#sometimes i need to use tumblr to catalogue stuff

[1892]

rap albums you should listen to if you have 20-36 minutes to spare some of these are very popular and basic some of them are not and all are worth checking out

daytona - pusha t

pray for paris - westside gunn

illmatic - nas

nasty - rico nasty

big fish theory - vince staples

generational curse - icecoldbishop

funkdafied - da brat

really livin - rascalz

american boyfriend - kevin abstract

scaring the hoes - jpegmafia&danny brown

[hephaestiions]

'24 retrospective

thank you, @kamaela & @hollyhawthorn for the tag on ruminations from 2024, we're going to pretend i'm not a whole week late to it.

sometime in— march?— i got high and thought— wouldn't it be fantastic if draco and harry did that too? started writing what became almost 7k words of porn with feelings about harry being taken care of, which marked a return to ao3 and my first fic since 2021. win! i posted some shorter, quicker stuff to tumblr, of which i particularly enjoyed writing this auror partners transfer request, about harry, lettuce & embroidery yarn, and grace.

it's been a year of figuring out style & character, what works, what doesn't, what holds weight & water, slips, comes back. which is mostly to say it's been a year of drafts, writing & scrapping, letting things marinate in docs, coming up with several thousand wips & resisting the urge to take down older fics and repost them in a style i agree with more now.

2024 was also the year of getting into reccing, which i've enjoyed far, far more than i expected. my three author reclists for plor, wolf & tacky were my favourite to do, i loved the immersive invite of them. given my need to devour back catalogues of every author i adore, i'm hoping to continue these; we are well and truly blessed with enough writers here to keep me going for a lifetime.

writing (mostly) individual recs for hprecfest was also absolutely glorious. i have so much to say about works that stick with me, and saying it all to get others to go delight in them was brilliantly fulfilling. the process made me write my own love letters to reccing & reccers & the light they are in fandom, which may be my own most cherished post. i don't always have the bandwidth to write or read new stuff, but showing love like this keeps me involved, immersed, and importantly, very happy.

i've read a lot this year & listing everything will unfortunately have us cataloguing the colours of the sky. instead, i'm going to make a list of what i consider my priority tbr of fics & authors, people & works i wanted to get around to this year, couldn't, want to gorge myself on soon.

@garagepaperback wrote 300k words in 9 works this year, and i need to read every one as soon as possible. their style demands savouring & i've saved up so much garagefic for when i have the time to do them justice. @eleadore writes such a deliciously abrasive, petulant drarry dynamic; i'm really, really looking forward to being in A Mood to cut my teeth on their diamonds. (additional shoutout to the remaining reads these two's pile with @yiiiiiiiikes25, reserved for when i need a good smut fix). i read @kamaela's got me started earlier in the year, fell in love with their sharp characters & sharper writing & now everything else they've written, but especially mirror, me is up, up there in needing to be read asap. everything i've read by @sleepstxtic has been fantastic, fantastic, but rush was especially spectacular & i am foaming at the mouth to get to the other two sports fics in the series.

@dodgerkedavra's clear, warm light looks absolutely epic, can't wait to sink my teeth into it (and everything else from dodger's catalogue i haven't read yet). @epitomereally's LA, who am i to love you? has some fantastic tags, a fascinating summary & been on my mfl for an age. this is also maybe-perhaps-potentially the year to work through @mintawasalreadytaken's tit for tat which sits at almost 400k & promises my favourite things (angst & porn), but even if not, it is the year to read the rest of minta's catalogue that i haven't gotten to yet.

& finally, i'm bad at wips, but i'm so very, very excited for @tackytigerfic's first watch of night to finish posting so i can swim around in it.

this is a v small sampling of everything i hope to read this year, i've left out so many wonderful, wonderful authors whom i will end up loving. the goal is to read slower, read steadier, take my time with craft & phrasing, work through catalogues i admire & leave myself space to appreciate with care & specificity.

in the other life of odds and ends and grad school and employment, it was a weird year, kind of a— nothing year? scales weren't tipped too far in either direction, which is different, which demands recalibration, which has left me time & energy in measures i usually don't have. dawn has broken over this fresh swivel around the sun and i'm allowing myself some slivers of tentative, brittle hope. it's new, and i'm putting stock in that being a good thing.

paging everyone i've mentioned above to tell me what you're hoping to do more of in 2025 (fandom/otherwise) if you'd like! cheerleading all of you from here <3

[palepinkgoat]

Weekly Tag Wednesday in which I'm enormously chatty

thank you for the tags @heymacy @mybrainismelted @thepupperino @energievie and @deedala !!!!

name: Karen

sun sign: Leo

your favorite beverage: spindrift (sparkling water with fruit juice. But I only like the lemon/grapefruit/lime etc "sour-ish" ones. The sweeter ones are too sweet for me) It's my special evening drink. I look forward to cracking a cold one every night!

what was your first pet + their name? a black cat named woody. He was probably at least 12 when I was born so I'm sure he liked me very much.

what kind of phone do you have? An iPhone but I don't know what kind. Maybe 14? Is that one?

what do you do for work? homemaker project manager/ part-time nanny

favorite vacation you've ever taken: County Clare, Ireland. We visited friends living there. One of them was writing his dissertation about Irish tourism of music and it's affect on small communities and had been really embraced by the small village. It was pretty rural but also near the Cliffs of Moher which are freaking regal. We also visited one of the Aran islands, Innis Oirr (Innisheer). Just amazing. Then we took an overnight trip to Galway, which was also fun. I never wanted to come home. I cried all the time because it was so beautiful. It was also my first time out of the country and I was a baby of 24. Our daughter's middle name is Clare in honor of County Clare. It meant that much.

how many alarms do you set for the morning? Two. I set two alarms every time I set an alarm no matter what time of day. Two alarms, sometimes three. Why yes I have an anxiety disorder, why do you ask?

do you have a skincare routine? I'm trying to use a face wash from Kiehls but usually I just put warm water on a washcloth and wipe it on my face. I can't really do anything to it or it gets mad. No multilevel routines, no makeup, no face masks. Naked.

favorite social media app that isn't tumblr: instagram

do you prefer movies or television? TV! So much creative stuff on tv. I've always liked TV. I think I like episodes and how they can be really contained. From this love I know that a 12 episode arc has Important Episodes during episodes 3, 6, and 10. If it's a shorter episode arc, it's whatever is the one before the last two.

which grocery store do you shop at most often? We are so needlessly complicated! Hahaha We have a couple box subscriptions (misfits market and a local farms basket). There's a world market here with wild amounts of produce, spices, etc where we get a lot of stuff. Then Costco. But if we need spaghetti sauce or vegan cheese and randoms we go to Publix, where we also get all 800000000 of our medications filled so we are there every couple weeks.

least favorite chore? I hate dishes until I'm actually doing them and then I'm like "this isn't so bad."

you have to listen to one musical artist for the rest of your life, and only one artist. who do you pick? So bands don't count? Because I'd pick Dark Dark Dark in a heartbeat. No? Okay. Then I'll pick PJ Harvey. Endlessly interesting and has an impressive catalogue.

[ohprcr]

Hello! I've followed your art journey throughout the years on several social medias (though I tend to made and then deactivated accounts as often as breathing due to my impulsiveness haha). I want to start learning art seriously, inspired by you. And tbh I usually got motivation to keep going by putting my progress on the internet, even when no one is looking nor gives me validation, it just feels like I did something rather than keeping the progress to myself. Like, I need a visual tracker.

So I'd love to know your opinion on the pro and cons of the social medias you use to share your art? Especially instagram, twitter, and tumblr (Since I plan on making one each). What kind of culture and rules I must abide, what notice I should take. Which platform is the most comfortable for you? And do you always post the same artworks on all your platforms or you have your own classification on what kind of artwork you'll put on instagram, which one is for twitter, etc? Thanks in advance!

Hi!

First of all thanks for asking me! It's so nice to hear that you're planning to share your art ^^ This is probably gonna a bit long and mostly based on my personal experience, but I hope this helps!

The first socmed I use to mostly (and solely) post art was Instagram. My interactions there are mostly reconnecting with art mutuals from the deviantART days and some RL friends/family. I used to post regularly on Instagram but with how the algorithm works now that they're under Meta, I rarely participate in trends or post reels, and I mostly just post finished art and some speedpaint videos. But if you want you can def use the reels feature to create process video, etc. I like the carousel/stringed together image format and it can be utilized to post a lot of images in one post (up to 20 for now). I also use instagram as some kind of portfolio, with how it present a clean grid. I have RL friends and family following me there so I mostly just post general art, nothing too suggestive.

As for Tumblr, I've had it for quite a long time and it can be traced back to the ol'fandom days haha. I don't participate much in fandoms anymore, but I think it's always a good thing to post either original or fanart with proper tags on Tumblr. The comprehensive tagging method lets you scrounge and filter posts under the tag, so my older posts usually still circulate on other people's blogs even years after it was posted (which I'm grateful that they still enjoy my old stuff!). I mostly post finished art on Tumblr, sometimes multiple images in one post but it's a bit limited compared to Instagram. i don't post videos on here. I also use Tumblr as an archive bc it's much easier to track back my old posts.

The most recent socmed I use is Twitter. Maybe it's already a known fact how the site is kinda falling off after it changed to X :" but I still use it mainly to communicate with friends. I post more liberally on Twitter, from finished art, videos, animation, sketches and personal stuffs as well. It's also where my promotional posts get the most reach in terms of visibility (this includes commissions, merch catalogues, etc) and most clients I've had in the past found me there. I think the community is also more active on Twitter, but sometimes it can also lead to discourses/fighting that I don't rly wanna take part in :" I've seen people moving to Bluesky as well, though I personally haven't used it yet.

All in all I think I mostly crosspost my works across all of my socmed, with a few exceptions on each socmed. I hope this helps and happy posting!!

[internetgiraffekid1673]

Welcome to My Enclosure!

Before you continue, do a check-in!

I love that you're here, but my blog isn't more important than your health!

I draw and I ramble. Surprsingly, that warrants organization.

Pretty much all I do is make fanart, scream into the void, and reblog posts from people who are much funnier than me.

My art can all be found under the tag #Giraffe's Scribblings, and my text posts are under #giraffe's ramblings! Additional tags I use below the cut!

If you're only interested in my original posts, check out the blog I'm using as an archive: @unhinged-domestic-raccoon

Personal

I am a mormon, and I sometimes post about it. All my mormon posts are tagged with #tumblrstake, and all my religious posts are tagged with #cw: religion. Block these tags if you don't wanna see mormon content.

My faith is personal and I do not support many of the church's policies. I'm happy to answer questions asked in good faith, but I also understand and encourage it if you need to block me to keep tumblr a safe space for you.

My family is super cool, and they come up with some regularity. Quotes are tagged with #shit my family says, posts featuring my dad are tagged with #discussions with dad, posts featuring my mom are tagged #madness with mom, and posts featuring my brothers are tagged #babbles with brothers.

I do have two brothers that I post about on here, both older than me. I don't get along with the older one, who is either named Sandwich God or just "my asshole brother." The other one is my best friend, the co-parent of my singular braincell, and nicknamed J-Dog, and he's who I'm talking about 90% of the time when I say "my brother."

Fandom

I'm in far too many fandoms to count. I don't ever leave fandoms, I just go through cycles of where I'm most active. I will randomly jumpscare you by reblogging art from the most obscure piece of children's media that you've never heard of.

Currently, the ones I make posts for are DC Comics, Miraculous Ladybug, Wizard101/Pirate101, and occasionally Ever After High. I mostly just use the regular fandom tags for all of these, but there are some oddballs.

For Batman/Batfam DC content, INCLUDING REBLOGS, I use the tag #abby's batshit. I DO NOT tag non-bat DC posts with this, so if you're a non-bat DC fan who is tired of the Bat-Epidemic, I strongly recommend blocking this one.

I'm currently developing a Titans West Crack AU with @redplanetlobster ! We have a sideblog for this ( @cotton-eye-joes ), but I post most of my art to both accounts, and tag joe-centric posts with #cotton-eyed-joe mention.

I'm currently developing a Scarabella and Kitty Noir AU for Miraculous, which I tag with #KittyBella WIP

Most of my OCs, including Wizzy/Pitty OCs, can be found under the tag #oc: character name and #my ocs, but 101 OCs can also be found under #abby's spiral souls. Pitty OCs are #abby's plundering pirates, and Wizzy ones are #abby's wandering wizards. I also use the tag #the motley crew for side character OCs on my Pirate Captain Kestrel's crew (which don't get tagged with their name)

You can also find my wiz fan comic under #Spiraling into Insanity, where I catalogue the misadventures of Melody Hexbolt and Benny Feignrite (my brother's wizard). It's literally just stuff that we actually said/did while playing the game that I thought was funny and translated in universe.

Aroace leaf dividers by @animatedglittergraphics-n-more

That's All Folks!

[blimbo-buddy]

I think mascot horror is a perfect gateway for kids to get into horror without having to jump straight into Slasher Films or straight-up gore without plot.

I had met people who do dislike FNAF because of the whole child murder but I think they missed the point how Scott allowed those kids to get their revenge and make the one who caused all this pain to suffer in Ultimate Custom Night.

They are set free. No more pain. No more suffering.

Also bears are extinct in FNAF.

The animal, not the people.

Another fun fact: Scott Cawthon did not invent springlock mechanism. He just popularized it.

Springlocks exists but are so harmless. Like if the suit/animatronic hybrid did exist irl the springlocks wouldn't drive parts into your body. It would release and be a tight squeeze.

Uncomfortable? Yes.

Painful? Depends on your tolerance really.

Can cause death? No.

Unless you're a madman and cause the parts to be stronger than they need to be (and remember FNAF is a timeline where animatronics and technology overall is more advanced than us) then you're fine.

Blimbo, what's your opinion on mascot horror? Love it? Hate it?

I respect your opinion either way! I like getting into discussions on the flaws and the pros!

(If my ask gets eaten by Tumblr, let everyone know this platform even though better than other social media just as well sucks!)

I have a weird relationship with mascot horror. On one hand I understand the gripes that many people have with it but on the other hand, I kind of like how off the walls these plots can get. Don't get me wrong, I don't care for mascot horror at all but sometimes I'll see balls to the walls stuff with these games that come up and think "We need more of this it'd be funny"

There's a lot of ways for kids to enter into the realm of horror nowadays that vary from the typical slasher/gore movie (stuff like the backrooms, mandela catalogue) but if mascot horror is Baby's First Horror for many kids then that ain't really something that I get pissed off over y'know.

So really it doesn't matter in the end if your first exposure to horror is some mascot horror like Garten of Banban or Rainbow Friends, or some hyper-gore movie like Terrifier or the Saw franchise or analogue horror like Mandela Catalogue

[vellatra]

I don't really know any characters from your story besides Vellatra herself, so how about #1, #8, and #9 for the most important character who is not her?

Oh dear! You know what, I'd never really considered who was "second-most important"! So I did some pondering... and mulled it over with my advisor and confidante (@reneethegreatandpowerful), and have come to the conclusion that Zac is second. HOWEVER! The story has a few different groups it follows, with their own side plots and stuff, so I have also included perhaps one of the more interesting folks from each of these groups. Thanks for the tough question! Those are the ones that help me fine tune stories. 😁 And now, your answers.

(Apologies - I committed the cardinal sin of using a "skin color" marker in this drawing, thereby turning him into Donald Trump. Sorry! 😅)

Q: Full name and occupation?

A: "I'm Zachary James O'Connor. Most people just call me Zac. I'm in training to eventually join the army in the Merfaen tiz Ornaru - if I don't find a way back to Earth first, that is!"

Q: What do you do for fun?

A: "My favorite pastime is playing video games! Especially fantasy swordplay stuff, like Zelda, Xenoblade, and Final Fantasy. They don't have electronics in this world though, so nowadays I tag along with Aileev and get into mischief with her, mostly." 😆 (Author's note: Aileev is Vellatra's teenage firecracker of a daughter. I'll have to introduce her sometime soon!)

Q: What is your greatest achievement, and why do you think so?

A: "I learned Flunibu, the Merfaen language, to a conversational level in a couple of weeks. Never thought I'd learn a new language that fast!"

Q: Full name and occupation?

A: "Vexina Katrina Fini. I'm a specialist in the natural sciences, and at the moment I'm on a government funded mission to investigate some strange phenomena near the edge of our solar system. ... Admittedly I've been pretty sidetracked lately! But Silen Fah is full of interesting new flora and fauna to discover, so I'm not too upset." 😁

Q: What do you do for fun?

A: "I enjoy reading up on the most recent scientific discoveries, and mulling over the unexplained mysteries of the universe. Did you know, for example, that nobody's yet come up with a satisfactory theory for how the mammoths were frozen so quickly and preserved so perfectly? The temperatures and conditions you'd need-"

Q: Ahem, next question! What is your greatest achievement and why do you think so?

A: "By a long shot, the discovery of this new world! No earthly scientist has ever been able to catalogue so many new species and geological formations as I have, and all thanks to a happy accident on our travels through space! I worry, though, that no one will ever find OUT about my achievement. I haven't found a way back home, or a way to send my findings to Earth.... But hope is not lost and I won't give up!"

Q: Full name and occupation?

A: "I am Fabian, son of Henry. I am a squire for Sir Galahad of Camelot."

Q: What do you do for fun?

A: "I enjoy practicing swordplay, hunting, and riding horseback when the time may be spared."

Q: What is your greatest achievement and why?

A: "I have done little worthy of renown as of yet, but I am only a youth. I trust that, in time, great things shall be done. Perhaps I shall become a knight of King Arthur's court? Slay wicked beasts? Save fair maidens? What the Lord willeth, I stand ready to do."

This is the second time I've typed all this out... sure hope Tumblr doesn't delete it all again! This is getting tedious. 😵

Anyway, it was fun to figure all this out! Thanks again for the question!

[loser-female]

Hi! This is my space. If you are curious on the subject of radical feminism this post is for you.

Few things:

Kindfem (here on nice vs kind);

Bi-focused and disability/ND focused;

Anti-individualist,

Anti-black and white thinking,

Politically a socialist,

The job of a SOC Analyst.

About mental illness and excuses (one day I I'll make an actual essay about this, currently be happy with this version)

Ask policy:

I'm going to donate 5€ to a feminist organisation for every hate anon regarding me being a "terf" or something;

I'm going to donate 5€ to a DV organisation specifically for every hate anon, comment or reblog about me being in a relationship with a man

And you still won't get an answer! Ask yourself if it's worth it.

I will do my best to catalogue and keep this space organised. Most of my tags are organisational, they are placed to help myself and others finding the stuff they need to find.

1. What's radical feminism? ->Tag full of resources to explore on radical feminism.

-> here is a non-radfem article about choice feminism and why is bad.

-> another article on why choice feminism is bad, from a Black woman perspective

If you are curious about doing some feminism in your life I have the how to be a feminist tag.

2. Relationships tag -> This is compiled mostly for women who have relationship with men and want to lower their risk.

Here are my favourite non-radfem things, resources and opinions on the subject;

-> Zawn is a brilliant writer that tackle the inequalities in marriage and motherood. She is very active on substack and has a lot of resources for women in a long term relationship with men.

-> You should have asked is a comic about the mental load of work women have to do in a relationship with men.

-> She divorced me because I left dishes by the sink is a blog post made by a man for men that explains how this little non-action lead ultimately to his divorce.

-> Fair play is a method to address domestic inequality few people I know swear by.

-> Duluth model on abuse. Please read that carefully before dismissing it.

In the relationship tag there is also criticism on how this could work or not.

I now have a female separatism tag!

-> Some reflection on separatism and power

3. Tag Cloud! (hopefully)

-> self explanatory tags dedicated to these subjects.

4. How to connect to others? -> @nansheonearth her blog is full of resources of where to find others, Discord servers, how to visit womyn's land resources, IRL meetings and separatism in general. Check her out!

@rad-fem-zine with my own contributions:

-> my mom's story (medical misogyny)

-> Cybersecurity guide for cyberfems

5.My favourite essays.

-> I'm not here to make friends

-> The Ethical Prude

-> How to grow the fuck up, a guide to humans

-> The Gentrification of Disability (it explains how the neurodivergent movement is failing ADHD and autistic people, thanks to )

Also: I sometimes reblog things I don't agree with but I consider worthy of consideration regardless.

6. Still missing from this post:

Stuff over female separatism and how to practice it IRL to various degrees.

The actual tag cloud (Tumblr doesn't allow me to use js on the blog and god I'm going to beg the staff but idk)

Send me a message/ask if:

Want to know stuff about cybersecurity!

Have recommendations for this post.

[reddeadreference]

Navigation (/Progress)

Blog Progress as of 9-21-24:

(Map will be removed once blog is 100% complete. Note: Complete could mean either posted or in the queue. Progress bars to be added.)

(This post was made with the old editor so I’m most likely going to remake it once everything is done.)

Polls:

There are no polls currently running.

                    -------

This pinned post is the same as the navigational buttons on the desktop and mobile browser version of the blog - this post is so people on the app can navigate as well.

(Still a big WIP so some links might be missing or pages blank)

(I’m in the process of making this post only mobile links for the app since there is no reason for page links to be here but for now they’re here.)

The links below take you to pages on the blog.

Chapter 1          |         Chapter 2

Chapter 3          |         Chapter 4 

Chapter 5   [WIP]        |         Chapter 6   [WIP]  

Epilogue 1       [WIP]   |         Epilogue 2     [WIP]

Arthur’s Journal         |         John’s Journal

Locations By State     |         Store Catalogue/Prices

1899         |        Stranger Missions     |     Newspapers

|

Have a request/suggestion?

If there’s somewhere or someone you need photos of just send me an ask and if it’s not already on the blog I’ll get to it asap ^_^

If you have a suggestion for a main link above or another location/topic, please just send in an ask.

If you, for instance, know of a post you really think would benefit Red Dead writers/artists just send in a submission/ask and a link for it will be added where applicable. OR if you need photos of a certain location I would be happy to make a new post for it.

Think a post/location should have more photos...

/more details/it’s own post? Send me an ask. (It can be anon if you want ^_^) Sometimes I rush through certain parts, I’m posting to this blog as I replay, sometimes I forget to get details.)

I want this blog to have as many photo and detail resources as possible to help people who want to write/draw for Red Dead.

-----

Please also note I am only one person so it'll probably take a while for the blog to be 100% complete but I'm doing as much as I can as quick as I can. ^_^

-----

Navigation for Mobile App below

If you’re using the app none of the links above in this pinned Navigation post will work. When you click any of them it just takes you to the top of the blog. This is because all of those links go to pages on the blog.

So for those of you not on desktop (and/or not using tumblr on a mobile browser) the links below will take you to the post-equivalent of each blog index page. Everything will be separated and look the same as it is on the blog pages just in post form for your convenience.

(There is more listed here than there are of the posts above because some pages are not visible yet on the blog without a link to them.)

-This section going to take longer to fill out because I’ll need to make each post and finish each page first. Thank you for your understanding and patience.-

-----

Chapters

(includes missions and camp location details)

Ch 1: Colter               |    Ch 2: Horseshoe Overlook

Ch 3: Clemen’s Point |    Ch 4: Saint Denis

Ch 5: Guarma            |    Ch 6: Beaver’s Hollow

Ep Part 1                    |    Ep Part 2

|

Journal

Arthur’s Story:

Chap 1     |     Chap 2     |     Chap 3     |     Chap 4     |     Chap 5     |     Chap 6

John’s Story:

Epilogue Part 1     |     Epilogue Part 2

Other:

Points of Interest       |      Animals       |      Plants

|

Locations

Valentine   |   Strawberry   |   Rhodes   |  

Emerald Ranch   |   Saint Denis   

 Annesburg   |   Van Horn   |   Lagras

Lakay   |   Butcher Creek   |   Wapiti Reservation

[Place Holder]   |  [Place Holder]   |   [Place Holder]

|

Other

Shopping Catalogue     |     Newspapers     |     Strangers       |      

1899 Stuff

[shadowsoftheinfinite]

hi tumblr

my name is infinite :] i have many other names that I have been called but I like that one best. I don't care what pronouns you use for me, but I do have favoritism on they/them pronounss,,,

i am a little rat bastard that hyperfixates on things, mostly video games but sometimes concepts and films too!

I have ocs, my own stories, headcanons, and aus galore

I regularly forget tumblr exists so aahagahagh dont expect me to be constantly active or anything,, and im too scared to post art. mighgt do that later idk

but uh yea have a list of stuff I like and may occasionally go crazy about in no particular order

its kinda long so uhhh its under the cut if you wanna see it,,,,

-undertale/deltarune

-bendy and the ink machine

-stanley parable

-five nights at freddys

-umbrella academy

-just shapes and beats

-project arrhythmia

-helluva boss/hazbin hotel

-prey(2017)

-darkwood

-dayshift at freddys

-mandela catalogue

-it steals

-grishaverse/shadow and bone/six of crows

-wings of fire

-hollow knight

-dont starve

-epithet erased/anime campaign

-frotwoot's faerie tales

-moon knight

-scp

-dead cells

-terraria

-starkid musicals

-rainworld

-phighting

-murder drones

-wakfu

-cookie run

-ultrakill

-cult of the lamb

,,,yeah i like a lot of stuff i know, my downloads folder screams in pain whenever a new hyperfixation kicks in

also bring justice to underrated games please i like so many things that need more attention

[minisugakoobies]

Check-in tag

Tagged by @tinyhope 🤗

1. Why did you choose your URL? I just "discovered" BTS during the quarantine last year, then quickly fell down a tumblr rabbit hole. I decided to start a tumblr dedicated solely to my new obsession, and for my URL wanted to reference one of my favorite bits of BTS lore, the nickname they gave themselves in Bon Voyage season 2. Sometimes I think about changing it, though.

2. Any sideblogs? Not for BTS, but I have an old main account I haven't touched in a long time, and then another one where I used to publish MCU fanfic. Maybe someday I'll share that URL. I haven't written anything for that fandom in a few years.

3. How long have you been on tumblr? I predate dashcon.

4. Do you have a queue tag? Nope. You can always tell I'm active by the sudden glut of reblogs.

5. Why did you start your blog in the first place? Honestly, a combo of wanting to catalogue the amazing content I was finding and wanting to give creators likes/reblogs to show my appreciation. I have been writing some BTS fanfic. I haven't decided if I'll post it here or create a sideblog for it, if I post it at all.

6. Why did you choose your icon? Yoongi's my bias. I change my icon on the regular, anytime I see a new pic that I think would look good.

7. Why did you choose your header? It's such a great photo of these seven handsome gentlemen who have completely turned my world upside-down.

8. What's your post with the most notes? My blog is mainly reblogs so far. I don't think I have any original posts that got any notes? Not sure.

9. How many mutuals do you have? Just 8. I'm shy. 🤗Most of my interactions have been in anon mode.

10. How many followers do you have?

Only 10, 8 moots, 1 bot and 1 that I'm not sure about. Again. Shy. Mostly reblogs.

11. How many people do you follow? 66 and counting.

12. Have you ever made a shitpost?

The argument could be made that all my posts are shit? 🤡Not that it stops me!

13. How often do you use Tumblr each day?

Uh, probably too often? I get distracted at work very easily.

14. Did you have a fight/argument with another blog once? Who won?

Nope. I've pretty much stayed out of any tumblr drama.

15. How do you feel about “you need to reblog this” posts?

If there's something I come across that I think is important or related to a cause I believe in, I'll reblog it.

16. Do you like tag games? I'm always game. Contrary to what they say on every reality show, I *did* come here to make friends. (And to bask in the glory that is BTS!)

17. Do you like ask games? Haven't really done any, but my inbox is always open for asks.

18. Which of your mutuals do you think is Tumblr famous?

I don't know much about who is considered famous in this fandom! I just know that I love their blogs.

19. Do you have a crush on a mutual? My heart is completely taken by one Min Yoongi.

20. Tags? Please let me know if you prefer not to be tagged in tag games & I won't do it again! @mindofnmn @insert-random-stuff-here @triviafics-main @thisthatsworld @fullboylepen @xjoonchildx @wait-this-isnt-itunes

[idontwanttospoiltheparty]

when/how did you realize beatles music was amazing and something you couldn't live without?

I'm trying to not start off every answer with "OOF" but you people do keep sending me loaded questions lol. That's fine though, I enjoy it, keep it coming! My close attachment to the bug boys (both their music and them) is new. It more or less started at the beginnng of May of this year.

I've always known about them and known a good handful of songs. We sang Yellow Submarine and Hello Goodbye in school, I have memories of playing Beatles Rockband once at my cousin's house and also the Love album used to be relatively regular car music for my family. Also, I was in class with someone who was obsessed with their music and sometimes she'd be playing songs. My opinion on the music for most of my life has been kind of… middling. There were songs I really liked or loved (like Help! or Eleanor Rigby) songs I thought were fine but didn't take much note of (something like Being For The Benefit of Mr Kite) and ones I just really didn't get the hype for (A Hard Day's Night comes to mind [I love it now]). But I have a sort of kneejerk sceptic reaction to people hyping stuff up for no discernible reason sometimes, and so the more I'd hear older people with little knowledge of music theory and history call them the be-all end-all of music, the more I sort of developed a kind of aversion to them. I just hate being told to respect and/or like things without knowing why, y'know?

PSA to older Beatles fans: you will NOT convince younger people to listen to your music by telling them their music taste sucks actually.

On the other hand, I had also sort of gotten the idea I should maybe go through their entire discography and get behind the myth of it all. I sort of attempted this a few times over the years, like I started listening to Sgt. Pepper once and then for some reason had to stop halfway, and I listened to the This Is The Beatles playlist on spotify a few nights in a row in 2019 lol.

What actually made me commit to doing it was 1) I had seen a LOT of backlash against Taylor for breaking the Beatles' records for 3 number one albums within the least amount of time in the UK last April, and like the sheer stupidity of some of the arguments being made why "Actually She Didn't Break This Record" really set me off (for example talking about it being "more effort" to buy an album back in the day… But the Beatles weren't competing for number one against anyone who had it "easier" to sell their albums and Taylor wasn't competing against anyone who had it "harder" than her. Or talking about absolute pure sales numbers when that's not what going number one means?) and 2) in a Discord I was in, someone shared a link to an 8-Bit version of Sgt. Pepper at the beginning of May, which I decided to listen to cause it seemed like good study music and I rather enjoyed! I found it really let their talent for creating good melodies shine through.

WHY DO I KEEP COMPLETELY EXPOSING MYSELF IN MINIATURE ESSAYS WHEN ASKED STRAIGHTFORWARD QUESTIONS

Anyways, so all of that made me go okay! I'm gonna go through this motherfucking huge discography then I will know this music better than a LOT of the people who hype it up and then I will be able to be objective about all of this.

So I listened to Sgt. Pepper and Please Please Me and then the White Album. The first was enjoyable but I didn't really ~get the immense hype, Please Please Me bored me at first (I think their early style is something you kind of need to get into and need to hear a few times to fully appreciate. But also Love Me Do sucks and why a record label thought it would be a good debut single is absolutely BEYOND ME) and the last one REALLY caught me off guard. There was stuff in there I loved (Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da is actually possibly my very first favourite song that wasn't a kids' song. I used to have to go to these psychomotor education classes and that song played there often and I adored it. Also Piggies slaps, send tweet) but also like a lot of stuff I found pretty weird and off-putting. And I still haven't warmed up to Yer Blues and Why Don't We Do It In The Road. That album did, however, get me very interested in the band. I think the weirdness of the album really just invited me to look into their history. I wanted to understand why they had broken up. That sent me down the rabbithole of the India trip history and I just kept reading more and more wikipedia articles related to all of it.

It was around this point I sort of came to realize that I'd had a lot of wrong preconceived notions about them, especially John. I was never someone like roaming around twitter, yelling for him to be cancelled, but he had simply never seemed sympathetic to me. For instance, IDK if I misunderstood what someone told me or if that person had misunderstood, but the story of John learning chords with Paul left-handed to follow him better (and maybe also Stuart not letting Paul change around the strings on his bass) had somehow been morphed into John finding Paul's left-handed playing off-putting and forcing Paul to play right-handed?? And I was like "Wow, what an asshole!" Also all the 1970 narrative that the two didn't like each other, plus I projected boomers' and gen-xers' Beatle snobism onto them and just got the impression they were pretentious narcissists. (I mean they were kind of that, but not to the extent or in the same way I imagined)

So I think learning these things opened me up to them more. Like I realized Hey! They were my age! And then at some point I found out about the Christmas albums and thought that was so fascinating, that that existed, (a huge part of my initial interest was my fascination with the marketing around them, which is why I watched AHDN and Help! super early on) so I listened to those and was like "Fuck! These guys are endearing!" and then I remember lurking on bug-tumblr and seeing that "Well that was very observant of them, because we aren't American actually" quote and I wanted to find the video of it and ended up finding this legendary video. And starting to actually like these guys and realizing they took all of this ten times less seriously than their Boomer fans do made me more excited to keep listening to the discography and look up more of the stories behind the songs and just kind of… Come to understand them better. I also found that once I accepted that some Boomers are just gonna hype up their fave music too much I'd enjoy it more. Like I'd listen to I Want To Hold Your Hand and get a bit defensive like "why do you love this so much??? the lyrics are so dumb??" but when I just kind of accepted that fact I realized no! It's an amazingly structured bop, which yes, has weak lyrics but it's fine!!! It's the Call Me Maybe of its day and that's NOT a bad thing!!

And in the end they have an amazingly versatile catalogue that covers most things you might be in the mood for. It is kind of hard (for me) not to like it.

There are still sort of two bands in my head: the archetype, the myth, the pretentious group of people who hate each other that I just sort of instinctively want to dislike and the band who sang all those songs I had NO IDEA existed and came into my life without any baggage or expectations from my part. I've pretty much never listened to say Hey Jude in the past months, even though I don't find it bad the outro is too fucking long because it's kind of got too much of that baggage to me still.

This was SUCH a ramble but I hope this makes sense to people to some extent. Anyways I'm a new fan, drag me, but maybe drag me more for how much I seem to know after three months. Seriously, this is a curse.

[pingo1387]

Tagged by @noro-noro-noro! 

1. Why did you choose your url? 

Oh you know. Basically pingo is based on penguin and the numbers have no meaning. 

2. Any side blogs? 

Yeah! My active sideblogs that I can publically disclose are: 

@everynicorobin: catalogue of all the Robins in the OP manga, following in the footsteps of other everyblogs 

@marinebiologyinfodump: random posts and reblogs of ocean and sea life facts 

@markedbyfate: OC blog 1, not updated often but occasionally i post art and OC musings 

@thephonecalldetective: OC blog 2, same deal as above 

@20cop: updated the least often because i haven’t actively worked on this OP AU for a long time, and the most activity on the blog is an occasional like for the post about sаnji’s backstory 

(I’m always happy to receive asks and questions on any of these blogs!) 

3. How long have you been on tumblr? 

Since 2014 or 2015 i think 

4. Do you have a queue tag? 

I do! it’s #queuecumber 

5. Why did you start your blog in the first place? 

i started it to have a place to vent my Thoughts and Feelings bc i figured if i didn’t tag anything no one would find the posts, but one of my friends found the blog and started following so i had to make a Proper Blog 

6. Why did you choose your icon/pfp? 

Zacharie my beloved... 

7. Why did you choose your header? 

represents my innermost state 

8. What’s your post with the most notes? 

this meme with the strawhats! 

9. How many mutuals do you have? 

72 according to tumblr’s little mutal icon thing! 

10. How many followers do you have? 

N/A 

11. How many people do you follow? 

247! 

12. Have you ever made a shit post? 

but of course 

13. How often do you use tumblr a day? 

unfortunately i am one of those people who looks at the entire dashboard every day, scrolling back to where i left off last time, so i check tumblr several times a day and often leave it open in the background 

14. Did you ever have a fight/argument with another blog? 

not... really? i’ve debated things with other blogs i think but i prefer to either ignore or block if someone says something i disagree with. 

15. How do you feel about the ‘you need to reblog’ posts? 

i hate guilt-trippy add-ons like that but sometimes the post *does* need to be reblogged so i do it regardless 

16. Do you like tag games? 

sometimes! 

17. Do you like ask games? 

YEAH i love getting asks. but i don’t like those chainmail ones where it’s like “spread the love, send to five other blogs” and stuff like that 

18. Which of your mutuals do you think is tumblr famous? 

cryogenic-heat for sure! 

19. Do you have a crush on a mutual? 

used to but i’m aroace now 

tagging uhhhhh @pokeharvest, @asexualzoro, @dandunn​, anyone else who wants to do this <3 

[writethelifeyouwant]

On recent events...

I rarely use my tumblr as an actual blog but it’s has been a wild day and a half so I need to get this off my chest. 

If your ships don’t hurt me then I don’t give a damn. Have I been a hardcore Desitel shipper my whole life? No. Do I read it sometimes? Sure. Do I also ship Wincest? Yes. Why? Jensen/Dean is hot, I like to imagine him fucking anything that moves. This includes Sam/Jared and Cas/Misha. It also includes reader inserts - female and male. It includes Claire. It includes Benny. I was even read a Dean/Ash fic that was hella good. Shipping is for fun, whatever floats your boats is chill. LOTS of stuff floats my boat. 

Have I been in a Wincest hell hole lately? Yes. Have I been reblogging a shit ton of Destiel stuff since yesterday? Yes. Why? Because Jensen is a fucking good actor. Misha is a fucking good actor. I  have enjoyed watching these characters for 11 years and looking back on their catalogue and their relationship development (into whatever it is, I don’t care what you think, I’m not gonna say what I think) has been enjoyable because I am watching years of dedication and passion and talent played out in front of me on my dash and if it gives me happy feels or sad feels or tingly feels or I just think Jensen and Misha look hot in that gif, I’m gonna reblog it. 

If you now hate my blog because there has been Desitel content on it, that’s fine, you can unfollow me. I post what I want and what makes me feel something when I look at it and right now that happens to be a lot of Cas and Dean eye fucking. That doesn’t mean I don’t still enjoy the Dean and Sam eye fucking. I go for all of it. 

TLDR// I’m a slut for all of these men and their immense talents and I don’t give a damn. Bite me. 

[mathgeek101]

tag gameeeeeee

tagged by @strohller27 !!!!!!!! Thanks George~

this is a somewhat long tag game, and I have no self control about how much I talk about myself so I'm gonna put it under the cut :)

1. why did you choose your url?

I’m a mathgeek! that's it! Starting in elementary school I went to the junior high school for math classes in the morning, and then at the end of junior high I went to the high school for my math classes again, and was always in math with the grade older than me. I took AP Calc as a junior and got a 5 on the AP test, so it kinda fits I guess. I actually made the moniker for my first email account when I was 13 so I could make a facebook account.

2. any side blogs? if you have them, name them and why you have them.

LMAO I LITERALLY HAVE 4. Anyway first I have two writing blogs: @i-am-rmt for poetry, and @iamrmt for prose. They act as catalogues of my writing! The prose one is basically inactive, but seeing as it’s simply a catalogue I’m not gonna delete it. Then there is @yiling-who my side blog for The Untamed - yeah that Chinese drama that took tumblr by storm. Big thanks to @hoebutnotreally for convincing me to watch it! Lastly is my side blog for DKB @dkbtho . DKB is a rookie kpop group that I’m currently obsessed with! They’re so cute and they self produce and also do all their own choreography and are such skilled individuals and also are so funny 

3. how long have you been on tumblr?

This year on November 23rd will be the 10 year birthday of mathgeek101!

4. do you have a queue tag?

“qute” it’s on sooo many of my posts because I almost exclusively post from my queue..

5. why did you start your blog in the first place?

both my sisters had tumblrs, and I guess I just thought “neat, I’ll make one too.” I remember sitting on the couch during thanksgiving break while my family was watching Harry Potter (the seventh movie maybe?) and designing my blog

6. why did you choose your icon?

oh it’s me! My icon has always been me, because this blog is just a messy collection of my interests. My friend (@hoebutnotreally) did my makeup and hair and we took pictures (I posted some here too!)

7. why did you choose your header?

oh it’s me again! I took that picture on a whim with a silly snapchat filter and I thought it turned out neat, so I hid my icon on mobile and I think my blog looks pretty neat that way.

8. what’s your post with the most notes?

9. how many mutuals do you have?

I think it’s my Mushu Zuko post still... I know there’s a way to check, but I’ll just go with that post for now.

OKAY so I’m back after checking and actually it’s my post about reading Call Me, Beep Me - THE klance voltron fic

idk man is there a way to check that, too? I don’t really interact with my mutuals, and I don’t really get the huge hype around them? like, yeah, I appreciate my mutuals, and I love seeing your posts (oh my friend made a post!). I wouldn’t mind interacting with them more, I’m just awkward and suck at talking to people - even people I know in real life and have to make plans with. But all in all, if a mutual unfollows me, I’m not gonna have a meltdown or anything

10. how many followers do you have?

429! I love you guys! When I post about my followers I always tag it with “i love you guys”

11. how many people do you follow?

I’m following 147 blogs.

12. have you ever made a shitpost?

does the Mushu and Zuko post count? Does “hockey is one letter away from hickey” count? I also made a post about Poe Dameron vs Edgar Allan Poe and Po from Kung Fu Panda... you decide. I tag all my original posts with “mine”

13. how often do you use tumblr each day?

too much! jk I’m on it very frequently, but lately I’ve been watching youtube videos over scrolling on tumblr

14. did you have a fight/argument with another blog once? who won?

nah. Once I did have someone reply to a post I made somewhat rudely, and I replied to them and they didn’t say anything, so if that counts, then I WON.

15. how do you feel about “you need to reblog this” posts?

eh, they’re pretty dumb, and I’m pretty neutral about them, but I also understand that it’s problematic.

16. do you like tag games?

yes! I really enjoy talking about myself I guess! Wow! Most people honestly do love talking about themselves, and it’s even easier when it’s online and I don’t have to deal with people’s real time reactions :)

17. do you like ask games?

LOVE them. sometimes I wish I was a famous blogger so people would ask me stuff from ask games, but I also don’t reblog them that often.

18. which of your mutuals do you think is tumblr famous?

ohhhh uhhhhhhh,,,,,,,, idk man

19. do you have a crush on a mutual?

nah, I don’t interact with them enough for that

20. tagging

uhhh if you’ve made it this far and you want to do it consider yourself tagged :)

[60b3r]

Memes Kill Creativity?

Memes vs. Genes

In the 1976 book The Selfish Gene, Richard Dawkins coined the term 'meme' to describe something with symbolic meaning that spreads by imitation from person to person within a culture. This idea is an analogue to the nature of selfish gene, described similarly as a piece of genetic material possessing information required to be able to replicate themselves inside a living. The only key difference in both terms is that the gene is natural, while memes are artificial. The rest of memes' operating schemes completely mimic the genes perfectly. In our current timeline, memes as we know today are taking many forms: as image macros, short videos, and rick-rollicking music. Memes in imageboards and forums have been pushing internet porn traffic into a stalemate and putting our power grid into unnecessary burden. Of course, memes are not to be regretted, but otherwise need to be taken seriously, since they are able to put our current understanding of media industry and economic system into shame.

As with every other thing that have existed, memes are not exempt in its dualistic nature. If you ever venture to the depths of dark web, you may know that memes also took part in the infamous mimetic Tumblr-4chan War. Not only that, some memes are reportedly causing harm towards some users, even though it is often disguised or said to be a dank joke or mere sarcasm. Memes have seen its share of use in online bullying, mass shootings, and hate crimes, cowering behind the freedom of expression tag. Regardless, memes are also an extremely effective form of information transmission. Like all living systems with no set moral standards, memes do evolve and are subject to natural selection. Memes, like genes, actually work like a mindless machine. Again, this is eerily like the performance of DNA in living systems. The last thing we want from this thing is virulence.

Every day, something went viral on Twitter. Hashtags are flaring into the top trends, some videos are being watched billions of times, and another cat vs. cucumber pic garnered thousands of likes. Viral properties of a virus (duh) is defined as the capability to multiply quickly in relatively short amount of time. The term saw a huge increase in usage during the dawn of the internet age and the rise of computer malwares spread through unsecured ports of network protocol. This term is being applied to memes, as it is like a virus (which is a pure embodiment of a selfish gene). Now, a lot of people are utilizing memes to create art, because it enables them to cater the short-attention spans of current internet users. They create shorts, illustrations, inside jokes, and small comic strips. Some of you might not agree with me on this one, but stay with me now and I will explain to you why I would like to treat memes and art as a single unit of interest in this argument.

The dawn of meme-technology

Viral memes and their popularity are now often considered important in defining a time period in the internet culture. Now every netizen can somewhat distinguish the approximate age, sex, and political views of other users from the usage of rage comics, meme songs, and meme platforms they use. Intuitively we can make a generalized difference between the userbase of Reddit, 4chan, 9gag, Vine, and now Tiktok. Others, by the share of relatability with sub-genres of different areas of interest (film memes and game memes). Some others, even, in the perspectives of different social and economic class system (first world problems and third world success memes). Meme preferences to us netizens are ironically giving away our anonymous identity. Identity which the media companies are vying to get their hands on. That's where I would like to come into my opening argument: both memes and genes which originally possesses no intrinsic value, suddenly become a subject of value with technology.

How do we draw the logic, I say? The ones and zeros inside electrical systems are value-free, so does DNA in living cells. As we meddle ourselves with biotechnology to manipulate genetic material for profit, we also simmer ourselves in the computer sciences and tweak physical computation to perform better. We give value in the inanimate object by manipulating them. In our world, we often heard these expressions: that communication is key, sometimes silence is golden, and those who control the information wields the power. What’s these three statements have in common? Yes, information and expression. Memes are the simplest form of both. This is the beginning of the logic: memes are no longer in and on itself independent of external values. The infusion of utilitarian properties in memes as artificial constructs are seemingly inevitable, and for the better or worse shapes our current society.

We might have heard that somewhere somehow, the so called ‘global elites’ with their power and wealth are constantly controlling biotech research and information technology—or, in the contrary, they control these knowledge and resources to keep shovelling money and consolidate their power. Memes are one of their tools to ‘steer’ the world according to their 'progressive agenda', seemingly driving the world ‘forward’ towards innovation and openness. Nah, I am just joking. But, stay with me now. It is actually not them (the so-called global elites) who you should be worried about. It is us—you and I, ourselves—and our own way of unwittingly enjoying memes that are both toxic and fuelling the age-old capitalism. Funny, isn't it? We blame society, but we are society. But how are be becoming the culprits yet also be the prey at the same time?

Middle-class artists are hurt

Now, aggressive marketing tactics using memes are soaring. Media companies are no doubt cashing in the internet and viral memes to their own benefit. Streaming and cataloguing are putting up a good fight compared to their retail, classic ways of content delivery. This is quite true with the strategies of Spotify and YouTube, other media companies alike. They can secure rights to provide high-quality content from big time artists and filmmakers and target these works directly to the end consumer, effectively cutting the cost of distribution which usually goes to the several layers of distribution line like vinyl products, radio contracts, and Blu-ray DVDs. I believe this is good, since it is like an affirmative action for amateur artists to start a career in the art industry. Or is it? Does it really encourage small-time artists to begin? Yes. How about the middle-class artists? Not necessarily.

You might sometimes wonder, “how the hell did I get somewhere just by following the trending or hot section in the feed?”. This toxicity of memes often brings some bad things to our tables. Social media algorithms handle contents (like viral memes) by putting those with high views or likes to the front page, effectively ‘promoting’ the already popular post and creating a positive feedback cycle. By doing so, they could capitalize on ad profits on just few ‘quality’ contents over huge amounts of audience in a very short amount of time. The problem is most of the time, these ‘quality’ contents have no quality at all. They just happen to possess the correct formula to be viral, with the correct SEO keywords and click-bait titles with no real leverage in the art movement. This way, I often find both the talented and the lucky—of which the boundaries between them are always blurred—overshadow the aspiring ‘middle-class’ artists who work hard to perfect their craft.

If you are already a famous guitarist with large fanbase, lucky you, you are almost guaranteed to top the billboards. What, you have no skills? Post a video of you playing ‘air guitar’ and… affirmative actions to the rescue. Keep on riding the hype wave and suddenly you get to top trending with minimal effort, thanks to your weird haircut. Those haters will surely make a meme out of your silly haircut, not even your non-existent guitar skills. But still, hype is still a hype, and there’s no such thing as a bad publication. This also answers why simple account who reposts other people’s content could get much more followers than the hard-working creators. Not only being outperformed by the already famous artists taking social media by storm, now the ‘middle-class’ artists are also dealing with widespread content theft and repost accounts because of the unfair, bot grading system. It is unimaginable how many nobodies got the spotlight they don’t deserve just because they look or act stupid and the whole internet cheers around them. Remember, this is not always about the artist, but also the quality of the art itself. I believe a good art should be meaningful to the beholder.

Why capitalism kills creativity

The problem in current art industry is that we are feeling exhausted with the same, generic, and recycled stuff. We indeed already see there’s less discourse about art now. Sure, the problem lies not in the artist or medium, but is in the viewers—the consumer of the art form—and how the capitalist system reacts to it. The hyper efficient capitalist system doesn’t want to waste any more time and money trying to figure out what’s new or what’s next for you. What we love to see, what is familiar to us, the market delivers them. The rise of viral memes phenomenon in the social media pushes the market system to the point where they demand artists to create the same, redundant, easy art form. Listen to some of The Chainsmokers’ work and we'll see what music have become: the identical 4-chord progression, the same drop, the predictable riser, and the absence of meaningful lyrics. We sat down and watch over the same superhero movies trying hard to be the next Marvel blockbuster. The production companies are also happy not to pay writers extra to come up with new ideas and instead settle with borrowed old scripts from decades old TV drama. Disney's The Lion King and its heavy use of the earlier Japanese Kimba The White Lion storyline is one guilty example.

Despite it initially being an economic system and not a political ideology, it is untrue that many Marxist philosophers usher the suppression of art. While it is ironic that Stalinist policy intends to curb ‘counter-revolutionaries’—in this case his enemies—by limiting freedom of press and media; American propaganda added further so that it seems that the ideology is also limiting art and kill creativity. We all know the Red Scare in the U.S. during the Cold War saw a popular narrative of communism and socialism that is devoid of freedom of expression. This state propaganda then further become ‘dehumanization’ and make freedom of expression invalid under the guise of equality. Marx argue that total equality is not possible, and the uniqueness is being celebrated by having them doing what they do best and provide the best for their community. Thus, an individual's interests should be indistinguishable from the society's interest. Freedom is granted when the whole society is likely to benefit from an action. According to Mao in his Little Red Book, freedom of expression in art and literature, after all, is what initially drive the class consciousness. It is capitalism, not communism, that kills creativity.

If left unchecked, the threat of this feedback loop is going to cause a lack of diversity, resulting in stale content, less art critique, and overall decline in our artistic senses. Artists’ creativity that are supposedly protected by the free internet are destroyed within itself through the sheer overuse of viral memes. Capitalism has successfully turned the supposedly open, free-for-all, value-free platform that is the internet against the people into a media in which they are undeniably shaping new values on its own: the art culture that's not geared towards aesthetics and appreciation, but towards more views and personalized clicks. How social media and media industry caters to the demands of the consumer are, in Marx's own words, “digging its own grave”.

Spare nothing, not even the nostalgia

Well, people romanticize the oldies. The good old days, when everything is seen as better and easier. Look at the new art installations that uses the aesthetics of naughty 90s graphic design to become new, the posters released in this decade but with an art deco of the egregious 80s pop artist Andy Warhol, or the special agent-spy movies set frozen in the Nifty Fifties. Nostalgia offers us a way to escape from the hectic choices of our contemporary: different genres of music, dozens of movies to watch, and different fashion to consider. We choose to settle with our old habits, that we know just works. Remember how do we throw our money on sequels and reboots and remakes of old movies we used to watch during our younger days? We don’t even care about new releases at the cinema! Did you remember how Transformers 2 and their subsequent sequels perform at the box office at their opening week?

The huge sales of figurines and toys of Star Wars franchise—if we could scrutinize them enough—came from the old loyal fanbase of the late Lucasfilm series, not primarily from new viewers. Then suddenly, surprise-surprise. Our love for an old franchise deemed dead enough to be remembered and treasure soon must be destroyed to pave way for three new outrageous sequels (the ones with Kylo Ren and Snoke) by the grace of our beloved capitalism. Sadly, nothing is left untouched by the capitalism’s unforgiving corruption. Nostalgia has become a gimmick that makes people like some art more than they should, because it’s familiar. It is another way of squeezing your pocket dry.

Not that it is bad to make derivatives like covers or remixes, but the trade-offs are far too high. Consequentially, the number of original arts is now very little, because artists don’t bother making new stuff if they just aim for a quick buck. Most of the young adult novels are essentially the same lazy story progression with only different time setting and different character names. Most of them even have the same ending! No more a beautiful journey like the thrillers of Dan Brown or the epic adventures of Tolkien’s Lord of The Rings, which defines their respective times. Do we seriously want to consider Twilight and 50 Shades of Grey as a unique work? Isn’t the Hunger Games and the Maze Runner essentially the same?

If you play video games, you must have known that the trend always starts over. Game developers are making gazillions of sequels, and only a few of them that are actually good. Most are outright trash. Oh, wait, old video games like Homeworld are also getting remasters to cater the demand of nostalgic consumers. No new Command and Conquer release from EA Games? Re-release the 25 years old Red Alert because people will re-buy it! Profit!

15 June 2020 8.03 PM