#the world doesn't change overnight. but you know what helps changing it? watching the media that's implying it! NORMALISING THAT MEDIA!

[castielsprostate]

breaking the sign in two by how hard im tapping it

[dandelionh3art]

I think we are at a point where western governments, especially the American government can do whatever it wants to the people. I truly don't think there is even a need to lie or be strategic about it.

I had a profound moment last night, and I wanted to think on it overnight and today before I spoke about it because I wanted to be sure, and I am.

I had this thought when I was thinking of scandals online. I watched time and time again over my years how everyone involved in a scandal acted towards the people and one of two things always happens. If you are involved in a scandal and you address it, or worse, apologize, then you will lose.

If you even entertain it or talk about it or bring attention to it you are finished. These people always make it worse. Regardless of how many people are in the comments or make videos about you and the scandal or the uproar, if you don't ignore it, it wins and the mob comes harder.

However, I noticed that people involved in a scandal that ignore it, just don't even pay attention to it, it goes away. Everytime, it just vanishes. I don't care if you are caught having sex with a donut in a church, piss yourself on film, adultery, theft, corruption, lying etc. No matter how bad it is, if you just ignore it, don't talk about it then after a couple of weeks max, it's gone and no one even remembers or cares.

The reason is, people... their attention spans, so short, always overloaded with news, media and they get bored. Then I thought, this is what happens to us, in America and I'm sure in the UK and west in general.

I began to think of all the scandals, the horrors, the many, many things that have happened over the years and how no one even bats an eye, thinks about it or cares. All the government does is create a new, "thing," or scandal or war or shooting or crime etc and the news cycle changes.

In 2020, the election was stolen, I believe that, now an ancient memory, nothing was done or changed. In 2021 to 2022, we were actually locked in our homes, forced to wear masks. Now, no one even thinks about it, old news.

These are just small, very small things I can think of that should have been massive issues. Look at Assange, look at his life, ruined for exposing truths and now, no one gives a shit and it changed nothing.

People were angry with me because I didn't release footage I claimed I had, and I won't, I never, ever will. I thought about it, but then I remembered Assange, a man far richer, far more influential, far more legal resources and allies and he was ruined. No one helped him, no one cared.

They used his release to say, "Aha! Look, a US War crime!"

Sure, maybe the journalists became famous for releasing the footage, went viral for a few days and then boom, the news cycle changed, people moved on and meanwhile Assange in prison, tortured, ruined and no one gave a shit in any real measure.

So I thought, "Should I do it?," the answer is a resounding no, hell no. Look at Israel, look what they do daily, look at how they raped a man on camera, the entire world sees it and did it change support? No. Look how they murder, kill, genocide civilians openly, on camera, no hiding it. No one gives a shit.

I think people just don't care about anything anymore. We are so beat down and we adopted a, "Well, sure this is awful, but as long as it doesn't affect me or my life then beyond a few posts on social media, I don't really care."

Even now, you reading this, just do whatever you want, be as vulgar, nasty, just as awful as you can imagine. Record it, post it here and I promise by next week the world won't care or remember because we will be onto some new, "thing."

This is why I think, our governments can just do whatever they like, no one will stop them, no one will challenge it, we seem to be completely defeated. I don't know what the answer is, it's more just an observation to be honest. Just thinking out loud so to speak.

Do you all feel this way also?

[tobiasdrake]

Revisiting Ichijouji Ken

Revisiting Ken, I stand by what I said earlier regarding his reformation being janky. The transition from Digimon Kaiser to Good Guy Ken happens overnight as the product of an epiphany Ken has about the Digital World, and that doesn't really mesh with his previously established characterization.

But I do want to note that the decision to reform Ken is nonetheless a good one. I don't think they executed it very well, but he was a good choice of character for a reformation arc.

I've often gone on record as being sour on redemption stories in general. I have beefs with a lot of the ways redemption is written in media, and one of the most common pitfalls of redemption is often just, "Really? This guy? This is the one you want to rehabilitate? Whatever, show."

But in Ken's case? Yeah. Yeah, this guy. This is the guy. Rehabilitate this one.

The things Ken does are monstrous, but come from a genuine misunderstanding. He thinks this is a video game. He legitimately does not comprehend that he's hurting real people. He's trying to play the Digital World like it's Pokemon - A fact that gets slyly referenced in an early episode, when he makes two Elecmon, Digimon's closest approximation of a Pikachu, duel in a gladiator arena for his amusement. Ken's gotta catch 'em all.

But that shallow explanation for his behavior masks a deeper cruelty and misanthropy. Because, as I noted in my first observation on Ken, his behavior extends to real people and animals too. Dude literally kicks a puppy. That's not a misunderstanding. He's just mean.

This is an interesting topic for the show to address. The way we treat NPCs is, on some level, a reflection of ourselves. Ken smiles nice and says polite things in public, and then he goes home to play his fantasy game where he gets to enslave and dominate other living beings while building giant monuments to himself and his ego.

And, prior to his character development, that Ken? The Digimon Kaiser? That's his truest self. It's who he is when the lights are out and nobody's watching. It's who he most enjoys being.

And I think that's something that would be interesting to see Ken reckon with in the events that follow his epiphany. It's not enough to just clear up the misunderstanding. Ken should have to follow through by recognizing the problematic behavior that accompanied the misunderstanding, and learning how to change the lens through which he views other people, NPC or not.

This, unfortunately, gets skipped over. Ken gets what I like to call a lightswitch redemption. He has a moment that triggers a change in him, and then is instantly changed by it. He makes a complete journey from realizing that his behavior is a problem to being a better person overnight.

Ken freaks out in the desert, throws off his Kaiser garb, and cries over Wormmon's death. And that's it. That is his complete journey. When next we see him, he's already a better person, and his story from there is merely about whether he can be forgiven for his crimes - With Ken as his own harshest critic, and Daisuke as his strongest defender.

And I love what they do with Ken and Daisuke's friendship. It's fantastic. A+. Honestly, Daisuke in general is a way better character than I remember him being, but I digress. Point is. It would have been nice to see Ken undergo a character journey, and not just have a single moment of character development solve everything.

Oh, and yes, I know he had a Dark Spore influencing him, but that honestly just makes the lack of a journey worse. Ken's cruelty is literally the product of an external influence forcing him to be evil. He can't help himself.

But that should make it harder for Ken to change, not easier. It adds to the reasons why Ken's lightswitch moment and complete overnight turnaround of behavior should have been a longer and harder process.

Ken's reformation from the Digimon Kaiser is a great idea. I just wish there was more of it.

[dawnwave16]

dad Bruce Wayne only Marinette doesn't know till she has been shipped off to him thanks to lila's lies. So she has to hide the fact she us ladybug and the new guardion while the bat family have to find the fact they are the bat family Mean while Jason has started a betting pool on when the newest member of the family joins the bat family

Sorry, this has taken so long! While I read a lot of Maribat I’m not very familiar with how they are in canon so I’m not 100% sure if I got this right! I also kinda ran out of insperation near the end so if it feels rushed that’s why. :)

Story:

A bug amoung the bats.

To the staff of the plane, the girl sitting in the window seat just in front of the right wing was quiet and withdrawn.  To her family, she was untrustworthy and a risk to their livelihood.  To those who she used to think of as friends, she was a backstabber and a liar who hid her bullying tendencies behind an innocent face.

The truth was she was none of those things.  Her name was Marinette Dupain-Cheng and what she was, was beyond angry.  

She had arrived home after the battle with Miracle Queen only to find her bags sitting for her by the door. Her parents had given her two hours to box up everything she deemed worthy of being sent to her new home as well as any trinkets she might want to take with her in her hand luggage before they had handed her a bus pass, a one-way plane ticket, a letter to her new guardians and told her they could no longer risk having her under their roof so they were sending her to Gotham to be with a family there that could hopefully get her back onto the ‘right path’.

A soft sigh escaped Marinette as she stared unseeingly out the small window.  Slowly a tear rolled down her cheek before she angrily swiped it away.  As if she didn’t have enough to deal with, she thought angrily.  Now she would have to hide the fact that she was Ladybug as well as the newly christened High Guardian of the Miraculous from people she didn’t know.  Who knew how well that would go.  

Another tear escaped her eyes as she thought about how she had been betrayed.  Looking back, she wished she had told Adrien that Lila had threatened her in the bathroom that day.  Or that she hadn’t blindly believed him when he’d said that she would out herself if they took the high road.  She wished she hadn’t tried to deal with everything by herself instead of telling her parents before Lila had gotten to them.  But most of all she wished that her trust in adults hadn’t been completely destroyed by it all.

Now she was alone and heading to a country she had limited knowledge of, where they spoke a language she wasn’t confident in speaking (although she understood more than she could say) and to a city that had more villains than Paris.

By the time her plane landed in Gotham airport, Marinette had a new mask in place.  She refused to let herself be hurt again and if that meant that she had to hide her true nature, so be it.  From now on, the world would see the ice queen she needed to be even if she wasn’t sure how to be one yet. The seatbelt sign flickered off as the captain announced the time and weather conditions before wishing them well as they disembarked.  Marinette took her time gathering all her things and making sure she had everything she might need, to hand.  

The letter from her parents sat in the front pocket of her bag like lead.  The miracle box was in the main compartment of said bag next to a blank sketchbook and a few odds and ends.  She had been too upset to design during the flight. 

Reluctantly, Marinette disembarked the plane and retrieved her bags from baggage claim.  Once she had everything she scanned the waiting crowd for whoever was meant to be fetching her.  Spotting her name on a card being held by a distinguished older gentleman she slowly made her way over to him, trying not to drag her feet despite waiting to.

“Sorry to keep you waiting sir.  I am Marinette Dupain-Cheng,” Marinette introduced herself in stilted high-school english, emotions locked behind a blank mask that would make an assassin proud.

“Oh God, it’s another Demon Spawn,” the man’s companion muttered.  She flicked her eyes over him.  Where the man holding the card was wearing a formal suit and looked neat and representable, the one who had just spoken looked like a biker.  A scuffed brown leather jacket hung open over a black muscle t-shirt.  Ratty jeans held up by an equally scuffed belt covered his legs.  The bottom of said jeans were tucked into well worn combat boots while a white steak in his hair added to the ‘dangerous’ vibe rolling off of him.

Marinette returned her attention to the older gentleman.

“My name is Alfred Pennyworth, Miss Dupain-Cheng.  Welcome to Gotham.  Please ignore Jason, he tends to act before he thinks.” His voice was cultured, Marinette noticed even as she nodded.  When he indicated that she was to follow him, she tightened her grip on her bag  and the luggage trolley and did so silently. 

 * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

Jason watched his new sibling closely.  Her face was guarded but her body language screamed that she had been hurt and badly so.  Her stiff posture reminded him of Damian despite her being closer to Tim’s age.  The strange thing was that as far as Jason could see the stiffness seemed to be more of a defence mechanism rather than her true personality.  He sighed, what was it with his family always attracting those that were damaged to the point where they hid?  And why was it that both of Bruce’s biological children were the worst damaged?  Did the universe hate Bruce that much?

Although Jason didn’t know it, Alfred was thinking along the same lines.  

The trip to the mansion passed in relative silence as Marinette pulled out a cell phone and quickly started messaging all of the people that had requested commissions to explain that their orders would be delayed.  Her parents didn’t know about this phone, nor did they know about the fact that Marinette was a very successful designer with an exclusive customer base. They didn’t even know about Edna Mode mentoring her whenever the designer for the heroes had time. They thought she was still trying to get a foot in the door of the industry.  It didn’t help Lila had claimed Marinette was trying to use Adrien as a way to get to his father either.

By the time the trio reached Wayne Manor she had caught up completely.  She had also managed to further freak Jason out with how quiet she was.  As far as he knew teenaged girls were ever this quiet even when they were on their phones.  From what he remembered, girls talked non-stop no matter what.  Well most girls, Cass seemed to be the exception and now, so did Marinette.

The meeting with the rest of the family was just as icily polite as the one she had given at the airport.  All she did was hand an envelope to Bruce before saying she was tired and retreating to the room Alfred obligingly led her to.  Jason turned his attention to Bruce, who had made a strangled sound.

“B?”

“She doesn’t know…” was the choked reply.

“What?” Dick queried in confusion.

“Marinette.  She doesn’t know she’s my daughter.  Sabine never told her.”

“Holy…” Jason breathed while Damian froze.  

Damian had been willing to hate her just because Marinette had a better claim on Bruce due to being older than him but how could he hate her now?  She didn’t know she was Bruce’s daughter at all!

* * * * * * * * 

Over the next three months the bat family discovered very little about Marinette.  She hadn’t reacted as they had expected to the news that she was Bruce’s daughter at all.  Instead of bouncing off the ceiling in excitement she had become even more withdrawn, appearing only for meals and to attend school as was required. 

All of the boys had tried to get closer to her but had been rebuffed which had just added to their frustration too.  Eventually Tim had turned to his hacking skills and what he had found had left him in a cold fury.

“Tim?” Dick asked cautiously.

“Is everyone here?” Tim’s voice was noticeably trembling as he spoke.

“Yes,” Bruce grunted.  He was just as frustrated as his sons.

“Spill already, Replacement,” Jason snorted.

“Right, well apparently our sister wasn’t always this cold.  Judging from the records I’ve  been able to get my hands on she used to be a virtual ball of sunshine.  She was class president, she helped at the bakery, did charity work and bent over backwards from all those she considered to be her friends.  I’m not sure what changed though.  It looks like it was almost overnight that all her ‘friends’ started targeting her over social media, she was expelled but that got repealed fairly quickly, and suddenly she was the class parier.  It doesn’t make sense.”  Tim sighed as he ran his hand through his hair in frustration.

There was silence for a while before Damian growled and stalked out of the room.  Dick shared a look with the others before running after him.

“What are you planning?”

“Just to get some answers, Greyson.”

The two soon found themselves at the door that led to Marinette’s room and Damian raised his hand to knock.  A sound made him pause, it was almost like a…

“No way, did she just laugh?” Dick breathed.  Soon both boys had their ears pressed against the door.

“Look, Uncle J, I get you want to send Fang after the little bitch but that would just give him indigestion.” Marinette was saying which made the two eve’s droppers eyes widen.  Uncle J? Fang? And did she really just swear?

“Yeah, I know you are angry but really what more could be done?  I tried exposing her lies.  I tried warning the class.  Heck I even tried taking the high road but in the end she won.  I’m now in Gotham and none of those that I trusted to support me are here.  I never thought Tom and Sabine would fall for her lies!  They know I have multiple sketch books and that one of them is inspiration only.  They know the books are colour coded.  So why would they even think I’d copy someone else’s ideas!”  Marinette’s voice was raw with pain and defeat as she spoke which stunned the boys. 

There was a pause as Marinette listened to whoever was on the other end of the call then they heard a loud sigh.

“Do what you feel is best Uncle J.  I just don’t think I’ll ever be able to forgive them.  Tom and Sabine raised me yet they still turned on me and sent me away.  I grew up with most of the people in my class yet they still believed that I could bully someone. They turned on me so quickly I almost got whiplash from it.  If that’s the thanks I get for trying to protect them, for trying to make sure they don’t fail to reach their dreams, then I wash my hands of them.  Doesn’t stop it from hurting though.”

Dick and Damian shared a look.  Marinette was chatting away in French but thanks to them learning it they were still able to understand everything.  Slowly they straightened up and made their way back to the batcave to report what they had heard.

 * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  

Marinette closed her eyes as she thought about the last three months.  Bruce had enrolled her in Gotham Academy and she was working as hard as she always did to make sure her grades were as high as possible.  She was pretty sure the whole school thought she was a total snob what with her ice cold attitude to most things but she didn’t care.  The only ones she showed her true self to these days were Edna, Jagged and the clients she had amassed before leaving France, the Kwami’s and her online Boyfriend Roy. 

She had met Roy by chance after attending a masked ball with Edna almost a year after she had started being mentored by the pint sized designer. Roy had tried to wriggle out of having to attend any future balls by behaving badly but Marinette had derailed his plan when she had simply grabbed his ear and told him to either quit his behaviour or she’d deal with him. He had tried to fight back but had found himself hogtied in a measuring tape. Once he had calmed down and Marinette had repaired the rips in his blazer the two had discovered they had a fair bit in common and they hadn’t stopped talking since.

When Jagged had called her to check on her she had decided to give him the full, unedited story. While he hadn’t been impressed he understood where she was coming from. Why should she have to keep fighting to help others when they wouldn’t do the same for her? Marinette flopped backwards on her bed as she thought about everything she’d learned. Bruce being her father had been a shock but it did explain why she had blue eyes. She didn’t care though. The family the man had built showed her he cared about family more than wealth so why hadn’t she known about him beforehand? Why had her mother sent her to him as a punishment? 

A knock at the door had her sitting up and making herself look presentable in a hurry.

“Come in.”

“Marinette? Can we talk for a bit?” Bruce asked her cautiously.

“Sure.” Marinette kept her mask of cold, indifference in place as she replied. “What can I help you with?”

“I know coming here and finding out I am your father was a shock but I was wondering if you could tell me about what happened for you to be sent here in the first place? I will understand if you don’t want to but I want you to know I’m here for you if you do.” Bruce said carefully. Marinette looked over Bruce’s shoulder and saw Tikki and Wayzz nodding incouringly at her. The kwami’s didn’t like how closed off Marinette had forced herself to be but had understood.

“Will I have to change again if I do tell you?” 

“Not change per say, maybe just drop the mask around the family a bit. As much as you are comfortable with anyway.”

Marinette studied Bruce for a moment before making up her mind. She’d tell him about the school issues but there was no way he’d be finding out she was Ladybug anytime soon. Secret identities and all that cam first. 

[understanding-media]

Is there a shift in how celebrities are viewed, and is it good?? would you agree??

BA (Hons) Media Production

Kane O’Brien (Student ID: s5314184)

My case study for this essay - "is there a shift in how celebrities are viewed by, and interact with fandoms, and is it for the better?"

This essay intends to delve into some new shifts in celebrity perception by a new form of fandom that celebrities are cultivating and how there's a change in how they present themselves and interact with these fandoms. Also looking briefly at the importance of this for society, how with more accessible celebrities there can be less of an invisible social wall between them and how "normal" people feel locked off on one side of it while celebrities know the secret to get over it. But also, with this wall crumbling, celebrities can become more in tune with the real world and less outcast, and seemingly ignorant to the real world and its issues.

I find this case study important to look into even though is still a fairly new shift but such a significant shift because with this change people goals become less impossible. From my experience with getting into music production and with finding a large music producer that casually streams on twitch himself giving advice and showing what he does but just like any other person and showing I can get where I want with effort and that they aren't so far away from normal people.

The two concepts I will use to analyse my case study are Fandoms and Participatory culture. Fandom being looking into the people who have these celebrities as a part of their life more so than just liking their content and participatory culture where the fandoms participate in the content and life of the celebrities. A prime example I will be using throughout this essay will be a music producer by the name 'Kenny Beats', he's a prime example of both a fandom where he's built a community he regularly interacts with and live streams with other celebrities that the fandom tunes into daily and bond over their common "idol". Participatory culture is his main allure to his fandom, he runs a discord community that he gives free royalty-free content, and also linked with his streams the community participates in 'beat battles' where he reviews, gives advice, and has even gotten people signed to labels. He contributes to his fandom and also has the fandom casually participate in his content with even offering salary paid jobs at his business "D.O.T.S"

To state the cores of my chosen concepts are "Fandom as a whole is a subculture that celebrates a mutual bond formed between people over a book series, TV show, movie, band, or other forms of pop culture" (Morrison, 2016), and "the idea that various peoples, societies, and cultures to interact with new media in a way that allows them both to add and take away information from this medium." (Jenkins, 2006) is the core of Participatory culture. These are the most important concepts for this case study as having a good fandom allows for a blossoming community that can feel connected to and understanding of the celebrity, having good participatory culture allows for that fandom and other participants to offer something to the media or industry they desire to be a part of and feel a connection rather than separated as people and the media and its celebrities. Of course, though with fandoms there's the risk of them becoming toxic with a higher feeling of entitlement and gatekeeping to others making the celebrities even more dejected from normal society and even less accessible.

although I do firmly believe that the integration of participatory culture it levels that out allowing the celebrity to intervene and shape their community. As with participatory culture being endorsed in new fandoms, it allows a level of self-governing where they can communicate with the celebrity in question to allow changes to be made that the people want and can solve issues of toxicity directly.

This is the basis of what I desire to focus on and evaluate to reach the answer of my case study with my research to bring this to light and create discussion on the topic.

is there currently a shift in how celebrities are viewed by, and interact with fandoms, and is it for the better? In the past and up till recently celebrities were viewed in a very specific way as idols and out of reach and touch with "normal people", they are regularly presented as beings above the rest of us and people obsess over their lives seeing them as "the best of the best" or remarkable idols, it's a strange obsession developed over years. (Levy, 2015) (for example, how people are obsessed when they date "normal" people rather than other celebrities)

with this presentation and obsession, celebrities are dejected from societal norms and the issues that go on around them. For example, "A-list" celebrities like Drake, Jamie Fox, and others don't interact commonly with "normal" people or have their fans/fandoms participate in their lives casually or in their work having suggestions or adding something to the content these huge celebrities create and fans love. But in recent years there's been a shift in a few of the "lower tier" celebrities where they develop a community that feels involved but not entitled to the lives of these people. The best example of this and who I will regularly refer to is music producer 'Kenny Beats' who has produced some of the biggest Hip-Hop songs in recent years and is extremely idolised and respected.

Kenny Beats started a YouTube show In March of 2019, in this show he casually met up with huge celebrities in Hip-Hop and it showed these people and himself joking around in a studio that seemed 3rd rate, it showed a human side to these people and started a fandom around him and these people that weren't obsessed in the common way celebrity fandoms are. Then at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, he started a Discord community for his fans to talk to each other and communicate with him in, as well as a Twitch live stream where the new wave finally began for this shift in celebrity representation and community. He would casually talk to this community as a member rather than "the face" a sole reason for it, he would take fan advice and that would go into real songs, his fandom actively participated in his work and he actively participated in theirs. This wave of participatory culture developed his fandom into an organic and casual state where he would get people jobs and signed to a label but also where these "normal people" were a part of his content and art. His Fandom became something casual, and the people never saw him as some famous pariah they idolised and obsessed over, they don't pry or feel entitled to his or his celebrity guests/friend life like most fandoms act.

Although this sounds great and progressive on the surface, with this shift towards this new wave of fandom and fan interaction there comes risks. People are so set in their ways of idolising and believing in their right to know about their favourite celebrities. If the more "A-list" celebrities with these already obsessive fans and invasive swamping paparazzi culture around them take a step in this direction of cultivating a fandom with real participation between them and their community, without a smart and smooth transition and commitment they run the risk of cultivating and growing the toxic and entitled way of thinking further removing them from "normal society" and have a huge surge of gatekeeping and people feeling more entitled as they now have a community the celebrity is involved in. especially with cancel culture growing and growing where even then with a casual approach they run the risk of people not liking if their expectations aren't met. And this causes celebrities to become more detrimental to themselves and is what creates the commonly seen narcissism in celebrity culture, this toxic isolation and obsession with their lives creates many issues for celebrities and their fans (Brian H. Spitzberg, William R. Cupach, 2008)

But this is changing, slowly but surely. With a couple of celebrities that are much more high profile than 'Kenny Beats' but following in his footsteps with this shift in. fan interaction, these being 'Snoop Dogg' and 'T-Pain' now also doing regular streams on the platform Twitch and shows them doing pretty normal stuff and grounding them. Snoop Dogg now regularly streams games he plays and takes recommendations from his fans and just using twitch, in general, entices participatory culture on the fan side of actually having a part in this new venture of his into streaming.

T-Pain also streams and has a discord very similar to Kenny Beats, but T-Pain focuses more on a discussion about the music industry and helping his fandom to feel secure and capable but in a realistic way rather than the old "you can do anything" crap. He shows a side we don't get to see from most other huge celebrities and shows the truth of how he's just a guy that worked hard and slowly became famous and that it doesn't happen overnight. Showing that this shift so far is positive and has created very friendly and inclusive fandoms where participatory culture plays a huge role in its success and casual nature rather than the toxic obsession format we're used to.

The celebrities we see taking part in this shift are also far more involved in talking about the real-world problems which is a great thing as celebrities are a huge factor in what people care about and are exposed to, especially where fewer and fewer people watch/read news sources and its mostly through word of mouth and public figures addressing it, celebrities that have these more caring and social fandoms are detrimental these days for the awareness of distant suffering issues and it's improving from the old ignorant ways of celebrities and their narcissism due to their activity and participation with the fans who are caring of these issue's and contribute to the celebrities world education and vice versa (Scott, 2014)

Personally, for this topic, I do find it important. I'm very passionate about getting g into the media industry and more specifically into music production, but that sort of career was always a very far-off dream and so very inaccessible to some random kid from a small town in England where nothing ever happens. But finding 'Kenny Beats' who I spoke on in the main essay changed that way of thinking for me. I originally had a lot of disdain for the sort of celebrity culture and the fandoms that surround them as most are toxic, obsessive, and filled with gatekeeping. For example, used to be extremely into metal music but the fandoms in that are elitist and unwelcoming to anyone who doesn't know everything, but when I found Kenny Beats fandom and how he interacts with everyone and that they participated with him I was amazed and felt welcomed, and everyone is there teaching each other all the time about music and even just talking and helping people just with anything. It re-inspired me to do what I was passionate about as I saw him as just another guy that was good at what he does and that he cares and helps people, he even ended up getting a 16-year-old boy from Scotland signed to 'XL Records' (the label that does Adele and Radio head!) this new, completely different fandom to what I'd ever seen before inspired me and helped with my anxiety of wasting my time working for a "silly pipe dream of a career"

So, in conclusion to my case study. I feel the answer is yes, in my opinion, we are starting to see celebrities more and more as people rather than commodities and it's an incredibly good thing for society as these people are important to the public's decisions and what we are exposed to and care about. And with them being more grounded they can be more involved in the world rather than dismissed because they're "dumb celebrities". Although yes there are the risks of cultivating a more toxic and entitled community with higher-profile celebrities but with something as simple as starting with a good social presence on a platform like Twitter, especially like 'Lil Nas X' who is rather huge now but is seen as a rather normal person from his casual and human-like tweets that ground him and make him relatable. because that's all it is in the end, celebrities need to take this shift and become more grounded and relatable to the "normal" person, and this shift is that starting to happen, and it will help the world and its people be better. slowly but surely, at least in my opinion. what's yours??

(please use this link to see sources used, recommendations for future use are welcomed)

[kae-karo]

Since you mentioned being in the mood for asks: I think I like my best friend. She knows I'm not straight. But has never actually said she's not straight but has discussed possibility of her sexuality being fluid? She doesn't open up to anyone. And so it's really hard to understand her feelings and I am always afraid of crossing the line by asking her too many questions? So I just avoid asking a question twice. I know our friendship will be ruined if I let her know about my feelings ( 1/2 )

But idk what to do with all these pent up feelings :( she gets close to me but then seems to be very distant after a while. Back and forth. Idk what to do. Especially with all this time in my hand during quarantine all I do is overthink about everything in my life including her. Oh no I'm ranting. Sorry have a great day !!! Love you Katie !!! 🖤🖤🖤 :) ( 2/2 )

hello dear!! 💜💜💜 okay first and foremost never never feel like you have to apologize for sending long/multi-part asks/rambling/etc i adore getting asks and it is never something you should feel bad about!!

now, onto advice here...there are a lot of different options ofc for what you could do, and i won’t say that there’s one right answer or one thing that’s better than another. i am and always will be an advocate for communication and honesty in relationships/friendships/etc, but i think the first thing that needs to happen is you need to decide what route you want to go

the kind of key directions would ofc be to 1. explain your feelings and see if she feels the same 2. decide that you do Not want your current friendship with her to change and that you would rather move on from being interested in her without mentioning that you have feelings or 3. keep on the same path you’re currently on and sort of just...wait it out

uhhh i will say that option 3 is usually...one to avoid, if you can. specifically bc this will probably leave you feeling Bad and that’d be something that’s uhhh not good lmao

so say you want to try telling her how you feel, naturally this comes with the risk (as you mentioned) that she might not feel the same/that you might ruin the friendship by saying something about it, but unfortunately...there’s not really much of a way around that risk. that said, and keeping in mind that idk her or how she tends to act/react to certain situations, there are probably ways to go about this that mitigate some of the risks

if i were in your shoes and decided i wanted to go this route, i might genuinely try to keep it as lowkey and casual as possible, and try to avoid making it some Big Thing™. i’d probs just say smth like ‘hey y’know i think i might have feelings for u beyond just friendship, i wanted to just let you know in case you felt the same, but if not, no worries! it doesn’t change that i still want to be friends with you, and i obviously am not gonna act any differently toward you if you don’t feel the same.’ like. i would try to make it clear that 1. i wouldn’t want anything to change if she didn’t feel the same and 2. that i have no expectations of her

especially since it sounds like she’s still figuring out who she might be into, i might also add something like ‘i totally understand you’re still figuring stuff out, i don’t want you to feel any added pressure, just wanted to be open and honest with you’ (sometimes being open can help others open up too!)

now, that said, it sounds like you might be erring more on the side of wanting to move on and get over your feelings for her - which is totally valid! or, ofc, if you tell her and she’s like ‘yeah man sorry i’m just not into you!’ then u would naturally want to move on without making things uncomfy. in that event, i have one very major recommendation: distractions

i get it! it’s hard with quarantine to keep your mind occupied with other things/people/etc, but unfortunately, moving on isn’t something that can just be done, it requires practice and patience and time

one thing you can try is choosing something you already enjoy and finding an aspect of that to dive deeper into. for example, fan of a show/book? go search for fanart or fanfic if you’re into that! come up with an oc just for fun in whatever universe that piece of media is in, even if u never show it to anyone. pick a few blogs you’ve seen who post a lot and check them out, maybe follow if they seem cool! write fic or draw art, whether it be of an oc or existing characters or even just scenes or something! especially try this out even if you’ve never done either of those things before - and don’t get discouraged if those things aren’t perfect, just give them a shot and you might find something you really enjoy! grab a character or ship you usually don’t give much attention to/haven’t seen before and go check out their tag!

along this route, i speak a lot about fandom/fictional media bc that is what i personally use as an escape, but the same goes for activism/politics/languages/animals/other subjects/literally anything that is of interest to you! there is almost always an unexplored aspect of something that you can dive into. but! in the event that you can’t or don’t find anything interesting...

another thing is to find something new! a show you’ve heard about but never watched (or a show you’ve literally never heard of before but like just keeps popping up on ur netflix page), a book you’ve been putting off reading, a youtuber that seems p cool, a skill or language or craft or really, literally anything you haven’t done, and trying it. invest a bit of time and energy and just see where it takes you, let yourself think about this new thing and follow your line of curiosity. some of the best (and worst/dumbest/most cursed) ideas i’ve ever had came from just. randomly following the line of curiosity in my head and seeing where it takes me. hell, that’s what led to me writing fic in the first place!

and be forgiving of yourself too, don’t associate thoughts about this person with any kind of ‘oh shit i’m not supposed to be thinking about her’ kind of reactions, just gently redirect your thoughts to that one episode you just watched, or the question you have about the universe it exists in, or what crocheting pattern you want to try out first, etc etc etc. again, this kind of thing takes time and patience and won’t happen overnight, but you absolutely can get there!

the last ‘distraction’ i tend to go for is revisiting old interests! that fic or book you read a long time ago but still have/still have bookmarked as a fave? pick it back up and give it a reread - the cool thing about stories is that, over time, our perspectives change, and the way we experience the story and the emotions we feel over it change as well. same goes for old shows, esp if it’s been a minute! you can even do this in tandem with the first distraction type and dig back into fandoms you haven’t seen in a while!

it can be hard to remember sometimes - esp while we’re in quarantine! - that worlds exist outside our current interests and spheres of influence. whatever you decide to do, dear, just remember that things will be okay in the end (even if they’re not okay at first) so long as you try to do what’s right for you and be thoughtful and caring along the way. i hope this helped at least a little!