#like it's a revolutionary song in that sense and i love that

[speakercrab666]

please no more please please no more shawn mendes stitches please please please

[food-lover9000]

19, 30, 39 for the handwriting ask game wahooo !!!

19) AAAAaaa so hard to choose fave songs…! but recently I’ve been listening to Bunny Girl a fair bit, started humming my clematis today so went to listen to that as well…Oh wait fave songs uhh RGU op is lovelyyy! also the song I want to be your lover appears in my mind a lot…wait also song I found on bilibili that does an ouchie to me is (mainly the first part) are you lost AAAAAA if I keep going I am going to fill 10 pages (of these short pages) but uhhhh a doll of lapis and erica’s sorrow and also karen’s cleanup are good! essentially there are too many nice silly songs and I am just really bad at making up my mind >:( (I think I will have links to the YT of these)

30) Thank youuu for sending in a silly ask >_O (It looks a lil goofy but its okay!) I think because of the pens I am using my handwriting looks slightly “nicer(?)” but oh well! I might have to add a transcript because my handwriting is still kinda messy :3 (aaa all my silly written faces are messed up in this page :c)

39) I have an egregious amount of stationary supplies and also really want to go back into sewing a bit! aaa or spending time making those silly friendship bracelets (would be silly to make some based on mutuals colors) Oh and also learning how to sew and embroider enough to make silly cotton dolls :ccc (so many things I wanna do yet so many horrors yet still)

[tarot-quartz]

PICK A CARD - HOW THEY PERCEIVE YOU

╰┈➤ Paid readings

left to right

★ Pile 1 - They see you as someone that loves their own place, could be your country, your family or your apartment. Someone who likes their solitude. They see you as someone who is balanced and patient. You don’t let minor issues knock you off balance, instead you adapt to the situations with a clear mind. You’re truly in touch with who you are and your values. They see you as someone emotionaly mature, calm and tolerant. However they feel that you can lack ambition and be very passive in some cases. They feel like if you work hard then you usually get what you want. They see you as assertive and a voice of authority, good common sense. They’re drawn to the happy vibes and positive energy you are giving out and you bring light and joy to them and everything you come into contact with. You’re carefree, liberated and self-assured.

song channeled: illicit affairs, taylor swift.

★ Pile 2 - They see you as someone who’s been through a lot and admire how even after all this, you came back as a victor. They’re amazed of the person you’ve become. They see you as someone calm and patient. You’re diligent and dedicated to the work you put in. They see that you’ve learnt a lot of skills in your life or are learning and they think they will come to be useful later in life. They see you as someone that deserves to be celebrated and has much happiness awaiting them. They see you as someone that might be suppressing their feminine qualities. You may be putting others needs before your own to your detriment. Or you may feel so emotionally overwhelmed that you are neglecting those that are important to you. You might also not feel the most attractive. They see you as someone that needs to shift the focus and ground yourself. They want to hug the child version of you.

song channeled: radio, lana del rey.

★ Pile 3 - They see you as someone that manifests what they want. Like they see yiu as someone that doesn’t put a lot of effort into most things and just think that what you want will happen because you say so and it does. I see this might impress them. You use your intellect, concentration and willpower to make things happen. They see you as being hasty and being very energetic, being very successfull than you think you are. When you have ideas you put them into motion. They see you as fearless, confident and self assured. You’re heroic, rebellious, brave and a revolutionary with an open mind and a free spirit. They think you are sexy, warm and charming but can be quite cold and uncaring to anyone who tries to restrict your freedom in any way. They see you as someone that flirts without thinking things through. You’re resourceful and adaptable.

song channeled: deja vu, olivia rodrigo.

★ Pile 4 - They see you as hardworking and with that you reap the rewards. They see you as someone extremely successfull and who has the world at their feet. Someone lucky who has learnt to break toxic cycles. Someone who can be very seductive and have many people interested in them. This can cause you some dramas but you carry on. They see you as someone with good fashion style. You might be blunt and just a really intense person. But they like that you’re interesting.

song channeled: skinny, billie eilish.

[anotherferalrat]

GUYS.

I have discovered a new orv fic concept.

And I am actively foaming at the mouth.

So like- Idol!Kim Dokja right? A classic, makes sense, I wouldn't say it's anything too revolutionary. I love a good 'secretly I was an Idol' AU. But what has me feral???

All his songs were secretly about YJH (with the occasional about his companions... mainly I'm thinking he had a couple for SYS bc my poor baby). Just think of the possibilities with me for a sec:

The difference in the ways he writes about each round (999 has the best love song if what I've gathered from osmosis is correct)

Kimcom losing their goddamn minds trying to connect the image of their tired, feral leader to a bubbly teen idol

The kids determined to listen to all his music and fighting over who's the bigger stan

I just imagine there's a world where LJH was a diehard fan and so KDJ treats her like those rabid fans (bc he def has a favorite child... and she is low on the list I'm afraid)

Just in general, him having secret fans in Kimcom. YSA wasn't a huge fan but she had a couple favorite songs. HSY would rather die than admit it but she loved his music and her writing playlist was like 90% of his music. YJH was also a frequent listener though he'd claim it was due to his sister (A certified KDJ stan)

Similarly... IMAGINE KIMCOM FINDS OUT AFTER SOME KIND OF POST CANON NOVEL REVEAL I haven't finished so I don't know if there's an actual reveal Just envision YJH's eye twitching violently as the crew tries to figure out which songs are about which person/YJH round while KDJ actively tries to die in the background. Secretive Plotter and Uriel are dying... for very different reasons

I just love me a good pining loser<3

[a-titty-ninja]

Hi. After following you for so long, I decided to give Senran Kagura a shot. The Video Game, I mean. So, I started with Burst Re:Newal

So I have to ask. How is this story so good? I get it's just Magical Ninja Girls, but how is this story so good?

Katsuragi, the lesbian pervert, has so much depth. She's an orphan who lost her parents. But not to a car accident like she thought. Her parents ran away because they were Ninja who failed a mission and had to commit sepaku. Now she seeks strength to become a leader of the light shinobi, all so she can pardon them herself.

Yomi, the destitute revolutionary, lost her parents in elementary school. They lived in the slums of Japan, unable to feed their daughter. So they sold themselves to slavery, so they could give her a better life. Instead of living lavishly, she takes her money and feeds the slums, working as a villain in the dark shinobi to do so.

I could go on and on with each character, but they're all awesome. (Except for Mirai. Wanting to slaughter your family and friends because you're a late bloomer is kinda stupid.)

And the overall morality comparison between the light shinobi vs. dark shinobi.

Light shinobi, secret warriors who work for the government of Japan and its public, accept only perfection. The only light shinobi are Elite shinobi, warriors that can take on hundreds of regular enemies. They have rigorous training, difficult testing, and high moral standards.

But this is also their downfall. For most people aren't perfect. For minor infractions, one can be excluded and banished from the ranks of the light. Which kinda makes them bad guys.

Dark shinobi, warriors who work for corporations and private entities, accept all who wish to join. For that's their saying.

"Where the light shines on the few, the darkness accepts all."

Which makes a scary amount of sense. All of these shinobi who didn't make the cut for the light, the dark accepts them wholeheartedly, flaws and all. And somehow, this makes them good guys too.

Which brings me to my ask. How does this game about Sexy Ninja Women come up with a comprehensive moral controversy that rivals mainstream media. And makes corruption arcs make sense.

Note: the scene with Hikari, the girl who lacks emotional responses, crying over the (fake) death of Mirai. It's just. Oh my. I was crying too. Like, she loves her friend enough that she just cries involuntary.

What is this game?

im glad you gave senran kagura a shot, its an incredible series that is often overlooked as just some generic ecchi! it was great reading your thoughts and it makes me want to go replay the games as its been a while although i resent you comment about mirai!. senran kagura is a whole package - the lore, the characters and their designs and animations, the style and the music is marvelous pun intended. i love the opening songs for all the games they live in my head and the anime has one of my favorite op/eds in general

i hope you play all the other games too, even the cooking rhythm game (bon appetit) is brilliant! its pretty cool that you can play the more recent games on PC these days and even peach beach splash supports VR! playing the original burst on 3ds with the slider turned to max though is an experience lol - the shinobi arts 🥵. i recommend the anime series too if you didn't check it out yet - the second season is top tier!!!

as for why the fuck this series bangs so hard its because of this genius who loves boobs and action games. this guy didnt want to just make a generic pervy game he fucked around and created a master piece. read his interviews too he is cool as shit. shinobi are cool as shit and senran kagura is just cool as shit.

[literary-illuminati]

2024 Book Review #47 – City of Last Chances by Adrian Tchaikovsky

This book was recommended to me by a few different people, and in any case I am generally a pretty big Tchaikovsky fan. So of course I’m only getting around to reading it now, however many months later. Having put it off so long for no good reason at all, I can say that the book is in fact very good. Not Tchaikovsky’s best work (that’s still Children of Time in a walk), but a good read and one that left me curious (if not exactly excited) about checking out the sequel.

The story takes place in Illmar, the eponymous City of Last Chances – scarred and oppressed, tyrannized by cursed dukes and conquering imperialists, built upon a dangerous and unreliable route to other worlds and forever attracting the sort of people with no better options available to them. While the book has any number of characters, it’s really the city itself that is the star of the story – a story of how the theft of an imperial magistrate’s ward before he makes an experimental voyage through the gateway in the woods leads to a whole series of byzantine intrigues and bloody misadventures, culminating in an abortive revolution against the Pallseen who occupy and rule them. Which in one sense is an absolutely massive spoiler and in another just feels like stating an inevitability that was obvious from the first chapter.

The book was apparently quite heavily marketed as harking back to the whole New Weird trend of a decade or two ago – marketing that is lived up to wholly and entirely. The whole book absolutely drips with Mieville and Vandermeer. The oblique worldbuilding, the mundane day-to-day life built around the opportunities and inconveniences of some intrusion of the sublime, the awkward intersection of ancient magic and industrial bureaucracy, and so on, and so forth. The Reproach in particular feels very Area X (or very Roadside Picnic, as you prefer), but in general the city feels like absolutely nothing so much as Bas-Lag with the weirdness dial turned down from an 11 to a 5 or 6.

It’s a real triumph of the book, I think, that the world genuinely feels vast and strange even beyond the points where it matters to the story - that all the little asides and the ways something affects a certain character feel like just small parts of something far grander and more uncanny than anyone can hope to understand. Maybe I’m just painfully tired of rpg-system worldbuilding, but it’s an effect I dearly love.

Much like Bas-Lag, Ilmar is very clearly a magical fantasy city going through a magical fantasy 19th century industrial revolution (instead of steam engines its demonic slave labor contracted and imported from the Kings Below). The meat of the book is playing into the whole tradition of the idealistic, virtuous but tragic liberal revolution – 1848 in Berlin or Vienna, the June Days and Commune in Paris, Warsaw a dozen different times, Les Mis. You know the type. Students singing patriotic old songs, workers rising up against class oppression, ‘revolutionaries’ who are mostly cowardly nobles pining after lost privileges and criminal syndicate putting on airs being caught flat-footed by events. You can probably tell the basic story in your sleep. But for such a venerable genre, this book's honestly probably the best rendition of ‘fantasy 1848’ I can recall. Something which won it my instant affection.

The other thing the book just overwhelming shares with the Mieville’s Bas-Lag books is a very keen sense of the necessity of revolution combined with an extreme cynicism towards anyone who might actually carry it out. The university students are sincere believers, and also naive sheep the narrative views with condescension (at best). The professional revolutionaries are all power-grabbing hypocrites who have wrapped themselves in the flag. The workers syndicates have a real sense of solidarity among themselves, and also none at all to the demon slaves that are used and broken powering the mills and factories. And so on. The overall thrust of the book is a tragedy not in the sense of railing against the inevitable, but in the sense that triumph and revolution were absolutely possible – indeed plausible – but for the flaws and frailities of the revolutionaries who might have accomplished it.

Not to say that it's misanthropic – the book is very humane towards the vast majority of its POVs. Of which there are enough for ‘vast majority’ to be a meaningful term. It was something like 130 pages in before any character got a second chapter through their eyes, a feat I had previously only seen in Malazan – and that’s not including the chorus chapters which just give a half-doze vignettes from across the city. But yes, most characters (even the ones who are really just viscerally repulsive) are shown through their own eyes as someone who is at least understandable, if not particularly sympathetic. The sheer size of the cast in a 500 page book mean that no one character or set gets that many chapters from their perspective (you could easily have written as long a book about roughly the same events with half or less of the cast), but some of the dynamics that are very lightly touched on are just incredibly compelling. Its enough to make you wish this was a series that would ever get any fanfiction written about it, really.

Given the way the book is so deeply concerned with oppression and violence on the basis of culture, class, and nation – imperial occupiers, native population, refugees and immigrants used and scapegoated by both – it is kind of fascinating that this is a world where misogyny and (possibly? Not very explored, the only example of a queer relationship we see is hardly going to be concerned by normative society) homophobia just flatly don’t exist. Which would be less interesting if it was unusual, really – the same could be said about very nearly every recent sci fi or fantasy book on the same lines I can recall. Interesting because it is very much not the case in Melville’s stuff – the cultural impact of Ancillary Justice continues to echo down the years, I guess. So yes the imperial police inspector will extort sex out of a brothel owner in exchange for not stringing up the entire workforce for peripheral involvement with the resistance, but also this is entirely gender-neutral. Something very modern about how oppression is imagined relative to the ‘90s or ‘00s (or just a different genre of self-consciously feminist novel a few book shelves to the left).

But yeah, great book, I am compelled. No idea where the sequel would be going, but will probably hunt it down sooner rather than later.

[adhdtsukasa]

totally not what i intended to post today but also whatever, we ball. pinocchiop is my favorite vocap and i'm very autistic about both him and wxs, so, to honor the song campaign clues that we got today, allow me to present to you the reincarnation apple wxs cover line distribution i did some time ago — and why, in my humble opinion, it fits wxs much more than it fits niigo,

(the lyrics where the color changes each word are where the characters both sing at the same time but my notes app doesn't have the option to do a gradient)

i'm in no way expecting it to be an official line distribution because i did it based on my personal interpretation of the lyrics — and i feel like dedicating almost a whole big part of the song to each member might mess up with the game cut, but i also really would like to see them have solos of those parts — but they're here to help me explain my point better my point. so!

what i like about wandasho covers is that they are performers — and it should give them more creative liberty when it comes to their covers. that's why the reincarnation in this song could be simply treated as them getting into roles, reliving countless lives as actors. even though the accuracy of the lines sung is always nicely welcomed, the covers don't have to always be 100% fitting. and that's fine. especially in wxs' case, because that is a yet another story that they want to tell us.

people often say that the storyline fits niigo but i... don't see it at all? i mean, yeah, ena as the artist and kanade as the savior, that much is obvious (and i guess you could also say that mizuki as a revolutionary, but that is kind of a reach?). but what about the part describing the inventor that matches rui's backstory so well? what if you put main story tsukasa in the artist's place and draw the similiarities? what if you think about emu as the savior, comparing the savior's unconditional love to her wanting to save wonder stage and make everyone smile? the only match that doesn't fit quite well is nene and the revolutionary, but you can't have anything i guess. and then the adventurer part, which is a call back to the our happy ending set (i set out in search of an ideal — emu deciding to go with wxs in order to expand her knowledge and horizons) (and then you know, the end has come with the reincarnation apple)... and then lines like i'm not smart enough and i don't have a great cause could resonate with how people viewed emu and rui in the past.

"oh but isn't the start of the song a bit too dark and depressing for it to be a wxs cover?" kami no manimani starts in a similiar way and yet it still is a wxs cover.

and, putting lyrics aside, it just doesn't feel like a niigo song from the instrumental alone. i'm not a music expert so i don't have strong arguments for it, but for me it sounds absolutely like a wxs song. it even reminds me of sekahaji in a way.

does that mean you're in the wrong for wanting niigo to cover it? nope! i just simply want to explain why it fits. and i don't want people to complain that it doesn't make sense for it to end up as a wxs cover. because i will cry.

tldr: reincarnation as a metaphore for acting save me

[vampirehowl]

im increasingly convinced the reason white hozier fans- especially younger ones- go so crazy and suck so terribly at being normal about him is because they have never heard rhythm and blues before. i keep seeing people out here acting like hes invented something revolutionary and never before seen and not like any other genre* and its so blatantly because they dont realize blues, r&b, soul, and honestly even a fair amount of indie and folk rock are actual existing genres with lifetimes of history which is quite a shame and honestly embarassing considering how at least 1/3 of his discography is a very blatant love letter to these genres and the musicians ESPECIALLY the black musicians who made these genres in every sense of the word

*to be clear i am a major long time fan and i do think his music is incredible i just also think its insane that people keep acting like they dont know who nina simone is after his entire song and EP titled nina cried power

[thecorruption-thespiralsversion]

What Sign (Astrology) is what Fear (The Magnus Archive)

I remember in the 2010s, on the astrology side of tumblr. A popular thing to was take albums and assign each song to the sign they felt represented. This is inherently an imperfect practice (Astrology is actually a very complicated process.), but taken lightly it can be loads of fun.

Disclaimer, I researched this stuff a years ago, and like The Fear, I'm basing all this on Feeling. I am by no mean an expert.

Aries - The Sluaghter - As an Archetype, Aries is the sign of The Warrior. The "youngest" of the signs, it's often seen as impulsive and reckless. Angered on the drop of a dime, and always ready for a fight.

Taurus - The Flesh - They are creature of comfort and gluttony. A sign who will work hard now so they can sleep longer later. The Bull, sturdy, strong, and grounded. Somehow the laziest and hardest working sign. They are lover of food, and the physical pleasures.

Gemini - The Stranger - This one feel like the stereotype. All Gemini are two-faced, fake, childish/immature. The eternal child. There is a whimsy to The Stranger.

Cancer - The Corruption - This one is complicated. They're sweet, caring, and nurturing. The Archetype of The Mother, but not The Matriarch. Another Archetype is seen as The Prostitute. This is complicated because it's not about sex, but that of giving yourself for the nurture of another. It is a love that consumes in all ways.

Leo - The Lonely - The Lion, The King. When will you learn that to be on top is to have no peers, no fellows.

Virgo - The Web - Their stereotype is that of a controlling and obsessive compulsive individuals. The is the sign of order.

Libra - The Web - This is a sign often stereotyped as " my way or the highway". Now mind you this is an exaggeration. This is the sign of balance, fairness, and whatever one's perceptions of that is. Equilibrium and Order. The Diplomate, Soft power.

Scorpio - The Dark... The Desolation - Guess this is where the jig is up. There is no one to one. They aren't comparable!!!!! Appropriate that I brake patterns at the sign that actually represents Death. But not The End. I have found most esoteric practice don't regard Death as finality, more a transition. This sign is that of mystery and power. Of night and rage. The Dark Feminine. If I'd have it my way, Agnus Montague would be a Scorpio.

Sagittarius - The Hunt - adventures, philosophy, and discovery are all associated with this sign.

Capricorn - The Buried - The most structured of the signs. This isn't order, but rigidity. Stren and Stoic. They have always been the biggest sweethearts I have ever meet, but they scare me, it not a malicious fear, but that of a child who respects their father. They inspire that sense of "masculine"(not gender specific) discipline.

Aquarius - The Vast - I know many will argue The Stranger, and you're right, all this shit is subjective. But hear me out. The Revolutionaries! The sign that look towards the future, towards endless possibilities, to infinity.

Pisces - The Spiral - The sign closest to divinity, The end of one cycle, and the start of another. What was that about doing the same thing over and over again? But ever The Dreamer you take another turn, another twist.

Aries - The Sluaghter....

The End can't really exist as a concept in this cycle.

But I think The Eye would be all of them. We are all the observers of our lives.

I think therefore I am, we are I.

Archives to our existence. I think that's why I like astrology. It's us trying to observe ourself and others. Find connections, coincidence, and magic in what "I was ment to have for breakfast", and maybe I wasn't. But it fun, these games we play with everyone.

I hope you're all having fun

[not-goldy]

But isn’t JK sort of "queer cleansing" in Ch 2?

All those women in his MV’s who he had zero chemistry with but not a single reference to being into men (not that I expect that of course, being from a homophobic country. More like being in the closet, unfortunately.. but still).

I think his side of Ch 2 is interesting, based on the past ten years up until the military announcement— which is when this sudden "flipped switch" from disliking/being indifferent about dating women, refusing to sing "girl" in a Jason Derulo cover and being the object of other men’s affection, to singing about boinking women seemed to happen.

If the blurry video wasn’t true, I wonder if BH didn’t rush to clean it up because it kind of worked out to help with JK’s new "ladies man" image 💀💀 His face isn’t even decipherable but at least half the fandom ate that up!

To some extent I guess.

Heteronormativity and queer cleansing are two related but distinct concepts so I hope you are not confusing the two as one and the same in this case.

Heteronormativity in this sense is promoting hetersexuality and images of it as the standard or mainstream idea of something. For instance, what is the purpose of choosing a female lead to play the role of love interest besides the fact that that is just how things are done in the industry??

At this point it doesn't even matter at all the female you cast, it just has to be A female to play the role. It's not political, it doesn't speak to the sexual orientation of the individual, it's just what sells and what is considered the norm or standard way of doing things. You could replace the female subject with an inanimate object and the message of love and affection will not be lost.

Over using female as love interests without allowing for much diversity in music visuals has led to a situation where the woman has become a neutral marker in art. Much like words such as Man or other masculine forms gained neutrality and universality such that where you see man or dude or guy in a text you don't necessarily think they are referring strictly to a man, it's the same for women. They are there because they are expected to be there.

We are not wired to see their presence in MVs as contributing any unique or significant meaning to the story telling.

However seeing two men or two women portrayed as leads and love interests adds a political dimension to the message of the song or story of the MV.

It's why visuals such as Blood Sweat and Tears and the whole visual album of HYYH era speaks to many of us. Other wise they are all men, they can just sit and shout into a mic cos no one wants to see them grope each other- it's gay.

It's also why a producer will tell Tae to find a female to sing a part he wrote for Jimin on his personal song- it wasn't because a female voice was required for the song but simply unconventional for two men to sing a duet of that kind.

That's heteronormativity not queer cleansing.

A cleanse is an intentional act meant to please an audience, to calm their wrath and to portray conformity to the desires of the masses.

Heteronormativity is unconscious biases and decisions that are meaningless in themselves and are done not just to please but for the sheer reason that that is what we know and have come to accept as the norm.

I guess the difference is, did Jungkook have a choice other than choosing a female character for the role? No. To choose a male character for such a role would be so political and revolutionary because it would be going outside the norm.

Having a female lead is just a trend. For straight people, if they want to be "political" they often cast the real object of their affections and discard the paid models and artists. JB did that with his wife and uhm- what's the name of the dude who said his lungs under water but was breathing fire?

Queer cleansing is not just about heteronormativity. Promoting and using women as leads is not necessarily a cleanse.

It's heteronormative because whether he is in Korea or not, whether his country is conservative or not, whether he is gay or not, he would have casted a female as lead because it is expected and normalized.

I mean, why else would they have casted female leads for their mv way back when they were starting out, as young as they were, as young as he was?

Why else would he date a girl when he had no feelings whatsoever for her.

Why else were they made to pick up girls and demonstrate how they would ask a girl out or kiss a girl as entertainment disregarding the fact not all of them might have been into girls.

Let me leave you with this imagery:

Heteronormativity, like right handedness, or able bodiedness is the default setting of society. Manufacturers create products build cars, roads on the assumption that every one is right handed able-bodied straight individual and every thing in society is made to cater to this group bu default.

So sometimes when people create products to cater to the audience we can't say they are making revolutionary statements or even deliberately being discriminatory- they doing so simply because it's how things are done.

Jungkook might simply film an MV that way because that's how things are done in the industry.

I hope in the future he realizes this challenge and goes out of his way to challenge it not because he is queer but because he desires to bring change and uniqueness into the world.

And you are right. There are so many instances of hybe cleaning up his image or putting him through queer cleansing- I just don't think the MV is one of those.

Like I said, even his own fans try to queer cleanse his image by cooking up straight rumors and attacking people to try to suppress and disassociate him from any queer narrative.

And it's a cleanse because they do this with the understanding that portraying him as queer is harmful to his image or reputation or even a threat to his commercial success such as them tearing down his banners and even banning BTS in certain places because they seem "gay" smh

[la-pheacienne]

Hello. 2, 5, and 24 for Daenerys and Jon??

Really enjoy your blog!

Hii, thank you so much!

JON:

2. Favorite canon thing about this character? The duty vs love theme. It is so central for Jon's arc and for asoiaf themes and his character conveys it beautifully. He's a kid, he wants to live he loves his family he wants to be there for them and at the same time he's stuck in that place and he has an oath he must respect and this is very important to him because he is honorable and takes his words and his vows seriously but it is very difficult to navigate between the two. also how he questions his vows and how he understands the contradictions of the westerosi moral code and the inherent hypocrisy of some vows in the way they are applied, see the "what are these wildlings if not men" dialog, I love this and it is also extremely important thematically for the entire book series (great parallels with jaime here). his struggle with ruling, "there is no happy choice, only some less grievous than others" but someone has to make those choices and this is an enormous burden he takes on. Also his gravitas and how his past seems to burden and haunt him!! he's a kid and he's much older than he should be, mentally, because of his shitty upbringing and also because of a sense of transcendental doom that comes from his parents even if he doesn't know anything about them yet. I'm normal about jon btw.

5. What's the first song that comes to mind when you think about them? Oh sth from the Cure, like Cold or Homesick or anything from that band really. Emo depressed teenage boy core.

24. What other character from another fandom of yours that reminds you of them? Marius Pontmercy from les miserables. He is in canon described as "not yet a ghost, no longer a man". He is an orphan kid raised by family members who have lied to him about his father his entire life. He grew up having a distorted image of said father, he has an identity crisis towards the middle of the book, he is melancholic and lonely and angry and isolated and struggles between his desire to live and love like a normal young man and his devotion to the cause.

DANY:

2. Favorite canon thing about this character? Oh Dany is hope. Dany is losing her child and her husband and everything that she holds dear and she is desperate but she looks inside Rhaegar's helmet and the face within was her own. Her own!!! A kid, that has known nothing but abuse ever since she has memories of herself manages to believe in herself at her lowest point. Dany didn't know a mother or a father and yet becomes the mother to them all, she never felt safe but all she wants is to keep other people safe. Dany struggling to rule, Dany asking questions about what makes a good ruler, what is a good ruler, how can one become a good ruler. And failing. And trying again. And failing again. But she just keeps trying because her name and the three dragons she has are not a flex and they do not equal power, but responsibility. She has this enormous gigantic responsibility on her shoulders and she has to find a way even if it's not the best one, and this is both a blessing and a curse, just like Jon. Dany trying to get her home back. And she will, "we shall talk when I return" is about her! Dany is hope.

5. What's the first song that comes to mind when you think about them? Gold Dust Woman by fleetwood mac, I won't elaborate, grrm imagined Dany after listening to that song, he told me himself and this is confimed btw. Look it up.

24. What other character from another fandom of yours that reminds you of them? To me personally Dany reminds me of Enjolras from les Miserables and what they both have in common is their radicalism. Dany is a true revolutionary, an abolishionist, she rejects the status quo, she has a noble cause and she knows that she has to serve that cause no matter the price and she is ready to take the necessary, radical steps towards that cause and she is ready to sacrifice herself and commit violence for that cause because this is the only way any substantial structural radical change can ever be achieved. Yet she does not rejoice in violence, she does not love it and she struggles with it, just like Enjolras who executes that man and says "Death, I use you, but I hate you". He is innocent and pure and so young but also terrible and fearful when he needs to be despite not wanting to, because someone has to be, because this is not a game. I love them both so much.

[negobeauriva]

New Music Analysis Part 1: Souvenir Pop - From Music for Children to Burnt-out Ballads

Last Friday I got to listen to both Joker Out and Käärijä's new albums, and I enjoyed them throughly. I loved the new experiments in music in the case of Joker Out, and the perfect mix of feeling and party music in Käärijä's case.

My friends pointed out some theories as to what stories were being told in each case, and I've decided to write this kind of critic/storytelling post to tell you both my opinions about the songs, the story I think the albums want to tell and how they relate to each other.

This post is about Souvenir Pop, because if I do a single post for everything I want to touch, I'll be here for like a thousand years. I based myself off the translations of @jokeroutsubs to do my interpretations.

People's Champion review will be [here] when I post it, and then the analysis of both [here], when I post it too. Stay tuned and follow me if you want the rest!

Without further ado, enjoy my yapping. And if you are Joker Out or any of their components - you guys are insane for reading all this but I love you.

This album has "discovery" written all over it. Joker Out know who they are - Balkan rockstars that go with their own flow, in a scene where passion is loved only if it's presented in the most marketable way. They are disruptive and unapologetic about it, which is why I love them in the first place. After Eurovision Song Contest, they gained a bunch of fans and started experimentating the hard punches of musical stardom, something that was fairly foreign to them, given the fact that they had never gone out of the Balkan zone.

It speaks about them adjusting themselves to the changes, about how the excitement for the music world became some sort of bittersweet grief they now live with. Let's be honest, they love what they do, and it shows in their music. But there is a hint of sadness, of heaviness to some songs, that I would like to explore a bit further.

I'll also add a "Souvenir" (which I'm also taking in it's literal sense, from the French word for Memory) associated to each song, because I discovered that all the songs in both Umazane Misli and Demoni talk about the theme of their title - let me know if you'd like me to elaborate on that too.

Let's go track by track!

Muzika Za Decu - This ain't rock and roll, this is music for children

A very strong start to the album that's sure to sweep you off your feet. I remember listening to this the first time and headbanging like crazy. In their last album, Demoni, Joker Out had a song called Novi Val (New Wave) in which they described the "Generation of Love" that would change the world and seek for what seemed to be lost. Muzika Za Decu takes this message again, as a "where we left off", and talks about the other side of it. No revolution is made without disruption, after all. It perfectly encapsulates the chaos, the naivety of being young and revolutionary, and of course, how great their music is.

This is the prologue of the story: Joker Out, the disruptive children of Balkan music that lead a revolution, who don't care about what others say and go forward with their ideas. This is their presentation card.

Souvenir: Revolutionary hearts tend to remember the lost values. This souvenir is about remembering good times and keeping them alive with music.

Šta Bih Ja - What would I do in this black night without you?

I'm going to be completely honest, and you all can judge me, but I don't really like this song. It's okay if you do, I see why you like it, but it's not for me. The change of pace at the end is strange for me and the vibe of the lyrics is completely different to what I expected the instrumental to be. Still, I must say that this song is the perfect power anthem when you need a pick-me-up. The guitars are immaculate as usual, and Bojan's voice adds an extra layer of unpredictability and flavor. It's a mini-storm inside a song, packed-full with flavors, like popping candy.

Chapter one of the story tells us about these heartbreakers. Bojan is Slovenia's sweetheart, the boyfriend of the Balkans. The city they might be referencing might be Liverpool, or even every city they've been for the pre-parties. But this paints the picture of the band: Pure rock music, party vibes, and vague love song lyrics. These boys are here to play and have fun.

Souvenir: This song is about the memory of someone who you love at long distance. You take their memory with you to get on by.

Carpe Diem - Let's dance and play until the stars fade

This is a classic. This song was a surprise for me when I saw it in Eurovision, and it struck me like lightning. Admittedly, I did not watch the semifinals last year because I was busy with my admission to law school (which requires you to do a previous course), but when I saw them in the final? I was sold. This is a perfect party song. It deserved so much more than it did. It's fun, it's catchy, it's everything.

Chapter two is about the Eurovision chapter of their life. How they conquered Europe and took it by storm, and how they gained most of their worldwide popularity thanks to the exposure.

Souvenir: The Eurovision Song Contest, the most important night of their lives.

Stephanie - Love ain't built for people like me

This is one of my favorite songs in the album. Bojan's English pronounciation has matured a lot and now it has deep, rich layers of tonality. This song is about finding and losing the love of your life and the despair that you'll never be able to make that connection again. After listening to it a couple times, I realized there's a subtle detail that makes me love the commitment to this song even more - Bojan mentions drinking to forget he lost Stephanie, and through all the song, his voice sounds slurred. His voice inflections make him sound drunk. Pair this with the vintage guitar sounds and the 80's pop beat, and you have the perfect "crying on the dancefloor" anthem for when you've gotten your heart broken.

Chapter Three is about the heartbreakers realizing how ephemeral love truly is, and how you don't know what you have until you lose it. Their switch to fame is bringing things in, sure, but it's also costing them some others.

Souvenir: That feeling of love at first sight, the memory of someone you loved for one night, but wasn't meant to be.

Ako Toga Više Neće Biti - If that won't exist anymore, love is nothing but a lie

A slow song, both beautiful and sad at the same time. Bojan has said that it's easier for him to talk about love in Serbian, and it's completely true. In this song, we can hear the process of a withering relationship, when you realize that you've lost something precious and it's not coming back, no matter how much you want it to. This song beautifully walks you through the five stages of grief and makes you feel like you're floating in the Dead Sea, wondering where all you used to love has gone.

Chapter Four of this story is about wanting to keep everything under control, but ultimately failing. It's realizing that things change inevitably, and dealing with the loss and the grief of things you love. It's wanting to keep it together, but being unable to.

Souvenir: The memories of a relationship you've had for years and now you have to let go.

Bluza - If the sun rises, I'll be alone

I don't know what kind of sorcery Bluza has, but everytime it comes on my random player, I have to stop and listen to it in its entirety (what kind of drugs did they put to that song, really?) and I inevitably cry. This song is just what falling in love feels like. I personally covered this song in my native language (Spanish) and got a nice feedback from Bojan, but that's a story for another time. This song was paired up with a great MV that also told a story of not wanting to lose something precious. I'd say that Bluza is a dream that happens right after Ako Toga ends, coincidentally, those two songs are in the same key and on a similar beat, so they could well be twin sisters. It's dreaming about that person you love, that for a moment you are back where you wanted to be, but knowing that it's just a dream and it won't last. It might seem like a love song, but the final lyrics seal the deal on this only being a fantasy, a place where you find comfort, but aren't meant to stay.

Chapter Five is about ephemeral dreams, and about finding those small pieces of comfort you want to keep but know you can't. This is about them falling in love with cities, crowds, places, but deep down knowing that once the party is over, it's time to go back to the grind, to planning concerts, protecting themselves and trying not to die in the attempt. You can notice the exhaustion on Bojan's voice in some points of the song (which can also be a nice nod to Ako Toga where he says he hasn't slept well).

Souvenir: A dream from which you don't want to wake up from, the warmth and comfort of a place you know you're not meant to stay in.

Lips - True love and pain go hand in hand

The first time I heard Lips, I was overwhelmed. Too much noise, the reverberation of Bojan's voice was more than I could take, and I remember texting my friend "this song needs drums" halfway through. This song has received mixed criticism, and with due reason. Nace was the mind behind this song and I have to say I am impressed. He is a through musician indeed. I've given this song a fresh new listen for this review, and I have to say that I don't dislike it as much as I did the first time, I'm getting used to it. Lips feels like a fever dream, like an overdose with lyrics that try to be about love, but somehow are about tragedy. This is the song I'm the most excited to talk about for some reason. Props to the bass and guitars in this song, by the way. Unsung heros, that paired with Bojan's breathy, silky voice, build a sensual, toxic and dangerous feeling.

Chapter Six is the fall of the rockstars. If I had to pair this song with another, I'd definetely go with Padam (Falling) from Demoni. This song is what comes to mind if you ask me to think about that fatidic Ptuj concert in August 2023, where Bojan had his biggest mental breakdown that forced him off the stages for some time. This is burnout catching up to them and making them realize that they aren't indestructible. The fact that the lyrics try to be about love, but ultimately end up being about despair, makes me think of Bojan making everyone believe he's okay and he can go on, but knowing deep down he can't.

Souvenir: Ptuj concert in 2023, and all the incidents that sent Bojan to the hospital before that.

Mesto Duhov - Music has died, laughter has gone out

This song feels like the opening to a beloved shonen anime. It's a fast paced song, which comes witht he added element of the slow portion that serves as a chorus, which sounds like a funeral march, very adequate for a song called City of Ghosts. The lyrics talk about a town where everything has died and there is nothing left. Where once stood a beautiful city, now there is sorrow and grief, just memories of what once used to be. The themes of loss in this album are pretty strong after you get past the initial euphoria Carpe Diem gave us. The mixture of rock and the haunting funeral song is one of those strange combinations you're gonna crave as a midnight snack. Definetely one of the best songs of the album.

Chapter Seven is reflection on the overdose that Lips put us through. The attempt at rock at moments is the rockstars trying to get back on their feet and give their fans that sound they crave, but when they get back to the funeral sounds, is when they know they can't ignore the pain anymore. The City of Ghosts is not a town, it's a heart, it's a mind, it's the enthusiasm that died out and is starting to fade away and disappear. It's almost like they're questioning if it's worth it to try again. Is the pain superior to the joy, or the other way around?

Souvenir: I associate this with Sunny Side of London. A cheery song that was released right after the storm. There is some sense of recovery, but it isn't quite there yet. At the same time, this is about memories of a familiar place that used to bring comfort but now has dread associated to it.

Sonce - I've lost everything that you called the sun

This is a gorgeous song. I am a pianist myself, so hearing Jan at the keys was very touching. This song reminded me a whole lot of a popular Argentinian song called "Alfonsina y El Mar" (Alfonsina and The Sea) which talks about poet writer Alfonsina Storni and how she left this world by jumping into the sea. This song feels like an elegy, and it ceirtainly is one. As far as I know, this song was inspired by "current social events", and I can see why. This is a song about despair, pure and unfiltered, with no more attempts at rock or love. This song is about fear of darkness, of feeling helpless and worthless in a world that keeps being violent and wild, and being a bystander, unable to do anything beyond singing to bring comfort. This world, this society we live in, is a chaos far beyond what we could imagine or control. The Generation of Love seems to lower their head, cover their ears and ask themselves "When did it get like this?".

Final Chapter is about the rockstars sulking and seeing how everything around them is crumbling down inevitably. The band has had it share of incidents and backlash, and it's been a particularly rough road, mentally and physically. There is a need for musicians to be involved in the world they live in, and when they don't speak up, there is backlash. This is a song where they arrive to a dead point. It seems like this story is not bound to have a happy ending.

Souvenir: Memories of easier times, when everything was a bit less terrible, and the feeling of familiarity that's lost in an everchanging world.

Everybody's Waiting - No one's ever gonna make it easier, you're the only one who can

The perfect final touch for an album that talks about changing world perceptions. The first time I heard this song, I cried, after knowing all that was behind it. Bojan's story with music and balance is not an easy one, not after all that he's been through. A kid who thought he could have the entire world in his hands but ultimately lost balance, tripped and fell. Luckily, Bojan has a support network composed by friends, family and even music producers, who wouldn't let him fall further and did everything in their power to bring him back up. Everybody's Waiting is a cathartic song that gives perfect closure to a cycle of self-torture and doubt. While it might not seem like a victorious or happy song, it's definetely a way to celebrate you made it out alive. By acknowledging the feelings of loss and the pressure he is in, Bojan was able to finally get it off his chet and realize he's not alone. And with this release, he sent a message to all of us who are in the dark and feel like they are lost - You are not alone. If he can make it out alive, you can. And there is no shame in asking for help.

This Epilogue is about finding balance, and the rockstars realizing that this world isn't perfect, nor is how they expected it to be. Everybody is waiting for them to do something good or bad, because anything goes in a world where talk runs cheap and fast. Everyone wants them to always shine and be perfect. But as much as they try, they can't always be perfect. This song is them embracing the fact that there might be expectations, but it's okay to take a break if necessary even if you don't meet them. The only one who can make your life easier is yourself. If you choose to hold out that hand and let someone reach it, if you choose to set boundaries and keep what's worth close to your chest, you'll be making your life easier. Just like that. It doesn't have to be a long journey. Just a step is enough.

Souvenir: Everybody's Waiting release. I also want to add Ptuj 2 because I feel that was the real moment where Bojan closed that chapter, by returning to that stage he once was frightened in, and now being able to be himself to a crowd that would not judge him. This is about closure, about accepting memories as they are.

Final words

Overall, this album has a great storytelling pace. It tells a story beautifully in very well told chapters, and it sums up perfectly the rollercoaster Joker Out has been through. It's very notorious that they have grown up as musicians, and the variety of music styles is proof of that. This is a perfect CD to show to someone who wants to see a newer face of the Slovenian boys who conquered Eurovision, even though they did not touch top 10. Not all losses are defeats, definetely speaking. I cannot wait to see what else these boys have in store, and I definetely want the album release tour to start already because I am very, very sure that the live performance will add just the perfect touch to cement these songs as masterpieces.

Overall rating score of the album: 8.5/10.

[pseudowho]

Hello Haitch!! Hope you doing well 💞💞💞

First off, I wanted to say that I LOVED your analysis on Nanami’s dislike for working but also still doing overtime. Not only did it just make sense, it also felt so real and relatable to me. I’m not the type of person to procrastinate. My checklist is there so I can get my work done and when I’m finally free of responsibilities, I can actually enjoy my break. But sadly work for now is unending, and I found my past self pulling a Nanami Kento staying up till who-knows-how-late just to finish… only this week’s assignments when there will be more next week?? at the cost of my energy, mental health, back pain??

And if I remember correctly, there was this one post you made about why you love Nanami: the rage, the fiery, passionate anger! *chef’s kiss.* The part where I fell for Nanami (I fell hard) was that he was able to, like you said, redirect it to a purpose of altruism. Somehow, Nanami makes some good out of it in a merciless, parasitical (as Mr. Haitch said) system. It’s not revolutionary systemic change, but it is certainly enough to have an impact on the people he cares about. I think that’s the perfect amount for Nanami. That just makes him even more human and precious to me 🥺

I also want to bring up the things that Nanami does for himself too. Like what we talked about earlier, he found value in helping others not just for them but also for himself! Also, I think he definitely upped his self-care game, and we do love a man who can take care of himself. Probably the most obvious indication of this is how he set clear work-life boundaries in his schedule. He will not work past 6:00 unless he has to. This would probably allow him to enjoy the rest of his evening off, as he should. It is even more pronounced how being a jujutsu sorcerer means you don’t know when your time might end. I’m just glad that Nanami was able to at least have the time to read that one book in a peaceful cafe we saw in the first season opening. I also think that the same concept applies in real life too. We deserve to enjoy the limited time we have on earth because even if we are working for the possible future of no more work, it is not certain that we’ll even make it.

Yaga said something to Yuuji when he first got accepted to Jujutsu High. Sorcerers will die regretting something in their life. That just stuck with me for throughout the entire show. Nanami’s scene emphasized his regrets of not being able to go to Malaysia where he can finally live a simple, unburdened life. I never really cried hard for a show or a movie, until that scene… Yeah, so I had to take the following day off and go take a nap on the beach just lying in the sun just thinking about Nanami…

———- (covering two asks in one) ———-

May I possibly convince you that perhaps some classical music is worthwhile? The ones that make me swoon and melt and sigh while daydreaming. Not bach, not mozart, not beethoven…

But specifically the romantic era. And even in there you have to do a bit more digging.

Just the first minute and if you like it, then that’s awesome! if not, that’s cool too!

- Rachmaninoff’s symphony no. 2, movement 3 (Adagio)

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QNRxHyZDU-Q&pp=ygUecmFjaG1hbmlub2ZmIHN5bXBob255IDIgYWRhZ2lv

*sighs dreamily because yes.* I think a large majority of classical music is hard to enjoy for me too. It will either make me fall asleep or it is super busy and complicated, not good to listen to while doing work… but there are certain pieces that I’ll just always go back to.

Moving on, it makes me wonder… what types of music do you listen to? Opinions on the JJK opening and ending songs? What type of music wouldn Nanami listen to? Did you know Nanami has a theme song??

Ah, I just wanted to say that you’re literally the reason why I downloaded tumblr just to like all your posts and follow you. It’s the first fandom I’ve ever interacted with, and I never could’ve imagined how exciting and insightful it could be to be a part of it 💗💗💗

I honestly love your addition to this analysis! I agree with all of it.

r.e. the self care, I think it adds an extra layer of tragedy to his life; as soon as he began to open himself up to experiencing joy, and permitting himself to be happy before this self-imposed 'retirement' age, he died before getting into his stride.

See, with Nanami's MalaysiaPlan™️, I view it as largely metaphorical over totally literal. I think he fundamentally was overworked, stressed and overpressured, and 'Malaysia' simply meant 'running away from it all'. I think that if he hadn't died, and his self-care had continued to gain trajectory as Kento found a way to ensure a good work-life balance, I think 'Malaysia' may well have slipped away; he would no longer need to run away, in order to find peace and enjoyment in life. Therefore, dying before 'Malaysia' simply meant he died before achieving his true goal; to be content in life. Which is desperately fucking sad. A truly, miserably, horribly sad end for a wonderfully three-dimensional character.

In the AU that is. In the Haitchverse, he's alive, and coming home to his loving wife, and teaching Yuuji how to be a man.

I will always give more music a go. Ultimately, I've recognised that I'm quite a Maximalist with decor and music; more is better. I'm into metal with a lot going on, any music which has extensive layers, I tend to go for your more passionate, angsty songs as well. This is where classical loses me; despite being ostensibly a work of art, which I can appreciate...it's just instrumental. It leaves me lacking. It's a meal with no main course. I get to the end and I'm still hungry.

I like Bad Omens, Babymetal, lots of J-rock, K-pop, lots of other pieces from various metal artists. Bigger is better for me, r.e. music, unless it's an exquisitely crafted understated piece in a minor key, that hits every fine note with devastating melancholy accuracy.

I did know Nanami has a theme song! The thing that makes me laugh hardest about it, is that I think he'd find his theme song annoying.

Now I genuinely do HC Kento as a metal enthusiast, and really not in a self-project-y way. Hear me out.

Metal contains most of the truest, rawest proclamations of the world's ills of any other music genre, in my opinion. Behind the roaring line beautiful lyrics speaking out against the tortured of the system, and the woes of life. Listening to it is surprisingly upbeat; it's like being seen for feeling the world is a twisted place.

I tend to find Metal attracts a lot of quietly sensitive men, who are outwardly stoic but internally a maelstrom. With the very classic 'emo' haircut as a teenager, that was very much the remit of the emo/metal kids, I think it suits him well.

The Eve's second JJK opening is my favourite. Honestly one of my favourite of all time. Lost in Paradise is my favourite end theme.

Last but not least: I truly cannot believe you downloaded Tumblr just to like my stuff. I do not deserve such a beautifully targeted compliment. You're a sweetheart. Genuinely. Thank you.

Love,

-- Haitch xxx

[natade-art]

Hey do you have any tips when it comes to amv's? I'm a big fan of your stuff so i'd love to hear any suggestions you might have! also if you have any tips on software as well

hmm well i guess first of all re: software i don't have any particular suggestions because ill be honest i use a cracked version of some like $300 program and tbh its not worth it i just don't want to change my ways LOL it freezes and crashes a looot and the autosave is only sort of helpful. i used imovie on my phone before that and i figure thats probably totally acceptable. i don't do any really fancy transitions or anything else, so.

Otherwise ummmm well this is advice i myself am bad at consistently following but its nice to follow the beat of the song in a clear pattern, like following the pattern and tempo of the music itself. sometimes the instrumentals overpower the lyrics in controlling the flow of the song, sometimes its the other way around, so i usually like to go with whichever element seems most dominant. like my jjba name of love amv i followed the example of the amv with the same song which inspired me and went almost completely off the sounds in the music because it has some pretty prominent ones which guide the pace a lot more than the vocals do. but in my kh against me amv i MOSTLY followed the vocals. if that makes sense. and i think it depends on how u think about the song. like i dont remember an inch of my elementary school music class and cant really focus on instrumentals AND vocals at once so i struggle with that part.

most of all im just fucking around and doing what feels right per song and source material lol. id be cautious with transitions esp like the zoom type because they make ME motion sick. but thats just me. umm personally i try to be conservative with using sounds from the show/game/whatever in the amv like i like this jjba amv but this person looooves using sound effects and dialogue from the show and this ones pushing the line for me. i developed a lot of strong opinions in what i like or dislike in an amv from spending too long watching too many one piece amvs so i go a lot off personal taste. i prefer revolutionary girl utena bet on it and mortal kombat theme amvs to like 100 one piece everybody wants to rule the world or imagine dragons trying to be really cool and dramatic and actiony amvs myself even though i am not immune to well done actiony amvs either. most of all i think u just need a vision and to go for it! hope this helps :]

[transmutationisms]

hi caden, i love your blog. you completely changed my understanding of succession when i first stumbled upon your writing. i wanted to ask what you thought of the use of pete seeger's 'which side are you on?' in season 1. it is one of the only overt gestures towards anticapitalist politics in the show and maybe the only one that comes to mind where the show calls in in other media (because one of the only other times that i can think of is ewan's anticapitalist lawyer) so it feels more 'real' to me, if that makes sense, because 'which side are you on?' has had a real-world role in anticapitalist politics in a way that ewan's lawyer has not lmao. i was wondering what you thought of that choice narratively/stylistically/etc. thank you! hope you're well.

hi! honestly, i read that as one of the most cynical moments in the entire show. the whole premise of the seeger song is that there's an inside and an outside to capitalist class interests: you'll either be a union man or a thug for jh blair. so, choosing a side makes an actual difference: are you defending or opposing capitalist class interests? with kendall and the vote of no confidence, obviously, there is no analogous choice. kendall and logan are both fighting for the same thing, namely control of the company. picking one of them over the other does nothing to alter the underlying power structures the way unions do, or are supposed to. the song pokes fun at kendall for having styled himself a revolutionary in order to make his media conglomerate power grab.

narratively and stylistically, i find this scene intensely satisfying. lines like "come all of you good workers" playing over footage of a billionaire wandering wall street are an extremely effective way to convey both how removed kendall's world is from that of struggling kentuckian miners, and how kendall is trapped by his own outrageous wealth and inability to imagine an escape from the company or his father. it's not an entirely unsympathetic sequence, but it's certainly not a flattering one. the joke here is that kendall wants to engage in the picture-book heroics of taking down the big evil boss, but he has no interest in why that boss exists in the first place. so, unlike striking miners, he's simply trying to maintain the same class structure but with himself at the very top of the hierarchy. even being logan's son and very much a member of the capitalist class isn't enough for kendall; he needs the actual ceo position. that he sees this as a way out of his father's abuse and control, rather than an avenue to his own perpetration of the same things, is indicative of how little he thinks of anyone besides himself and logan as a person with interests and needs.

the contrast between the shiny new glass and bustle of manhattan, versus the old-recording sound of the song, also points to some way in which union politics from the 1930s tend to falter when confronting the labour laws and practices of the 21st century. gig economies, cyberspatial capital, &c don't speak exactly the same language as unions modelled on organising tactics of nearly a century ago; kendall thus looks doubly absurd, trying to fancy himself not just a rebelling worker but one whose strategies simply seem incommensurable with the functioning of a modern media conglomerate (in deleuzian or foucauldian terms, the labour union is an effective strategy when dealing with a disciplinary society with disciplinary workspaces, like a factory; if it is to achieve anything in the control society with its corporations and neoliberalisation, it needs to update its tactics).

politically this is a good example of how the show typically leans more on satire of capitalism than on active or positive engagement with anti-capitalism. i also remember that the first time i watched the show, this was one of the moments where i felt like it was clear how the general trajectory for these characters is going to go. kendall is always going to pursue logan's empire; he's never going to seek a way out, and his actualisation, which is loganification, will always come at the expense of countless unnamed other people. he will never get the victorious moment he dreams of because his narratives for understanding the world are extremely limited and simplistic, and he can only cast himself as a few heroic archetypes that don't exist and that certainly wouldn't be him if they did.

for me this sequence is emblematic of both the show's strengths and what many leftists ultimately find frustrating about it, namely its refusal to engage with anti-capitalism beyond using it to mock the capitalist class. the song ends up telling us a lot about kendall and his relationship with logan, but isn't really trying to link the show up with actual alternatives to the capitalist systems of control that pen kendall in. it's a gesture toward awareness of proletarians (like the shots scattered through the show of domestic workers, event staff, &c) but is ultimately limited by the pov characters' own refusal to think about such people in any sustained capacity. again, i think this works incredibly well and succinctly as a piece of character work for a billionaire; but for people who want the show to engage more directly with labour politics and anti-capitalism, rather than such character study (& i can certainly understand that position), it's also a moment that sums up the fundamental problems of the premise and the writers' overall approach to politics.

[mywifeleftme]

312: Victor Jara // Manifiesto

Manifiesto Victor Jara 1975, Discos Pueblo

Manifiesto is assembled from recordings intended for an album that was to be called Tiempos que cambian (literally Times That Change, or New Times) smuggled out of Chile by Jara’s widow Joan after the folksinger’s torture and murder by the Pinochet junta in 1973. It was simultaneously released by different labels under a variety of titles around the world. My copy hails from Mexico, released by leftist folk label Discos Pueblo, who make their intentions clear in a statement (machine-translated by me) on the back of the sleeve that reads in part:

“We find it necessary to point out that due to its quality and value, Victor Jara’s work should be disseminated, but always by those who identify with it, and not by the transnational companies that financed his return to Chile by organizing the bloody military coup of 1973. [Ed. Something in their use of word “retorno” is probably being lost in translation here; I think it implies something like Jara’s “return to whence he came,” e.g. his burial in Chilean soil.] Those transnational corporations that today benefit from Victor Jara’s singing, filtering out its combative aspects and presenting it as incomplete, seem to ignore the deep paths that people use to preserve the integrity of the voice of their singers. This album is our answer.”

The LP is clearly a work of love (and economy), the sleeve purposely left unglued so that it can be opened like a gatefold, revealing testimonies by his peers. There’s scarcely an inch that isn’t crammed with text—even the flaps that cradle the inner sleeve itself hide lyrics to two of the album’s key songs:

The sleeve unfolded.

“I don’t sing for the sake of singing, or for having a good voice, I sing because the guitar has sense and reason, it has a heart of earth and wings of a dove, it is like holy water that blesses my sorrows. This is where my song fits, as Violeta said, a hard-working guitar that smells of spring. It is not a rich man’s guitar or anything like that, my song is the scaffolding to reach the stars. The song has meaning when it beats in the veins of the one who will die singing truths, not fleeting flattery or foreign fame, but the song of a lark to the bottom of the earth. There, where everything arrives and where everything begins, a song that has been brave will always be a nueva cancion [New Song].”

Jara’s artistry (which, besides spearheading the nueva cancion movement, also included poetry and theatrical direction) was inseparable from his politics, and the music of Manifiesto is a stirring testament to his talents and the historical moment he occupied, when Chile like Cuba before it seemed on the verge of breaking free from centuries of resource extraction-driven imperialism and making its own way. These songs cannot help but feel elegiac given the circumstances of their release, and indeed they do frequently mourn the historical oppression of the common worker. Jara’s was a lark’s voice, not that of a conventional rabble rouser, and most of these songs seem best suited for night-time gatherings of comrades and lovers or, in the case of the dazzling instrumental “Caicai Vilu” (referencing a Mapuche creation myth), perhaps a rural cotillion. But these songs were recorded during the years of Salvador Allende’s triumph, a movement that Jara had personally helped galvanize, and there is the sense that these are songs about moving in a changed world that still feels almost surreal. Only at the very end, with the rock-inflected call to arms “Canto libre,” does Jara’s Revolutionary sentiment take on a more martial beat, finally unfurling a flag of victory.

That victory would be short-lived of course, as U.S. imperialists would soon back Pinochet’s reign of terror and grind the Chilean people under the heel of fascism for another generation. It’s hard to make an argument that Jara and Allende’s side “won” in any meaningful sense (without an appeal to some abstracted moral arbiter anyway). It may be blinkered to even try, knowing that Pinochet died obscenely wealth in his nineties and that there were never meaningful consequences for his even wealthier American backers, while a despairing Allende perished at his own hand and Jara with his fingers broken and his body riddled with bullets. Yet I do believe that a song can transcend the accounting of atrocities and persist on its own terms. Music like Jara’s will endure as long as there are human beings who seek a recognition of their own worthiest qualities in art. As one of the Mexican edition’s compilers says:

“…his voice will not have coffins or crematoriums, nor dark prisons nor barbed wire, comrades! His voice and his guitar continue the fight, they remain alive seeking victory. And they will also return as flags when the Homeland regains its joy.”

312/365