#phd in yapology

[montanamp3]

in the spirit of the genre i'd like to hijack the current asian country music train to talk about one of my favourite historical guys shoji tabuchi: fiddler hall of famer! king of kitsch americana slay!! one of the Most Guys Ever in country music!!!!!

[OKAY this spiralled into a Whole Thing so im putting it under the cut to save your dashes. be warned this is long]

quick backstory: shoji tabuchi was born in osaka, japan. he was classically trained on the violin but discovered country through roy acuff and joined a fairly popular japanese band called the bluegrass ramblers. in 1967 he moved to america with (he claimed later) his guitar and five hundred dollars and played in a couple of bands around california and texas. in the 80s, he got a contract in branson missouri, met his wife there, and they started a show called (very creatively) the shoji tabuchi show.

this is where it gets fun, because the shoji tabuchi show is. okay. it's like if you concentrated the distilled essence of 1990s RAGHHH AMERICA HELL YEAH-style patriotism into a three hour-long extravaganza with backup dancers! fog machines! ten thousand glitter suits! SHOJI spelled out all caps with lasers! a glow in the dark space violin from NASA! like it's TACKY! it's CHEESY! it's CAMP! it's genuinely hilarious!

anyway, when people talk about tabuchi they like to say that he was the "american dream" like he had a family, he owned a whole incredible theatre with (no joke) the gaudiest bathrooms in america, he played two shows a day until he died, he performed to the pm of japan… like he was GETTING THAT BREAD!! the city of branson even gave him a public holiday!

and to be clear. i love tabuchi, i think he was a great entertainer and a great performer, and i don't begrudge him any of his success. but there are better fiddlers out there, better performers, better singers. as a guy on reddit put it in 2013 put it, you kind of have to recognise that at least some part of his success is enabled by "Asian Can Into Country Music???" syndrome. and he has kind of acknowledged this himself-- he used to sell himself as the "japanese cowboy" before he started his show, and he once told a magazine "say person A and person B play [the fiddle] just as good. who stands out, me or him?" which is. #girlboss? maybe? one of his more defining traits throughout his career was his fairly pronounced japanese accent which made it difficult for him to gain footing in the music industry at first but became iconic . some people have said that he didn't actually have that strong of an accent and he was playing it up for the Bit-- a hypothesis that is (somewhat) supported by his album named (i kid you not) ROVE RETTERS.

so how much of the shoji tabuchi show was the Bit and how much of it was genuine? and if it is a bit, who's in on it? who's being made fun of- tabuchi? japan? the audience? america? i have to admit i'm pretty biased here because the essential Incongruence of being an asian-can-into-country-music person IS funny! rawhide kobayashi and all that! and i understand why he might have leant into it and played it up to survive/get famous/get that bread. i never knew tabuchi, so i can't say that like it's fact, but wouldn't that be the most american thing of all?

[romaritimeharbor]

"write a 2 page paper" ok so talk. a lot. that is what you're telling me to do rn.

[express-archives]

utc is ambrose & artemis' backstory... in an infodump format! this post is written as if i was speaking to another person, and that's because i was when i wrote this HAHAH this was all copied and pasted from a dm with a friend of mine, but i felt compelled to share it here too because... oc lore!!

so. ambrose and artemis. teehee

both of them started off as normal, short-lived humans. the planet they lived on, which was nameless at the time they were born on it (though it was later fondly named 'arcadia'), was rather archaic in its technolgy, completely uncontacted by the IPC or other interstellar organizations, and terribly riddled with war and death. it had been this way since before they were born, and presumably, would be that way for long after they died… of course, it didn't end that way. long before their births, phantylia stumbled across the planet by chance and decided to sew chaos and destruction there; she has been known to enjoy watching humans destroy themselves senselessly, and what kind of lord ravager would she be if she passed up such a delightful opportunity? this chaos and war went on for years, utterly obliterating the planet's resources and slowly but surely making its inevitable death draw nearer and nearer. ambrose and artemis were born a few hundred years into the mess that phantylia created.

ambrose grew up to be a gentle and kind healer, a farmer, and—occasionally—a battle strategist. though harming people was not in their nature, they had no choice if they wanted to protect their people and their family. they also frequently took care of children, since many did not have parents to raise them. artemis grew up to be a powerful and respected soldier, though she would often come home injured and ambrose would tenderly treat her wounds and remind her to be more careful. it became like a little routine for them. neither of their parents remained in the picture (except for ambrose's sickly mother), having long since been killed in the crossfire. they really only had each other to rely on, so they grew quite close over the years.

naturally, being so close, artemis noticed when her elder cousin grew a little more withdrawn in their preteen years. she noticed when they spent more time researching old, historic books. she noticed how odd it was for them.

somewhere along the line, ambrose discovered legends telling stories of (some of) the aeons. ambrose was not the religious type, but watching their people kill one another was destroying them on the inside and this was all they could try to do to stop it. from the ages of 12-ish to 23-ish, ambrose dutifully prayed. they weren't really sure who or what they were directing it towards; really, they were just throwing their thoughts out into the universe in the hopes that something might hear them.

the first time yaoshi's gaze ever shifted in their direction was when they were 19. ambrose recognized that something had seen them, if the overwhelming sense of dread and unease was not enough to indicate it, though they were not certain who or what. but they could do nothing about it except grit their teeth and keep on, regardless of how unsettling it was to be noticed by something no doubt far greater than them.

they did tell artemis about this. how could they not? she was virtually their best friend. artemis had known about ambrose's prayers ever since they started, but she truly did not believe ambrose's experience, though it was more of a knee-jerk reaction than anything.

anyways, the feeling of being seen never quite went away for the next 4 years, and ambrose eventually got very used to it, to the point where if they were not being gazed upon, it was uncomfortable.

the night of their 23rd birthday, yaoshi made themselves properly known to ambrose for the first time via a dream after having carefully observed them for the past four years (though, to an aeon, four years would pass in the blink of an eye, so it seemed like barely any time at all to yaoshi, i would imagine). an old snippet i wrote about that encounter:

They wanted to say something, they really did, but the words only stuck to the sides of their dry throat. Anything they tried to say only got caught and ultimately could not escape. Whatever stood before them was undeniably something far greater than they would ever be. For something so intimidating… their hands were gentle, gingerly stroking whatever skin was exposed in what seemed to be an attempt to get Ambrose to relax. "Be not afraid, little one. I will not bring you any harm," they murmured kindly, lips brushing against one corner of Ambrose's mouth. When had the deity gotten so close? Gods, they couldn't breathe. "You desire to save your home, yes?" "I—" they choked, "Yes, I do, I…" The god's lips pulled into a smile, eyes so soft with pity and sympathy that the mortal couldn't help but wonder what degree of eldritch deity they had managed to get the attention of. Only something so impossibly nonmortal and unearthly would gaze at them like that. A benignant kiss was placed at the corner of Ambrose's lips. "With such a fragile body, helpless to the cruelty of war and violence, you will never manage it." "I know." "I will lend you the strength you need. I will free you from the constraints of mortality, if you will only allow me to do so." "Please," they whispered tearfully, suddenly feeling very pitiable and fragile under their gaze, "I can't… I can't live like this anymore." The god's smile only seemed to widen ever so slightly. Ambrose had difficulty reading their expression; they could not tell what the deity was thinking. Then, a searing pain shot up their leg, and they sucked in a sharp breath. Ambrose was awake in an instant, hand clamped over their mouth to muffle the shriek that threatened to breach their throat so as to not disturb the other members of their household. Their freehand frantically reached down to their leg, and there— There was a swelling welt on their calf, feverish and sore to the touch. A hushed sob reverberated in their chest. It was almost akin to the sting of a scorpion.

following this encounter, ambrose's body rapidly changed to accomodate immortality, and it was with this aeon-given ability that they were able to put an end to the slaughter of their world. stepping onto the barren land, flowers would bloom in their wake, and the world began to heal, thriving on the abundance's power channeled through ambrose like some kind of prophetic vessel. arcadia, as ambrose named their homeworld, has something like the xianzhou alliance's ambrosial arbor, from which others of their home could attain immortality. some did; others did not. artemis did, for one, making her an abomination of abundance.

artemis was very on edge for a long time, and it never quite went away. there was always something nagging at the back of her mind that this just… wasn't quite right. though, she WAS grateful that the war had been ended.

a few hundred years passed without incident, and the world was thriving better than ever. ambrose disappears one day (not without a word, however; they had spoken to artemis about this and ultimately left to explore the vastness of the universe with yaoshi as their guide, until they could "walk on their own" so to speak. until they could navigate on their own and handle themselves. essentially yaoshi was like "haha. this pathetic little human child is mine now ♡")

people do eventually start "dying" to mara, but the reactions from the people were mostly very mild.

there was never any public outcry or widespread concern. but artemis was EXTREMELY unsettled by this. she had long since ceased crying—it did no good for her, a valued soldier on the front lines, to cry—but she did when the people she loved began to die, and she couldn't help but feel the sting of betrayal. did ambrose know about this? furthermore, did yaoshi know about this and just… not tell anyone?

breaking down in such a manner triggered her mara, and though she did not die, she had her first encounter with an aeon.

it was lan. drawn in by how thoroughly similar she was to ambrose (who had an unfortunate first encounter with lan at one point and earned a very nasty scar from the aeon, barely having escaped with their immortal life), the hunt initially intended to shoot her down and move on. but i think lan formed a weird connection with artemis that day—it's known that the abundance destroyed their homeworld, so i think perhaps they may have been human before ascending. something something ummm brief flickers of humanity in what once was human, but has since been mutilated by eldritch power. yeah. anyways. that was the day that artemis became a pathstrider of the hunt. and later, she became an emanator of the hunt, though her access to the path is quite restricted… perhaps lan does not fully trust artemis. who knows? it's impossible to tell what such a powerful deity is thinking at any given moment.

it was following ambrose's encounter with lan that yaoshi granted them full emanatorship, though they had been an emanator before then, simply less powerful. by that point, i like to think that yaoshi had grown quite attached to the little one they picked up, and the simple truth is that the hunt is relentless and yaoshi might not be able to save ambrose's life in time… so what better way to solve that problem than to give them the power to protect themselves (more or less HAHAH)? 🤭🫶

as emanators, they are quite different people.

artemis sees herself as an individual who lan has shared their power with. ambrose sees themselves as but an extension of yaoshi, a vessel through which their will is exercised.

[lovefingers]

i finally reached the climax of my story 120k+ words later 🙂‍↔️

[strider-rambles]

I don't know if it's out of line to be in your inbox but I see you around tumblr pretty often and I'm bro strider myself so i figured I'd say good on you for posting your shit in a reasonably articulated way. You're one of the least obnoxious strider kids in the tags. Not saying this just cause you don't hate your bro I'm a little more couth than that i mean in a literal sense you format alright.

if i had anyone in specific i wanted to shut out from this blog id have something in my intro which i don't, (except for stridercesters, but that's a general group) so for everyone out there that aren't them y'all are gucci

ok tangent over time to get to the meat

i try and air on the side of coherence a lot of the time both to maintain my self respect and kind of like. add something that's like. actually valuable to the space other than word vomit and like. whining or wtv. generally i also don't really interact with other daves due 2 the fact that a grand majority of the time we just don't see eye to eye on things, especially regarding our identities as striders, our relationships to other individuals, and just vibes, too. so although i can't personally verify your statement regarding the not being annoying thing, i guess i agree

but thanks (?)

+ before i yap your motherfuckin ear off mike tyson style imma cut to the shit and tell you that if you wanna have a like. full ass conversation sometime i'd be down, i guess.

[poetsinnyc]

I JUST REALIZED I NEVER DID AN INTRO

here it is (overdue ngl)

Name: Rey Gender: Female 🐸 MBTI: ENTP-A Sexuality: ✨a bi queen ✨ (just like dalton) Relationship status: married to neil perry/bi-myself Nationality: Malaysian Languages: English, but I can string together enough Spanish, Malay and Chinese to make a few coherent sentences Fandoms: Dead Poets Society, Over the Garden Wall, Brooklyn 99, Percy Jackson, Rick and Morty, a bunch of Webtoons, Bo Burnham (if he counts), Star Wars, Beetlejuice, Suits (off the top of my head but will likely be editing this) Music: I'll always be a die hard Beatles and Fujii Kaze fan, but I find myself branching out more into TV Girl, Her's, Jomm, Wallows, Kyuuwaii, Jazz Emu, Keshi and Kenshi Yonezu (though I'm sure there will be more to come) Hobbies: I love reading, socialising, listening to music, writing poetry Also debate (very obsessed) and model united nations (VETO) I love to run and dance and sing when i have time even though I don't practice my ballet nearly as much as my teacher would like me to I also like researching random things and I LOVE discussing politics, philosophy, entomology, astronomy, quantum physics and economics (though there are gaps in my knowledge that I am eager to fill) I also like watching movies and interpreting the crap out of stuff (it's too many hobbies but ITS MY BLOG MY RULES MUAHAHHAA) So I'm currently in my final year of highschool (IGCSEs) and at my fucking limit 🎀 Trying to get through life after losing sm people that I'm not sure whether I'm the same anymore Extremely stressed but hey! I persist!

lastly; please please please text me I know I've put this on my blog before but I really love talking to people (PhD in yapology and certified yapper) so literally hit me up I will get back to you in 1-3 business days Carpe Diem !!

[puckspoetry]

PhD in yapology

[yabagofmilfs]

Imo the best pairings are where you have a yapper (geno currently pursuing his PHD in yapology) and their partner who sighs lovingly with hearts in their eyes and whispers "yes dearest whatever you say" (Down Bad Since Day One sidney crosby)

haha i can’t tell if this is a typo or if we just have very different interpretations of who the yapper is in this dynamic, but spiritually YEAH AGREE 😭

either way sid has been extremely down bad from day one, it’s true

[pootimedes]

you sure do yap alot, I like that

i have 2 phds in yapology

[caesarclown-cc]

enough kin memories to have a phd in yapology

[montanamp3]

would love if you could talk more about the goth sg ceciliaverse is it like a worldbuilding thing uve got?

HAHA... YES!!!!!!!

ok so the ceciliaverse is just my catchall for my weird melodramatic overwrought myspacecore "dark academia" short stories set in sg lol. it's called the ceciliaverse because originally they all took place in st cecilia junior college which is an Extremely Thinly Disguised version of my old jc no points for guessing which one

anyway! our cast:

unhinged catholics x1 (you look so good in blue)

YOU CAN ACTUALLY READ THIS ONE!!!!

st cecilia jc, 2008

two kids from single-gender schools + a complete and total lack of chill = murder

au of sheath and knife by maddy prior

i almost failed a levels because i was so intense about writing this but it was worth it

unhinged catholics x2 (the singing bone)

st cecilia jc, 2023

girl drowns her best friend slash academic rival and either Spirals or Gets Haunted about it it's unclear

consisted mainly of me and my friends arguing in the canteen about which subject combi would be the most likely to snap (it would be the hybrid students)

but we could not figure out for the life of us how killing someone would help you get 90rp

au of binnorie by custer larue/the winding stream by the carter family (i've linked the johnny cash cover)

unhinged catholics x3 (and now we are at partings)

st cecilia jc, 2016

just the divine comedy. but in sg.

hamilton kinnie theatre kid realises she can talk to dead people and promptly summons the ghost of her favourite writer, an obscure 1970s asian-american activist

i never finished this because i dont really know enough about sg to write it. but in someone else's hands i think it could be really cute

not actually technically In the ceciliaverse but it has the vibes

unhinged anglicans (little emperor)

cambridge, 199X

unsuspecting british woman starts dating weird rich acs boy and realises she's in over her head

[FIC PENDING]

unhinged charismatic pentecostals (verse chorus verse)

???, 1950

this is a fic for my friend's thing that is totally unrelated to any of these other things but it gets a honorary spot here because it's partially set in sg and it's horribly dramatic and i had a lot of fun writing it ^_^

i dont actually know how to explain it lol. there's arson there's graverobbing there's medical malpractice

[taintedlxve]

@voidofsins replied to your post “Don't mind me I'm just yappin”:

Nah sis, yap to your heart's content. I do the same, and it's important to yarn out your ideas so you got it somewhere.

​Me :handshake: Kaali

PhD Masters in Yapology

[yeonban]

Going through my blog trying to find a specific post is like finding myself in the trenches. Why did I obtain a PhD in yapology

[dice-of-rolling]

The more time I spend not working at Trader Joe’s the more I realize not everyone has a degree in yapology. I unfortunately have a PHD.

[sadboytristan]

Way too proud of myself, I came up with "I studied yapology and earned a PHD in rambling" and it only took 15 minutes

[tenmyoujump]

phd in yapology