets and mention seemingly unironically that refunds for this game were an option. On the other hand, it’s not like we’re drowning in meta-aware fiction and a cultural discourse that can treat this kind of thing seriously. Since the Stanley Parable and then Beginner’s Guide, the most recent big ‘oh everyone talks about it’ meta-game in my space has been Undertale, and I hate that.

Since the Beginner’s Guide’s original appearance, things have moved on a bit, and particularly, the word ‘parasocial’ has fallen to the common voice. People with platforms use the term to describe the behaviour of people who don’t have platforms, and the people without platforms follow their word, and now ‘parasocial’ has a sort of loose use around it, the idea that it’s pretty much just anything that annoys you about other people on the internet, especially if they’re talking about media. Then we got ‘plagiarism,’ which is, I understand, ‘mostly vibes.’

I want to compare Davey Wreden to Fred Gallagher, the author of Megatokyo. Megatokyo if you’re not familiar with it, is a webcomic that started in August 2000 and has never officially stopped updating since. It’s updated twice this year, which puts it ahead of the same time last year. What Megatokyo is about is not important here, what is is that Megatokyo was enormously succesful, incredibly popular, and has never once had an update schedule its authors were happy with.

I wrote a lot about Megatokyo last year and I still think that article is worth restructuring and presenting in some kind of long form read way. In the end my conclusion about it is that I don’t think ill of Fred Gallagher as a creative, as much as I think that he got to suffer a unique kind of problem that only capitalism can cause, where you can be too successful to handle your own success. That is, both Wreden and Gallagher made something that led to people having assumptions and expectations that don’t make any sense, because the value of what they created was associated with capital, which is to say, money, and rent, and food.

There’s this idea we’re all circling around right now on a platform that is probably by now mostly procedurally generated – not just the stuff made in the past few years by tools like Chatgpt and the midjourney thumbnails and all, but rather that the algorithm of youtube made a lot of people make media in a way that shaved the non-formulaic parts off it, until there was nothing but hash tag con tent. The stuff you like is a small egg floating on a vast and turbulent sea of piss. It’s now that people care a lot about a kind of authenticity from work which separates it from what I’m going to call Generative Media, and which other people are going to insist on calling ‘AI.’

The conversation around generative art is a real struggle sometimes because it feels like sometimes when people are talking about ‘ai art bros’ they’re dealing with a small pool of obnoxious people, and sometimes I can even tell the specific dickhead they mean. It’s Shad, it’s Shad, so often they mean Shad, and yeah sure, Shad sucks. But the conversation around generative media is so often structured in these really weird ways that seems to imply low-quality images don’t exist until generative media gets involved. That nobody cranks out bullshit, or that art is a transferrable property of a human agent, or that in the great days of the internet, nobody’s using pictures they didn’t draw to illustrate articles they wrote. In this very video I’m using gameplay footage from a game I don’t own, and the reason you’re not seeing the footage from S1m0ne to reinforce that point is because a robot would get mad at me and block the video if I did.

I’m even in defensive crouch saying this stuff here. Look: I think generative media tools have applications, particularly in zero-value situations. Nobody in the world is having their pocket picked if I copy art of Rin Matsuoka and use that for my D&D character. Similarly, someone with less image editing skill than mine using generative media to generate pictures of things they weren’t going to pay for in the first place are not hurting anyone unless you believe in a literal cosmic value of these things. In that case, you’re basically just like the generative media people who are functionally, praying to chat gpt. If you’re rapid prototyping, if you’re making a game and need temporary assets to give yourself tools to build around, if you need a powerpoint presentation for class, all of this stuff represents no lost value. This is a perfect place to put generative media. I’m sure purists will disagree, and I just do not care. But there’s my stance: Generative media is an interesting toy that should be used as such, and if it can replace your job, your job probably sucks and you should be doing something cooler and better that people value more. That’s a problem with jobs, and how we give people money to feed themselves, not the software that generates anime tiddy on demand.

Now, here is where things get tangled up.

It seems to me that generative media is being attacked right now by people I generally like and agree with on most things, because of very high concept, seemingly contradictory positions. People who dislike copyright law busting it out to attack midjourney, and people who hate Disney praying for them to fight Google. Ideas about the inherent nobility of art and stick figure illustrations being better than generative media on websites dedicated to sharing unsourced artworks of definitely not stick figures. People don’t have reasons that make a lot of sense for why these things should not be tolerated, but they are very real about their emotional hatred of them. Which, you know, given the people who defend generative media, makes sense, a lot of those people suck and are incredibly obnoxious. Particularly it seems a lot of them are the losers of the NFT wave who are trying to get in ground level as ‘prompt engineers’ as if the ecosystem they’re entering will value them at all.

One of the most sterling arguments against generative media, and one I personally like, is the idea that these tools represent potential precarity for artists who are already struggling to pay for things like, again, rent and food. Potential, in that, largely commission-based artistic survival under capitalism seems to be a bit of a dice roll as it is. My solution to this is not to shame people who weren’t going to pay for art for failing to be able to support a commission economy they weren’t partaking in in the first place, though, it’s things like massive overhauls of income inequality and universal basic income, but also I can understand how my idea is hard and yelling at strangers in hyperbolic language is really easy.

The pressure that created the Beginner’s Guide is also the pressure that meant someone talking about an artistic work of anxiety media couched it in terms of fucking refunds so people didn’t feel they’d ethically mis-stepped by buying fiction about exploitation, a thing that nobody otherwise does, and it’s the same pressure that means ‘someone is making cheap bad art with an exploitative method’ is a threat to the livelihood of a small number of people who have managed to make an extremely precarious living doing art in the first place. As if money is why artists make art, as if we aren’t all struggling in exploitative systems, as if the existence of bland corporate art pumped out in huge troves to pad resume drawers isn’t

Since these past few years, writing academically, a habit I’ve gotten into is always trying to attribute where I get ideas for. Sentences that are referring to someone else’s idea, with the little note of ‘hey, this is that person, at this date.’ It’s a thing that can create the habit of also starting sentences with ‘Wreden says this’ or ‘Gallagher’s work shows this,’ which creates in casual conversation an impression of a very specific kind of authorial access. Certainly here on Youtube, I don’t want to give you the impression because I’m pointing to their work that I can tell you what they think or feel. The idea that I can connect to these authors through a particularly big brained reading of their work is similar to how Christians think they can read god’s mind because they read the book of Daniel, and like, Fred Gallagher exists.

I don’t know what Davey Wreden was thinking about the Beginner’s Guide when he made it. Even if I asked him now, I won’t get an answer, I’ll get the answer of what he remembers of what he was thinking, which may be the same thing but can’t necessarily. I can try, and that’s a way to get at this authenticity, but it’s not a way to guarantee it.

The Beginner’s Guide is still an interesting game to me, because the conversation around it, and around ownership of work, and of unsourced material and exploiting artists hasn’t changed that much but all the people engaging in it have gotten new things to have to try and fit into their models. We are no closer to Coda.

Those opening paragraphs of this article are from from wikipedia.

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!

[storkmuffin]

Follow up question to the ask about what got you into kpop! What do you make of the popularity of Ateez and SKZ. Both groups seem to have a certain individuality that makes them stand out and I think contributes to their immense success, but if that is the case why do many groups continue to play it safe? Is it a "high risk high rewards" kind of thing do you think?

I say this as a person who knew about BTS existing, and had a couple of their big hits on rotation on my spotify playlist but otherwise felt no 'pull' towards them while they were active (I think they're dormant now because of the military service requirement) - I have to assume that the decision by JYP to launch a new boy group in 2018, and for KQ to decide to wade into the Idol Making Business in the same year was highly influenced by the success of BTS, which really gained momentum from, I dunno, 2015 onwards.

OK from here on out I'm just making shit up, so take it with salt and pepper and cilantro, too:

There had to have been an analysis of what sold well, or what characteristics of BTS appealed a lot to western audiences. I have to assume that inclusion of Changbin and Han, as well as the decision to allow the long-in-the-wings Bang Chan to debut as members of an IDOL group, when none of them fit the mold and instead have all these frankly unnecessary extra chops was part of aiming them at the West. There was a point that k-pop wanted to make about how Idol can be 'real' rappers and 'real' composers and 'real' directors of their own art, and JYP did that through this group. (He also having been a very non-standard pop star back in his day.) Bang Chan and Felix, the English fluent Australians, one of whom speaks Korean as a second language, are part of this 'international' marketing decision from the start.

As for Ateez, their creating this 'lore' concept and being very theatrical in how faithful they were to it made them look frankly strange to the general Korean market, so once they had some sort of reaction in the West they immediately went on foreign tour first. In 2022 and also in 2024, Hong Joong was asked by Korean media, What do you think about the immense disparity of your name recognition and influence outside the country compared to how little you're known at home? (His answer was diplomatic - If we continue to make good music, the recognition will eventually come.) The non-fan and sometimes anti-fan commentary I've seen in Korean about Ateez is that they are a group better suited or perhaps intentionally designed to appeal primarily to the overseas market, and will need to be 'reverse-imported' in order to raise their standing here.

For a very long time, Kpop has been in a 'pleasant music' or easy-listening era. The kind of music and music videos a mother of a 12 year old girl wouldn't mind her seeing or be alarmed by. Comfortingly formulaic, soothing, bouncy but not too wild, sexy in a sweet way and definitely not too raunchy. They're still making it - I would put Riize and NewJeans' stuff in this category. The existing, 'classical' model for marketing seems to be to build a big fanbase in Korea, become a national phenomenon, and ride that out to the world.

The thing is, both Stray Kids and Ateez have done so well that this is likely to directly influence the next batch of Kpop Idols, maybe 6th Gen. "Harder" sounds, more direct lyrical and compositional participation by the Idols themselves, an emphasis on rapping, and a willingness to address grown up themes with a more mature performance style. This is my hope, by the way.

I also happen to think that the quieter, softer sounding songs on the Ice On My Teeth comeback, with the suits and the less crazed looking, 'cool-tone' rather than' volcanic' choreography is also part of Ateez going, Well if this is the level of what the Korean market can tolerate, we'll give it to them and see if it sticks.