#there’s a video essay on youtube that states my general feelings on the matter better than i ever could!!

[bachelor-buttons]

so i watched elisabeth

[jochmus]

Method of Loci and Reality Shifting

There was a video from a source that I will not name that brought this community to my attention. Thus, if you will allow me to do so, I am going to give my two-cents on the matter. Let us see how this goes. 

In terms of reality shifting itself, I do not think that it is a real phenomena, at least in the way that it is presented in terms of literally going to another universe. However, I know that this would not go over well, so instead of contesting the whole of reality shifting and getting chewed-out by everyone, I am going to instead compare it to something that I think is more realistic: Memory Palaces. Reality shifting, really, may be understood as a form of creating spontaneous memory palaces, like in dreams with space (not outer space but more along the lines of “distance”) in them. 

Assuming that most of you reading this are children or young adults, I do not necessarily want to be responsible for getting you into memory palaces, or more properly the Method of Loci. To be honest I only know about such a method from the title of Frances Yates’ book on the subject, which I learned about from studying Giordano Bruno. Indeed there is another post on my account about him that may be of interest. 

Without attempting to invalidate anyone aside from the second paragraph, as that is not my intention at all, okay, I would like to delve into a brief summary of memory palaces, and how they contrast with reality shifting. Then I will seek an integration of the two. 

If I am to be frank, my intention with this post is to help to transform Dark Academia into the next Renaissance, in accordance with the theory of a certain YouTuber. I have come to the conclusion that in order to make this work, the “aesthetic” element of Dark Academia will need to be replaced with actually finding and reading great texts from around the world. Here’s to hoping that can happen with this discussion of the Method of Loci or Memory Palaces augmenting the practice of Reality Shifting. Food for thought; cheers, and lets get down to the meat of this essay.

* * *

Memory palaces function with two essential elements: The space of the building or location where the perception takes place, and then the mnemonic devices intended to enable memorizing things. You could potentially build a memory palace in Minecraft if visualization is difficult for you, but that is a bit off topic. Cicero the Roman Senator and rhetorician came up with the method in the first place, and Giordano Bruno wrote many books on the subject. The specific division of the elements of a memory palace in my own take, admittedly I do not know too much about any of this, but I was hoping to make this post anyway and see what someone could make of it. 

Spatial memory is obviously going to be important with regards to designing and using a memory palace. An author that I will not mention... Well actually he was the guy who wrote Maps of Meaning, but I am not in agreement with absolutely everything that he says. For instance, his protest of the use of gender pronouns in the name of freedom of speech was quite silly, and in fact invalidating for the transgender community, and I do not condone that. At the same time, I do not buy into the other idea that all of his work is utter gibberish, a stance that some people stand by. His work is a mixed bag. I contrasted the titular maps of meaning with memory palaces, and it seems that they both fundamentally rely on differences between values, and spatial memory respectively. Hypothetically both latter terms generally feel to me like they are the same. 

As for the design of the memory palace itself, why, it can be any location that you wish; fictional, natural or real. The problem is knowing the architecture of the fictional place, as I know that people on here are really into fandoms and that is inevitable. A historical-mythical anecdote is the Temple of Solomon and the fascination that Europeans such as Isaac Newton had with its layout as described in the Old Testament of the Bible. Idk, but at least we have those cross section books now, so it should be much easier. Either that or you can design it yourself in your mind, on paper, in Minecraft or using Lego Digital Designer. Yes, that software is still my favorite Lego CAD (computer aided design) despite having not used it in years. 

In terms of icons that populate the memory palace, they could be construed as NPCs or something that you could potentially generate by listing out human emotions, and more importantly how people express them. There is a field called Kinesics (not kinesthetics as I almost typed) and this deals with body motion and expression, but keep in mind that this is advanced college-level stuff. It could be used to image various body movements for these NPCs and enable a very vivid experience. Again, although I want to spur interest in the transformation of the Dark Academia community into a Lay Renaissance; the method of accomplishing this is to “ditch the aesthetic,” a tag I have appended to this post, and start reading classic texts, at the same time I do not want to be responsible for a bunch of teenagers and children getting into subjects that are either occult related, or too dense for them to understand properly. (I think I’ll make another post about the “ditch the aesthetic” movement eventually.) This distinction is of great importance to me, and I hope that whoever is reading this can appreciate that. 

I do not know the intricacies of reality shifting, so I will not talk about that today. You probably know much more that I do about it, and although I do not entirely agree, I can respect what you believe. 

The last thing that I have to say, or, two things, is that if you accentuate your the things you want to remember with strong emotion, then those things will be more conducive to be remembered. The same thing applies to memory palaces and reality shifting. This advice was stated by Giordano Bruno himself in one of his books, which name I unfortunately can’t recall. 

Lastly, if the whole reality shifting thing gets too intense for you, I’d recommend just leaving the community, or more realistically just sitting on the sidelines and taking in some of the positivity emitted from the community, as I have seen some of the posts on here and they look like they do that. I don’t want to stir up any controversy, but if you have constructive criticism I would love to hear it in the comments. I don’t personally think that disagreement needs to be angry, as that just isn’t really feasible in terms of the proper functioning of society. Conversation and the exchange of ideas is better than being angry, and I hope that I have been civil enough in writing this. Sorry that this whole essay was so long in the first place; if you read all of this, I commend you. 

[quarantineroulette]

Minor Disappointments’ 10 Least Disappointing Releases of 2019

I wasn’t going to compile a 2019 year-end list for a number of reasons (lack of time to listen to new music, general malaise, little time to write), but I’ve read so much bad end of year music writing that I feel like I must either stoke the embers or assist in extinguishing it. I don’t think I’m doing either here, but everyone likes list so here’s another.

I haven’t had time to really think about 2019 in songs but my favorite this year was, no kidding, a Tindersticks song featuring Robert Pattinson. Speaking of...

10) FKA twigs - Magdalene

  I really wish I hadn’t remembered that Pattinson and twigs dated because it put a slight damper on my enjoyment of this album. Instead of appreciating it in all its genre-destroying glory, as I did on my first listen, subsequent spins led to me becoming sidetracked by tabloid speculation over what RPattz must have done to have wronged this very singular artist. So, whether this is your first listen or 50th, forget all that I just wrote and instead let twigs fill your empty mind with her sometimes delicate, sometimes Kate Bush-evoking, wholly epic songs.

Favorite moment: It’s pretty commendable and bold to place the lead single as the closing track, especially if its something as monumentally gut-wrenching as “Cellophane.” Also, that video is the visual treasure everyone says it is, no fooling. 

9) Weyes Blood - Titanic Rising

If you’ve ever heard Karen Carpenter’s Beatles covers you might have some idea as to what this record is like. But beyond Natalie Mering’s cozy vocals and timeless compositions is an undercurrent of ambient mystery that sets everything ever so slightly askew. At times, Laurel Canyon vibes are completely dispelled for more crepuscular textures, as in the album’s centerpiece, the Julee Cruise-esque “Movies.” Who knows where Mering will go next, but her path, whether from the California sun or glow of the silver screen, is certainly bright. 

Favorite moment:  “A Lot’s Gonna Change”, “Andromeda”, “Everyday” - as strong of a three song run as on any release this year. 

8) Angel Olsen - All Mirrors

The cynic in me wanted to resist this album, but as soon as the cinematic strings kicked in on “Lark” I decided the enormous amount of critical hyperbole that was being thrown at it was mostly warranted. Stately, dramatic, occasionally synthy and largely devastating, All Mirrors taught me that sometimes you may find many of your favorite things in the unlikeliest of places. Please insure your heartstrings. 

Favorite moment: “Spring” which, like a lot of great songs, sounds a little like a fairground ride breaking down. 

7) Danny Brown - uknowhatimsayin¿

This might be the funnest album I’ve listened to all year. It can be hard to do positive but “Best Life” is as heartening as Nardwuar’s interview with Brown and fewer things are happier than that. With his fifth album, Brown has proven he can ably do every mood with aplomb. And if using cleaning references as euphemisms is your poison, then, hell, he can do that too. 

Favorite moment: “Hoes on my dick ‘cos I look like Roy Orbison.” Need I say more?

6) Omni - Networker

One of the strongest post-to-the-nth-degree-punk bands from the latter 2010s, I still have Omni’s 2016 debut, Deluxe, on heavy rotation. Networker, the trio’s third record and first on Sub Pop, has no shortage of twists, turns, technical dexterity, quirk and compositional audacity. Looks like I’ll be overplaying this one too. 

Favorite moment: I could listen to “Courtesy Call” over a hundred times and I still wouldn’t be able to guess what direction it’s going to go in. 

5) Aldous Harding - Designer

 Of all the artists on this list, I find Harding the most inspiring in both her songwriting and her performing style, which is arresting to say the least. The songs on Designer are paradoxically accessible and impenetrable, with seemingly breezy songs like “Weight of the Planets” leaving you with a feeling that’s a cross between a “wow!” and a “huh?”(perhaps a bit like this). Most impressive of all, Harding draws to mind such greats as Nick Drake, Syd Barrett and Nico while always sounding completely like herself. I honestly don’t know what layer of reality Harding is from, but we should all be thankful she’s residing in ours for the time being. 

Favorite moment: “The Barrel” had been in my YouTube queue for ages; after finally watched it I was left confused, mildly disturbed, amused and completely beguiled. This kookily hatted lady is just semi-dancing in a heavily-draped room for nearly five minutes and it’s the most fascinating video in years. If the video wasn’t entertaining enough, it also happens to have one of the funniest and sweetest comment threads on YouTube. Oh yeah, and the song is brilliant. 

4) Deerhunter - Why Hasn’t Everything Already Disappeared?

Deerhunter have really only misstepped once for me and that was with 2015′s Fading Frontier. Seeing as this is the band’s first full length since then, I had quite a bit of trepidation going in. Of course, a lot can happen in four years and Why Hasn’t Everything... is a thankfully thrilling addition to the band’s canon. Whether it be Cate Le Bon’s production, Bradford’s growing ease as a performer and eccentric, Lockett’s unexpectedly Low-esque "Tarnung,” or all of the above, this may well be Deerhunter’s most consistent release since Halcyon Digest. I’m even slightly tempted to say it’s better than it, but the sacrilege is too great.

Favorite moment: “What Happens to People” -- totally unique to the Deerhunter canon and already a classic. 

3) Lana Del Rey - Norman Fucking Rockwell!!

I never thought I could ever love an album with a Sublime cover on it, but here we are. In all fairness, the inclusion of “Doin’ Time” matters little when the originals on this treatise on Americana is so glorious.  Between the torchiness and the LA-specific witchiness of songs like “Bartender”, there’s not much on here that I’m able to resist. There may still be haters but “The Greatest” drowns them out a little more with each play.  Favorite Moment: “And we were so obsessed with writing the next best American record” - yeah, thank you for doing that.  2) Karen O & Danger Mouse - Lux Prima Truth be told, the first time I listened to this record I cried when it ended because I didn’t want to leave its world. There may have been more radical records by newer artists in 2019, but hearing Karen O doing what she does best, as well as trying many new things, was such a joy to me. I’m probably among only a handful of people who wanted to hear Karen do a straight up disco song in 2019, but we got it and it’s something to be treasured for years to come. To paraphrase Sparks + Franz Ferdinand, collaborations don’t (often) work, but thanks to O’s flawless vocals and Brian Burton’s sometimes Dave Fridmann-esque production, this one is an exception.  Favorite Moment:  I’m tempted to say the whole thing, but “Turn the Light” and “Redeemer” are maybe two of the biggest surprises on an album of many. 

1) Purple Mountains - Purple Mountains 

Purple Mountains is quite possibly a new touchstone in gallows humor. Given David Berman’s suicide less than a month after the record’s release, what should now be a grim and discomfiting listen is so mordant and wry that it somehow overpowers its bleakness. More striking than perhaps even the moments of humor is the album’s tenderness, so beautifully represented in songs like “Snow is Falling in Manhattan” and “I Loved Being My Mother’s Son.” Although it’s undeniably tragic that there will be no more words from Berman, the ones he’s left us with will fascinate and move us for decades to come. 

Favorite Moment: Unsurprisingly, Berman’s lyrical dexterity on this album is beyond measure. From the internal and slant rhymes in a line like “see the plod of the flawed individual looking for a nod from God” to the layers of meaning in “the light of my life is going out tonight”, the wordsmithery here is mesmerizing. If I had the time, I would gladly write an essay on how Berman used color to further emphasize a point. Thanks for the music, David, but thanks especially for the words. 

[tessatechaitea]

New Titans #112

Don't you worry your pretty little head about Red Star's right leg.

I keep trying to organize my life so that I can read more actual books (as opposed to comic books which I'm not judging. I'm just differentiating) without having to sacrifice any of the other things I enjoy doing. What that generally means is that I wind up reading about ten pages every morning before going to bed (I work nights!). Which realistically means I need to do improve my time management if I'm going to be serious about reading. I have managed to read the first "book" of Alan Moore's Jerusalem but it's taken me a fucking long time to do it. I thought it would take me a long time because I was expecting a difficult read but I'm finding it enjoyable. Plus by the time I've finished, I'm fairly certain I'll be able to navigate Northampton with ease. I'm also wondering if all the descriptions of the characters' movements through the city are an encoded treasure map! Or, being that Alan Moore wrote it, it's more likely a spell to summon some sex demons. While organizing (and by organizing, I mean the main definition of organizing: moving shit around in a way that makes you feel like you're accomplishing something but really you're just engaging in an activity to forget about your mortality for awhile. Plus you can generally get some really fucking good dusting done), I managed to place all of the books from various book shelves that I have yet to finish reading (or that I simply want to reread) on the top shelf of the row of bookcases in my office. Jerusalem is first on that list followed by some books by high school friends (Rogue's Curse by Jason Beymer and Soy Rakelson's children's books that I'm willing to bet everything I own as well as my life and my mother's life on that they're black and white morality tales with a super conservative and possibly Ayn Randian view of the world). After that is There Is No Year which Doom Bunny gave me because it's supposedly a terrible book that I'm not sure he even finished and which I wanted to make fun of (but, hey, maybe I'll love it!) and the rest: Inside the Yellow Submarine, Trixie Belden Mystery-Quiz Book #1, Don Quixote, Gravity's Rainbow, Lost in the Funhouse (reread!), A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, And the Ass Saw the Angel (by Nick Cave!), King's The Wind Through the Keyhole (A Dark Tower book!), Crime and Punishment, Hey Nostradamus!, The Best of H.P. Lovecraft, The Lore and Language of Schoolchildren, The Boomer Bible (re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-read), Six Volumes of The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night (finished with one and a half volumes after owning this set for twenty five years!), The Holy Bible (currently reading for my Patreon), The Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry (Second Edition) (because I need poetic context for the 20th century!), Only Revolutions, The Exegesis of Philip K. Dick, and The Familiar (currently just book one but there's going to be like nine hundred of them, so maybe I won't even bother!). Oh, and I just added We Learn Nothing (reread) and I Wrote This Book Because I Love You, both by Tim Kreider. I'll probably start with those because funny essays are easier to get through than anything by Dostoevsky, Danielewski, Pynchon, Cervantes, Barth, Joyce, or Sakelson! I mean Rakelson! Oh man. Rakelson would have a stroke if he knew I listed his name with all those postmodern authors! Not that they're all postmodern. You can figure out which ones are and aren't on your own. I'm busy reading New Titans #112 which must be good since Starfire is naked on the cover. Okay, almost naked. She is wearing a dickie and a belt. I know a lot of you just skipped that big paragraph while thinking, "Oh, la dee da! What a fancy book reader you are! Fucking virtue signaler! Or whatever the term for listing or showing off your reading list full of classic literary texts is! Seems like virtue signaler works well enough! Better even than what idiotic fuck nuggets use it for on Twitter anyway!" But maybe you missed the part about how those are books I haven't been able to get through yet! I've owned some of these books for over a decade! And I didn't even put The Collected Works of Gertrude Stein on this shelf because do I need to be reminded that I used that book more as an address book than something to read? Although I carried it with me everywhere I went for a year or two (which is why it's full of phone numbers and addresses!). And I really did want to read it. I didn't carry it around so people could think, "Look at him with that book! Who the fuck is Gertrude Stein? What a ponce!" Although to be fair, I did leave off a few books on my "to-read" shelf! But it wasn't because they weren't smart enough sounding! It's because they were comic books and also pornography and also also fucking hilarious.

One of my friends in the state department who learns a brand new language every four years or so bonded with me over Oglaf last time he visited. He was all, "I'm glad I know somebody I can share my love of Oglaf with and not be looked at like a completely demented perv!" Although I do look at him like he's a completely demented perv, I didn't need to admit it to his face!

I embrace my delusion that readers merely skipped "one" paragraph of my comic book "reviews"! This issue is called "A New Home" and my brain continued to add to that title with "o-erotic Journey." Mostly because of this panel:

Fairly certain "bamming" a baby is illegal, even in space.

The Titans (and I use that term loosely since the characters encompassed by that shorthand are Changeling, Red Star, Pantha, Baby, and Starfire) have been stranded on The Terraist's space station. That name probably could use a hyphen so you don't first read it as terRAIST twelve times thinking "What the fuck does that mean?" before your brain finally sees the God-awful pun and you give up, finally letting go of that last gossamer thread that's been connecting you to the reality you just discovered doesn't fucking matter. How can there be any meaning to existence when an editor greenlights the name "Terraist"? I'm sure Wolfman's pitch contained at least two dozen "Get it?!"s. Anyway, maybe most readers never even noticed, shrugging their shoulders at every single moment in which a comic book doesn't make sense because at least Starfire is practically naked throughout the last few issues! I have a theory that most people don't really absorb much of what they're reading in comic books. They tend to just love a character for some magic reason and stick with loving that character no matter what terrible writer winds up writing them. And at that point, they just ignore plot holes and inconsistencies and terrible dialogue and whatever the fuck Ann Nocenti does with her typewriter. They simply go star-eyed and gape lovingly at the drawn images of Dick Grayson's throbbing buttocks. That was a hypothetical sentence and not a memoir. Here's a panel with evidence that might lead to proof of my theory if I could actually interview anybody who read this comic book in 1994 and ask them, "Did you even notice this panel?" To which they would all probably respond, "No, I was distracted by the opposite page where you can see tons of Starfire's side-boob and I think one of her outer labia." Um, anyway, the panel I mentioned:

Damn, Marv. Beyond the Forest was nearly fifty years old at the time this comic came out.

To be fair to Wolfman and Changeling, I did an Internet search on "Whatta dump" (and, yes, I spelled it differently than Marv did) and the first hit was video of the scene where Bette Davis says the line. What's odd is that she delivers it flatter and straighter than anything I would have expected out of Bette Davis's eyes...I mean mouth. Gar's rendition of it is terrible! The way Bette says it, I would never think to spell it any way but "What a dump." But that's not the point! The point is how is "What a dump!" a immortal words?! Granted, you're probably now thinking to yourself, "Well, how did X and Y and Z become oft-quoted movie lines?!" (where X and Y and Z are actual phrases from movies and not just letters. But I'm not psychic so how should I know what terrible oft-quoted movie lines you were thinking of? Mine would have been "Seven schools in seven states and the only different is my locker combination" or "William H. Bonny. You are not a god?" "Why don't you pull the trigger and find out?" or "Ziggy Piggy! Ziggy Piggy! Ziggy Piggy! Ziggy Piggy!") I suppose one can't help what phrases the zeitgeist picks up on. According to the YouTube video of Bette Davis, "What a dump" is Bette's famous bitchy line from that movie I'd never heard of. I guess I just haven't traveled in the right circles! Although I have heard the phrase "What a dump!" Has everybody in the world been quoting Bette Davis all this time and I just didn't know it?! Was this movie the first time that phrase was ever uttered?! To think I could have known all of this if I hadn't been distracted by Starfire's side-boob and — I'm fairly certain — one of her outer labia. To shut Gar up, Starfire admits that she doesn't remember any of them and then she punches Pantha in her vagina.

Starfire punching Pantha in the vagina is funnier than anything that Pantha has said in the last forty issues.

After punching Pantha in the vagina, Starfire knees Red Star in the balls for no reason. Unless the reason is that she's been wanting to do that for a long time and her pretend amnesia allows her this moment! I suppose I'd fake amnesia too to get away from being a Titan. I've been joking about seeing Starfire's outer labia but is this it? Is that one of those things?

Is my boner proof that it's her labia or is my boner proof that I'm a comic book reading virgin nerd?

I can't wait for everybody to message me telling me how that can't be her outer labia because that's not where it would be and anyway this photographic proof I'm sending you is what one looks like! Then I can actually them and say, "Well, you can't know that for sure! She's an alien and maybe her outer labia is fully engorged due to Pantha back-fucking her!" Also I'd really enjoy some of that photographic evidence!

This is not what I would do with those photographs.

Garfield turns into another monster because he can't do birds and rhinos anymore. He lies on top of Starfire and then reveals something that destroys every moment in DC canon where Garfield turned into a rhino to knock some hugely muscled bad guy on their ass. He tells Red Star, "Hey, I may be big and ugly but my mass doesn't change! I'm not as strong as she is!" Well fuck me! The whole concept of Beast Boy has been based on a huge lie! Or at least scientific principles that make the character utterly worthless. Why the fuck would he ever change into a huge beast if his mass doesn't change? Wouldn't he always change into something small and fast to be most effective?! This revelation is one of those moments where DC tries to make their universe more logical but only winds up fucking up the entire multiverse. Red Star and Changeling knock Starfire unconscious and then tie her up which probably isn't totally rapey at all, even if the artist draws it that way.

Yep. Everything is just fine here! Move along.

Meanwhile on Earth, Arsenal, Aqualad, and Flash consider a proposal from the United States government to get the Titans to work for them. They consider it over a couple waters at a local strip club named Ding Dong Daddy's." I mean, the comic book calls it a "retro club" but everybody either gets a private lap dance or laid. It's hard to tell what Marv Wolfman was going for with this scene. Proof that the young cool Titan men fuck? Proof that women are only to provide relief for men's sexual desires? Proof that Aqualad should maybe think twice before saying "Hey guys! We came together!" when women are throwing their vaginas at them?

How long does Aqualad think a lap dance takes?

Back in space while the reader was away, Red Star and Changeling have managed to put a gag on Starfire and tie her legs together. That makes things less rapey, right? If not, I'm sure Marv will improve the situation in a sensitive and professional manner!

Oh come on!

Starfire remembers everything while Changeling whines about how he didn't get to kiss Starfire while she was tied up and scared and beaten and suffering from amnesia. Poor kid! Maybe next time! After regaining her memory, Starfire says, "X'hal! That was dick I saw in South America!" and I snicker like a twelve year old. The first decision Starfire makes after regaining her memory is that she and Dick should get their marriage annulled, if it even took which I'm pretty sure it didn't. If you were a fan of reading the letters pages, whoever the letter answer person was constantly kept pointing out that they couldn't be married because the priest blew up before he could say they were man and wife. But now Wolfman provides more evidence like how no paper work was filed and nobody signed anything (although don't you sign the papers before the ceremony?) Anyway, they're not married and probably never will be if the last twenty five years of reading comic books has taught me anything!

Snicker!

Baby has an idea to use The Terraist's satellite as their new headquarters and the government is all, "Okay! But you have to work with us on a minimum number of yearly missions!" And Roy Harper is all, "That number is zero!" And the government is all, "Yes sir! What a deal! We will pay you a salary, give you the satellite, and get nothing in return! Let's shake on it!"

Who the fuck is wearing The Flash's costume?! First appearance of New 52 Wally West?

The epilogue reveals Raven needs to rape the Titans so that they'll all give birth to Trigon's children. So it should be a fun few final issues before either this comic book was cancelled or I finally recovered my sanity and simply stopped buying it. New Titans #112 Rating: B. It was all kinds of stupid but I enjoyed making fun of it!

[reistellae]

A really really long reflection 2/3

The second part in my long, reflective essay. If you haven’t read part 1 (it’s a snooze admittedly), lemme summarize: racism within American society is long and runs deep, it will not be erased overnight; in pop culture and entertainment, Asians/Asian-Americans have never been taken seriously in post-WWII America; the rise in popularity of anime and jpop and the Internet eventually leading to the globalization of kpop. We are currently at 2016.

We last left off in 2016, where BTS was gaining some major traction worldwide. During this time, other kpop groups were making their moves in the States. GOT7 had their FLY Tour shows in the United States July 1-11th 2016 and were doing tons of press interviews to promote the concert. The kpop convention + concert (KCON) had steadily been growing in popularity since its first con in 2012 with a 2016 lineup that featured Seventeen, BTOB, Ailee, Crush, Dynamic Duo, BTS, Day6, Mamamoo, and Eric Nam at the New York convention and  Amber, SHINee, Block B, Dean, GFriend, IOI, Girls Generation TTS, BTS, Eric Nam, Twice, Monsta X, and Astro in at the LA convention. EXO had their EXO’lu’Xion Concerts in the States from February 10-21st, 2016. 

All in all, it became very clear that kpop had an audience in the United States and it wasn’t listened to by just Asian-Americans anymore. The audience became diverse, with people of all ages finding groups that appealed most to them. 2016 saw the year of the announcement of One Direction’s indefinite hiatus, which meant there were teenagers and young adults who were looking for new things to listen to, causing a small shift in fandom culture. I say small because kpop fans and Directioners famously had a lot of conflict, particularly on Twitter, and many Directioners would be xenophobic and racist towards kpop fans and their favorite groups with comments such as “You listen to ching chong music,” “You can’t even understand what they’re saying,” and so on, so I think the overlap between Directioners and kpop fans was very minimal. 5 Seconds of Summer, another popular band in the West, had announced a hiatus around 2016/17 and I believe this was where a lot of new fans came from. 5SOS had an audience of relatively “emo” and “edgy” teens who look for something different and tend to be more open minded, against the “mainstream” groups like One Direction. A lot of 5SOS fans shifted into kpop during the band’s hiatus, from what I’ve seen on Twitter.

However, racism is not just an American problem, it’s global. And within kpop and South Korean culture, racism and colorism run almost just as deep. This was no secret to many Asian-American/non-Korean Asian fans or to black fans. Many groups have incidents of blackface, saying colorist comments, allegations of cultural appropriation, and saying n*gga. A common defense fans would come up with when confronted with the scandal would say “they didn’t know any better,” “they don’t have black people in Korea,” “get over it, it isn’t hurting you,” and many more excuses. As a result, this tends to cause a divide between black kpop fans and non black kpop fans. The discussions of racism within kpop tend to go one-sided, with black kpop fans feeling as though they are silenced and ignored by other fans, idols, and companies. Pop culture in America often takes things from African American culture and acts like they are “new” and “fresh” and “trendy” which leads to kpop idols adopting these things as well to seem cooler. 

Back on BTS, they were no strangers to racist scandals. Leader RM debuted with a fro-hawk-like style, did a rather poor imitation of Stevie Wonder while wearing dreads and sunglasses, and said that he was surprised with how dark fellow members were when he first met them. No formal apology directly stating what he had done was ever issued, so it can be assumed that Bighit Entertainment, the company in charge of BTS, brushed it off. Despite this, the fandom would continue to grow on their main platform of Twitter. 

Twitter is the most immediate way to find people who have common interests as you and to keep up with your favorite celebrities and BTS established early on that they were good at keeping up. Posting little videos of day to day life, interacting with fans often, and posting selcas almost daily, ARMYs were able to feel close to BTS through these interactions. ARMYs would also find other ARMYs and they built a community full of fandom jokes, fanart, fanfiction, and so on. The momentum continued into 2017 with the release of WINGS and its repackage You Never Walk Alone. The MVs for Blood, Sweat, and Tears and Not Today broke Youtube records at the time and they were to go on to another world tour for WINGS. 

2017 is also when some major issues within the fandom began being discussed. Stan culture within itself wasn’t new and while it provided positives such as giving people a community online, it was unforgiving to those who were not within the fandom. ARMYs had a history of fanwars against the other biggest fandom, EXO-Ls and both have done terrible things to each other. In late 2017, African-American rapper CupcakKe had tweeted stating that she would like to have sex with member Jungkook. Subsequently, ARMYs harassed her and said everything in regards to her size, to her being black, and slutshaming her. The abuse was so bad that she deleted her Twitter for some time.* RM and African-American rapper Wale collaborated on a track and some ARMYs accused Wale of just using RM/BTS for clout. Around the same time, however, BTS themselves were making progress within the United States. They had been invited to the Billboard Music Awards to accept an award for Top Social Artist and that same year performed DNA at the American Music Awards, both firsts for a South Korean group. 

*I’m ending this part here because as I was checking the dates for the CupcakKe incident, I watched a video which talked about when CupcakKe returned to Twitter to call out the double standards of how fans can tweet things like “I want Taehyung to cum on my face for 365 days” without a blink but when she says “I want to jungkook to fuck me,” she gets harassed. I made the crackhead choice of checking the comments and I was honestly disgusted. Here’s some screencaps of what I read: 

Now I obviously am trying to remain completely unbiased in this history rundown and will hopefully give my full opinion in the final reflection, but this shit is what disgusts me. CupcakKe is a grown ass woman and uses her social media however she damn well pleases. Literally her whole brand is about a big, beautiful black woman being openly sexual and clearly these commenters and those who upvoted don’t understand that. They do not understand the actual trauma black people have to deal with when they are called dehumanizing things, especially as a public figure on social media. “Oh she’s just looking for attention,” “Ignore this and vote for Mama!” It literally has my blood boiling as I’m typing this. THIS is why black women feel unsafe talking about their experiences with racism, slut shamed, double standards, etc. Because NO MATTER WHAT, people will try to silence them. And yes, I know it’s a small fraction of the fandom but the fact that there’s even HUNDREDS of people who think similarly really is telling. And I looked at the replies too and not many people were actually defending her AT ALL and those who were weren’t getting much love.

Anyway, part three will be coming probably tomorrow. I’m drained.

Part Three

[bunchofrosies]

How To Get An A* In A-Level Psychology

Hi All!

So I feel like this is something a lot of people doing Psychology will ask me when I tell them I got an A*. Some people have told me “You’re so smart, of course you got an A*”, but really I did so much revision for Psychology, and so I’m going to give you guys some tips on how to do the same. So, to give you guys some background I studied AQA A-Level Psychology on the new reformed A-Level. At AS I got a B, and at A2 I got an A*. So while this blog will mainly be for people on the AQA specification the advice I give can help people on other exam boards too! So the specification is split into three papers in A2, each each paper as a different set of topics that are examined on. 

Paper One: Social Influence, Memory, Attachment and Psychopathology.

Paper Two: Biopsychology, Research Methods and Approaches. 

Paper Three: Issues and Debates, (Three options which will be chosen by your school mine were: Gender, Schizophrenia, Aggression).

No matter what topics your teachers choose the advice I give you will be relevant to all. So let’s get started

Pick the right text book

The CGP revision guides are a no go for an A*. They are far too basic, and barely have any evaluation. The text book I mainly used was the Oxford text book with the cat on the AS and dog on the A2. These text books are incredible, they have so much information, and lots of practice questions. Alongside that the Illuminate Publishing ‘green haired girl’ and ‘pink haired girl’ revision guides were good for some areas. For example, the green haired girl book had AO3 for the ‘role of the father’ which were not in the Oxford text book. However, with the Illuminate books their AO1 and AO3 are in nowhere near enough detail to be able to achieve an A*, and therefore should be added to when you do your revision from the Oxford text book. The links for these text books will be below:

Oxford - AS and Year 1 Textbook

Oxford - A2 and Year 2 Textbook

Illuminate - Year 1 Green Haired Girl Book

Illuminate - Year 2 Pink Haired Girl Book

2. Exam Technique

Firstly, within exam technique I will share what I did in each exam in terms of timings and order of answering questions. In every paper I did all the shorter marks first, and when I encountered any question with eight + marks I would do a quick bullet pointed plan on it and then move onto the next shorter mark question. Then at the end I would go back and do the essay questions. This is a clever technique for a number of reasons, most people usually do the shorter mark questions in a very quick time and therefore by doing all of those first you can see how long you have left to write the essays. For example, in one paper you may have two sixteen mark essays and an eight mark essay, and you may have thirty forty five minutes left in the exam, that way you can allocate fifteen minutes for each question, which even that may be excessive. Having as much time as possible for essays is extremely important as these are the biggest chunk of your marks, and you get more marks for quality over quantity. 

Make sure when you answer essays you follow this structure:

A small AO1 section - do not go over the top with the amount of AO1 as this is only six of sixteen marks in a big essay. 

For AO3 always signpost with statements such as ‘A strength of...’, ‘A weakness of...’ and ‘A limitation of...’. 

For AO3, follow the same structure of each paragraph

Signpost: Introduce the point and clearly state whether it is a strength, weakness or discussion point.

Make relevant evidence or explanation: use a study or explanation to evidence your point.

Explain in relevance to the question focus: link the evidence back by explaining how it shows a strength or weakness of the theory.

You should aim for each essay to have around four paragraphs of AO3, however if you do not have the time to do this DO NOT try and squeeze a small paragraph in that is unexplained properly. The mark scheme emphasises the quality of evaluation and therefore having two very well written and relevant AO3 is much better than having four tiny and generic evaluation points. 

3. Revision

In terms of revision for Psychology I did mind maps from the Oxford books, and I did these once in lots of detail in different colours. I then wrote the essay for that topic. For example, if I had just done the mind map for ‘Types of Long Term Memory’ I would then write the essay for that, with AO1 written in one colour, AO3 strengths in another, weaknesses in another and discussion in another. Then I would condense these down into essay plans with bullet points to summarise each paragraph. I did this for every single topic.

I also made posters for the studies, on these I would very simply state the participants, the procedure, and the findings of the study. This made it so much easier to memorise the exact statistics for the studies. 

4. Past Papers/ Specimen Papers

Now once the learning has finished this is when you start doing past papers or specimen papers. It is vital to do ALL of them as similar questions can come up each year. And to make it less daunting having done all the essays already you can just test that you know the info by making an essay plan for it but then not writing the essay if you don’t want to. However do have at least one attempt of each paper in timed conditions, as timing is what most people struggle with.

You should aim to mark your own work as well and try and work out what the mark scheme asks of you. And be a harsh marker. Don’t do the “Yeah, I was gonna put that” be harsh and be honest. 

5. Learn Research Methods

Research Methods is 40% of your marks. This means that even though it has its own section in Paper 2, it comes up on every paper... In my Paper 1 that I did in 2017, the entire Social Influence section bar two shorter marks were research methods! And one that I would definitely revise loads is statistical tests, make sure you learn when to use them, I did this through posters and flashcards. 

6. Videos

On the day of my exams I went onto YouTube. I never do intense revision on the day of exams, I try to chill out, I might test myself a little bit and discuss things with my friends but I very rarely did any note taking or anything intense. Instead I watched videos on Tutor2U, their videos on last years AS papers examiners reports were so informative as were their revision videos. I’ll link them here but watch them at any stage of your revision because they are a good way vary how you revise. I’ll also link some other channels which are good for watching if you want to revise in a different way, but make sure you don’t just watch the videos, take notes or repeat what they say. Make sure it sinks in.

Tutor2U

CrashCourse

So, the most important thing to remember is that as long as you put in the work you will get the grade you deserve. Whether that’s an A* or a C, if you worked hard then well done!

I hope this helps everyone and if you have any questions that I haven’t answered please don’t hesitate to send me a message! 

Whoosh,

Rosie :)

[rediskrad]

My ENGL 315 Portfolio

Blog Response 3

This week's readings encompassed the topic of how technology has changed the psychological thinking in modern society. Technology has been advancing at an astounding rate with every decade. Each generation that grows with new technology creates a new generation of ideas and behaviors. Kirby Ferguson’s TED Talk and YouTube video about “Everything is a Remix” surrounds the concept of every original idea being influenced by past ideas and the past experiences of others. While technology and social media grow and become an integral part of society, original ideas will no longer be original due to copyright laws, patents, and the overall existence of similar content across numerous platforms. I thought that this explanation by Ferguson perfectly defines what internet culture is heading towards. Even narrowing it down to something as simple as choosing an original screenname has become a chore in some instances as many of them are taken by other users. So instead, by rearranging certain letters and numbers around to mimic the initially desired username, it essentially becomes a remix of the original. It begs the question, when will anything be considered original anymore? This goes especially for the internet population and the sheer amount of people that use it. In the Frontline documentary titled “Digital Nation,” it went in depth regarding the presence of technology in the daily lives of everyone worldwide. The effect that the internet has on communities, families, education, children, governments, and businesses are changing at an astounding rate. The documentary stated that currently there cannot exist a sound study on the effect technology has on certain groups due to the process it takes to form and execute a study versus how quickly technology changes. As someone who grew up alongside technology such as internet, video games, cell phones, television, and even toys I can agree that technology has no means of slowing down in the near and distant future. In today’s world technology has become more of a necessity than a luxury as it was in its early stages. An example of this would be the dawn of cellular phones. Beepers were the primary way of communication; it was a necessity in the modern age. Beeper users could say that having something as useful as a cell phone or car phone during that time would be considered a luxury compared to a beeper. This week’s readings/videos resonated heavily within me as it transported me back to being an adolescent, when technology was young, and society was different.

_______________________________________________________________________

https://soundcloud.com/joshua-eli-361738151/contemporary-audio-review

My audio review on two contemporary films.

_______________________________________________________________________

Mask Documentary 

_______________________________________________________________________

My 60 Second Addition 

_________________________________________

A Reflection of Myself This Semester 

At the beginning of the semester, I was unsure of what I was going to experience in my digital writing class. I had originally assumed I had a good grasp on writing and understanding technology. I’ve always gotten great feedback on papers and technology has basically grown with me through my childhood and my adulthood. As confident as I was, little did I know that I was going to learn a lesson in planning and preparing. I realized that the skills I thought I had when it came to digital media was not as up to speed as I had originally thought. As someone who casually surfs the internet watching videos and reading articles, the process of uploading content for the world to see is hard work. It is basically a full-time job to the person who is invested into this world of digital media. I am someone who has had experience with editing films and pictures as well as doing extensive research for essays. However, making sure that the content is approved, cited, and within the copyright laws in order to properly provide your own content can be a struggle. Out of all the projects that were done this semester, the one that intrigued me was the Wikipedia article. Although there are ample amounts of data on the internet, after a while it all starts blending and becoming repetitive. This is where the realization sparked into my head that connected to one of my blog posts regarding finding original works on the internet. Everything is indeed a copy of something else. I have to say that the project that I had the most intense moments on was the documentary. I learned a lot about myself and about a few of my classmates whilst doing that project. Taking the reins of group leader seemed like an easy task at the time and over time I learned a little more about what my leadership skills are like. There were a few disagreements better ween my group members and I had to get them to focus on the task at hand which was completing the project as team. It reminded me that I am a very team driven and goal-oriented person. I scheduled virtual meetings and did heavy editing. In the end, I received thank yous from my group members. This project was a reminder to me that I still enjoy the art of filmmaking and creating content for others to enjoy. It sparked more creativity in me and helped me take a leap into a digital creative journey that I have been contemplating for over a year. It also brought me back to my love of the process of working as a team to create amazing art. During my acting days, I remember relishing in the atmosphere of being on a film or television set. Seeing all the movement just to achieve a single goal of creative digital art for entertainment. The group projects done in the class go hand in hand with that same feeling. No matter how long the process took, everyone had their roles and knew what they had to do. By the end of the project, all our work would come together to create an original piece of digital art. I have learned a few things about myself while taking this class. I am more technologically savvy than I thought would be, I should have more respect for full-time online content creators, and to branch out and be more creative. The internet is an infinite resource of endless opportunities and although I feel like I have a great relationship with it, I can still learn so much more from everyone who works together to provide fresh new ideas to this ever-changing digital world. 

[deahsohun]

Week 2

After listening to the Tuesday lecture and reading Tannahill’s essay on liveness and @thetheatre what do you think are the most important elements needed to create a live experience? 

After Tuesday’s lecture and reading both of Tannahill’s essays, it is apparent to me that one major element of creating a live experience is having a personal connection as the actor to what you are performing. As Tannahill (2015) writes, ‘It’s likely that at some point in their lives, these artists experienced transformative work of theatre and decided to dedicate themselves to creating similar experiences for others.’ This to me demonstrates that to create a connection with your audience, you must have a connection your work itself, otherwise the meaning of what you’re showcasing gets lost. Without personal empathy in your acting, you cannot truly communicate to the audience the feelings and thoughts of the topic at hand because you haven’t truly been in the position to really know what it’s like. When your audience, who seek a commonplace of understanding, are met with an empathetic perspective it becomes a more inclusive and valued experience for them, as opposed to watching something where there is no personal emotional context.

From an audience perspective, another element I believe to be important is allowing there to be freedom in their experience of live theatre. ‘they had the freedom to stop watching at any time. There was no mediator to force questions or curriculum upon them -it was simply an experience for them to be trusted with.’ (Tannahill, 2015)

The ability for an audience to decide how they feel and have control over their interpretations is something that theatre often doesn’t allow. Although it may seem like we do, there is always an atmosphere created by theatre on a stage that evokes certain emotions between the audience, generally due to each member bouncing off how another feels, and using that to dictate their own emotional state and feelings towards what they are watching. The privacy that comes with watching live theatre allows for a more personal critique of theatre and fully allows audience members to feel what they really feel, as opposed to what they think they should feel. ‘It is this unmediated nature that makes YouTube the liberating and dynamic entity that it is’ (Tannahill, @thetheatre) here we see an acknowledgement of this ability, and an attempt to embrace this possibility of letting the audience be in more control of their viewing preferences and thoughts.

  Describe what Tannahill was trying to achieve by putting Rhiannaboi online and whether you think it was successful as a piece of live theatre?

We find out that Sunny’s interests and sexuality is something not agreed upon in his family and something he doesn’t really speak about. He is dismissed in his family, especially by his parents who favour his brother King. I think Tannahill was attempting to show how online, to strangers, Sunny was more comfortable in expressing himself than to his own family. Sunny was able to stop censoring himself and really show his true personality off without fear of being frowned upon or told off. If the ‘viewers’ didn’t like what he was doing or how he was, they could simply switch off the video and move on, something that Sunny couldn’t have in his reality. No matter what he did, someone would be there to comment, the only difference in the digital commenting is that these people could be monitored -easily deleted and blocked and in turn ignored. However Sunny had no choice but to listen time and time again when his family commented on him.

  Were there any moments in Rhiannaboi that were particularly successful in terms of portraying connection to audience, character or world? Describe how you might develop these techniques in your own work for the in class monologue.

Rhiannaboi successfully incorporated cultural aspects into the performance, by using cultural beliefs to show disparagements in Sunny’s character. For example, the obvious disagreement in him being gay, or even just showing what is feminine characteristics. This helps to successfully capture his emotional struggle and forces us as an audience to empathise with his troubles, as we have either been through a disagreement with our own parents and so can empathise, or have been lucky enough to be supported and so being faced with someone who isn’t can force us to look at our own privileges and be grateful for our better experience. Rhiannaboi successfully allows us to understand a real-world perspective of someone in a different culture finding acceptance amongst strangers as opposed to the family that are meant to love us unconditionally. In order to develop such characteristics in my own monologue for class, it is important to both embrace and forget my own upbringing and cultural influences. During the rehearsal process I will compare my own challenges and feelings growing up to see how they differ to that of my monologue to develop an understanding of what I don’t know so I can decide how to approach the issues I don’t have any personal connection to. However, when performing, I need to let go of my own characteristics that make me how I am so I can fully step into the shoes of someone else without a bias or without influencing the character with my own background.

References

Tannahill, J. (2015), Theatre of The Unimpressed: In Search of Vital Drama, Coach House Books, Canada.

Tannahill, J. @thetheatre 

[pan0ramy]

my english essay about mark & jack!

it’s done!! finally. 8D

my english teacher gave us an essay assignment this week, and from all the possible essays we were given, one of them stood out to me the most:

Write a personal essay in which you reflect on moments of insight and revelation you have experienced.

so, it ended up being about mark & jack!! i’m going to put the essay itself under the cut so you don’t have to scroll through the whole thing. just a heads up if you do choose to read it: 

it’s an english essay. written by me. it is going to be long. you have been warned.

It is very hard to deny that the internet and social media have a huge impact on the lives of many these days. No matter where we go or who we see, phones and computers are absolutely everywhere. This reliance on technology & the internet has lead to a lot of criticism, with the general consensus being that the internet is a dangerous place full of negative influences. But this doesn’t mean that every “internet personality” has a negative impact on the people that follow them; some can prove to be valuable role models for their fans, and can even be their friends in times of need. I, personally, have two role models, both of them being well-known YouTube personalities. However, I can confidently say that neither of them fit the stereotypes I mentioned above, and their morals and guidance have given me insight into the type of person I aspire to be.

The first of these two personalities is Seán McLoughlin, more commonly known by his YouTube name “jacksepticeye”, or just simply Jack to his fans. Seán is an extremely bright, bubbly person, and this definitely comes across in the videos he makes. Yet despite the millions of fans he has, Seán has never let this inflate his ego in any way; he is an incredibly humble and welcoming person, repeatedly stating his wishes to come across as a real person to his fans, rather than aspiring to be the most famous YouTuber. There are many aspects of his personality - like this one - that I look up to him for, but what stands out to me the most is his work ethic. McLoughlin has, for the past three to four years now, made two videos a day every single day, and he definitely prides himself on this. However, he has also made a handful of videos discussing his fear of failure, which is certainly not something a lot of people would associate with internet personalities. This humility and hard-working mentality that Seán displays has been a constant source of reflection for me, as I am currently preparing for my Leaving Certificate exams. It made me realise just how much work is required for these exams, and while that may seem daunting to think about, Seán’s constant work ethic and positivity has been more than inspirational. He has undoubtedly helped to keep me grounded and focused on my goals.

"Go out there, find what drives you, find what motivates you; find what your true passion is and throw yourself at it. It might not work out at first - you might feel like it's going to fail, you might feel like it's too much to take on, but just make a start somewhere. If you want change to happen, make a start and do it."

The second of my role models is another YouTuber – Mark Fischbach, known as “Markiplier”. Mark is another great example of a role model who constantly encourages their community to do great things in today’s society; a big example of this would be the monthly events Mark holds to raise money for various different charities. However, while I definitely admire his generous qualities, I mainly look up to Mark for his morals and values. In February of this year, Mark made a video addressing the controversy surrounding one of his friends on YouTube; their actions caused quite a stir and caused many people to send various threats and insults their way. In response to this, Mark made a video simply called “Respect”. In it, he expresses his own thoughts on the situation, as well as reinforcing the message that everybody has the right to be treated with the most basic level of decency and respect, regardless of what they have done or who they are as a person. This video showcases Mark’s personality excellently, and definitely inspired me to reflect on my own personality. It also led me to realise that the morals Mark displays in the video align with the morals I aspire to have, and it shows that there is an awful lot more to him than just a person behind a camera.

“I believe very firmly that every single person in the world has the ability to do something amazing or terrible. To spread love, or hate. And whether or not they do one or the other depends on us - it depends on us being strong enough to take the high road in the face of the worst adversity.”

As well as this, Mark touched on the mentality surrounding internet personalities and celebrities in general. He continually stresses throughout the video that regardless of how society may view them in the news, these people are human. Even though it can be hard to remember that, they are simply people “trying to figure out who [they] are”, just as we do every day. Just because they are constantly in the public eye doesn’t mean we should put them on a pedestal, or glorify them while putting others down. This links back to my earlier point about having celebrities as your role models; it isn’t a bad thing to look up to them, yes, but it’s also important to remember that they are just like us at the end of the day. These points were nothing short of revelations for me personally, as this can be an incredibly easy thing to forget about in today’s culture, which constantly hones in on celebrities and their actions. As such, it is now something I reflect on a lot, and I coincidentally have an awful lot of respect for Mark because of it.

"It's so easy to label someone. [...] It's so easy to boil someone down to a single word or a phrase, and that's all they are. Even when you're praising them. But [...] even when you're putting someone on a pedestal, or if you're calling them human scum, and trash, and garbage, you're inherently dehumanizing them in both aspects."

It is very hard to put into words the impact that both Mark and Seán have had in both my life and the lives of many others. They prove to be a constant source of positivity and inspiration for everybody in their communities, and it goes without saying how grateful I am to have them as my role models. Not only have they given me ample opportunity to reflect on my own personality, but they have inspired me to better myself, and to show others that moments of insight can arise when you’d least expect it.

[apatheticmaplesyrup]

1-100

Thank you :D

This is gonna be a long post so continue at your own peril.

Is a kiss considered cheating?If it’s a proper snog, yeah.

Have you ever faked orgasm?Yeah.

If you could have one superpower, what would it be?Probably.

Do you think you are going to be rich in 7-8-9 years?I don’t know if I’ll be rich, but hopefully rich enough to live comfortably.

Tell us some funny drunk story.I don’t think I really have any funny ones :’)

Why are you no longer together with your ex?I don’t know that there was a particular reason, it just didn’t work out.

If you had to choose one way to die, what would it be? Natural causes.

What are your current goals?To get through uni and get a 2:1/1st, and try to lower my body fat (mainly for health right now).

Do you like someone?I don’t know, I think I might but I’m not sure.

Who was the last person to disappoint you?Myself for not going to the gym when I’ve got a membership and keep saying I will.

Do you like your body?I don’t like how it looks overall, but there are good parts to me. It’s worked relatively fine so far, so I’m happy with that.

Can you keep a diet?Not unless I can get past the first month of it.

If the whole world listened to you right now, what would you say?Did Barry the Bee really have sexual relations with Vanessa, and did Ken ever get to have yoghurt night?

Do you work?No.

If you could choose only one food to eat to the rest of your life, what would it be?Chicken wraps probably.

Would you get a tattoo?Yeah, I want one but I’m just not sure what to start with.

Something you don’t mind spending all your money on?Food.

Can you drive?Yes.

When was the last time someone told you you were beautiful?Idk man it’s been a while. *tiny violin plays in the distance*

What was the last thing you cried for?I think I was just really sad and really tired, there was no real trigger.

Do you keep a journal?Nope.

Is life fun?It can be sometimes. It can also be a lot of effort.

Is farting in front of people irrelevant?I don’t know what this means by irrelevant but I don’t think it matters much unless it’s a crowded area.

What’s your dream car?This changes, but I do really want a Dodge Charger (either a 1970s one or the 2014 model)

Are grades in school important?Yes, because it can affect what direction you take for your career (i.e. choosing if/where to go to university), but it’s not the most important thing. You can get bad grades and still be successful and happy in life.

Describe your crush.Really chilled out, similar sense of humour to me and just quite easy to be around.

What was the last book/movie that really impressed you?I’m listening to the audiobook “How to Build a Universe: An Infinite Monkey Cage Adventure” by Brian Cox, Robin Ince and Alexandra Feachem. It’s impressive how they can talk about and explain these theories about space and time in a way that is accessible and often comedic.

What was your last lie?Probably something like “I can’t come out, I have a lot of work to do”.

Dumbest lie you ever told? When I was a kid, my mum caught me playing my Gameboy when I wasn’t supposed to, and I tried to lie and say I didn’t even though I clearly was.

Is crying in front of people embarrassing?I don’t feel comfortable doing it because a lot of people do judge others when they cry in public, but if it’s people I know then I don’t really feel it should be embarrassing.

Something you did and you are proud of?Cleaned and decorated my room in my new house.

What’s your favourite cocktail?I’d probably still go with long islands, purely because I haven’t found another one that I love yet.

Something you are good at?Complaining.

Do you like small kids?I don’t mind them, I’m just terrible at dealing with them.

How are you feeling right now?Like I should be writing my essay rather than procrastinating :’)

What would you name your daughter/son?I don’t have a clue.

What do you need to be happy?Financial and emotional stability and a healthy relationship.

Is there some you want to punch in the face right now?Not right now, I’m feeling pretty chill.

What was the last gift you received?GTA 5 from my friends for my birthday

What was the last gift you gave?It was just a £20 playstation store card and we made him cocktails as well.

What was the last concert you went to?The Community Festival in Finsbury Park

Favourite place to shop at?Blue Inc.

Who inspires you?My parents, and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

How old were you when you first got drunk?18.

How old were you when you first got high?Still haven’t.

How old were you when you first had sex?16.

When was your first kiss?When I was 14 or 15.

Something you want to do until the end of this year?Come up with ideas for music videos and sketches.

Is there something in the past you wish you hadn’t done?Yes.

Post a selfie.Really not feeling it today, sorry.

Who are you most comfortable around?@robbiesheehanigan, @lucashaggettphotography, @i-dw and @th4t-f33ling

Name one thing that terrifies you.Heights.

What kind of books do you read?I usually read fantasy books, but books about space are also great.

What would you tell your 12 year old self?Get into a sport, it’ll help you in the future.

What is your favourite flower?Chrysanthemums.

Any bad habits you have?Oh yes. Definitely.

What kind of people are you attracted to?People who are kind, I’m comfortable being around, have a similar sense of humour, and I don’t really know apart from there being ‘something’ that makes them attractive to me.

Is there something you don’t eat? Some food that truly disgust you?Other than cod, I don’t really like seafood. I also really don’t like olives.

Are you in love?No.

Something you find romantic?Sitting in front of a fire together somewhere scenic and toasting marshmallows. Also stargazing. 

How long was your longest relationship? About 4 years.

What are 3 things that irritate you about the same sex?What are 3 things that irritate you about the opposite sex? I’m just going to say three things in general.1 - When people are unnecessarily rude to waiting/bar staff.2 - When people only want to do things their way or no way, with no contingency plan or even listening to what other people have to say, even if it’s valid.3 - People who say they’ll do something, and constantly don’t.

What are you saving money for?A car or a new camera.

How would you describe your bad side?Rude, nasty to people, and short-tempered.

Are you actually a good person? Why?I hope so, but I don’t know how to judge that. I think I’m probably just a neutral person.

What are you living for?To see what happens next.

Have you ever done anything illegal?Aha, nice try cops

Have you ever made someone feel bad about themselves intentionally?I probably have and can’t remember, so I’m sorry to anyone who I may have done that to.

Ever sent nudes?Nah I’m not that confident :’)

Have you ever cheated on someone?No.

Favourite candy?I could always go for a bounty or kit-kat.

Is there a blog you visit every day, or almost every day? Tag it!Not really, I mostly just look at my timeline.

Do you play any computer games? What is your favourite game?I do, I started playing Dark Souls 3 recently and it’s really fun but I’m not particularly good at it. My favourite game changes but I think the one I’ve always liked is Tom Clancy’s Hawx.

Favourite TV series?I still really like Community, though Tokyo Ghoul and Stranger Things are also amazing.

Are you religious? Does God exist?I used to be but now I’m not so much. I think there might be some type of higher power, but I don’t definitively believe that there is or isn’t.

What was the last book you read? Did it impress you and why?I answered this with the one about a book that’s impressed me :)

What do you think about vegetarianism/veganism?I think vegetarianism is admirable, probably more ethically correct and environmentally friendly. I don’t really know enough about veganism to make an informed comment, but it’d probably be a similar opinion. 

How long have you been on Tumblr?Probably like 5 years or so. I think I had it before then but never used it.

Do you like Chinese food?Yes.

McDonalds or Subway?McDonalds

Vodka or whiskey?Straight whiskey, vodka if it’s with a mixer

Alcohol or drugs?Alcohol

Ever been out of your province/state/country?Yes

Meaning behind your blog name?I watched Stranger Things 2 and Steve as the babysitter is my favourite thing. Also the last scene where he’s giving Dustin a pep talk is brilliant.

What are you scared of?Heights. A lot of other things too, but let’s just go with heights.

Last time you were insulted?Probably earlier today (part of banter with my friends)

Most traumatic experience ?I have no idea, probably the many times I ran into the door frame when I was younger.

Perfect date idea?Dinner and a movie (even if it’s at home) is a great idea. Stargazing and a campfire (and obviously food) would also be amazing, but I feel like that’d be once I know them a little better.

Favourite app on your phone?The Clock app, I would probably not wake up on time without it.

What colour are the walls in your room?White

Do you watch Youtube? Who is your favourite youtuber?I watch YouTube, I’ve always loved Markiplier because he’s a lovely person (though I haven’t really watched his videos recently). I really like Shane and Ryan in Buzzfeed Supernatural.

Share your favourite quote.L’amor che move il sole e l’altre stelle

What is the meaning of life?I feel like that’s a question for Google.

Do you like horror movies?Not really, I can watch them and I think some of them are great, but I get scared by them really easily.

Have you ever made your mum cry? What happened?Yeah, I think the most recent time was when I turned 21 and/or came back to uni.

Do you feel lucky or special in a way?Yeah, I’ve lived quite a good life. I have an amazing family who have always looked after me and shown me love, and I think I’m lucky to have that.

Can you keep a secret?Probably, depends on the secret. You got a confession to make?

Thank you for asking :) Also @robbiesheehanigan someone else also did the 1 to 100 thing so here you go xo

[thanyastree-blog]

Ways to Improve Your Language Skills

“Hello! everyone. Welcome to my blog! How are you today? I wish you have a great day!” 

From what I mentioned above, if you can answer those questions, it means you understand me. And that is one way to communicate among each other through the use of written language as a tool for communication. 

Language is the most unbelievable and magnificent skills that we have to be proud of. I believe that most of us might have been through several language proficiency tests whether IELTS, TOEFL, TOEIC, and so on. 

Do you notice something that they have in particular? Of course, it is obviously the skills of language. There are four skills that every language proficiency test have it in common, including listening, reading, writing and speaking. These are considered to be a essential skills that are required to be good at in every language. 

That is why in today’s blog. I would like to give some tips of language improvements in all aspects of these skills and provide some internet sources to help everyone get to know more and be familiar in these four skills in order to further develop your skills on you own.

1) Let’s begin with the first skills that every language proficiency test is beginning with, Listening skills.

Personally, I think listening skills is the most easiest skills that everyone can find the ways to practice easily than the other three skills. It is because we are always hearing what we are surrounding of all the time. For example, when we get into the subway, we usually hear people are talking and chatting in their own language. And that is your chance to get involved into their conversation by listening to them. Peep! Peep! One thing that I would like to remind you is that “Do not take their conversation publicly”. I mean you can listen to them for the purpose of improving your listening skills, but not for other personal purposes at all. Moreover, I have some recommended ways to improve your listening in more practical and not violate or interfere other people which is listening to music and movie in the language that you are interested to be proficient and fluent on it. 

- Youtube -

Nowadays, there are plenty of sources that can help you to improve you listening skills within Youtube. You can type the key word that you want to know about and click on the button search. Then, you will see a lot of result and video  relating to your key word. Youtube is listening and visualizing based; therefore, it is a great opportunity for everyone to make a good use of this free website. For Thais, there are some recommended channels for someone to improve your English language which are PEACHII and LOUKGOLF ENGLISH ROOM channels. In case of learning other foreign languages, you may search for finding some short videos, movies, or music of a particular language that you are interesting in as much as you like on Youtube.

Photo by Youtube

www.youtube.com

2) The second skills that comes right after the listening skills is Reading skills.

This is the skills that requires a lot of endurance and consciousness when you are intending to improve the reading skills. For some people like me who rarely read some extra books or articles apart from what the instructors asked me to read, it is challenging skills ever. It is because, in the test, you will have to read a hundred to thousand of words in one page in order to be able to answer the complex and confusing questions in correspond to the text. It takes you a bunch and century of time to get through all of the text with the time limit. Ping Pong! Surprisingly, you guys will never going to feel like that anymore if we prepare for it first. And here, I have some tips for you guys. 

One thing that I would like to tell you first is that it is undeniably to not read anything. I am so sorry about that because you still need to read something anyway, but what I would suggest is that there are many sources of reading materials that will help you love to read more and more or may be it may turn you to be a “bookworm” in one night!

- E-Book -

There are various websites that allows everyone to experience with a new form of reading books which one of that is called “E-Book”. Even though most of the E-book are not free and it will ask you to pay for their register as a member, it does not mean that there is no free material for the E-Book at all. Thank God. The good news for people who use IOS, there is a application that comes with your iPhone called “iBooks” in which you can download the book that you are interested in and read them whenever you want to and enjoy your free E-book there. However, there are limited books that offer to us. 

You can also check out for more information in detail:

https://www.imore.com/best-e-reader-apps-ipad

Photo by Best e-reader apps for iPad in 2019.

https://www.imore.com/best-e-reader-apps-ipad

3) Moving to the next skills which is Writing skills.

Another headache skills again. Never mind. After you see my tips, it might help you feel much better about it for a little while. In fact, writing skills is not that bad as we were thought. Basically, what we have to do in the writing skills is to write and express in response to the question that asking you to do. For example, if you are asked to compare the similarities and differences between cat and dog, then you have to write the characteristics that the dog has and the cat does not have and also vice versa. 

However, there are various kinds of ways to write the essay based on the questions and situations that we have to write about it. For example, if you are asked to talk about the advantages of using bicycle, then you have to write and describe the good things that the bicycle offers to you such as convenience and less pollution. 

Importantly, in order to write a good essay, the knowledge of grammatical structures and variety of word choice is significantly important. If you write about something without the correct words and tenses, the whole sentence is meaningless and there will be no one understand what are you talking about. 

So, here. There are some tips to help everyone improve your writing skills.

- Grammarly -

This is best application and website to help you correct your grammatical errors. It is free website in which you can log in and write your essay in there immediately.

 Photo by Grammarly.

 https://support.grammarly.com/hc/en-  us/articles/115000090792-What-is-Grammarly-

- Essay Structure -

Basically, essay will consist of introduction paragraph, body paragraph, and conclusion paragraph respectively. 

Introduction

it is a paragraph to give the starting point of what you are going to talk about. The best way to make your introduction paragraph looks better is to write your “hook” at the first sentence in order to to catch and capture the attention of the readers.

Body

This paragraph can have more than one paragraphs because it depends on your points that you planned to talk about. Normally, there will be approximately two or three paragraphs in general. This is where you develop your main points by providing some explanations and examples.

Conclusion

This is last paragraph of the essay in which you will have to cover all the points that you have made as precise and as short as possible, but still allows the readers to get the idea of the whole essay without reading the body paragraphs. Technically, the best way to do that is to re-state your thesis statement and answer to the essay questions based on the main points that you have made.

Moreover, you can check out for more information in detail on the link below:

https://student.unsw.edu.au/writing-your-essay

Photo by Writing your Essay.

https://student.unsw.edu.au/writing-your-essay                                                                  

4) The last skills is Speaking skills.

Thank you God! It is the lovely skills ever. I could say that speaking skills is the most helpful and practical skills ever in this four skills. Would you deny it? I do not think so. Speaking skills is the most easiest skills that everyone can definitely be good at it because it is something that we are using everyday. When we are asking for someone or chatting with someone, we are using language skills of speaking to communicate with them. That is why I said that it is the easiest skills ever. Since we use the speaking skills everyday, we are more likely to experience it and have a lot of chance to practice this skills more frequently than the other three skills. However, I believe that there is one big challenge that everyone who are practicing this skills usually encounters which is “making mistakes”. I would like to talk from my experience, I am a very shy person on earth. I hate to stand in front o the class and give some presentations. It is because I am fearing that I may make some mistakes when I am talking in front of my classmates. Surprisingly, you know what after I look over this challenges, I turn out to be another person who are confident to talk in any circumstance. 

These are the tips that I had personally used it for improving my speaking skills. Let's go and check it out!

Three tips that you must have to try:

1) Talk to yourself and record what you are talking.

2) Talk in the language that you want to be good at instead of talking in your native language.

3) Watching a movie and think and respond as you are one of the characters.

Again. One thing that you have to remind yourself all the time you are trying to improve in these four language skills is that “Practice makes perfect”. No matter how much you buy new books and other materials that you think it will help you be better in that skills, it will be useless and meaningless if you do not take a good use from it and practice it as frequent as possible. 

So, what are you waiting for. Let’s go and do it right after you read my blog!

Last but no least, for today blog, I hope you guys will definitely have a good day:)

References

Filipowicz, L. (2018, January 4). Best e-reader apps for iPad in 2019. Retrieved from https://www.imore.com/best-e-reader-apps-ipad

What is Grammarly?. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://support.grammarly.com/hc/en-us/articles/115000090792-What-is-Grammarly-

Writing your Essay. (n.d.). UNSW Sydney. Retrieved from https://student.unsw.edu.au/writing-your-essay

Youtube. (n.d.). Retrieved from www.youtube.com

[iamthedukeofurl]

Brainhack: How to deal when you have Wasted All Your Time

Duke Here. I’ve been adulting with ADHD for a few years now, so I figured I’d share some tips for when you just Wasted A Ton Of Time You Shouldn’t Have Wasted/Generally Screwed things up.  Not to be too Neurotypical here, but I find that mindset can actually help a good deal. No, not “Positive Thinking”. If you’ve got two days to do something that should have taken two weeks, no amount of smiling and looking on the bright side is going to help you. The key isn’t optimism, it’s stubbornness.  Step 1: Accept that the Task is important. Seems simple, but it’s not. Often, when you’ve Wasted All Your Time, it’s easy to say “Ah well, I guess this thing isn’t happening”, and you have to fight against the urge to say “This isn’t worth doing at this point”. So, step 1 is to make sure The Thing is worth doing (This could be a very short step), get that shit over with right away. Also, it’s very possible that, at this point, The Thing just ISN’T worth doing. The rest of this process is not a pleasant one, and you shouldn’t put yourself through it for something that’s not important. So, weigh the pros and cons, and decide, once and for all, Does This Thing Need to Happen? If you have a big pile of things to do, this is where you start cutting. Order them by priority, and anything that doesn’t make the cut gets left behind.  Step 2: Start from the Present. Sometimes you need to get things done without enough time to do them properly. Sometimes this is your fault, sometimes it is not. But, at this point, WHY you ended up in this situation is NOT IMPORTANT. You may have spent the last four hours watching Youtube videos about Ducks, but from this point forward, you’re trying to achieve your goal. Take all that guilt and shame and put it away for now. You’re not dismissing it, you’re just dealing with it later. Imagine that you are blameless. Approach the problem as if there was literally NOTHING you could have done to avoid your exact current situation. Because it doesn’t matter. If you passed step 1, then it means that doing the thing is more important than kicking yourself.  If at any point you find yourself spiraling out of productivity, restart from this step. 

Step 3: Fulfill your needs. This can be done concurrently with Steps 1, 2, and 4. Those steps are primarily Mental, while this is mostly a rote physical step. Take a shower, go for a quick walk outside, eat a sandwich, straighten up your room. Anything urges or distractions that will be nagging at you moving forwards should be cleared up. It’s tempting to dive right in, but spending ten-fifteen minutes taking care of yourself now will save you time later. Eating now means you’re not constantly debating about whether or not you can afford to eat later. Taking a shower now means not feeling miserable and disgusting later. Step 4: Identify the Ideal Outcome. If you’ve really Screwed Up that thoroughly, chances are you can’t achieve your initial goals. That’s fine, the important thing is that you get the best result possible from this point forwards. Let’s say you were planning to bake two cakes. Well, One cake is better than no cakes, a bad Essay is better than no essay. If a Bad Essay is the best you can do, then that’s what you’re doing. At this point, you need to set aside any thoughts of pride or ego. You might be turning in a flaming pile of garbage, but it’s the Best Dumpster Inferno you could manage at this point.  Step 5: Count your Spoons. If you’re in this situation, there’s a good chance that you have a limited amount of energy to work with. Caffeine and Spite will only get you so far. You may be tempted to think that you can go past your limits, that you are an unstoppable productivity machine capable of overpowering the limits of this weak flesh by sheer willpower alone, but that’s Ego talking, and as we established in step 3, there is no room for Ego here. Certainly you’ll be pushing yourself, but it doesn’t help anybody if you crash and burn halfway through the project. Don’t count on all-nighters if you know you can’t pull them. Think of it as assessing what resources you have available. If you’re writing a paper, and you know you can work for four hours straight, that’s a resource. If you have a friend willing to help you with editing, that’s a resource. If you know that by treating yourself to a milkshake, you can keep yourself motivated and focused, That’s a Resource. Know yourself, so you know what you can do.  

Step 6: Make your Plan: Now that you have your goals and your resources, make your plan. Don’t make it too elaborate, with the pressure on, there can be a temptation to try to precisely plan things out, but that can just lead to you wasting time. You may be tempted to try to make A Perfect Plan, but that’s just Ego talking, it’s another way to procrastinate. Get the plan whipped up quickly and get to work. Step 7: Execute the Plan. Get to work, do the shit that needs doing. If you find yourself in the zone, ride that as long as possible. Otherwise, when you feel a natural break point, take a minute to recharge. Get some water, change your music, gaze wistfully out the window. 

Don’t underestimate the power of the Placebo Effect here. I’ve been constantly saying “Don’t let your Ego get in the way”, well, let your Ego run free. If you think you work better with classical music, a mug of tea, or your lucky scarf, do that.  If you ever get knocked off track, reset to Step 2. You should be able to rush through the other steps pretty quickly, so this won’t waste too much time.  Step 8: Accept your work. Perfect is the enemy of good. Especially in a situation where you have multiple tasks you’re trying to complete, it’s important that you recognize when you are finished, not only so that you stop polishing and actually do whatever you need to do to finalize the project, but for your mental state. Accepting that a project is flawed but done is important. If you don’t do that, then the project will be forever incomplete in your mind, which goes nowhere good.

Step 9: Present your work. Whatever you have done, that’s what you’ve done.  Turn in the project, whatever form that takes, and own it. Don’t try to weasel into “Well it would be better if X hadn’t happened”. You did what you could, be proud of that.  Step 10: Learn your Lessons. Now that you are done, you can take all that useless guilt and shame you boxed away in step 2 and deal with it. Why did you end up in that situation? What could you have done better? If you have a disability/mental illness that contributed, make sure you factor that in, not as a personal failing, but as an obstacle to overcome.

I’ll stick to my personal experiences with ADHD. If I wasted time because I decided to play video games for six hours, THAT’S a personal failing, and the lesson learned is “Don’t do that, Dipshit”. 

If I wasted time because I ended up browsing Reddit for six hours, that’s probably a symptom. I know that, if given a chance, I’ll waste six hours on Reddit. So, the lesson is to avoid giving myself that chance. Unplug from the internet, get a friend to check in on you every so often and make sure you’re working. If it helps to work in a public place like a library, do that.  Sometimes you don’t get any important lessons from this step, but that’s a key part of this too. If you learned lessons, then you know that you can do better next time. If you don’t learn any lessons, then you did nothing wrong, and shouldn’t be kicking yourself over this mess.  

[cromeromeromero]

Forever Fornever: Tokyo Window Sessions

In September 2016 I traveled to Japan to observe media art and digital culture in Tokyo. While conducting research and curatorial activities - during residencies at Tokyo Wonder Site and 3331 Arts Chiyoda -  I created a web-based project entitled Tokyo Window Sessions. The ongoing project features essays, artist interviews, an exhibition, and an archive of my personal experiences in Tokyo. The intention of these activities was to form a better link between media art communities in the U.S. and Japan. Both countries, despite an affinity for new technologies and contemporary art, remain surprisingly disconnected in discourse specifically related to media art.

In September 2016 I traveled to Japan to observe media art and digital culture in Tokyo. While conducting research and curatorial activities - during residencies at Tokyo Wonder Site and 3331 Arts Chiyoda -  I created a web-based project entitled Tokyo Window Sessions. The ongoing project features essays, artist interviews, an exhibition, and an archive of my personal experiences in Tokyo. The intention of these activities was to form a better link between media art communities in the U.S. and Japan. Both countries, despite an affinity for new technologies and contemporary art, remain surprisingly disconnected in discourse specifically related to media art.

It can be said that when we view images we either see a window, door, or mirror. Each way of seeing comes with benefits and obstacles. You can look into a window, but will not see everything inside a room. You can enter a door, but sometimes it is locked. Mirrors offer self-reflection, but also trick and reflect narcissism. Using the title of  “Windows” is meant to evoke a temporary glance into Tokyo. The idea of “sessions” comes from the phrase “jam session”, originating from American jazz music of the 1920s in which desegregated gatherings of musicians took place.

Tokyo Window Sessions is improvisational and experimental, at the same time it is critical and investigative, emblematic of digital culture itself. The website itself features three sections Windows, Ephemera, and an Exhibition.

Windows >

This section features essays and interviews. Essays drift between discussing exhibitions and specific artworks. Artist interviews contain a mixture of questions about an artist’s work and personal interests. This section also features what I call “bonus questions”, prompts or exercises where an artist sends a picture of their computer desktop or shares some of their favorite YouTube videos. Every page features illustrations I created related to the artist I was interviewing.

Ephemera >

In this section I accumulate data or artefacts from my time in Tokyo. This includes receipts from Lawson, museum brochures, as well as every video and photo I recorded Tokyo. I live in the digital and I often wonder what content is important to keep and share. In the arts we often focus so much on the ‘work’ but what about the moments that influence the work? Or those that take place outside of it? As an independent curator, my work and personal life are mixed and I wished to share it. For me, it is important that I create projects that are inviting, warm, and sometimes weird.

Exhibition >

An exhibition entitled ASDFGHJKL;’ was produced. It was shown in two different formats (as the studio space I was in was constantly changing). I will discuss the exhibition at the end of this essay.

Through the project I have met many amazing people and had many wonderful experiences. I also observed a few similarities and divergences between media art in the U.S. and Japan, (specifically New York and Tokyo) which I will overview in the following text.

PAST

The U.S. and Japan have different histories with technology, which affects their histories with media art. This spills into arts education and culture. A few differences stand out. The U.S. is without an electric town. Videogame arcades boomed in in the 80s and 90s but fizzled out shortly thereafter, meanwhile, personal technologies such as cell phones developed at a slow pace comparative to Asia. Regarding cultural differences, emojis have only recently gained a cult status in the U.S., but their Japanese origin is not mainstream knowledge. These aspects bleed into one another and are toppled by language barriers and cultural institutions that dictate how and which types of art are disseminated to the public.

Growing up in the United States I was ingrained in videogames and the internet, however, art and technology were entirely separate conversations. Only until I moved to New York, from a small town in New Jersey, did I learn about media art. While studying in art history I never gained a strong understanding for Japanese (or non-western) media art. Considering major arts institutions in the U.S. rarely focus on art outside of the west, it is even rarer to find them focusing on non-western media art, let alone publishing a text about the subject.

Rather, my interest and understanding for Japan and technology (like many others) came through the media I consumed. Prior to this project I was unaware of Akihabara’s connection to World War II, consumer electronics, and post-war black markets. As an outsider one sees Akihabara very differently and might simply be surprised by the amount of SEGA centers and idol cafes.

Nowadays, when I consider Akihabara and how commonplace technology is in Tokyo, I begin to think about how that history and presence affects emerging artists in their work and daily life. In many ways, I feel media art and digital culture in Tokyo hides in plain sight, whereas in New York it sticks out like a sore thumb.

PRESENT

Comparing both countries, there are a few differences in what subject matter is featured in exhibitions. From my perspective, I see more media artists in the U.S. approaching social and political subjects than in Tokyo. However, institutions in the U.S. act quickly, absorbing what is “new” and “trendy”, but quickly move on to something else as if checking off a list. Virtual reality as “the new painting” has become popular as of late, and so too were selfies, drones, and augmented reality. The biggest factor of New York’s art ecosystem are commercial and capitalist ventures (especially art fairs). This impacts what art is featured in museums or written about. Startup culture is also an interesting entity in the U.S. and influences media art, but I am more excited about how it will crash rather than its present dance with art and creativity.

Regarding arts institutions, both Tokyo and the New York have very different approaches. Rhizome in the U.S. for example exists predominantly online and focuses on Internet based art. Institutions like Eyebeam and Harvestworks focus on residencies and creative experimentation with technologies. Regarding museums, I find that most in New York have an occasional exhibition of media art but nothing purely devoted to art and technology.

As for museums, the obvious leader in media art is perhaps the Museum of Modern Art. Still, their treatment of the subject is problematic. Although the museum has a curatorial department of media art, I feel the curatorial department of architecture and design produces more consistently intriguing content on emergent issues. The museum’s conservation department is also prestigious and on the edge between the present and future. As all of this occurs in the realm of museums, we should also not forget that several commercial galleries exist in the U.S. devoted to media art.

In Tokyo I am still impressed by the ICC. The exhibition series Emergencies is particularly profound to me, as it is dedicated to emerging artists. This really does not happen in New York, unless a small gallery is willing to take a “risk” or there are some financial connections happening. In Tokyo I also had the opportunity to see the Japan Media Arts Festival. While I feel the festival had a few issues, it is important that such a thing even exists. In the U.S., festivals occasionally pop up, but they lack major government support as mostly everything in the U.S. is privatized. Although not-for-profit institutions exist, they are often influenced by board members and commercial interests.

What I find more prevalent in Japan are artists and collectives that openly work in or on commercial projects, dabbling both in fashion and advertising. For better or worse, the art scene in the U.S. attempts to remain clandestine about connections to wealth, whereas Japan does not hide it. In this regard, commercial ventures in the U.S. attempt to hide in plain sight, where as in Japan they stick out like a sore thumb.

BAD FUTURE

Another worthwhile conversation between Japan and the U.S. is to consider what Postinternet art means and what it looks like. The Japan Media Arts Festival took on this subject, but fell flat. The exhibition seemed to make a generalization that artists of younger generations are all Postinternet. For example, video content of the Internet Yami-Ichi and IDPW was included in this section. While IDPW and the Internet Yami-Ichi were born out of the Internet, they were not formed with the Western notion of Postinternet art in mind. Furthermore, the event brings together internet pros with novices.

Generalizing Postinternet proposes that we are all as equally influenced by the web as one another, which is a complex and flawed assumption. The danger of labeling something as Postinternet is that if every emerging artist is put into this category than we alienate media art and create a pigeonhole. Artists should feel encouraged to create their own groups and genres apart from what other countries, individuals, or institutions might have in mind to capitalize on. It is also okay to make fun of the genre itself and not take things so seriously.

Ultimately media art is on the fringe in both countries. This will not change unless museum curators and leaders of arts organizations make stronger efforts to understand and interpret our contemporary digital society and its relation to art. I hope that, both in writing this text, and conducting the Tokyo Window Sessions project that can be more open about the faults of our media art ecosystem, what we can do to make it better, and how we can get people outside of the ecosystem to feel less skeptical of it.

Both the U.S. and Japan remain fairly territorial in what they represent inside their museums. However, arts organizations in the U.S. have a prestige of touting diversity while often falling flat. This can be found in researching the statistics of who and what contemporary art museums feature. I often feel the lack of collaboration is blamed on language barriers and funding. These are weak excuses to me as the first iteration of this project faced both of those obstacles.

Now that the world is entering an increasingly tumultuous time, it is important to look to curators and leaders of institutions and ask them to create more experimental projects and mix things up. Genuine and honest collaboration can change our future from a bad one to a good one.

GOOD FUTURE

During my time in Tokyo I organized an exhibition at 3331 Arts Chiyoda’s studio residency which alludes to conversations and concerns about media art. The exhibition, featuring U.S. and Japanese artists brought together different genres and subject matter in an attempt to provoke new inquiry surrounding art, technology, and digital culture.

Appropriating its name from Internet slang, ASDFGHJKL;' x あｑｓうぇｄｒｆｔｇｙふじこｌｐ；＠ was an exhibition of emerging digital artists from the U.S. and Japan.  The exhibition featured three artists from Tokyo alongside four artists in New York. The selection of these artists was meant to present a wide range of media art. ASDFGHJKL;' (in english) or あｑｓうぇｄｒｆｔｇｙふじこｌｐ；＠  (in Japanese) originates from the act of running your hand horizontally across a keyboard. The phrase, when typed, kind of defines a scream, shout, or yell. It is an action of bewilderment, frustration, or confusion.

So long as there is a keyboard, emerging artists have taken to the Internet and digital culture as a source of inspiration and influence. My decision to title the exhibition this way comes from my own frustration or shout regarding media art communities in the U.S. and Japan not connecting more. If technology leads our evolution, we have been stalling on exchange (via exhibitions, research, and experimentation) between the U.S. and Japan [and more broadly the west and everywhere else].

If the digital embeds itself into the work of contemporary artists, and in our daily life, so do it’s terminologies’. ASDFGHJKL;’ is a response to what I view as a “regional lockout” of culture. The term, used in the tech industry, represents restrictions on digital content per location or territory. For example, some YouTube channels in the U.S. that I want to watch in Japan are inaccessible. In the case of this exhibition, the shout is to acknowledge the feeling that a regional lockout exists between both countries. Perhaps the artists of the exhibition feel a similar way, as shown through their eagerness and supportive nature in producing the exhibition.

artists >>

Kenta Cobayashi’s work employs various tools including digital photography, iPhones, his MacBook, screen captures and photo sticker booths. He uses these to capture images of his life, himself, and the people around him. Kenta’s interventions with photographs diffuse the border between images, photoshop filters, and digital graphics. www.kentacobayashi.com

Nozomi Teranishi, is a photographer and digital artist from Fukushima. Many of her works are influenced by experiencing the earthquake in Fukushima and visions of health alongside artificiality. Her digital photograph series The Regeneration of Complex Societies addresses the Fukushima earthquake and makes use of digital editing to clone stamp people, places, and things, to heightened amounts. Nozomi new series of works under the title “Health Freak” references body image, and is the artist’s first time utilizing 3D animation tools. www.nozomiteranishi.com

Multimedia artist RAFiA utilizes animated gifs, selfies, and sound to create a distinct visual aesthetic that merge photography, image manipulation, and painting. Almost always using herself as a subject, she creates visually arresting images that are balanced between joy and trauma, divinity and humanity. www.raf-i-a.tumblr.com

From Shanghai and based in the U.S., Wang Yefeng specializes in 3D animation tools, creating bizarre and surreal worlds. His newest animation, “The Drifting Stages” features a pulsing red and blue backgrounds inspired by the Porygon Flash from the original Pokémon anime. An array of objects fills a room and comments on the artists displacement between Shanghai and New York, and the things he has accumulated in his life. www.wangyefeng.com

Terrell Davis creates hyper real 3D renderings of still-life tabletops consisting of cluttered technology, consumer products, plants, and junk food. The hyperrealism of his imagery evokes a snapshot into contemporary life, consumerism, and pop culture. The glowing coloration and saturation in his work illuminates the objects we often use but rarely pay attention to. www.terrelldavis.me

Daniel Johnson’s work often deals with appropriation and photography. In ASDFGHJKL;’ were videos he created for the Internet Yami-Ichi in New York. At the event he sold DVDs with misleading titles. Buyers may think they are purchasing a hollywood film, but the DVD actually contains short clips of the artist doing mundane activities. www.itsallstrange.com

FOREVER TODAY

In working with these artists, I am left to wonder what patterns I can see forming between media artists of both countries. I have noticed in the U.S. there are more media artists experimenting with 3D animation tools, virtual spaces, and data. In Japan I notice an excellent and original use of digital photography, two-dimensional effects, and a rewiring of physical materials. Of course I found some overlap, but it is something I wish to investigate further.

In December 2016 I returned to the U.S. While my home country is undergoing a frightening and backwards shift in ideology it only motivates me to continue the Window Sessions initiative and expand it to other locations. Starting this project I never had an end goal in mind, but always thought of it as an alternative archive, one that is always growing and meant to preserve present media art activities for future audiences. In the next few months I will continue to upload content to Tokyo Window Sessions. In September 2017 I will expand the project to Seoul, where I will conduct a residency at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art.

After that is my intention to return to Japan and continue my curatorial activities. Presently I am studying Japanese and intend to translate Tokyo Window Sessions in the future. Now more than ever I have an opportunity and responsibility to create something truly meaningful and timely. I welcome collaboration with emerging artists, forward-thinking institutions, and residency programs who might be reading this.  

Special Thanks:

Eri, Exonemo, Fiona, Luis, Glenn, Shirin, Shunya, Yosuke

~ and many others

[leapingtitan]

Nick Talks: Video Making

Alright. This is going to be a little different and a little long, but as you have probably figured, I was originally going to have this question in the AMA. It’s a very good question but there are certain things preventing me from including in, mainly for the slightly long description that I’m about to give in this post. Depending on what format you like to work with, posting something like this can work out good both in text and video/narrative form, but in that video specifically, I felt like it just wouldn’t fit in.

Now, first of all, I feel like it’s mandatory to state that I’m nowhere near professional at editing. In fact, I’ve only been doing this for a little less than two months. That amount of time is nothing compared to people who have done it for a year, maybe two years and not to mention people who do this as a full-time job, on a completely different level at that.

The thing is, if I were to give a full tutorial on how to make videos, it would be better if I just did it in video form. “But why didn’t you just include it in the AMA, then?” Yeah, two reasons. One, I don’t think anyone wants to sit in front of their screen watching me do something for 10 hours (AT LEAST). And two, like I said, I’m pretty amateur at this point.

However, since people are expressing genuine interest and it’s a completely logical question nonetheless, I’ve decided to at least try answering in a fashion that would appeal to people. Personally, I think doing this in text form is okay for now. Like I said, I can’t give a full class on video editing, but I can give you the step-by-step process as well as my two cents on each individual step.

If you are genuinely interested in the process and want to find out more (or just read what I’m writing in general... either is fine), I recommend reading carefully and slowly whilst paying attention because this is going to be slightly longer than my usual posts and I’ll try my best to explain. Let’s do this.

Step 1: The Idea

This may seem obvious to some of you, but this is, and I mean it, the most important part. The idea sets everything else into motion and determines what the final product will be and how it will be received by viewers. Even if your effects and cuts are Hollywood-quality, if the overall concept is bad, people aren’t gonna like it. And this applies to quite literally everything. It doesn’t matter if it’s art, fiction, meta, theories, videos, the idea is the seed of everything that has to do with creativity.

Now, where do ideas come from? From everywhere! For me, it’s mostly just being active in the fandom. As I’ve said in the past, I do a lot of read-through’s while waiting for new chapters, and I always get more and more ideas each time. Another important source is you guys! Tumblr and the people I follow really inspire me. This in it of itself has multiple sources including other theories and meta, and quite commonly answers to asks. Everything combined together becomes the foundation for the idea, before the idea itself actually booms into existence. Lastly, I watch other YouTubers and have seen people make similar content to this. though in different fandoms and different forms. However, this is a big inspiration to me and it’s what got me to make what I’m making right now. The lore of Attack on Titan has different things that one can talk about, and my fellow meta writers are well aware of this already. 

What makes a good idea? Well, this one has a lot of different factors. For me, 98% of the feedback that I’ve gotten these past 2 months has been positive. You can call this luck, but I’ve had a lot of people to look up to and a lot of references and examples to gather experience from. But I swear, I cannot make this more clear: YOU ARE GOING TO SUCK AT THE BEGINNING. This doesn’t always apply, but you need to gather experience from failure before you can achieve something that is remotely good. Past experience can come from anything and can then be adapted and used in different ways. For example, are you a meta writer? It’s possible that your first meta got over 200 notes and was very well received, okay! But you probably already have some kind of idea how to keep your readers entertained and express your thoughts in a beautiful and addicting fashion. Maybe you’re good at writing essays in English? See what I mean? If you’re starting from complete zero in a completely new aspect though... you can read what I wrote above again. Trial and error, experience and patience are the most important aspects. And I already said this, but I’ll say it again: This applies to everything.

Step 2: Time and Motivation

Well, the idea is the most important step. But the hardest step... is this. I swear... This is the reason why Part 2 of The Timeline and History of Attack on Titan came out. Let’s start with time. First of all, I kind of already said this, but I’m not doing this as a full-time job. This is a hobby. A way for me to display what you call meta in a more visual and acoustic format. And for the record, there is school... obviously. I have studies, classes, extra work as well as things which do not involve anything academic whatsoever, like my personal life. So, okay... but it’s not like I’m 24/7 studying... right? Nope, not even close. With that, this brings me to my next aspect.

Motivation. For the record, this applies to everything. Surprise! I could have a whole day all for myself free of any worries and disturbances whatsoever. I can just sit down... and not even edit 4 seconds of video. Motivation comes from a lot of different places, mainly you guys, the community here on Tumblr, as well as my own ideas and plans for the future as to what I like doing and what kind of person I am as a whole. Reflecting really does help, but it’s absolutely vital to say this: Motivation is temporary and can’t be forced. Even if I have all of those things I mentioned, there is absolutely no guarantee that it instantly boosts the chances of me making something good by 80% or above... and that’s even way too much to be completely honest. Then there is the mood I am in. Like everyone else, I have a personal life and there are many different things that affect me. This can be of various magnitudes, but let me tell you, it can definitely prevent me from doing anything even if I do have all of the positive things I just mentioned. You just can’t force it and it has to come naturally. Personal life plays a big part, and I’ll usually take care of whatever is bothering me before having the peace of mind to sit down and get to work... that’s how it is.

Step 3 (Optional): Writing a Script

Alright, we got all of the theoretical and psychological aspects all of the way. Now we get to the actual video... except not. The reason why this step is optional can probably already made out by some of you who are reading this. For The Timeline and History of Attack on Titan video series, I wrote an entire script of everything I wanted to say. Now, back up and let’s be real here: Nobody in their right mind can possibly recite the entire Shingeki no Kyojin lore and backstory off the top of their head without jinxing at least once. For informative videos where you are trying to get your point across in a mannered, organized and appealing fashion, writing a script is the ideal solution. You have time to organize your thoughts, not make mistakes and have the full freedom to correct them at the spot before you present them to the public.

Now, of course, if you’re doing a live reaction or just freestyle/improvising, writing a script is not necessary. I mean, it wouldn’t be called a Live reaction otherwise if you’re preparing it before that... As for thoughts and opinions, this is where you have to make the choice. Do you want to spend maybe an hour (for me at least) writing a script and clearing your thoughts one by one with each word so that it can be easier afterwards? Or do you want the freedom to speak exactly that which comes to your mind at the spot. For me, like I said, it depends on the type of video you are making. Something very lore-ish and very appeal-concentrated like the Timeline series is definitely better to write a script. However, this isn’t to say that it’s mandatory. Some people are good at speaking their thoughts and having an organized mind and get their point across, nice and clean on the spot. For me, it depends. In my case there are a lot of different factors (which most definitely include the first two steps of this guide by the way), but I can’t speak on behalf of everyone reading this, obviously. Do what you are comfortable with and whatever fits your style. And of course, trial and error counts here as well.

Step 4: Recording the Audio

It’s the for the transition in format. Before you begin, here are the things I recommend to everyone: 

If you’re sick, don’t do this. Period.

Get comfortable and clear your throat.

Have a glass of water nearby at all times. You’re gonna see exactly what I mean.

If you’ve written one, bring up your script and read the first few lines or paragraphs to get comfortable and prepared. If you haven’t, clear your thoughts for a few minutes and relax.

And lastly, sit down in/on that chair with the full knowledge and awareness of the fact that you’re probably going to be sitting there for a bit and potentially fuck up. A lot.

After you’ve done that, it’s time to hit record... and after you do... well... that’s pretty much it. Depending on the type of content you are making, the things you’ll be saying and recording will be different. 

This is something I still frequently do, so take my advice: Talk slowly, take deep breaths, don’t worry if you mess up. Stop talking, drink up that water, stand up, roll around in your chair (if your chair can roll that is) and then try again. Talking slow is very important and I never realized that my words were shooting out like a machine gun and no one could recognize them until one of my private viewers pointed it out at the beginning. And for that, I’m grateful. Usually in improvisation videos like my Reviews and Live Reactions I’ll talk like I usually do (still the advice remains helpful forever),though in informative videos where you HAVE to appeal, definitely consider the pace of your speech. 

Now, I’m speaking from my perspective, but I know a lot of you out there don’t have English as a native language. There are accents, ways you pronounce words and overall different ways of talking. For me... I really don’t see it that much. English is like an extension of my senses and I barely think about it, though my hybrid accent definitely stands out at times, I believe it’s not as bad as it used to be a certain period of time ago. Also, for those of you who don’t know (and this is going to surprise a lot of people), English is not my first/native language. It’s my second, and I’ve been learning it since I was about 3 years old, purely out of fascination and interest and the fact that it’s around you everywhere ago. To be even more honest, I can probably speak it better than my native language at this point. This is why I apologize for the fact that I can’t relate with everyone reading this right now, but I am currently struggling with another language which is a completely different story, but trust me... I know what it’s like. Generally, I wouldn’t recommend doing this unless you are comfortable with your speech. This takes time and... overall practice and being surrounded by the language is the best advice I can give. I can’t say anymore though because like I said, it’s different for everyone and I also don’t want to make this a “How to Speak Foreign Languages” class... that’s not my goal here, but I felt like this was important to point out.

Something else to point out is hardware. You do not have to bankrupt yourself and buy the most expensive microphone you find on Amazon. Mine is anything but magic,and my advice is: Set up the microphone properly through your computer’s settings. Volume and microphone boost are important aspects. Too much boost means louder but lots of background noise which, even when removed, can tamper with the voice itself which is why I have mine set to 0 at all times. If it’s too quiet I’ll just amplify it/increase the volume manually. Now, if you do want a more advanced mic, then that’s okay too. I would recommend this for something that’s more professional, but really unless you’re doing something like studio quality music recording or voice acting, it’s not really that important. However, here are two vital things:

Do not use your phone for anything that’s not simple things... or you know, the snk voice meme.

When people watch your video, their ears will be affected a lot quicker than their eyes. Hearing takes subconscious priority to sight and has an even greater impact on whether or not you’re going to keep watching or not. For me, if the first two seconds is full of background noise and bad voice quality, I’ll click 3 minutes further to see if it’s still like that... if it is, immediate click on that “X”.

If your mic doesn’t have one by default, use a pop filter or wind screen. These remove any loud unnecessary pops and noises which you may get while recording, especially if you are close to the microphone. I have both for convenience sake, but just one is okay. (Though in my case, not using the microphone boost requires me to be pretty close to the mic, meaning I go for the wind screen most of the time)

Anyway, those are all of the things you should keep in mind. While recording, you are going to mess up. Again, again... and again. Did something make you laugh? Did you get interrupted by someone walking into the room or calling you on your phone? Did you just fail to say what you were trying to say even though it’s right in your head/right in front of you? All of that happens and it’s completely normal. You can’t get it on the first try flawlessly, even with a script in front of your eyes. Trial and error, like I said. I have a folder full of outtakes/bloopers which is like 100MB of shenanigans at this point which I’m thinking of posting when I get more of those... and oh yes, that’s going to happen. I’ve messed up a lot, and you probably will too. Just remember what I wrote in the first two steps. Trial and error, patience, and with time... experience. It’s not like Kaji Yuuki pulled off Eren’s screaming lines on the first time.

Step 5: Editing the Audio

The times you messed up in Step 4, the longer this is going to take. For me, there is a lot of cutting and fixing up to do. Most of the time the full track has outtakes (some of which I’ll just extract in the folder I mentioned for future keeping) and fails, which I cut out and put the pieces together to make a clean, constant track of speech. Even if I don’t necessarily “mess up”, a lot of the time I obviously have to catch my breath. My throat will get dry, I’ll have to stand up and do other things and so on. Also, my full raw tracks are like 40% “uhm” “aaaand” “but” “and yeah” “so yeah” or just constant silence with me forgetting my thoughts if I don’t have a script in front of me. Most of the time I’ll just cut that out if I see it as annoying and overall something that no one wants to hear. I’m usually satisfied with the results.

I rarely tamper with the original audio aside from cutting, though there are simple things like filters, noise removal and the chipmunk/high pitch voice I used for Flocke in the Chapter 90 review. Overall though, I prefer to keep the original audio as it is, at least for now.

Step 6: Editing the Video

After you are done with the audio... it’s time for the video. The Idea is the most important part. Time and Motivation is the hardest part. And this... is the long part. Depending on what type of video you’re making and how many different visuals and animations you are going to put in it, this can take a variety of different amounts of time.

One question which I get somewhat frequently is what program I use. The answer is: You can use whatever you want and whatever you feel comfortable with. Personally, I use Sony Vegas 13. There is also Adobe Premiere which the “professional” standard I guess and if you’re using a Mac there is Final Cut. (I haven’t heard too many good things about the newer versions of Final Cut but I know Pro is regarded as a very good editing program. Though I don’t use a Mac myself so I can’t really give a perspective on that). Now, again, you don’t have to bankrupt yourself and buy Adobe Premiere or anything like that... there are different programs out there. Though, if you are looking to make something at least a bit more advanced, you may want to consider something that’s not Windows Movie Maker. I mean, it’s good for general editing but anything else does require a more advanced software. I started with Windows Movie Maker on XP like 11 years ago, now? And that’s basically my foundation for getting the hang of editing software in general.

Back to the editing itself. There are way too many things to mention here, but one that is important is using panels from the manga. In order to avoid copyright, any panel from the manga that I take (usually the official Crunchyroll version) has its dialogue whited out and removed. I literally do this in like 20 seconds in MS Paint by the way, but if you take all of the manga panels that I use in one video, especially The Timeline and History of Attack on Titan and add up the time it takes to remove the text from it, it does stack up to about 15-20 minutes which is like the length of the whole video itself... so... yeah.

For editing you need to be visual and well.. visualize how you want everything to look in your head. I wish I could explain this in more detail but... just like anything else creativity-related, you have to figure it out on your own and learn what you are comfortable with, as well as learn from mistakes and improve over time, of course.

Also, this step includes custom graphics and backgrounds which I make myself. These vary from video to video in both time and overall design.

Step 7: Rendering

I recently found a preset and messed around with it so that the file size of my videos is smaller, though the render time itself is slightly longer which is interesting. Anyways, after you’re done editing and the video is good to go, you render it. Basically exporting it and... yeah, you know what rendering is. With the AMA video it took around half an an hour and the video was 26 minutes long so... I think I like this new preset. Anyways, that’s all about this. While rendering, I also do the next step.

Step 8: Making the Thumbnail

This is probably my favorite and the most fun part in general. I always considered my strong side to be the graphic/photo-manipulative side where I can make something as colorful and eye-candy-ish as I can and place the text in the most convenient places and make it the most convenient size as possible. Personally this is a way for me to relax after finally finishing editing.

In case I need the thumbnail before that, for instance in the end screen in the video, I’ll usually just make it after I’m done editing the audio, so Step 5.5 is appropriate, I guess.

Step 9: Uploading and Finalization

Uploading the video to YouTube is another time consuming part, and knowing my schedule, I usually let this happen at the latest hours of the day because I’ve been trying to get the editing done beforehand. Depending on the size and length of the video, this can take anywhere from 1 to 3 hours. With my old rendering template it took about 2 and a half hours for a ~12 minute video. Now it takes the same time for a 26-minute video, so I’m saving a lot of time with the new template.

Then there is the misc. work like promoting it on here, getting the description and annotations out (I don’t like using End Cards... the 20 second limitation hinders Sawano’s music which I use at the end of my videos) and overall making sure people can watch it as comfortably as possible.

There is also a processing time after uploading (around 10 minutes) before the video can be viewed, and there is around a 5 minute period after that which limits the quality to 240p or 480p for whatever reason... Waiting for a little bit fixes it though.

Step 10: Repeat from Step 1

Conclusion

Well... this is really all I can say and the best advice that I can give you. I find it really interesting to know that people themselves take interest in what actually goes into making these things, though like I said, there are a lot of tutorials out there but from most of the things that I’ve taken interest in, I’ve picked up on them and learned the skill on my own. Again, there are many sources out there that can help you, and I just hope that you are now more informed after reading (if you did) this. I’ll try to answer any other questions as usual, though this pretty much sums up most of the things.

I know I didn’t answer some things like how long it takes to get a video out, but it really varies. On average, counting the whole process, I’d say maybe 8 or 9 hours. Step 1 and Step 2 are the biggest factor in this, as well as the editing step, but... yes, that’s all.

Thank you for reading!

[ana-motion-nua-ba2b]

Title: Small Worlds: An examination of the role detailed set design plays in immersive stop-motion filmmaking.

I intend for this to be an extended essay.

Background

Stop motion set building follows general conventions of cinematography, but has specific technical limitations, and creative requirements, unique to the medium. Relevant to this report is, as Purves (2010) states, the fact that almost everything appearing on a stop motion set must be built from scratch. Every prop and background element is a physical object, and has been created with believability in mind, to preserve the audience’s immersion in the narrative, so that the miniature scale of the set is not made obvious.

Part of this concern with believability stems from the nature of the medium itself. While Purves (2010) acknowledges that “[matching] the proportions of real human architecture” (pp. 124) is not strictly necessary, he does emphasise the importance of illusion in filming stop-motion: the audience must not become conscious that they are watching puppets being moved frame-by-frame on a tiny stage, or they will lose investment in the story.

It is arguable, too, that in today’s ‘internet culture’, the consistency and credibility of an on-screen world is of increasing importance - in a commercial sense, if in no other. It is easier than ever for consumers to access and therefore rewatch films; to rewind and watch the same scene over and over; to pause a film at any time to view everything within the frame in high definition.

Shaw (2017) identifies the need for detail in close-up shots, but in a cultural context, taking care with detail is becoming more important in general, with the increasing prevalence of ‘geek culture’, and a growing attitude in audiences that views discrepancies - even aesthetic ones - as capable of ruining the immersion of a film. Leadbeater (2017) outlines the problems with this trend: “it is possible audiences will start thinking that finding continuity errors and minor flubs are comparable to analyzing the movie-making process”; as well as laying the blame at the feet of online content creators who are more concerned with profit and engagement than offering true criticism. However, no matter how damaging this attitude may be, it is still one that exists, and must at least be considered during pre-production, since the public who might hold such a view are also the audience any film will be marketed to.

More positively, it is also true that a focus on detail when (literally) building a world is often simply a labour of love. Purves (2007) likens the process of creating sets to the building of dollhouses - something that the fabricators will take joy and pride in. He cautions against adding details “that the camera is unlikely to see” (pp. 158), but it must follow from this that if a detail is both relevant and visible, it will not be unwelcome in a set. Moreover, as stated above, the ‘camera’ is becoming more and more likely to see detail - or rather, the audience is, with the aid of the pause button.

The handmade - or at least, specially constructed - nature of stop motion assets affords set designers and builders complete control over what appears on screen. The focus this report is concerned with is how that, in turn, can influence what goes into a set, and how small details and background elements can be crafted to contribute to a believable and immersive narrative, by creating a sense of a specific geological, historical and sociological setting.

Research question

“How can set design details contribute to an immersive sense of setting within narrative in stop-motion films?”

This report is intended to examine methods for world-building through set design - particularly by adding small details. Many directors have given anecdotal evidence about the difference a tiny part of a set can make in a story, and how this contributes to the film as a whole; however, I feel that this phenomenon has not been fully explored in relation to stop-motion, and the conventions unique to that medium.

The focus will be on set building for stop-motion, meaning exclusively sets which are constructed as physical models, and not those rendered through CGI.

Overall Aims

The overall aims of this report are:

To gain, and subsequently outline, a comprehensive understanding of the ways in which set design can be used to build a sense of story.

To investigate the ways in which individual details can contribute to this purpose.

To research practical methods and processes which can be used to achieve this outcome.

To examine individual approaches to world-building through set design, by analysing the design of certain films, and by gathering information from industry professionals.

Research Methodology

My working list of films to analyse comprises Laika’s Coraline and Kubo and the Two Strings, Astrid Goldsmith’s short film Quarantine, and Wes Anderson’s Isle of Dogs and Fantastic Mr. Fox. At present, I want to give myself room to drop titles that turn out not as suited to my research as they appear, should that occur.

Industry practitioners I intend to request interviews from are: Astrid Goldsmith, who lectured at the 2019 ANI WIP conference;  John Lee, who gave a talk to the NUA animation course in 2017; and Thomas O’Meara, who was the supervisor when I did a work experience placement in February, working on sets.

I will have to ensure that I construct my interview questions carefully; perhaps beginning with a set of ‘baseline’ questions, kept the same for each correspondent, as a means of comparing their approaches. I could then tailor a few more questions to suit what I know about the practice of each individual.

In addition, in the event that all three decline to answer my questions, I plan to discuss the same topics with the staff on my course who I know have a background in stop motion; namely, Helen Piercy and Barry Leith. The ideal situation would be interviewing practitioners who I know have worked in-depth on set design, but both Purves and Shaw talk in the context of creating films with very small crews - or even no crew at all - highlighting the fact that in stop-motion, it is not uncommon for practitioners to be versed in multiple parts of the process, even if they only specialise in one.

Suggested chapters

The role of detailed set design in story.

Practical techniques for detail.

Case studies: Individual application of techniques.

Potential outcomes

I hope to specialise in stop-motion upon graduating, ideally fabrication of some kind, but the NUA course has not yet covered set building in any way. As such, I hope to gain a better understanding of the discipline through this work, that can be applied to projects in my future.

As previously mentioned, a lot of information on detail in set building exists in quite anecdotal forms; my research report should collate these scattered pieces in a more formal, comprehensive way, for use by other budding set designers.

I also hope that this will be of aid, not just to set designers in a practical manner, but to stop-motion practitioners as a whole; this research may inform, in some small way, how readers approach overall production design and story.

Bibliography

Articles

Leadbeater, A. (2017, August 16th). Is CinemaSins Bad For Film Criticism? ScreenRant [online]. Retrieved from: https://screenrant.com/cinema-sins-problems-film-criticism-director-backlash/2/

Marsh, C. (2013, April 5). Nitpicking Isn’t Criticism: ‘Jurassic Park’ and Why ‘Flaws’ Don’t Matter. MTV News [online]. Retrieved from: http://www.mtv.com/news/2770454/jurassic-park-flaws/

Spiegel, J. (2017, August 15th). ‘Kong: Skull Island’ Director Pinpoints the Problem With CinemaSins. The Hollywood Reporter [online]. Retrieved from: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/kong-skull-island-director-pinpoints-problem-cinemasins-1029915

Books

Hernandez, E. (2013) Set the Action! Creating Backgrounds for Compelling Storytelling in Animation, Comics, and Games. Focal Press.

Purves, B. (2007) Stop Motion: Passion, Process and Performance. Oxford : Focal Press.

Purves, B. (2010) Basics Animation: Stop Motion. Lausanne : AVA Academia.

Shaw, S. (2004) Stop Motion: Craft Skills for Model Animation. Oxford, UK; Burlington, MA : Focal Press.

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[theycallmeshaggyrogers]

Essay Two: The Pokemon League Champion Archetype

March 25, 2018

This post will contain MAJOR spoilers for all mainstream Pokemon games. There, I'm guiltless. You'll thank me later.

I can't stress the importance of the previous disclaimer. Since the inception of the Pokemon franchise, the league champion effectively acts as the game's final boss. By design, a final boss should be something we are emotionally invested in, whether it pertains to a crucial plot point in a game or is a character we are able to feel strongly towards. I think I speak for the majority of gamers, casual or not, when I say that the plot of a video game matters to the overall experience we will have playing said game to begin with. If a game's story is good, or at the very least memorable, we are more inclined to remember it better and more fondly than say, a game whose story is bland or otherwise poorly-written. There are exceptions of course. In my opinion, the three games that make up Fire Emblem: Fates have particularly awful storylines. At best, they are bland and rely on the standard narrative trappings which Fire Emblem games are known for. At worst, they are so narratively broken that their exceptional terribleness is remarkably memorable. That said, FE Fates' “Conquest” route is salvaged only by challenging level design and game mechanics. The degree of polarization regarding Conquest's quality between the quality of its story and gameplay is remarkable to say the least, but it is simply from said polarization that the game is memorable to me personally.

Pokemon, however, is much, much different than Fire Emblem, which prior to 2013 was just a niche series for introverted elitist weeaboos like myself, and the popularity of both franchises in the two decades both have been around very much determines the memorability of an individual title. Perhaps I speak from bias when I say that every mainstream Pokemon game is equally memorable to me, given my twelve or so years as a fan of the franchise. I even started with one of the blander installments, Pokemon LeafGreen, a remake of the original Pokemon Green from 1996. That said, Pokemon is very much a formulaic series. Very little changes from iteration to iteration, from its story to its battling system. As the fandom likes to poke fun at time and again, you often play as a prepubescent Asian child who starts off in a small boonie town that happens to be within proximity of the laboratory of some biologist whose last name is in reference to some kind of a kind of plant. Said plant-named biologist offers you a Pokemon to start your adventure in exchange for collecting more of them to fill up a digital encyclopedia as you travel throughout the game's map (a task you will likely never complete). Oftentimes you have a rival who is also a prepubescent Asian child and also on the same journey to keep you in check as you build your party. You are both likely challenging gym leaders in hopes of one day reaching the penultimate title of champion. There's also at least one organization of bad guys wearing impractical uniforms whom you and your rival have to curb-stomp whenever they pop up in the story, but you've likely trashed them and emasculated their leader by the time you get to the champion themselves. I'd say every game has exceptions to these tropes, but the fact that I am able to give a succinct idea of how these games function narratively should probably queue you into the fact that Pokemon is a franchise rarely allows itself to change. And sure, helpful mechanics have been added over time to service the metagame, such as abilities, natures, IVs and breeding, but once these mechanics are in place, they are there for the long haul. Perhaps that is why I keep coming back. The games never feel incredibly alien even if I don't play one for more than a year.

I don't think the same could be said for these games' plots however. Every game leads up to battling an incredibly strong trainer, usually referred to with the prefix of “Champion”, and the reveal of the champion is meant to be a shock to the player. In almost every game, the champion is a recurring supporting character who at times helps the player on their journey to varying degrees of frequency. Oddly enough, the acting champion never tell the player about their high status in the Pokemon League, and this never has never been explained or justified within the canon. I completely understand this merit from a mechanical standpoint though. In the case of Pokemon, you don't know who the champion is because the game itself is encouraging you to build a well-rounded team to take them on, diverse in species, movesets, type and function. It is worth noting that while some champions specialize in a certain type of Pokemon, the majority of them tend to diversify their team for the very reason I stated.

This deliberate withholding of information also works from a storytelling standpoint too. Like any good JRPG, fighting the final boss of the game needs to feel earned to be memorable. These fights tend to be long, difficult and exhausting, but to ultimately prevail over them is deeply satisfying. In the case of Square Enix's Chrono Trigger, arguably one of the greatest JRPGs in the history of the genre, the final boss has three stages, incorporating movesets from all previous bosses while also possessing its own attacks that the player has to figure out as they continue to fight it. Final Fantasy 6, while less impressive in both aspects than Chrono Trigger, also has a multi-stage final boss fight, whose epicness is amplified with choirs and vaguely Christian imagery, as the boss himself is effectively the reigning god of a now-ruined world, one whom you would not initially expect to be the final boss until the original candidate has been eliminated. The fight is also very much a grudge match, as the final boss, Kefka, is a power-drunk psychopath. To date, Pokemon has only used the grudge match-type final boss fight twice, one of whom is not even the final boss, but a fake-out miniboss of sorts.

The exception to this unspoken rule of not disclosing the champion's identity is Alder, the Pokemon League Champion of Pokemon Black and White's Unova Region (which incidentally, is the first game where you are in fact no longer a prepubescent Asian child, but rather a teenager of indeterminate race because we're in New York City now, baby). In fact, he is introduced as the champion the moment you meet him! Going into Pokemon White in 2011, I knew that Alder was going to be the game's champion because I had listened to a rip of his battle theme posted on YouTube, but I did not expect him to be revealed outright as the champion. I only learned later as I progressed that Alder was not the true final boss of the main game, but instead your mysterious, slightly autistic wunderkind rival, N. By the time you defeat the four obligatory minibosses, dubbed the Elite Four, you find that N has already defeated Alder, and as the proclaimed chosen one by the dragon thingy on the opposite game's box art, he challenges you to a penultimate battle on the top floor of his massive Long Island castle as proof that he is the true king of Unova or something.

And then!

And then!!!

After you catch the guy from the boxart and defeat N, Ghetsis, the leader of the evil team (who is incidentally N's Machiavellian paternal guardian) throws a shitfit and battles you, revealing him to be the game's real final boss. When you defeat him, you reconcile with N, who sees the errors of his ways and leaves Unova on the guy from the other game's box art, then the credits roll to awesome fanfare. (Sidenote: I seriously consider Black and White's credits theme to be one of the best songs in the series). But there, you have finally completed the game, which was in my opinion had Pokemon's most ambitious and best plots to date. Alder can still be battled as champion, sure, but at this point he technically counts as a postgame boss, similar to Red at the end of Pokemon Gold, Silver, Crystal, and its remakes, or Steven in Pokemon Emerald.

I think Generation V was when the writers over at Game Freak realized that the series was getting predictable. Not counting the Gold and Silver remakes, the plot of Generation IV's Pokemon Diamond, Pearl and Platinum versions very much adhered to the same story beats as its predecessor, Generation III. Similar to Gen III, in Gen IV, the big ol' dragon from the boxart makes an appearance because they are summoned by the evil team's leader, seeking their powers for himself. After you beat said leader and catch the boxart-Pokemon for yourself, you are allowed to finish up your adventure, collect whatever gym badge(s) you still need to get, then you head on over to the league to fight the Elite Four and then the champion, who has shown up to help you in small ways throughout your journey. This had also been done to a lesser degree in Generation II, as assisting Lance in uncovering Team Rocket's hideout in Mahogany Town and later liberating the Goldenrod Radio Tower is what ultimately prevents you from reaching the eighth and final gym badge required to challenge the Indigo League. Generation V decided to do away with this formula entirely by making N the rival, evil team leader and de-facto champion, only to throw a curveball by making Ghetsis the real threat, when he had been established this whole time as someone who had long since released his own Pokemon as per the moral duty of Team Plasma's Seven Sages. Black and White's plot makes me happy for all sorts of reasons, but departing from Pokemon's traditional roots of setting up final boss fights made the battles between N and Ghetsis more memorable overall, but I'll get to that later.

From what I've observed, the champion archetype in your mainstream Pokemon story goes as follows: the player encounters the champion early in the game, usually after winning their first gym badge. When encountered, they express their interests a bit, then give you an item with a varying degree of usefulness from game to game. Their appearance throughout the story usually triggers other scripted events required to progress the game along and give you access to the next city or objective you must travel to. Regardless, the story reveals very little about their background, exchanging personal history for a brief explanation of their ideals or motivations. They are often absent from your adventure, but pop in at times to give advice or another item. They will be present for, or at the very least involved in the final confrontation with the evil team as a supporting character while the player confronts the boss. They thank you afterwards and do no appear again until the end of the game. As it stands, this formula applies to four champions, but components of it are subverted in the more recent games (discounting remakes of course).

I want to argue that this champion-reveal archetype started with Generation II rather than Generation I. In Gen I, the champion was your smug, cocky rival who was always three steps ahead of you despite starting at the same time that you did. He belittles you on your whole adventure, even after you beat his over-leveled team. During your run-ins with Team Rocket, he is not involved in those confrontations save for one time, where he battles you in an enclosed area in the Silph Co. building before your second battle with Team Rocket's boss, Giovanni. It is also worth noting that there is no eleventh hour crisis in Red and Blue; that trope doesn't start becoming a thing until Ruby and Sapphire. If anything, the champion archetype of later generations isn't applicable to Gen I because Red and Blue have very different story goals. While it is very much an adventure RPG with the set goals of filling the Pokedex for Professor Oak and becoming the strongest trainer, the core of the narrative is the dynamic you share with your rival. His reveal as the champion works because it has already been established that he progressed through the league challenge faster than you did, not to mention his ceaselessly deprecating attitude towards the player character makes dethroning him all the more satisfying a conclusion to the story.

I personally think Gen II did the champion reveal the best. Lance was established as a strong trainer who asks for your assistance in investigating a strange radio signal, which in turn reveals that the culprits are in fact Team Rocket from the previous games. After you help Lance out, he more or less just disappears without any hint of returning until you challenge him. If you played Generation I or its remake, you would know that Lance was a member of the Elite Four, so assuming that he is still part of the league is warranted. It is only by the time you defeat Karen, who has taken Lance's place as the fourth member from the previous game, that the notion that he may be the champion is not far-fetched.

Gen III's Steven Stone shows up a few times to progress the plot in some arbitrary way or another, is around to express concern when the Hoenn Region starts flooding or drying up (depending on which version you're playing) and he is established as a very strong trainer, but his lack of any spoken association to the league makes his reveal a little less powerful in contrast to Lance. Part of me thinks Wally could have worked as a champion just as well, if not better than Steven did. Here you have this timid, waifish kid who you meet early in the game and encounter about as infrequently as with Steven. He may not deliver on a memorable battle in the two instances he challenges you, but his presence as a champion would have been a nice surprise considering his outward frailty, not to mention given the face that the Hoenn Elite Four's typing is strikingly similar to that of the original Elite Four from Gen I, the rival posing as the champion would have been a nice little thematic reference to the original games, even if it would probably make the reveal more predictable. Regardless, I appreciated Steven as a champion in Ruby and Sapphire than Wallace in Emerald, a character who, while breaking parts of the formula, we do not meet until the evil team-induced crisis is in full swing. The most we know about him is that he was once the gym leader of Sootopolis City, but stepped down and was replaced by some cheesy artsy French fop with a Spanish name. He really only makes a lasting impression in the remakes.

Gen IV's Cynthia meets the archetype beat by beat, and even more so in Platinum when she joins you on your search through the Distortion World to find and confront Team Galactic's Cyrus. Barring Alder, the first champion to subvert the archetype established by Gen II, Cynthia is probably the most plot-active champion to act within it, with the exception of Steven in Gen III's remakes, Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. She also delivers one of the most challenging champion battles in the series, as her team will likely be 10-20 levels higher than that of your entire party unless you decide to train your Pokemon and challenge the league later. She also makes use of some of the most powerful and rare Pokemon in the series, namely Garchomp, Spiritomb and Milotic. From what I can tell, Cynthia is also extremely popular as far as champions go within the fandom, having appeared in every main series game since as an optional postgame encounter. I want to attribute this popularity to both her design and the intense difficulty of your battle with her.

Alder, as already discussed, broke the slowly encroaching archetype set for champions, but is explicitly the champion in name only because it is crucial to the plot for him to possess that role. By the time you battle him, the main story is over and you are likely well into the postgame at this point. I don't consider Alder to be a champion-proper because to be a champion in a strictly gameplay-based sense would imply that his battle isn't optional, which it very much is. The Gen V games in general give you a remarkable amount of stuff to do once the main story has concluded, all of it completely optional. The battles against both Alder and Cynthia in Black and White, along with their sequels, are completely optional too. Hell, I'm pretty sure on a playthrough of Black in 2015, I never bothered to challenge the postgame league. What Alder primarily serves within the games he appears in is that of a role model. He's this lighthearted, virtuous old dude who loves his Pokemon and is not opposed to challenging the worldviews of others, as he does with your milquetoast smart-guy rival Cheren, in order to help them grow as people. He is not nearly as threatening as Cynthia, but he is far and away the most multifaceted champion to date.

However, for the sake of argument, let's say Ghetsis counts as Black and White's champion, even if he is not one in name like Alder. While he fits the archetype well, he is also a subversion of it. You first encounter him delivering a speech in Accumula Town, encouraging the locals to question the morality of owning Pokemon. His speech is offset with a foreboding piano piece, indicating that he will inevitably be a threat to the player in the future. Much of his role on your adventure throughout Unova is to discourage and intimidate the player, but not by way of battling. Anyone who has played the previous generations prior to Black and White will likely assume that Ghetsis will be revealed as the boss of Team Plasma, and while he is the mastermind using N as a puppet leader, the game does not present it this way until you reach N's castle and learn about his upbringing as Ghetsis' groomed successor. Ghetsis' unique design sets him apart from the Seven Sages and establishes him as their leader, but then that would only imply that he would be a higher-ranked admin of Team Plasma, not the leader itself.

Because Gen III and Gen IV had very similar story beats, I honestly thought Ghetsis' arc was going to play out as Cyrus' had in Gen IV. I assumed that you would have to raid the hideout of Team Plasma and face Ghetsis down and fighting/catching boxart-guy afterwards, and only then would you be allowed to complete the gym challenge and subsequently face the league. This was of course flipped on its head when N reveals to the player three gym badges in that he is the king of Team Plasma, and Ghetsis serves under him, not the other way around. This makes Ghetsis' reveal as the final boss shocking, but not too much so that it feels forced. We know that Ghetsis is threatening, emotionally manipulative and of higher standing within Team Plasma's administration than the Seven Sages based on his actions and character design, so the possibility of facing him after facing N becomes a realistic expectation. To be blunt, Ghetsis doesn't fuck around. His team very much feels like a properly-balanced champion team, with Hydreigon acting as his team's resident pseudo-legendary, and his theme music is composed of foreboding drums and choir vocals. He feels more like a champion than Alder does. Ultimately, I would say Black and White has two champions: a story champion and a  gameplay champion. Alder fits the former while Ghetsis fits the latter, and while I love this dynamic for its creativity in a very formulaic series, I wish we had more of it. None of the Pokemon games since  Black and White had this degree of ambition in integrating and subverting the series' narrative and game-play trappings by way of a fake-out final boss, even its direct sequels, who perhaps played it a little too safe.

In Black and White's sequels, Black 2 and White 2, Alder's role as a mentor becomes literal, as he helps the player character get better accustomed to the game when they reach Floccessy Town (which incidentally is supposed to be based off Newark and I think that's hilarious). Instead of acting as the Unova League Champion, Alder is revealed to have stepped down from the league and has been replaced by the former Opelucid City gym leader Iris instead. Now, Iris adheres much more to the champion archetype than Alder does, but that really isn't saying much. In B2W2, she appears in Castelia City at the same time and for the same story function as she did in the previous games: you have to help her track down Team Plasma. That's it. You could argue that she meets the archetype better if you take her role within the predecessor game into account, since in Black and White, Iris is present during the eleventh-hour time of crisis, along with the gym leaders from all of Unova's cities (barring one) rallied up by your other, comparatively less annoying rival Bianca. If you are playing Pokemon White, you will have to face Iris in order to win the final gym badge, which makes her somewhat more relevant as a character, though only in White alone, as you fight her mentor Drayden in Black instead. In spite of this, I wouldn't say that Iris is a very memorable character within both stories she is in, and the time between these encounters are massive. By the time you meet Iris again in Opelucid City in White, it is to challenge her, whereas in Black she acts as a move tutor without any relevance to the plot. In B2W2, she will appear in Opelucid City to wish you luck with your battle with the city's current gym leader, but you won't see her afterwards until her big reveal as the new champion of Unova. While her theme music is catchy, I wouldn't really say the battle itself is incredibly memorable. To this day, I can't recall her team save for her Druddigon without having to look it up on Bulbapedia. It is worth noting that B2W2 have incredibly large postgames that near-eclipse the amount of content provided from the main story, which itself was less ambitious than Black and White and took a more Diamond and Pearl approach regarding to pacing the story with gym challenges, so Iris' memorability can easily be overlooked in a game with so much content.

Now if any champion meets the archetype the least, it is Generation VI's Diantha, and when I say “least”, I don't mean the least faithful to the archetype, because as previously explained, that title goes to Alder. Rather, Diantha's lack of screentime within the main story leads to a weak champion reveal by the end, even more so than Iris or Wallace. In Pokemon X and Y, your two encounters with her prior to the Pokemon League are incidental, as you run into her first at a cafe in the not so subtle stand-in city for Paris, and then at a monorail stop in where I can only assume is Normandy. She doesn't give you any important item or clears any obstacles for the player to advance the plot. Rather, she talks about herself a bit and expresses a desire to battle the player in the future. I probably wouldn't have remembered her leading up to taking on the league were it not for her character design, which fans have likened to that of Audrey Hepburn, and I can kind of see it? It's a fitting comparison given that Diantha is supposed to be a well-respected actress, but that aspect of her character alone is problematic from a storytelling standpoint should you choose to turn off your brain; if Diantha is this insanely famous actress, why wouldn't she immediately be identified as the Kalos League Champion as well by NPCs whenever she's out in the public? Last I checked, Parisian cafes and monorail stations aren't necessarily private venues, and it's not like Diantha is attending these places incognito. One line that particularly annoys me in her first encounter is, “I'm a Trainer myself, in my off time. I look forward to us battling someday!” To me, this line feels like a deliberate misdirect on the part of the writer, because what kind of league champion would brush their battling career aside as a hobby despite being the named strongest trainer in the entire region? There's just something incredibly dishonest about what is ostensibly supposed to be a throwaway line. It implies that we are not meant to assume that Diantha is an exceptional trainer of note, and are meant to see her primarily as an actress instead. This makes her reveal as champion ultimately fall flat, and you as a Pokemon fan could probably assume from thematic shorthand that she was going to be the champion simply because she had nothing better to do in the story.

Diantha's lack of presence in the narrative is what ultimately sells her short. Unlike previous champions, she does not appear during the obligatory time of crisis, though I wouldn't call this subversive, nor is she present during your recurring run-ins with Team Flare (aka the French fashion mafia). To be honest, I think some extra screentime in the vein of Cynthia would make her reveal less forced, or at the very least some hints on the part of random NPCs hinting of her battling prowess. This isn't to say I don't like Diantha as a character, or even X and Y's story for that matter. I actually quite like it. I just wish I saw Diantha more frequently. She is implied to be acquainted with Lysandre, who is revealed to be the boss of the French fashion mafia. Why couldn't that be explored? Hell, I even would have taken a part in the game where you wind up on a film set and you see Diantha performing! Pokemon X and Y took a much stronger influence from the part of the world it is based on than Black and White did, so it's kind of a shame that an aspect of French culture as a famous as their cinema was more or less pushed to the wayside.

At the time of this writing, I had recently finished my playthrough of Pokemon Sun. I accidentally spoiled myself to the champion reveal via YouTube, discovering that your final obstacle before becoming the first ever champion of the Alola Region was Professor Kukui. Compared to Diantha, my battle with Kukui was incredibly memorable, because I lost twice against him before finally emerging victorious. Of course, recency bias is very much a thing and my feelings regarding the quality of the battle are subject to change, but I think it's telling that a lot of thought went into how difficult this final challenge was supposed to be. I have issues with Pokemon Sun and Moon's balancing system, namely the fact that most trainers don't have more than one Pokemon until you're halfway through the game. I understand that the contrary would make the Exp. Share as insanely broken as it was in Gen VI, but in hindsight it appears to have been a necessary evil. By the time I challenged Kukui, both of our teams were almost perfectly balanced, making the battle less about sweeping the opponent's Pokemon as quickly as possible with the right type matchups and more about the strategy it takes to get there.

I would also be remiss not to mention the uniqueness of Kukui's champion reveal, because he is not the champion at all! Technically, you, the player, have become the first champion by being the first to beat the Elite Four, a feat achieved only by your rival in Red and Blue. This final battle you have with Kukui is a formality, as it is explained in the story that he has spearheaded the efforts to establish a Pokemon League in Alola, integrated in with the traditional Island Challenge. Kukui makes it very clear that he studies Pokemon moves, making battling an integral part of his research. It makes him a little one-note at times, but I don't think Pokemon has had as active of a champion character within the main story since Cynthia, and I mean champion in the sense that Ghetsis could be considered one. That said, I don't think anyone would have a problem if SuMo went the route of Black and White and making Lusamine in her drugged up possession form the final boss. My biggest issue when battling Kukui is that I didn't really feel strongly about the character himself.

Obviously I'm speaking from bias, but I think the past twelve years of playing Pokemon have conditioned me to champion trainers who, if they weren't depicted as calm and collected, were at the very least formidable and intimidating. Kukui is probably one of the most high-energy characters in the entire game! Previous champions all had an air of mystery behind them, whereas you practically spend 1/3 of SuMo's 3-hour tutorial being guided by Kukui. You pick up his mannerisms, you find out what he's all about, you find out he's married to a physicist, etc... Even if the game threw a curveball and actually made you the champion before anyone else could make a claim, Kukui's reveal as the final boss feels... underwhelming. This guy has been holding your hand and supporting you practically through your entire journey, and while Alder had a similar role in B2W2, it was not nearly as pronounced by comparison.

That spark of intensity you feel battling a champion like Steven and Cynthia just isn't there. What do you have to prove about yourself as a trainer if there is no champion to challenge at the end of the long road? This is honestly a shame because I was actually hoping around the time of Gen V that we would get a game where the story throws a curveball you become the first champion, albeit with the caveat that you have to compete with someone for the penultimate title. I still think this is possible, but from what Kukui has shown us, it needs to executed differently. I have not picked up Ultra Sun or Ultra Moon yet so I don't know whether or not Game Freak decided to switch up Kukui with someone else (though I'm gonna assume now that it's either Hau or Gladion), but I would honestly welcome a change, not to mention better battle music.

This current generation of Pokemon signals a shift in the way these games will likely be made for the years to come, both in terms of gameplay and narrative. I wasn't a huge fan of the Island Challenge in hindsight, but it was a fresh take from the past 20 years of  gym battles. While the story of B2W2 may come close at times, I don't think we've had two successive generations that followed similar story beats like Gens III and IV did. That said, I very much adhere to the notion that Pokemon needs to continue making memorable final battles for the player. Each story in a mainstream Pokemon game has remained memorable to some degree, but I strongly believe that the games which hold up better are the ones who execute their champion reveals the best, even if it means adhering to a pre-established archetype. Archetypes aren't a form of bad writing, but their overuse turns them into cliches.