September 2, 2023 Bastardization (And More!)
HEYYYY. HIIII! IS MY THING JUST WRITING HERE ONCE A MONTH NOW?? NOT SURE, BUT. THIS ENTRY'S GONNA BE MOSTLY NEGATIVE JUST AN FYI. I'D APOLOGIZE FOR BEING A BITCH AGAIN BUT HONESTLY I'VE HAD A PRETTY ASS WEEK SO I THINK I DESERVE TO BE A LITTLE BIT ANNOYING AND MEAN.
AS THE TITLE IMPLIES, I WANNA WRITE ABOUT BASTARDIZATION. BUUUUT, THAT TITLE IS ACTUALLY KINDA MISLEADING CUZ IT'S NOT ALL I WANNA TALK ABOUT. THIS BLOGPOST IS JUST GONNA BE A HUGE RAMBLY RANT ABOUT NOT ONLY THAT BUT ADJACENT/SIMILAR SUBJECTS LIKE MISCHARACTERIZATION AND THE SORT. PREPARE FOR SUPER OMEGA CRINGE WHEN WE ARRIVE AT THAT POINT BECAUSE I WILL BE TALKING ABOUT ONE OF MY PARTNERS, CHIP REVVINGTON.
FIRST OF ALL, THE BREAKING POINT THAT LEAD ME TO WRITING THIS POST: THE SELF INSERT WEBRING. ONE OF THE BIGGEST WEBRINGS ON NEOCITIES, UP THERE WITH HOTLINE, MELONLAND AND (MAYBE) NULL. NOT INCLUDING THE NOT-SO-TRAGIC DOWNFALL OF THE YESTERWEB, MOST OF WHICH MANAGED TO HAPPEN RIGHT BEFORE I GOT MY DUCKS IN A ROW AND HOPPED ON NEOCITIES IN THE FIRST PLACE. AS THE NAME SUGGESTS, S/I WEBRING IS ALL ABOUT SELF INSERT AND SELF SHIP CULTURE. SUPER CUTE IDEA FOR A WEBRING, ALSO THE SECOND ONE I EVER JOINED. ALAS... I STARTED TO NOTICE SOMETHING. HOLY SHIT IT'S UNMODERATED. AND OBVIOUSLY SO
NOT TO BE HOONIS THE HATER OF FUN AS I'VE BEEN DEEMED BEFORE BUT SINCE THE WEBRING DOESN'T RELY ON A STANDARD 'EMAIL ME AN APPLICATION AND I'LL GET BACK TO YOU' KIND OF ACCEPTION METHOD AND *INSTEAD* JUST ALLOWS USERS TO MAKE AN 'ACCOUNT' ON THE WEBSITE TO JOIN RESULTS IN PROBABLY EXACTLY WHAT YOU'RE THINKING: MEMBERS MISUSING THE WEBRING. MISJOINING? JOINING FOR THE WRONG REASONS. WHATEVER. WHAT WAS SUPPOSED TO ORIGINALLY BE A RING FOR SELFSHIPPERS (I'D ARGUE FICTO-SPECS AND WAIFUISTS TOO) HAS NOW BEEN WATERED DOWN TO MORE OF A... 'I LIKE THIS CHARACTER!' WEBRING, IN THE BEST CASE SCENARIO. WORSE CASE SCENARIO, HOWEVER... STUFF LIKE SHITTY JOKES, REGULAR ASS CANON X CANON SHIPPING AND EVEN REAL, BREATHING PEOPLE ARE UP AND HAVE STAYED UP ON THIS WEBRING FOR SOME REASON.
AND, DUDE, I TOTALLY UNDERSTAND THE REASONING (WHATEVER IT IS) FOR SWITCHING OVER TO A SELF SUSTAINABLE WEBRING. I COULD NOT IMAGINE THE AMOUNT OF EMAILS KOINUKO WAS GETTING LIKE EVERY WEEK. BUT, FUCK, I DON'T UNDERSTAND THE COMPLETE LACK OF MODERATION HERE. ONCE AGAIN I CAN GET BEHIND NEWER USERS PULLING STUFF LIKE THIS BUT THAT RANBOO GUY HAS BEEN HERE FOR *3* MONTHS. WITH INFO AS BLATANT AS THAT. AND AS A PARTIALLY FICTOSEXUAL BEING IT MAKES ME MAD!!! BECAUSE IT DOESN'T FEEL LIKE A SPACE FOR US ANYMORE. IT FEELS LIKE A GLORIFIED 'IM BFFS WITH MY FAVORITE CHARACTER!' AT BEST AND A 'I'M MOCKING YOU FREAKS' AT WORST. I.E. BASTARDIZATION. I DONT KNOW. SIGH.
MOVING ON, AN OPINION I'VE HELD FOR A LOOONG WHILE THAT... SEEMS TO BE KIND OF UNPOPULAR, ACTUALLY. I DON'T LIKE SCENECORE. IN ACTUALITY: I FUCKING HATE SCENECORE. AND IF YOU HAPPEN TO BE UNEDUCATED (A LOT OF FOLKS SEEM TO BE) YOU'RE LIKE "HOONIS WHY DO YOU HATE IT?? IT'S JUST A SUBCULTURE, RIGHT??" NO!!!!!! TRIPLE DOG DEATH BARRAGE, YOU'RE DEAD!!!!!!!! LIKE EVERY SHITTY 'CORE' 'AESTHETIC' OR WHATEVER THAT EXISTS, IT'S DERIVED FROM SOMETHING. THAT SOMETHING IN THIS CASE IS SCENE, AN ALTERNATIVE SUBCULTURE WHICH WAS MOST NOTABLE IN THE EARLY 2000S/2010S. 'SCENECORE' IS THE SHITTY, WATERED-DOWN, TIKTOKIFICATION OF SCENE. READ: NOT FUCKING SCENE!!!!
LIKE EVERY ALTERNATIVE SUBCULTURE EVER, SCENE IS CENTERED MOSTLY AROUND MUSIC, SPECIFICALLY RAVE, EDM AND OTHER SIMILAR GENRES. S3RL, KREAYSHAWN, 3OH!3, DISKOWARP, THE TECHNO KITTEN ADVENTURE SOUNDTRACK, KESHA'S OLD MUSIC, COBRA FUCKING STARSHIP I COULD KEEP GOING. THERE'S ALSO OTHER BANDS THAT I'M NOT MENTIONING THAT WERE LIKE GIIIAAANNNTS IN THE SCENE COMMUNITY BUT, IRONICALLY, WERE ALSO OUTED AS GIANT... FUCKING FREAKS. BOTDF WOAH WHO SAID THAT. ANYWAYS, SINCE SCENECORE WAS ORIGINALLY JUST FOCUSED ON THE STYLE THAT WAS *ALSO* ASSOCIATED WITH SCENE (MASSIVE FRINGES, RACCOON TAILS, BRIGHTLY COLORED STUDDED BELTS, KANDI [ACTUALLY A RAVE CULTURE THING THAT WAS ADOPTED], ETC), SCENECORE IS ENTIRELY SEPERATED FROM THAT GENRE OF MUSIC. AND THUS LEFT ROOM FOR A NEW MUSIC ASSOCIATION TO FORM, LEAVING 'SCENECORE' MUSIC TO BECOME SHIT LIKE REBZYYX AND ODETARI WHICH IS THE HYPEREST HYPERPOP TIKTOK CAN HANDLE BEFORE THEY START GETTING SCARED.
SO NOW WE HAVE THESE TWO DISTINCT SUBCULTURES, ONE OF WHICH IS BASICALLY JUST A SHITTY ATTEMPT AT MODERNIZATION. AND THEN COMES THAT CONFUSION. SCENE DOES NOT EQUAL SCENECORE. AND I HATE THAT ASSOCIATION EVEN EXISTS. BECAUSE I'VE SEEN FOLKS WHO ARE JUST SCENE CALLING THEMSELVES SCENECORE AND I DIE INSIDE. AND OBVIOUSLY I CAN'T FORCE ANYBODY TO CHANGE THEIR OPINION BUT I ALSO DO NOT CARE I WILL BE A BITCH ABOUT THIS. AND I ACKNOWLEDGE THAT I WAS NOT THERE FOR THE ORIGINAL RISE OF SCENE. I WAS PARTICIPATING IN SOME ASPECTS OF SCENE CULTURE AND LISTENING TO SOME OF THE MUSIC BUT I WASN'T APART OF THE COMMUNITY AND COULDN'T DRESS THE PART BECAUSE I WAS LIKE 8. BUT I AM STILL A SCENE KID TO THIS DAY. AND I DON'T REMEMBER HAVING A SCENECORE PHASE (THANK GOD FOR THAT). SO YKNOW WHAT, IF THIS WHOLE SPIEL BRINGS SOMEONE TO REALIZE THAT THEY'RE SCENE AND NOT SCENE-CORE, THAT'S A WIN IN MY BOOK. BRINGS ME TO ANOTHER TANGENT THAT, WHILE I LOVE THAT THERES A RESURGENCE HAPPENING, IT'S SO FUCKING CRITICAL THAT WE DON'T LET THE ASS PARTS OF SCENE COME BACK. I'M NOT REFERRING TO LIKE. JUST BEING MEAN. BECAUSE I'M ABSOLUTELY A MEAN BITCH. I'M REFERRING TO THE RACISM AND THE ROMANTICIZATION OF BAD RELATIONSHIP DYNAMICS AND THE FATPHOBIA AND ALL THAT SHIT. LET THAT DIE. PEACE, LOVE, UNITY, RESPECT AND RESPONSIBILITY IS LIKE, OUR MEMO, REMEMBER???
ANYWAYS. I'M LIKE KIND OF EXHAUSTED AFTER BOTH OF THOSE TYRADES SO THIS'LL BE SHORTER (I'LL ALSO PROBABLY GO MORE IN DEPTH IN MY DIARY AT SOME POINT) BUT FUCK. CORP CLASH HAS BEEN ONE OF THE BEST FANDOMS I'VE BEEN IN BY FAAAAR BUT I WILL BEAT UP THE NEXT USER I SEE MISCHARACTERIZING MY GIRLFRIEND. HE IS A MEAN, RUDE, GRUMPY OLD MAN WHO'S LIKE IF THE ONCELER WAS NEVER VISITED BY THE CONSEQUENCES OF HIS ACTIONS. ONLY GUY HE LIKED AT COGS WAS SPRUCE (RIGHTFULLY SO. BUNDLE OF JOY) AND IT'S HARD TO ARGUE THAT HE COULD EVEN STAND ANYBODY ELSE. ESPECIALLY... SOMEBODY! FANDOM HAS A HABIT OF SEEING TWO CHARACTERS WITH ONE (QUESTIONABLE) THING IN COMMON AND THROWING THEM TOGETHER DESPITE THE FACT THEY ARE PROBABLY FUNDAMENTALLY INCOMPATIBLE. I ALSO HAPPEN TO DISLIKE IT WHEN THE MOST POPULAR SHIP IN A FANDOM IS HETEROSEXUAL, AT LEAST CANON-WISE. I'D REALLY ENJOY IT IF WE COULD START GETTING CREATIVE. I DON'T NEED TO SAY ANYTHING ELSE
HI, I'M HOONIS, I'M A HUGE ASSHOLE. LIVING UP TO MY HOMESTUCK SOURCE OR WHATEVER. RANDOM POSITIVE THING I JUST REMEMBERED: IT'S SEPTEMBER. WE'RE ONE MONTH FROM OCTOBER. AKA THE BEST FUCKING MONTH TO EXIST IN THE HISTORY OF EVER. AS AN AVID HORROR FAN, IT SHOULDN'T BE SURPRISING THAT I FUCKING LOVE HALLOWEEN. AND RIGHT AFTER THAT IS THE HOLIDAY SEASON, WHICH I ALSO HAPPEN TO LIKE A LOT. THERE'S SOMETHING THAT SWITCHES INSIDE OF ME WHEN NOVEMBER COMES AROUND. AND MY CHRISTMAS-RELATED YEARNING BEGINS. I WOULD LIKE TO SIT WITH MY GIRLFRIENDS ON THE COUCH, CUDDLING UP WITH CUPS OF HOT CHOCOLATE WHILE WE WATCH THAT HORRIBLE KRAMPUS MOVIE, ACTUALLY.
THAT'S ALL FOR NOW !
HOONIS ~