Politics is a funny subject. I once went to college with a guy who was a political science major. I wonder what that major entails. (Googles quickly.)
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Anyway, I suppose there are those who love this type of pursuit. It isn’t my preference. I can do without politics.
Unfortunately, politics play a role in our lives whether we want it to or not. We are dragged along our society by decision-makers, whether in our government or work environment.
It’s like when you get pulled along to a boring church service by your parents and the preacher is talking for hours and you are sitting there wanting to leave but you can’t. You are trapped in that pew until they tell you its alright to leave.
Society is like that. Corporations are like that. You are stuck living in these life parameters until you leave or get fired. Basically, until you leave the country or company.
Let’s Talk Society…
It is assumed we live in a democracy. Do you feel you have a voice in this country? I mean… do you? Do you really? We actually live in a plutocracy:
Plutocracy: government by the wealthy.
a country or society governed by the wealthy.
an elite or ruling class of people whose power derives from their wealth.
And we have lived in a plutocracy for a long while. Possibly, all of societies have basically been plutocracies. They just seemed to hide it better when the gap wasn’t so wide between the fortunate and the less fortunate. When the gap widened you had the birth of communism in some countries. Until those unfortunates realized share and share alike wasn’t so great for the poor people either way. That brought the realization of oligarchy:
Oligarchy: A small group of people having control of a country, organization, or institution.
Oh wait, we kind of live in this too.
And then you have dictatorships when people want a savior for their sorry state:
Dictatorship: governed by someone with absolute authority.
This is the standard for corporations. (I will get back to this in a moment.)
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Basically, the average Joe or Jo don’t have much say in how the country they live runs, or the company they work runs. It’s a very rare thing.
So, politics goes like this: Be rich and powerful. Be powerful and get rich. Be someone with a loud voice to drown out the quiet thinkers. We simply watch and think and consider, “Man… this kind ‘a sucks.”
I have been doing some part time work remotely while living here in the middle of nowhere called the White Mountains. I call a designated list of voters and take surveys. It doesn’t matter if I agree or disagree, I’m just asking political questions. I’m pretty stoic but pleasant and polite. People have called me some pretty nasty names because of their political views. I don’t share mine but they sure as heck LOVE to share their opinion in all it’s colorful glory to this random voice on the other end of the phone.
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People, please chill. Don’t get so angry over trivial and petty things. Stop getting mad at rando’s on the phone. I really don’t care about your opinion – really, I personally do not.
The answers paint a picture for me of this small society we live. Our thoughts only go as far as our small group we gather around ourselves. We are our own private hate group.
Life is bigger. It’s like Bible thumpers who believe ONLY in the Bible. Well, that’s one book. Do you know how many books there are with wise sayings? Perhaps, go out of your comfort zone and check it out. You might find your view of the world and life expanded.
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Meditate more and look inside of yourself. Know who you are first before you start wanting to judge everyone else for who they are.
It just gets exhausting when people hear something, jump to a conclusion, and then decide without stepping back and looking at the bigger picture.
Propaganda works well in this way of saying something to stir up the masses.
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So, this reminds me of my mum. She watches a lot of murder mysteries. I asked, “What do you look for with a murder? Step back and look at the bigger picture, right? What is gained by this murder? Who gains something? Someone, whether its pay back or money or power, gets something with a murder. Rarely, is it a random occurrence. Usually, you follow the money.”
When Repubs want to win elections they call the other guy a communist. When Dems want to win an election they call the other guy a fascist. This has been going on for decades: quick soundbites to rile the masses.
“We the people” needs to start meaning something or it will never change. The elected officials are supposed to represent the people of the country and fight to help the people of the country, not the other way around. Stop thinking anyone in power is your god and will somehow save you.
That’s our country in a nutshell. We won’t be a communist country any time soon. We will be a hyper-capitalistic country for a long while until we fall into, and get eaten by our own greed. We have actually become a society of fiefdoms with corporations our noblemen who own the land.
Anyway, I can be pretty judgy.
My HOT Take on Rushia…
Yes, this actually falls under “politics as usual.” And this will all be my opinion. Take with a grain of salt.
I’ve watched a lot of commentaries out there (the top ones, anyway) who take Cover Corporation’s side. In fact, everyone takes their side. They say this is the correct side to take. Rushia deserved to be fired because of the breach of her NDA. End of story.
But I don’t. I just don’t agree with Cover and their PR spin, and here’s why:
Lots of dumb things got out of hand and Uruha Rushia, of Hololive fame, the third highest earner, top superchat earner, had her life turned upside down by gossip and no help from her company. Instead, she was unceremoniously and cruelly fired. No graduation. No farewell to the fans. No money for this last month. No channel – it was just made to disappear. Just thrown out and made to disappear. All meant to shame her as much as possible.
Why? It seemed a “bit” overboard and extreme when I look at how other issues have been handled by other companies.
[EDIT: Her channel was placed back up after March. Could this have been a financial play by the company? I’m not sure.]
The back story:
Rushia was being harassed because of the possibility she was in a relationship with a big name guy in music. Lots of V-tubers have boyfriends or girlfriends but they keep it on the downlow because they have this image of purity? I’m not really sure. Maybe its a cultural thing. Its pretty silly.
It’s a crazy world out there of silliness.
Reality check? V-tubers are content creators and human beings. Popular idols are content creators and human beings. They have lives outside the persona they have created. They have real life lives. Most realize this but the few that are super simps don’t get it. But that isn’t really the problem here.
Rushia talked to a supposed journalist (sensationalist that I won’t name here since most know who he is) and supposed friend in confidence. They promised they were listening to her side of the story. She sent a pic of her room (that he may or may not have requested/coerced her) to show she lived alone and wasn’t in a relationship, and asked him not to show it and instead of not showing he did. Her room had her V-tubing set-up that was seen (an NDA no-no). She also left her DMs open and stuff was leaked and seen with photos. Again, she was possibly coerced to show these photos and asked the so-called journalist for confidentiality. I question the journalistic integrity.
All this is taking place as this poor girl, Rushia, is trying to stop all the hate because she was supposedly in a relationship with this other pop idol. And again, this is a side issue and not really the point.
His fans hated her. Her fans hated that she might be in a relationship. She was getting hate for this relationship from both sides.
Cover management (the corporation that is behind Hololive) wasn’t helping as far as I could tell (again stipulation from what I’ve gathered). She was trying to handle everything on her own and talking to shady journalists. Her mental health was not being taken care of and that is truly a sad part of this equation. She was stressed and not handling any of this well.
Okay, now, this is where I go off in another direction than those who trust Cover. I think this was handled incorrectly and she didn’t go against the NDA purposefully. In my opinion, that should be taken into consideration. She leaked stuff accidentally. There wasn’t anything intentional in the act. There should have been further investigation on Cover’s part.
Which makes me wonder why, as in other situations, she was not sent on hiatus or suspension. She had no previous strikes of misconduct. She was, for all intentional purposes, doing her job as a V-tuber.
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Now, the guy that leaked info told privately and said he was a “friend” stole the stuff she showed him and posted it and leaked it. That was done purposefully. That’s just bad journalism, in my opinion – extremely bad journalism.
Rushia’s mistake was in trusting someone who she thought was trustworthy.
The Reality is, Cover Corp is a company.
Hololive is the production company. They are corporations all about money. Their talent belongs to them. Those who say so-and-so loves their talent? He has their best interest in mind? Well, then why didn’t they help Rushia early on when she was being hassled for supposedly being in a relationship? Where was the mental health counseling? Where was her manager? Out getting a coffee? Where was all this help from these so-called caring people who love their talent? Why weren’t all her sweet co-workers helping? Aren’t they like family?
I ended up with way more questions than any answer from their quick PR spiel.
(I might be being a little harsh here.)
Again, this is my opinion.
Could it be Cover doesn’t like it when they are questioned and they pretty much threw Rushia out to make a statement – that they have ALL control? It made me feel like a mafia tactic was being played. Did they make Rushia an example? None of our talent is too popular to get canned? We own you all?
I don’t know. That is for you to come to your own conclusion.
Rather than giving a suspension. Talking it out. At least, having a graduation and farewell video – nothing. No further discussion or communication. They just made Rushia disappear. She has NO possibility of making any more money as Uruha Rushia.
Seriously, the persona of Rushia just disappeared. No one left is allowed to talk about her, either.
I find that just really WEIRD.
As a corporation they made two statements: 1. We can take any of you out at any time no matter how popular you think you are. 2. We run a business and you are an employee – that’s it.
People really give Cover and those who run it way too much benefit of the doubt. Its a company that deals in idols. It’s a company. A corporation. Were they playing politics, as usual?
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So, Rushia was unceremoniously and callously thrown out of Hololive. There will be no graduation and no goodbye to her fans.
*waves hands in front of your face* It will be as if she never existed.
Basically, keep your opinions to yourself.
Well, I have an opinion and have this blog and I’m not going to keep it to myself.
Companies are Companies
After almost three years of being a very popular and beloved content creator Rushia didn’t deserve to be treated this way. I don’t care how much Cover wants to cover their a*# with a final PR letter. Its not right from either an ethical or moral standpoint. Sure, they could legally say this is our right as a company. She breached the NDA, right? Rules are rules.
But I’m talking about what is the right thing to do as a human being. That will sometimes not correspond with the company line. Plus, the company makes their own rules and can work within ethical parameters if they so choose.
They have a ton of leeway as a company with human beings that are the talent. Their hands are tied? They own their own company, people! Don’t just believe stuff because someone said so.
You know, it kind of sounds like you’re following a cult. What they say is final. No questions asked? Do not question the authority?
But if you never question anything and just go along with the powers-that-be you are no different than any other person out there who follows blindly their government and officials, and their leader.
Maybe, just maybe, you have to stop and think things over, step back and look at the bigger picture, and follow the money and power.
I know Rushia has found life outside Hololive. She’s a talented young lady. She has a new channel that I won’t post here but most can find it. She’s already placed a cute vlog of her cat. She has left a message saying she is sorry. I hope her the best in the future.
But the one previously known as Rushia, the person behind the persona, is an actual breathing human being. I hope we all remember that and I hope in her future endeavors succeeds much further than she ever did as the Uruha Rushia persona.
And that’s my hot take. Please, step back and take a deep breath.
I hope you all find what you seek and search for in life. Find that love that gives you a reason to wake up, and a smile when you fall asleep.
Hi Gracie! 🙂
the unlit cigarette 
Yeah, I thought it was strange how quickly the Rushia issue was swept under the rug. After Cover’s final announcement on the matter, almost everyone accepted it — management made it sound like she was out there actively trying to shit-talk the agency or something, but I didn’t know the details you brought up here. Knowing a little of the toxic drama-stirring elements of the VTuber community, I can completely believe one of these people betraying confidence like this guy apparently did with Rushia.
I’ve heard the male idol/singer in question had some bitter fans as well, yeah. I only saw the grief from the Rushia fan perspective, and specifically the western one. It seemed like most fans were very forgiving (assuming there was anything to forgive, even) but I know there’s some part of the fan base who hold this fantasy that they’re actually in love with the anime girl on the screen, not considering that there’s a real person they don’t truly know on the other side. I get the impression that a lot of these types just don’t get out much and are desperately looking for happiness where they shouldn’t be. Maybe these unhealthy feelings are sometimes milked for superchat money as I’ve heard suggested, but if that does happen, I wouldn’t blame the talent for it as some have. Seems like more of a matter for management/corporate to work out, especially since Cover was taking its piece of all that money.
This incident also just makes me feel more justified in “leavling” Hololive. I know people use Fubuki as a kind of warning alarm or something, that if she doesn’t raise a fuss about how Cover is handled a situation it’s all right, but that seems like it’s putting too much pressure on Fubuki as well. I’ll still catch Pekora and Okayu when I can, and a couple of the talents in EN on occasion, but I much prefer the approach I’ve seen from Anycolor in how they’ve handled Nijisanji EN. They seem to be allowing for more freedom and creativity over there from what I can tell, and it feels like the talents there can speak more freely.
And Hololive hasn’t given us anything near Enna’s Higurashi concert lately. Maybe I’m wrong and Anycolor is just as lousy as Cover, though, since I only have the EN branches to refer to in these cases. I don’t really catch the guys either, but it looks almost like Nijisanji is starting to set the pace here in the West with the popularity of their male VTubers — I admit I didn’t realize there was such a market for them here.
As for the politics in general — I agree. I studied international affairs and politics in college, but that was back when the world looked quite different (even post-9/11 as it was then, post-Second Iraq War, all that.) The country hasn’t been so divided for a long time, though we’ve always dealt with division here. All I can do, all I even have time for, is vote and keep working.
Sorry for the long comment, but I was following the Rushia matter as well, and it was good to get some clearer information on it. Hope she’s all right.
Also sorry for the strange typos, it’s way too early here.
Haha, no worries. 😀
Thanks for the comment, AK.
While writing I wondered if I would offend. But then I realized why not just put some questions out there and place my opinion on how it was handled. I deleted a lot of rumblings and hearsay I’ve heard on Hololive. I’ve even heard they were a bit of a black company. But again, that’s hearsay because of what others have heard by some of the talent while streaming. Little blips here and there and something said when Coco left. You begin to wonder what’s going on with the company. I honestly just am not subscribed to anyone but Korone (she’ll always be one of my fave doggos) and Okayu (musical reasons).
Any Color, I think, has done a much better job in how they allow their talent to be themselves. I don’t think you’d ever see openly homosexual or transgender individuals in Hololive but you will with Nijisanji. They’ll be un-seiso and goofy and it doesn’t matter. I’ve also been watching more of Niji JP and they’re pretty funny but I only really have time for Niji EN – I mean there are 20 extremely talented content creators with them. That can quickly fill up a schedule of V-tuber watching.
(Also, on a personal level I haven’t watched Hololive EN for what seems like almost a year because the community seemed toxic. I’ve just done a cleanse from the group. And that was just a personal decision for me and my own sanity. I want to enjoy my down time watching V-tubers.)
There is just so much talent in Niji EN and they’re all so fun to watch, and they all get along and are hilarious. I’ve never laughed so much. When you get Lazulight, Obsydia, Ethyria and Luxiem together its just hilarity and chaos. They all seem to honestly have fun. It’s refreshing.
And I love musical talent and Nijisanji has the best vocalists with Chima and Tomoe, and Enna, Millie, and Pomu, and now Reimu (I used to be subscribed to her prior to this iteration), and Ike and on and on. I have barely even nicked the Niji JP talented side when it comes to music but I absolutely love Chima.
Speaking of the Higurashi concert. I must have had that in the background five times now. It was so well done. I’m not sure if you know who Enna was in her previous Iteration/life but the music she produced was amazing back then also. She and Millie are just so talented. They were just an amazing find for Niji EN.
Yeah, Korone is great too. I think Okayu has taken the spot as my favorite in Hololive for her music, and she’s the only one I’ve ever heard whose ASMR actually works for me in the way people talk about. Must just be her voice in particular.
But I hear you on Holo EN. It feels bad, because I still like Gura and Ina in particular a whole lot, but I’ve noticed some weird stuff about the community as you mention. And I certainly don’t have that much time to watch these streams, so I usually end up watching Pomu instead.
Agreed about the energy in Nijisanji, as well as that concert — I really like Higurashi’s themes, and it was great hearing them sung by Enna, along with Millie’s contributions and the rest. Wasn’t familiar with their past lives but it sounds like they’re accomplished, which I can believe hearing that concert and their other songs. The idea of an Umineko concert like that is also exciting, though Umineko’s themes do seem like they’d be a lot more difficult to arrange. Akiko Shikata is no joke.
You can’t go wrong with Pomu. She’s my Oshii (?). 😉 Rosemi-sama, Finana, Elira, and Selen too. I also watch a lot of Enna. She’s always funny. But pretty much all of them you can’t go wrong. I’ve even come to really enjoy Nina. At first, she rubbed me the wrong way but she’s actually so smart and hilarious. I’ve considered simply writing a gushy post about the gals of Niji EN. 😀
By the way, have you listened to Enna’s Love Space cover? It’s just too fantastic!
I am so hopeful they put together another concert. An Umineko themed concert would be awesome. I was talking to my friend about how much I’d love to see all the talented Niji EN vocalists get together and put on another concert. I know its a lot of work. Enna has this amazing ear and it would be a really heavy commitment on her and her team’s part. But it would be amazing!
Oh yeah, I enjoy all of them. I think Pomu is my oshi as well — she can just talk off the cuff and be entertaining, and it helps that she’s into stuff like Touhou (and idols; though I barely knew about them, I learned about idol calls thanks to Pomu.) I haven’t seen Nina much, but she does seem like a good time to watch just talk as well.
Thanks for the tip! Haven’t seen that one; the last song I saw from Enna was her and Millie’s cover of Identity. I’ll check it out. I’d love to see more music from all of them, maybe more original songs too. I was also able to catch the rare stream with those two playing a game, Needy Streamer Overload — I’d played it already, but it was fun to see just how blunt Enna was throughout.