Video | UN: oceangem

[riptidequeen]

[the local blue woman is confused by boy bands and well, she has to let the world know.]

I... Don't get the appeal of this, [Vague hand gesturing!] Boy band thing.

And I like music. So can anyone explain why this is so crazy?

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video; un: noshitsherlock

[prodigalmess]

[ Hello, have a psychologist explain this to you. ]

There are honestly a lot of factors as to why bands like these are popular, particularly with pre-teen girls. They're usually very carefully packaged with their promotion and songs to appeal to lots of different kinds of tweens. You'll notice these stereotypes appearing in a lot of bands like this: the bad boy, the shy one, the pretty one. It's to cause maximum appeal across a broad spectrum. Then the music consists of catchy tunes, the kind that get stuck in your head, so you play them or sing them over and over. I'm sure there's a science behind that, but I'm not a musician. The lyrics are exactly what a young tween wants to hear - you're beautiful just the way you are, I'll never break your heart - stuff like that. It's very non-threatening.

It all feeds into mass hysteria, which I'm happy to go into more detail about as well.

[riptidequeen]

[She listens to all of that and... One can almost hear the "woosh" of it all going over her head.]

But it just seems so... Off.

[prodigalmess]

[ Sorry he's... textbook-ish. ]

You're not wrong. This does seem to be a bit more intense than the typical fan response. It honestly has me a bit concerned.

[riptidequeen]

[She barely knows, or cares, about most human stuff. So really not his fault.]

I can see why it would. It's just these boys came kind of out of nowhere?

[prodigalmess]

I just arrived so I didn't realize that they were new. That's even more suspicious. The natives weren't aware of this band before now?

[riptidequeen]

I can't speak for the natives, but to me, it seems pretty out of nowhere?

[prodigalmess]

It's suspicious, as is the seemingly undying level of devotion some people have to them. It's almost cult-like.

A lot of people throw that word around, but I think in this case it fits a lot of the definitions of a cult.

[riptidequeen]

Cult-like?

[Guess who doesn't know what a cult is? This gal.]

[prodigalmess]

A cult, yes.

[ He guesses he should explain. ]

A cult is a group of people defined by some kind of belief or interest. The kind I'm talking about are the destructive ones, the ones that are dangerous, that expect total obedience from their members and flourish under a charismatic leader or leaders.

[riptidequeen]

... Huh.

[That KINDA sounds like how things were on Homeworld, although Lapis wouldn't call the Diamonds charismatic. More like scary and dangerous.]

I can see how this whole thing can be like that then.

[prodigalmess]

It's usually relatively harmless, at least the boy bands back in my world are. Pre-teens go crazy for the music, but it ends there. No one literally goes crazy.

[ He rubs his face. ]

Honestly, these songs are so bad.

[riptidequeen]

[Finally someone says it, Lapis sound enthusiastic when she replies.]

I know! I didn't think any music could be bad but this is just. Horrible.

[prodigalmess]

The tunes are catchy, but the lyrics are just so ridiculous. My sister used to listen to boy bands growing up and I'm almost sure it wasn't as bad as this, though she did like this one song that talked about how beautiful this girl was, even though she was shy and insecure.

I guess that's not a bad message, but it was so saccharine.

[riptidequeen]

Your sister had weird tastes then.

And a message can be good, but how it's... You know, delivered matters too?

[prodigalmess]

It was pretty typical taste for a girl her age at that time, even if the song actually had the lyric 'The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed'.

Yes, definitely. I'd recommend buying some earplugs. They've been pretty helpful lately.

[riptidequeen]

... What does that even mean?

[Malcolm, you're talking to someone who had no adolescence.]

I could just have no ears instead, it's cheaper.

[prodigalmess]

I don't know? He really likes how the girl flips her hair?

[ He wishes he hadn't had an adolescence. ]

Is it? It seems like getting new ears or having them reattached might be kind of costly.

[riptidequeen]

That sounds stupid.

[Lapis, lady of the bluntness.]

Oh um, I can shapeshift so it's not a problem.

[prodigalmess]

It is stupid.

[ He told Ainsley so and she hit him. ]

Really? What can you shapeshift into?

[riptidequeen]

Anything, I don't do it much though... Or at all.

[That's more an Amethyst thing. Just not going to mention the whole shifting to have certain things.]

[prodigalmess]

That's amazing. Why don't you do it very much?

[ He imagines it's probably pretty useful. ]

[riptidequeen]

I just don't see a reason to do it much.

[She stays blue too, so it's not that useful.]

[prodigalmess]

So you do it more out of necessity, not because you want to or because you think it's fun?

[riptidequeen]

For me, yeah basically. Other Gems might do it for fun or a want to do it though.

[prodigalmess]

Other Gems?