No, I'd say that the reason it feels that way is because it features various tropes of presentation/storytelling that you associate with media from Japan.
But clearly they're not inherently Japanese because people from other countries can use them too.
Y'know I think part of the reason for some of the times I've had run-ins with people around here is because I basically dissociate traits from things people frequently (though not always) associate to them.
This is part of my dislike for stereotypes, so basically I guess I kinda trained myself to do my best to avoid them.
It's like, for example: * there are black people, and there are things stereotypically associated with black people, but these should never be confused with being black, and should be viewed on a person by person basis -- even if some of them may be statistically more common among blacks. * there are gay people, and there are things stereotypically associated with gay people, but these things should never be confused with being gay, and should be viewed on a person by person basis -- even if some of them may be statistically more common among gay people. * there are women, and there are things stereotypically associated with women, but these things should never be confused with being female, and should be viewed on a person by person basis -- even if some of them may be statistically more common among women. * there are gamers, and there are things stereotypically associated with gamers, but these things should never be confused with being a gamer, and should be viewed on a person by person basis -- even if some of them may be statistically more common among gamers. * there are Japanese cartoons, and there are things stereotypically associated with Japanese cartoons, but these things should never be confused with being a Japanese cartoon, and should be viewed on a series by series basis -- even if some of them may be statistically more common among Japanese cartoons.
...and so on.
Yes, it's valid to notice common traits and trends. People do that all the time. But these traits and trends are NOT inherently part of being that thing itself.
So, if there's an unidentified item or entity that is shown to have some traits stereotypically associated with a certain group of things, it is NOT a proper conclusion to say that that item or entity is a member of that one group of things, and viewing that item or entity through the lens of thinking of it as a member of this group of things -- and ESPECIALLY further associating traits of that group that the item/entity doesn't specifically have -- is improper.
If I like certain things that are commonly liked by men, it should NOT result in the conclusion that I identify as a man (regardless or whether I actually do), or that I am likely to like other things that are commonly liked by men.
If a game has pixelated graphics, which are common amongst indie games these days, it should NOT result in the conclusion that the game is necessarily an indie game, nor the conclusion that it has any other traits commonly associated with indie games.
etc.
If you really want to speculate, you can say that it is "more likely than not" that the item/entity in question is part of a certain group based on a closely associated trait, but you have to retain the mental tag that this is SPECULATION, and NOT a reliable conclusion, and any further information based on this speculation is similarly or even more unreliable until proven otherwise.
i.e. if you presume, you may be wrong, and if you are wrong, put up and shut up, so to not be wrong so much, stop presuming things or only do so with caution.
THE ONLY EXCEPTION TO THIS is if the trait in question is DEFINITIONALLY INHERENT to the group.
For example, if you know that a game was made by one guy on his spare time and self-published, that is by definition an indie game. So viewing that game as an indie game is valid. That said, it's still not valid to say "it's an indie game, so it must have these other traits I associate with indie games".
Don't you hate those situations that arise when you have a noble cause for social change but the person to bring that cause to the table (e.g. by getting into legal trouble) is a horribly obnoxious asshat who really ought not to be the champion or symbol of anything?
A fun activity that some people could do, on a forum that allows editing of posts after a thread is locked, is to organize together to post a thread and comments, then get the thread locked (possibly through a moderator who's in on the joke), then subsequently, every so often, change that thread's contents to a different conversation, while the thread is locked.
This might not work very well unless the thread is also stickied. So now you have an amoeboid stickied thread with a new conversation every month but the same people talk in the same order.
Or maybe you can make subtle changes to the thread title, and then have the thread start the same, but go in different directions.
Someone says the quote "Engilsh, mutherfucker! Do you speak it?".
Some people think that saying this line makes them cool, by making them gangsta (thug lyfe etc.) or something, I dunno. Or because they're able to say an offensive thing thanks to it being prepackaged with this line.
I don't think it's cool. I think it's an obnoxious line. If it gets referenced, it should be seen has "hey, that dork is saying it and being obnoxious", with an implication of mockery applied to the person speaking it or the person to whom it's attributed.
yellow: being a hero means protecting the ones you are charged with overseeing as a consequence, you are faced with the realization that you have endangered the one you care about most
green: being a hero means fulfilling one's dreams and aspirations as a consequence, you lose your ability to pursue that dream
red: being a hero means exhibiting skill and leading by ability as a consequence, you are outclassed and subjected to the same painful choices as others
blue: being a hero means making things happen, behind the scenes if necessary as a consequence, you become unable to leave your responsibilities
pink: being a hero means bring positivity to others and aiding them in times of need as a consequence, you sacrifice yourself
A good consequence of one's parents being too stingy to buy soft drinks at fast food restaurants is that one does not build up a special desire for soft drinks.
I'm still entertained by TF2's writers turned Medic from the upstanding "I want to save people" type to an evilly callous mad scientist whose equipment and technique allow him control over the lives and deaths of others.
I want to post something regarding how it's not better taste if you can't enjoy shows you consider bad, but then someone's going to reply by saying something about how enjoyment isn't the same as quality or someshit like that.
Experiences like that are amusing to me. I've had similar experiences with various pieces of media, though recalling them is proving harder than expected.
Experiences like that are amusing to me. I've had similar experiences with various pieces of media, though recalling them is proving harder than expected.
It's actually not that much of a problem as long as my interest/hobby is confined to myself. But the moment it becomes an element in a social context, I potentially face questions about why I like (or don't like) various things.
It's worse when it's music. The audio part of music is, unless you've heard it before, the least immediately noticeable of all aspects of it, despite being the most fundamental part.
So it's like, take a song such as AKB48's "Heavy Rotation".
First thing I think of is this celebratory E major melody. Second thing I think of is Slavek Kowalewski's orchestral arrangement of it from the 0048 soundtrack. Third thing I think of is a joke involving the Heavy's minigun spinning up.
First thing that most people think of is probably nothing, since they don't have any idea what it is. Once they know it's a song, they search it on Youtube, and then find pictures of scantily-clad girls in a pillowfight.
Let's just say the resulting impression is...very, very different from what I intend it to be.
Oh, and then if you dig further into AKB stuff, there's the interpersonal drama, most famously but definitely not limited to that one time one of the performers got flamed for appearing in public with a guy. And then subsequently was compelled to apologize for it.
Also the whole thing about them being basically male fantasy bait.
That shit is disgusting. But the music is pretty.
See, 0048 is good for at least one thing, which is at least partly dissociating the music from the real-life stupidity.
Of course they had to go back and base this one character's character arc on that real-life person involved in that "appear with a guy" drama. FYI she betrays the protagonists in the second season. As in, betrays them to the military enemy. Yeah.
so apparently there's a movie called The Lobster which is this weird thing where you have 45 days to find a romantic partner or you get turned into an animal
this sounds like a perfect example of "starting with a really facepalmy premise"
it's like "hey let's set up a really artificial and contrived situation where the characters are set up to fail"
kinda like things like battle royales, or madoka magica
i could use more colorful language to describe this, but needless to say, this type of story is not my taste
According to the rules of the City, single people are taken to the Hotel where they are given 45 days to find a partner. Those who fail are turned into an animal of their choice and released into the forest. Masturbation is banned but sexual stimulation by the hotel maid, without orgasm, is mandatory. The guests attend dances and watch propaganda extolling the virtues of partnership. They can extend their stay by hunting escapees, the Loners, with tranquilliser guns in the woods. Each captured Loner affords an extra day to find a partner.
see this is where it really shows that you thought too much about this
I like Lord of the Flies, and I think that level of "forcing" or "contrivedness" is appropriate. It's a reasonably plausible premise, and then the results of the characters' interactions are basically all their own fault.
Rather than some cosmic force of forcing the characters to fail. That's just getting really meta.
Incidentally that's why it's also justified to criticize the writing of MadoMagi, because they essentially went meta in the show itself.
This sort of stuff is acceptable if you already have a kinda "gamey" understanding of the setting. Say, for example, if you're a GM of a tabletop campaign and you need to quickly fix the story for your players who've done something unexpected. It's gamey and not necessarily elegant, but it's understandable.
But it's not something I can take seriously, unless we allow dragging the creative forces themselves into the drama as well.
Not particularly, partially because dark comedy and the like is fundamentally trying to work on at least two different levels.
Like, take Always Sunny In Philadelphia, which I'm using because it's super convenient (i.e. having marathonned it). You have The Gang's antics frequently being nasty because they're nasty people who do nasty things, so if you like schadenfreude style humor it ticks those boxes pretty efficiently. Then you have the underlying commentary for everything they do, whether it be insulting gay people or trans folk - who uniformly look way better than them in every regard (morally or psychologically, etc) - and they just end up looking even more buffoonish. They're not mutually exclusive, and it's entirely possible to do the "easier" part of the media well, all while also making broader comments on whatever is being mocked; but in the same turn, it's pretty easy to muck it up and drag the whole composite down.
Here you might have your bodily humor, all while making societal mores looking silly at the same time, I'm guessing.
Not particularly, partially because dark comedy and the like is fundamentally trying to work on at least two different levels.
Like, take Always Sunny In Philadelphia, which I'm using because it's super convenient (i.e. having marathonned it). You have The Gang's antics frequently being nasty because they're nasty people who do nasty things, so if you like schadenfreude style humor it ticks those boxes pretty efficiently. Then you have the underlying commentary for everything they do, whether it be insulting gay people or trans folk - who uniformly look way better than them in every regard (morally or psychologically, etc) - and they just end up looking even more buffoonish. They're not mutually exclusive, and it's entirely possible to do the "easier" part of the media well, all while also making broader comments on whatever is being mocked; but in the same turn, it's pretty easy to muck it up and drag the whole composite down.
Here you might have your bodily humor, all while making societal mores looking silly at the same time, I'm guessing.
i meant seriously in-universe
the underlying commentary there seems to be another aspect of the comedy, tbh, or at least i would expect that that's how i'd feel it, though i can't say for sure since i haven't watched it
though it's also part of an out-of-universe contextual understanding
the irony is that some people complain that anime gets unfairly mixed in with cartoons despite being more mature, then they go watch anime for the same reason as cartoons, namely stupid characters engaging in comedic antics to pass the audience's time
I'm not talking about extreme styles like SuperHot. Games like Portal, Dishonored. Bioshock Infinite, Mirror's Edge are good examples of what I'm talking about. (I don't think Borderlands would fit this criteria. It just has outlines)
This paragraph is an example of incompatible objects being placed visually close together.
It could be improved by spacing them apart. For example:
I'm not talking about extreme styles like SuperHot. On the other hand, games like Portal, Dishonored. Bioshock Infinite, Mirror's Edge are good examples of what I'm talking about. (I don't think Borderlands would fit this criteria. It just has outlines)
Even better:
I'm not talking about extreme styles like SuperHot. I'm talking about games like Portal, Dishonored, Bioshock Infinite, Mirror's Edge. (I don't think Borderlands would fit this criteria. It just has outlines)
Iceland an island filled with both ice and volcanoes and it is home to vikings, which is why it needs no standing army. The only time Iceland is worth taking over is if it's on a Risk board.
An Epic about Great People: Paths through Atmosphere Stories concerning Orchestria Latticed Mineral, Ostrich Implementation FalsehooDine Some Hexer's Story Notlegendary Wiseman Combination Powerful Item G A Punctuation Conflict Levant
"But by the time you get that, it won't be the hot new thing anymore."
"Haha, if you've seen my Steam account, you'd know I'm not a gamer for hot new things. I'm part of that long tail that crawled out of the woodwork and started buying up JRPGs in recent years."
Comments
There's a "one coupon per transaction" rule. Yeah, I know.
But I could have gotten a large hash browns for a dollar.
Why didn't I?
I guess I have more lawful tendencies than I thought.
No, I'd say that the reason it feels that way is because it features various tropes of presentation/storytelling that you associate with media from Japan.
But clearly they're not inherently Japanese because people from other countries can use them too.
This is part of my dislike for stereotypes, so basically I guess I kinda trained myself to do my best to avoid them.
It's like, for example:
* there are black people, and there are things stereotypically associated with black people, but these should never be confused with being black, and should be viewed on a person by person basis -- even if some of them may be statistically more common among blacks.
* there are gay people, and there are things stereotypically associated with gay people, but these things should never be confused with being gay, and should be viewed on a person by person basis -- even if some of them may be statistically more common among gay people.
* there are women, and there are things stereotypically associated with women, but these things should never be confused with being female, and should be viewed on a person by person basis -- even if some of them may be statistically more common among women.
* there are gamers, and there are things stereotypically associated with gamers, but these things should never be confused with being a gamer, and should be viewed on a person by person basis -- even if some of them may be statistically more common among gamers.
* there are Japanese cartoons, and there are things stereotypically associated with Japanese cartoons, but these things should never be confused with being a Japanese cartoon, and should be viewed on a series by series basis -- even if some of them may be statistically more common among Japanese cartoons.
...and so on.
Yes, it's valid to notice common traits and trends. People do that all the time. But these traits and trends are NOT inherently part of being that thing itself.
So, if there's an unidentified item or entity that is shown to have some traits stereotypically associated with a certain group of things, it is NOT a proper conclusion to say that that item or entity is a member of that one group of things, and viewing that item or entity through the lens of thinking of it as a member of this group of things -- and ESPECIALLY further associating traits of that group that the item/entity doesn't specifically have -- is improper.
If I like certain things that are commonly liked by men, it should NOT result in the conclusion that I identify as a man (regardless or whether I actually do), or that I am likely to like other things that are commonly liked by men.
If a game has pixelated graphics, which are common amongst indie games these days, it should NOT result in the conclusion that the game is necessarily an indie game, nor the conclusion that it has any other traits commonly associated with indie games.
etc.
If you really want to speculate, you can say that it is "more likely than not" that the item/entity in question is part of a certain group based on a closely associated trait, but you have to retain the mental tag that this is SPECULATION, and NOT a reliable conclusion, and any further information based on this speculation is similarly or even more unreliable until proven otherwise.
i.e. if you presume, you may be wrong, and if you are wrong, put up and shut up, so to not be wrong so much, stop presuming things or only do so with caution.
THE ONLY EXCEPTION TO THIS is if the trait in question is DEFINITIONALLY INHERENT to the group.
For example, if you know that a game was made by one guy on his spare time and self-published, that is by definition an indie game. So viewing that game as an indie game is valid. That said, it's still not valid to say "it's an indie game, so it must have these other traits I associate with indie games".
This might not work very well unless the thread is also stickied. So now you have an amoeboid stickied thread with a new conversation every month but the same people talk in the same order.
Or maybe you can make subtle changes to the thread title, and then have the thread start the same, but go in different directions.
>:D
that's how i actually say the name of that website
i like that more than the "proper" way
(yes i know it's icio)
*beats a domain hack savagely with an html header*
Someone says the quote "Engilsh, mutherfucker! Do you speak it?".
Some people think that saying this line makes them cool, by making them gangsta (thug lyfe etc.) or something, I dunno. Or because they're able to say an offensive thing thanks to it being prepackaged with this line.
I don't think it's cool. I think it's an obnoxious line. If it gets referenced, it should be seen has "hey, that dork is saying it and being obnoxious", with an implication of mockery applied to the person speaking it or the person to whom it's attributed.
That's saying something, because on the side of my fridge is a large number of pieces of tape that I've recovered from various other uses.
used three
done with them
undo staple; recover remaining three
being a hero means protecting the ones you are charged with overseeing
as a consequence, you are faced with the realization that you have endangered the one you care about most
green:
being a hero means fulfilling one's dreams and aspirations
as a consequence, you lose your ability to pursue that dream
red:
being a hero means exhibiting skill and leading by ability
as a consequence, you are outclassed and subjected to the same painful choices as others
blue:
being a hero means making things happen, behind the scenes if necessary
as a consequence, you become unable to leave your responsibilities
pink:
being a hero means bring positivity to others and aiding them in times of need
as a consequence, you sacrifice yourself
great article
https://twitter.com/PatrickMurphyPA
(it's the twitter feed of the guy who's the subject of the article I mentioned above)
while listening to Japanese songs fandubbed into Spanish
But then, no one liked Fractale. Except maybe me.
I like the music. Usually.
What I don't like: much of everything other than the music.
It's worse when it's music. The audio part of music is, unless you've heard it before, the least immediately noticeable of all aspects of it, despite being the most fundamental part.
So it's like, take a song such as AKB48's "Heavy Rotation".
First thing I think of is this celebratory E major melody.
Second thing I think of is Slavek Kowalewski's orchestral arrangement of it from the 0048 soundtrack.
Third thing I think of is a joke involving the Heavy's minigun spinning up.
First thing that most people think of is probably nothing, since they don't have any idea what it is.
Once they know it's a song, they search it on Youtube, and then find pictures of scantily-clad girls in a pillowfight.
Let's just say the resulting impression is...very, very different from what I intend it to be.
Oh, and then if you dig further into AKB stuff, there's the interpersonal drama, most famously but definitely not limited to that one time one of the performers got flamed for appearing in public with a guy. And then subsequently was compelled to apologize for it.
Also the whole thing about them being basically male fantasy bait.
That shit is disgusting. But the music is pretty.
See, 0048 is good for at least one thing, which is at least partly dissociating the music from the real-life stupidity.
Of course they had to go back and base this one character's character arc on that real-life person involved in that "appear with a guy" drama. FYI she betrays the protagonists in the second season. As in, betrays them to the military enemy. Yeah.
I found it randomly on Youtube.
See, good things happen when J-pop is uploaded onto Youtube in apparent violation of copyright law.
More fans discover music.
this sounds like a perfect example of "starting with a really facepalmy premise"
it's like "hey let's set up a really artificial and contrived situation where the characters are set up to fail"
kinda like things like battle royales, or madoka magica
i could use more colorful language to describe this, but needless to say, this type of story is not my taste
where they are given 45 days to find a partner. Those who fail are
turned into an animal of their choice and released into the forest.
Masturbation is banned but sexual stimulation by the hotel maid, without
orgasm, is mandatory. The guests attend dances and watch propaganda
extolling the virtues of partnership. They can extend their stay by
hunting escapees, the Loners, with tranquilliser guns in the woods. Each
captured Loner affords an extra day to find a partner.
see this is where it really shows that you thought too much about this
Rather than some cosmic force of forcing the characters to fail. That's just getting really meta.
Incidentally that's why it's also justified to criticize the writing of MadoMagi, because they essentially went meta in the show itself.
But it's not something I can take seriously, unless we allow dragging the creative forces themselves into the drama as well.
well i guess you're right, they're not exactly opposed to each other, though the intersection is a little limited
edit: ninja'd
the underlying commentary there seems to be another aspect of the comedy, tbh, or at least i would expect that that's how i'd feel it, though i can't say for sure since i haven't watched it
though it's also part of an out-of-universe contextual understanding
Dishonored. Bioshock Infinite, Mirror's Edge are good examples of what
I'm talking about. (I don't think Borderlands would fit this criteria.
It just has outlines)
This paragraph is an example of incompatible objects being placed visually close together.
It could be improved by spacing them apart. For example:
Dishonored. Bioshock Infinite, Mirror's Edge are good examples of what
I'm talking about. (I don't think Borderlands would fit this criteria.
It just has outlines)
Even better:
Dishonored, Bioshock Infinite, Mirror's Edge. (I don't think Borderlands would fit this criteria.
It just has outlines)
You see love.
I see flies.
...well, actually, flies love things too. So yeah. Love. And flies.
yeah, that'll do a nice beating on the Sanibel Island mangrove forests
(Sanibel Island is the U-shaped thing at the bottom of the island chain there)
THE MYSTERIOUS GHOST EGG
courtesy of Stormtroper at IJBM:
Stories concerning Orchestria
Latticed Mineral, Ostrich Implementation
FalsehooDine
Some Hexer's Story
Notlegendary
Wiseman Combination
Powerful Item G
A Punctuation Conflict
Levant
"Haha, if you've seen my Steam account, you'd know I'm not a gamer for hot new things. I'm part of that long tail that crawled out of the woodwork and started buying up JRPGs in recent years."