Honestly this is why, when I recently got into comics, I sprung for DC first. The $10 pocket comics (I think they’re called) reprints are a godsend.

It’s not that I don’t want to get all the comics, I do, and I want to support the artists and their work as much as possible, but it’s hard to afford

As someone from the rural US, I’ve been bemoaning this a lot recently. People truly are pickling their brains within their homes and not engaging with culture outside of conspiracies and groceries.

Rural society has turned into a ghost town, and it’s not like there was a lot to do to begin with.

Ya know I’m so used to you finding stuff to compliment even in things you dislike that to see you call something all out trash is oddly…refreshing?

Don’t get me wrong, I genuinely appreciate your nuance, but that just gives an extra oomph to the contrast when you find nothing redeeming lol

Practically anything by Thank You Scientist but I keep returning to this:

youtu.be/CFJsWP2prEs?...

Good idea, will look into. Thanks!

Maybe an odd question, but as someone who likes the idea of a pocket journal but struggles to fill one throughout a hectic work day, what do you note in yours? Observations? Reflections? Drafts? Grocery lists? Some combination?

I know this isn’t really the point but I was confused when Soda Pop was getting hype after watching the movie because it read to me as intentionally generic, catchy-but-empty fare with an intent to contrast that against huntrix’s music, and perhaps this makes that make more sense? Not that it’s good

My question is how much is a misreading and how much is intentional?

I feel like it’s often both. Whether it be Apocalypse Now, Fight Club, or Warhammer, there’s always that little part of these guys brains that tries to justify it. They know it isn’t good, but they want it to be good for them

As someone who was younger alongside the rise of your angry video game nerds and other such forms or media critique, I can say this definitely took some unlearning and I’m still not quite there. It’s actually something of a personal frustration that this mentality was solidified so early

But I always find it strange when people’s engagement plummets in relation to some company’s algorithmic change. Because that means most of the engagement is wholly dependent on people who only engage via algorithmic feeds.

Who are these people?

I’m sure I’m the weird one here but it’s confusing

I never had tiktok, I deleted Facebook over 10 years ago and I don’t ever look at the discover tab on this site, etc etc.

Obviously to some extent you can’t escape it. Google is run by algorithmic searches, music apps will try to give you algorithmic playlists and such…

Is the photo and the video from the same time? Or do we know?

Tom Clancy’s Brutal Cunning

(Sorry it just works too well)

What I’m saying is nothing builds coalitions like beer and dogs

But at the same time, having so much invested in the one stop shop leaves the audience at the whims of whoever owns said publication. Which is, of course, a whole other issue.

There’s still the problem of points of access. Some people write on one platform, others on another. Some are on YouTube, some on Twitch. Some podcast. Some keep their stuff in Patreon, etc.

Sure to a degree this is a 1st world problem, but I think we lost something when we lost that one stop shop

So what am I left with? I can support independent publishing to the degree I’m able, and I do, but my money is limited. That support can only stretch so far. I might be able to engage with an indie media critique group but not news or literature, or vice versa. And even if I could support more…