the glow part 2 / how to not be tony domenico (and be the other guy instead)

 the glow pt.2

in which the world washes over the body in a way that resembles total vulnerability. the statements i have to make on the relationship of nakedness and albums through this family tree are very likely not suitable for publication whilst at this age ... so ... maybe another time .... but i have a lot to say about the glow pt.2 and [mainly] stars of ice !!! should the sands of time soon permit me to do so ..

 how to not be tony domenico (and be the other guy instead)

good ~ bye monetization

i do not think many things on this page are to be as large as this entry. as opposed to the words i have for stars of ice + tgp2 , i can share these freely , so i am to share them freely. the opening thought here is that the dearrow-ed title of the video in question shifts its initial sensationalist "Disturbing Footage on a Minecraft Kids Channel" to "My story about a fictional minecraft youtuber utilizing sonic characters (part 1)" which makes it sound so much lamer but, like, i can't say dearrow didn't adequately do its job here! it really is as lame as it sounds! the only factor that didn't immediately turn me off from this like wifies' "searching for a world that doesn't exist" did was the stake i already held in this particular take on a story .. that being my previous algorithmic run-in with a channel called "JoshyLilyTV" in , like , 2024, i wanna say, [wrong! it was 2023!] that gave me the creeps given its complete and utter lack of care put into its upkeep, unavoidable loneliness, and relative scarcity of audience compared to other kids channels like it, basically forcing you to put yourself into the shoes of a [presumed] couple or brother and sister or whatever doing this fucked-up pantomime for nobody's enjoyment, only left to wonder what the actual fuck got them to this point ...

i did not get "DFoaMKC" recommended . it was my panopticon that spoke. elevator pitch: scp-1471 looking ass infects a dude's head, gives him a gambling addiction, kills a guy ... not exactly the most fulfilling prospect i was given! i saw past the description for its depiction of an algorithmic slave like the aforementioned Joshy, and could only find my own sense of catharsis actually getting to see a guy like him finally flip his shit because god knows he deserves it ... it's the alternative now that speaks through every throughline of this body of work, not the now that is now... the alternative now that meme pages and relatable posters and vagueposters and youtubers share amongst themselves ... a now that is tainted by the intervention of a third party, the social network, that directly benefits from keeping its userbase away from ataraxia ... the alternative now that turns every day intwo an act of pantomime upon the whims of the ever-evolving cycle of people in your narrow slice of the english web. i'd like to imagine that i got that catharsis in spades , but you see the issue here, right? "DFoaMKC" itself participates in that pantomime directed by the alternative now! like, of course, it is a fictional story -- but everything here with regards to its presentation is playing the pantomime itself, and not using that pantomime to satirize the pantomime is such a wasted fucking opportunity ... but given that this work is, itself, playing in the pantomime and uses its role to make a living, it has no reason to realize that the pantomime itself is what is driving the actor to insanity! instead, it just gawks at a presumably schizophrenic guy who's haunted by scp-1471, has a gambling addiction, and kills his friend near the end just so that you know that he is The Big Bad, and not the FUCKING PANTOMIME ITSELF, because that would actually be resonant commentary!!! and that's the last thing we need, because to criticize the pantomime would be to hold a mirror to my face and stare into the void only to see exactly what it is that i am complicit in, and that would hurt my feelings! that would cause an ego death! that would make my fans hate me! i'm trying to run all of the possibilities in my head through that may have caused them to eschew this commentary entirely, because to me, pulling the story in that direction seems clear as fucking day! why would you not do this??? why would you elect to make the player of the game the Big Bad???

pull back a moment -- petscop just ended with a near-absolute void of promotion surrounding it -- viewer input was presumably never even considered during its run, it just exists ... it is a product that exists as a window into the world of its creator, tony domenico, where motifs recur throughout works like "Nifty", "Good Sky", and "3D Worker's Island" creating a holistically sincere ecosystem of signs that point to neat little somethings in its creator's head -- where the work's role in the pantomime is entirely nonexistent despite, against all odds, reaching multiple millions of people ... after all, it makes sense; i call it the alternative now for a reason, that being that works created under the influence of the alternative now become instantaneously dispensable once the alternative now decides it's had its heyday, and who's to stop it? the alternative now is the one thing that gives the creators of these works any sustainable way of living through their art! for a series like petscop to entirely eschew the alternative now in favor of bending it to its own specifications renders it immune to date, immune to age, weatherproofing a one-of-a-kind piece of art that will be known for generations upon generations to come ... and i do not see a work of fiction like "DFoaMKC" surviving that test of time. it bumbles into territory claimed by worthwhile commentary, realizes it would be one hell of a faux pas to tread any further, and gives its main character some shitty depiction of schizophrenia and pulls you so far into the direction of The Guy Is Bad, He Is Bad On The Inside, This Is All His Fault so as to hand-wave the inconvenient reality of the pantomime away in favor of perpetually feeding it. there is nothing wrong with the algorithm. there is nothing wrong with the pantomime. it is okay. you do not have to think about this any more. it's okay. you do not have to think about this any more!

 addendum ~ 2.23.26

i'm not stupid ;; of course I know the purpose this video serves ;; it's not art*, nor does it have anything to gain by saying something ;; it is the pantomime it could have satirized, and to pretend as if it could have said anything greater than what it did is to live in a world in which art is not materially rewarded by how well you can market it - that is to say to live in a world of fiction. the important text lies not in what is said in Lomedy's initial video, instead in what has been strategically left unsaid. to intentionally call out the audience like this is not a marketable idea for a cozy horror youtube video. that is why, in spite of the conceit of the story very clearly leading in the direction of such commentary, it squanders its chance to make it. i do not believe Lomedy is a bad writer. i believe he knew exactly what he set out to write, and i believe he has succeeded in writing that story. the conceit, a psychological profile of the creators behind a kids' content farm, is equal parts [[intellectually satisfying]] and [[marketable]] on its own, and, for what the story was set from the beginning to be used for, to perpetually expand on the marketable aspects of the story whilst limiting the uncomfortable bits is to achieve success in the field.

a depiction of a content farm aimed towards marginally older age groups

it is in analyzing Lomedy's case that makes this entire venture worth it. should we appreciate him as an unreliable narrator, even when he is posting on his own terms, then the unspoken commentary in "DFoaMKC" makes a damning case against the content-recommendation-driven hellscape web of today. in "DFoaMKC", a fictionalized version of Lomedy serves as a voyeur, prodding, for as long as it takes, into the internal politics of a fictional channel named "RunSonic", that is so overwhelmingly not his story to tell, with repeatedly diminishing returns and no real reason to continue to prod except to follow through with the author of the e-mail he was sent and the potential for content to be reaped from the resulting investigation. the fact that he is later exonerated by the fact that these were clues left behind by an editor of the fictional channel is irrelevant, as the aforementioned initial motivation persists until it leads him to a dead end - that dead end being the point before the playlist is discovered - before his exoneration could be made apparent. his choice to continue prodding past that point by phoning a friend plays directly into his voyeuristic character. a part of the horror is in the idea that this could have been you should you have shown too much of your mental illness on the internet, your very real terror played as new food for the many who - evers who need a topic to make content on to survive... it is in this drive for survival that Lomedy's channel is as horrifying -- but as of yet not nearly as kenopsic -- as Joshy's. he, among all others of his ilk, is to be made into an insincere performer to ensure his own relevance among audiences that will not remember him when he is gone, as the Alternative Now knows only to keep him in the public consciousness for as long as he is creating retention -- and not a second longer.

 

"DFoaMKC" in exegesis is infinitely more interesting than "DFoaMKC"'s text itself. Lomedy shows you a little too much of the space behind the Content Curtain, and you get to watch as he actively attempts to backpedal upon that commentary by giving you red herring - Jason's schizophrenic! - upon red herring - Jason's a gambling addict! - upon red herring - Jason's a murderer! - to pull the wool over your eyes and distract from the fact that this setup is a situation that everyone involved suffers from - that the child-comprised audience of these content farms suffer from a stunted development, and that the workers behind these content farms - e.g. Lomedy - suffer from an inconsistent source of income entirely dependent on how well they can market themselves. in this, being okay with suffering from a gradual death of self is a requisite for aspiring content creators whose personalities have not been deemed desirable by the algorithmic panopticon.

 

Aren't you glad that isn't you?

 In Cobnclusion=

i watched a bad youtube video