Basil's recent activity
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Comment on Slop and guilt in ~talk
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Comment on Slop and guilt in ~talk
Basil Link ParentI think slop was used to describe some content before AI was around too. I feel like for example for things like the weird spiderman-elsa "kids" videos and things at the very least. Ok, I am...I think slop was used to describe some content before AI was around too. I feel like for example for things like the weird spiderman-elsa "kids" videos and things at the very least. Ok, I am actually not very sure if the word was used like that and from a very very brief search I didn't figure it out. But it is definitely a very very negatively perceived word nowadays, maybe it's even unfair to describe Mr Beast with it, though I really don't hold a very high opinion of those videos.
Yeah I am pretty sure other magical girl shows, and probably shonen and other genres too which I also never really watched before use similar techniques to be able to pump out so many episodes. I agree with you there's inherently nothing wrong with using canned parts like that over and over, though I do feel like it's a pretty clear sign of favouring quantity over quality. Which I myself never really was a fan of. But I do have to say there's a place for things like that to exist, and that trying to make a lot of something by itself doesn't mean that it's evil stuff that will make people stupid. At least from what I've seen of Precure I feel like it'd be likelier to make people kinder.
Thank you! I am definitely going to continue to watch even though I have some complex feelings about it :D.
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Slop and guilt
1 A few days ago I started watching "Hirogaru Sky! Precure", after seeing someone post a clip from it and being like "its funny how when they say the word white they instead say hwhite". I looked...
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A few days ago I started watching "Hirogaru Sky! Precure", after seeing someone post a clip from it and being like "its funny how when they say the word white they instead say hwhite". I looked at the clip and was like yeah they do say "hwhite", after which I thought, "hey isn't this the magical girl anime where they have a magical boy?" I got curious, and after confirming that with some random wiki I found, I went and decided to watch a bit of it.
I pretty quickly learned how the show works, it's extremely formulaic. Each episode is 24 minutes long, but out of those 24 minutes probably at least maybe like 6 minutes, or one quarter, is spent on fully copy pasted scenes which are basically fully the same between episodes. The obvious ones are the intro and outro (which is pretty normal for anime), but there are also minutes long transformation sequences where the heroes transform from ordinary people into magical girl heroes by doing a dance while saying some random fancy words while a lot of flashy effects happen in the background. Each* episode also has a monster, that even has the same name every time even though its a different monster every time. Oh also the villain creating the monster has a copy pasted effect. And each of the main heroes has a spell that has a copy pasted effect when they use their special "move".
None of this is actually very important, I am just trying to say that the creators might be trying to go more for quantity over quality. Which is probably pretty obvious also because they are making literally one episode each week? And I do mean each week, I am looking this up right now and apparently the show has been running from 2004 and there have been 1067 episodes during that time, which according to my vibes based calculations means they missed maybe like 3 weeks on average each year. It might also be obvious from the fact that it's target demographics is basically preschool children.
Anyways what I am trying to say that this is slop right? Its kinda mindless, its the same over and over. Oh, but that first day I did watch 9 episodes of it in a row. From a big part it was because I really wanted to see the magical boy show up. But I also can't deny that I enjoy it. I continued watching it the next day, even after I saw the magical boy show up, after all. I think I saw like 15 episodes now (so no spoilers please, haha), and I want to see more. I've been feeling kind of down, hopeless, and without motivation for quite a long time, and the sort of naive positivity in the show at least sort of makes me a bit optimistic, at least very temporarily. And it also makes me almost (or not almost) cry.
At the same time I feel very guilty of liking it. And I've been thinking really hard about why.
The fact that it's kinda dumb is definitely a part of it, but it can't really bother me that much considering how many hours of my life I have wasted playing videogames mindlessly, or watching/listening to Youtube videos which might be even dumber, as an example I probably watched more than 1000 episodes of Northernlion playing the Binding of Isaac. It's kinda just inevitable that people waste a lot of their time, and there's nothing wrong with that really right. Well, when I was trying to fall asleep but instead kept on pondering my thoughts about this I did decide to go talk with my room-mate, which resulted in us talking about this topic, and life in general until like 2 am, I am really thankful that he's the kind of person who I can do that with. Our discussion didn't really come up with a concrete conclusion, we just kinda were like, "yeah life kinda sucks but it's better to not dwell on that, and oh yeah you probably actually kind of need to consume some lower quality media for the higher quality more thinky media to actually hit more" and then I went to sleep.
The second and I think bigger part is that it's literally made for like 8 year old girls. Uhhh, and there's kind of no way around that I think? Like that just feels embarrassing to watch for me. For context, I am kinda basically a guy even tho I am also probably more feminine than most (maybe it'd be fairer to myself to say that I am nonbinary, but you know, if you are nonbinary in a forest where no one can see you are you really nonbinary? yes? yes. but also I am just perceived as just a guy by most people so lets keep it simple.), it still feels basically illegal to like something like this as an adult guy. When I examine this more I do think it definitely shouldn't feel like that. If someone tells me they like Pokemon I don't really find it weird at all, even though it's theoretically made for preschool boys. Or maybe more similar is what I am guessing is My Little Pony, which I never watched, but which a lot of guys on the internet liked pretty visibly. I even met someone who I really respected who told me that he liked the show. And I did feel a bit iffy about that, but also when actually thinking at least somewhat critically I saw no problem with. I guess the same is for Precure. If I think about it, I just feel it's sort of weird, but also just kinda fine. I thought about how cool it'd be to make a cosplay of Cure Wing (the magical boy in the show), I've been getting into sewing, and I do think it might not be that difficult to make. And then I think how I could like be silly and try do some of those dances from the show in that cosplay. But then I immediately think how it's too much. And how embarrassing is that I am even thinking about that. I just don't really know.
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Just a few hours before writing this post I saw a video by Jeffiot called Peak Art, Peak Slop. I'd recommend watching it, it's sort of related to what I wrote about here, but not really. Very, very, oversimplified it tries to somehow explain why something like Twin Peaks might be better than a Mr Beast video. It basically says that all the edges of Mr Beast videos are perfectly sanded off to make it as easy to digest as possible, which they succeed at very well, but it to really enjoy given closer examination, and so when you watch one you don't even really remember what you watched. While something like Twin Peaks breaks a lot of conventions that make things easy to watch, but which also makes it quite memorable. I do take some slight issue with that -- for example, because I can kind of think of what happens in some Mr Beast videos, for example I think in one he recreates Squid Game, though thinking about it I am not really sure if I even actually saw that video. And for example because I did watch all of Twin Peaks, but also can't really remember all that much that happens in it, though again when in the video Jeffiot mentions some of the things I did think to myself yeah I sort of remember that.
I am definitely taking this a bit too literally and sort of just wanted to try be a bit funny here. In reality I think it's just true that something like Twin Peaks makes you think more, and even though it's made in a way that isn't the easiest to watch, thinking about it is really interesting and makes it memorable. There definitely are parts I can think of immediately since they were so so so memorable -- for example episode 8 of season 3 -- even if I don't fully remember the specifics.
Which finally gets me to my point. Precure made me think a lot too. And I sort of remember what's happening in it, and even if I forget the specifics, I don't really think I am ever completely forgetting that I watched it. So I think after all this it might not really be slop, even though it definitely is a bit low quality, and a bit stupid, and made in a way to be easy to watch. It's sort of in a weird way where the context of me not really being the target audience (I think? like maybe I am being unfair here considering they did decide to have a magical boy after making the 900 episodes or whatever before it so maybe they wanted to expand the audience? I have no idea honestly) makes it be more interesting then it otherwise might be? I think? Like while it's definitely made to be easy to watch I did also describe why watching it makes me feel pretty guilty, so that kind of makes it not that easy to watch, right? Or maybe I am just making stuff up to make myself feel better about watching it.
Ok, this is besides the point but I do want to defend Precure (or at least the 15 episodes I watched, I guess I can't vouch for the 1050 others or however many there are) a bit more. I do still think it's better than something like Mr Beast, since it at least has a genuinely positive message and tries to make people be kind and think about what other people feel, which has to be worth at least something right? Meanwhile Mr Beast instead does basically the most parasocial things imaginable, I guess on the very surface he's giving out money, but like he's using the money that to bribe people to embarrass themselves, or even sometimes harm themselves. So I am trying to say that while both are probably slop, some slop is still better than other slop. Shrug.
I am not really sure which group to put this in? Maybe this should be somewhere else instead? Probably ~anime? Or ~tv? ~life? ~lgbt? Feel free to move this elsewhere, I don't really know.
29 votes -
Comment on Crossdressing Garbage in ~creative
Basil LinkAnother 2 more pages (page 18). Got the itch to make more this evening!Another 2 more pages (page 18). Got the itch to make more this evening!
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Comment on Crossdressing Garbage in ~creative
Basil LinkI put up 2 new pages (page 16 is here). I was working on other pages that I wanted to post after page 16 before. I had page 16 done for a really long time, but I didn't really feel like fully...I put up 2 new pages (page 16 is here).
I was working on other pages that I wanted to post after page 16 before. I had page 16 done for a really long time, but I didn't really feel like fully finishing a few others I had started. But about 2 days ago I finally got motivated to do something, and I really wanted to draw something that happened to me more recently instead of what I started before. So things are going to be a bit chronologically jumbled, ok maybe more than a bit, which still doesn't really matter at all, but it annoys me a tiny bit :D. Whatever though!
And also, if possible I want to put up the next pages a bit sooner next time!
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Comment on Crossdressing Garbage in ~creative
Basil LinkI put up 3 new pages! (first newly added page, page13 is here) (about page14, The Perfect Child by Spiral Staircase is an amazing album, if you like slow, noisey, post-rocky music I'd highly...I put up 3 new pages! (first newly added page, page13 is here) (about page14, The Perfect Child by Spiral Staircase is an amazing album, if you like slow, noisey, post-rocky music I'd highly recommend it.)
Thanks everyone for reading and for all your kind comments!
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Comment on Crossdressing Garbage in ~creative
Basil LinkA comic where I vent about me discovering that I like to wear women's clothes and how that isn't very easy or normal as a man (?). I started making it almost a year ago now, but I got motivated to...- Exemplary
A comic where I vent about me discovering that I like to wear women's clothes and how that isn't very easy or normal as a man (?). I started making it almost a year ago now, but I got motivated to work on it more and to post it online thanks to ~creative.timasomo (check out all the other cool things people made for Timasomo here).
A few people told me it's ok if I make a separate thread for it where I can post when I make new updates, so here it is now.
Also with 3 more pages currently up now and some small improvements to the website. First new page -- page10 is here.
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Crossdressing Garbage
58 votes -
Comment on Timasomo 2025: The Showcase in ~creative.timasomo
Basil Link ParentThank you for the kind words, I really appreciate it! (same for faye_luna, em-dash and Paul26, and anyone else who read it, thank you!) I wonder, do you think it'd be ok if I made a thread for...Thank you for the kind words, I really appreciate it! (same for faye_luna, em-dash and Paul26, and anyone else who read it, thank you!)
I wonder, do you think it'd be ok if I made a thread for this in ~creative and post there when I post new pages in the future?
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Comment on Timasomo 2025: The Showcase in ~creative.timasomo
Basil Linkhttps://crossdressing-garbage.neocities.org/ it's a comic (if it can be called that) about me discovering that I like to wear women's clothes and how that isn't very easy or normal as a man(?). I...- Exemplary
https://crossdressing-garbage.neocities.org/
it's a comic (if it can be called that) about me discovering that I like to wear women's clothes and how that isn't very easy or normal as a man(?). I am not really an artist or writer, so it's ugly and probably hard to read (not just because I can't write, but also because I can't write -- my hand writing sucks, I am sorry, hope it is still readable). It's definitely the cringiest thing I ever put on the internet.
If there will be any interest I'll post more "pages" over time, I have about 8 more in various stages of unfinished-ness
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Comment on Timasomo 2025: Week 3 Updates in ~creative.timasomo
Basil LinkI didn't post about it yet, but I've been working on a Timasomo project. It's a comic that I started making earlier this year mostly as a way to vent. I am not a very good artist, or storyteller...I didn't post about it yet, but I've been working on a Timasomo project. It's a comic that I started making earlier this year mostly as a way to vent. I am not a very good artist, or storyteller (well it doesn't really have a story, it's kinda just about my experiences, but still it takes a lot of skills to present things in an interesting way) so it's kind of all over the place.
Last week I set up a simple website on Neocities where I'll be putting the comic -- not sure if there's a better place to host a thing like this? I think I'll probably start posting the "pages" of the comic there at the end of the month, maybe one each day until I run out, which is gonna happen pretty fast since I have only around 10ish, well I have a bit more but I am probably going to scrap a few of them. Other than that I've just been drawing. I draw using an extremely simple and lazy style but it's still really slow. Main problem isn't that it's slow though, it's that I just don't spend enough hours on it to make too much :D.
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Comment on What ridiculous thing would you spend billions on? in ~talk
Basil LinkI'd fund the top scientists to make catboys (and catgirls) real!I'd fund the top scientists to make catboys (and catgirls) real!
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Comment on Is the concept of debate completely useless? in ~talk
Basil Link ParentI agree. The question is though, how do you actually do that? If someone for example says something that I think is false, and I can show some data that proves that it is false, how do I go about...If you genuinely want to convince someone of something, perhaps don't treat interactions with them as debates, but just as conversations instead. Treat it as an opportunity to understand their perspective better, and for them to understand yours so you both walk away enriched with something valuable to reflect on.
I agree.
The question is though, how do you actually do that? If someone for example says something that I think is false, and I can show some data that proves that it is false, how do I go about showing that without it turning into a debate?
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Is the concept of debate completely useless?
I feel like basically every time I debate any kind of topic (doesn't even have to be controversial, like politics, but of course there it's more common) with people where the participants don't...
I feel like basically every time I debate any kind of topic (doesn't even have to be controversial, like politics, but of course there it's more common) with people where the participants don't all agree never actually leads to any conclusion where one of the participants would actually change their mind. No matter how the debate goes. No matter whether there is some irrefutable evidence that disproves what one of the participants believes, or if their position is illogical, or basically anything. I feel like people just become entrenched in defending their side, usually the debate starts going in circles, until someone just walks away from the debate or the topic gets changed.
I don't really like this, it just feels like wasted time... I'd rather if when people actually discuss topics that they'd come to reasonable conclusions that make more sense, make the world better, are better supported by evidence etc. I guess it can be considered to be fun, though I don't really feel it is very fun and instead it just frustrates me. But I guess "debate" is often being done basically fully as entertainment, just look at how big channels like Jubilee are getting on Youtube for example, though I kind of hate it.
Is there a better way to steer "debates" into something more productive that can actually change peoples minds?
31 votes -
Choosing a sewing machine
I've been slowly getting into sewing, mainly with the goal of making cosplay, but for now mostly repairing and altering clothing by hand sewing. Since I've stuck with it for some time now I am...
I've been slowly getting into sewing, mainly with the goal of making cosplay, but for now mostly repairing and altering clothing by hand sewing. Since I've stuck with it for some time now I am thinking of getting a sewing machine, since hand sewing larger things is a bit of a pain.
So now I am looking at some sewing machines and I have a few questions: Is buying a cheaper machine a waste of money? I've read some older topics here on Tildes and saw that Singer machines have a terrible reputation, so I probably should avoid those? What kind of features should a machine definitely have? For example I am looking at something like the Janome Juno J15, is this still basically a toy or would it be enough for most things?
16 votes -
Comment on Would you like to be a part of my music/sound art project? in ~creative
Basil LinkI like the music you shared and I think this is a really cool idea! Sent you a message with some random stuff that was currently running through my headI like the music you shared and I think this is a really cool idea!
Sent you a message with some random stuff that was currently running through my head
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Comment on What have you been putting off/procrastinating about doing? in ~life
Basil Link ParentDay after posting this, I got probably the closest to actually doing it, I even started getting ready the paperwork for it. But then I just couldn't stop thinking about random transphobic garbage...Day after posting this, I got probably the closest to actually doing it, I even started getting ready the paperwork for it. But then I just couldn't stop thinking about random transphobic garbage some of my coworkers say and I once again decided to put it off. I wish I just didn't care and was me. I hate that I keep suppressing myself.
I need to get another job... Between jobs would be so much of a better time to do it. Though as I said there probably never will be a perfect time to do it. And I hate the idea that those people will be making fun of me even when I do get another job when they find out.
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Comment on Climbing the Skyfrost Nail (a piece about jury service, essay collections, and Genshin Impact) in ~games
Basil (edited )LinkThat was some amazing writing, thank you for sharing! I've been playing Genshin on and off since it's release and there is certainly something interesting about being able to repeatable come back...That was some amazing writing, thank you for sharing!
I've been playing Genshin on and off since it's release and there is certainly something interesting about being able to repeatable come back to a game that just always keeps evolving and expanding. I also have to say the story is quite... mediocre as you said, but it does get pretty good at some points, which always surprises me -- I am always like "wait isn't the story of this game usually just slop and thinly veiled fanservice?"
Also this is a bit embarrassing, but the character Venti being so glorious is what got me to first try cosplaying, and ultimately made me realise I like to be quite gender non-conforming.
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Comment on What have you been putting off/procrastinating about doing? in ~life
Basil Link ParentI feel you on the doctors. I somehow similarly built up a block around going to doctors basically since covid too, but I at least finally managed to go to the optometrist a few months ago (and...I feel you on the doctors. I somehow similarly built up a block around going to doctors basically since covid too, but I at least finally managed to go to the optometrist a few months ago (and found out that I needed a very different prescription compared to the one I had, so I saw super bad for years) and I also went to a dental hygienist. I was expecting both to kinda curse me out for how long I've been putting things off but in the end both were without problems. You can do it! And once you do do it you will feel much better that it's not weighing on your mind constantly.
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Comment on What have you been putting off/procrastinating about doing? in ~life
Basil LinkChanging my name. I want to do it for 4 years but despite being pretty much fully convinced that I want to do it I still didn't do it. I am mostly afraid of the social fallout. The paperwork will...Changing my name. I want to do it for 4 years but despite being pretty much fully convinced that I want to do it I still didn't do it.
I am mostly afraid of the social fallout. The paperwork will be annoying but I am now prepared for it. But I am just not looking forward to people being assholes about it so I keep putting it off. I am even ok if people will just ignore that it happened and will keep using my old name at places like my work. But I know that it will somehow spread at my work as gossip and it will result in people making fun of me, and also probably spreading some extra rumours about me, extrapolating, because who would just change their name for no reason.
I really do just need to force myself to do it though, there's never going to be a perfect time for me to do it and if I don't do it I'll just keep thinking about it and I'll keep being disappointed in myself that I am so scared of doing it just because of what other people might think. But it's hard for me to not give a shit.
I really liked reading your story, thanks for sharing it! Sadly the image you shared doesn't load for some reason.
Yeah there really is value just in that consistency. I myself haven't ever watched any "actual" show for that long but as I mentioned I definitely watched thousands of youtube let's play videos, and it really is comforting to be able to watch something like that at a regular, and I probably wouldn't call them slop even though they are much lower effort than a whole ass anime. So looking at it like that, that word is probably pretty unfair to use for Precure.
As for it being so gendered, I think it's extremely cool that you are able to like it so unashamedly and it's a real inspiration. I'd think it'd be easier for me at this point since I already do so many other things that'd be considered really embarrassing for some more close minded people as I also already enjoy cosplay, and I do wear women's clothes quite often when outside of work. So I don't really know why I need to give it so much thought even though I already do other things that aren't considered "masculine".
Since I have the chance to talk to someone who watched all of it, if I were to watch a different season (or a movie) at some point after finishing Hirogaru Sky, what would you recommend?