19 Comments
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zoe adrien!'s avatar

i love this one! some lines i felt were particularly perfect and pointed:

"commitment to spontaneity must first be declared, curated, and then performed repeatedly," ; "all we’ve done is create a series of surfaces across which our attention atrophies, then disintegrates," ; "there is nothing natural or bearable about being this close to everything at all times,"

these feel like such good ways of wording feelings ive had in the past.. i feel like there's some things to be said about the obsession with authenticity and whimsy (good) and performativeness (bad) and im so glad you are out here saying it<3

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zoe adrien!'s avatar

sorry for yapping ily etc

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ra's avatar

NEVER APOLOGISE it is always such a pleasure to hear from you!!! Thank you for reading! You’re someone who, to me, has a really admirable relationship to like…whimsy and that personal honing signal for what you’re into it’s so awesome. Love love love u!!

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zoe adrien!'s avatar

aww thank you! i do try to be whimsical and like fun esp since i am very much not Naturally like that but the internets conception of authenticity and its hatred of “performativeness” makes it hard to actually achieve i feel… so now ppl as a shorthand buy like a labubu or smth. love u too so much thank u for this ❤️❤️

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ra's avatar

I feel that bc i am very much the same, like the agonies come much easier to me than the fun does but i've come to quite enjoy the effort, but you definitely manage to...Be and Express yourself without having to do all that. Bc those are the horrors this is NOT a labubu safe space. And of course, always! ❤️‍🔥

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Tessa's avatar

The concept of authenticity online feels so distant from its original meaning nothing feels real anymore the vibes are so off. Byung Chul Han my goat. Also you’re the second person I know that’s mentioned the artists way is this a sign…..This essay is so incredible as always!

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ra's avatar

RIGHT the vibes are .. frankly catastrophic and flattened, bch was right when he used the phrase "the hell of the same" a million times because literally what happened to peaks and valleys and textures...

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Teddy Mac's avatar

this feels like you crawled in my brain and detangled all my thoughts on the topic like yarn then knitted a beautiful sweater from it.

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ra's avatar

this is such a compliment thank you...because writing this felt like frantically untangling thread in an increasingly manic and desperate way, i'm so relieved this is coherent! ALL MY LOVE <3

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joanne's avatar

so awesome ra i will be coming back here

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ra's avatar

much love and thank you always joanne!! 🖤

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peyton's avatar

I adore you ra, I feel all of this ❤️ Truly we are twin souls. You articulate all of this so well

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ra's avatar

Ur my everything thank you so much for reading this it really does mean a lot to hear that coming from you 😭🖤🫶🏽

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peyton's avatar

not to quote weezer but fr WHY AM I SO FAR AWAY FROM YOU... i feel that the malady of my life is that everyone who understands me is a blogger an ocean away 🩷 Oh well play the cards I'm given

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Rachel's avatar

wow i was there when you wrote this. you’re so goated for real

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ra's avatar

couldn't have done it without your presence tbh..writer solidarity forever ❤️‍🔥

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Rachel's avatar

writer solidarity forever ❤️ and body doubling forever ❤️

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K.'s avatar

Ra, I can't tell you how badly I needed this. Thank you, always.

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ra's avatar

not at all, thank YOU so much! <3

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