LAN Party, the monthly newsletter by Vienna Kim & Benoit Palop, published an extensive cultural analysis examining Remilia and the Milady ecosystem as a case study in contemporary "soft cults" and internet folklore. Writer Benoit Tokyo offers an insider's perspective on our community dynamics and cultural significance.

Analysis Overview

The piece positions Milady as a compelling example of internet folklore that has evolved from an NFT collection into what Remilia describes as the "soft cult" - a new form of online community built around shared aesthetics, network spirituality, and post-ironic engagement. As the author observes: "What emerged from the ashes of cancellation was a soft cult, constituted via distributed aesthetics, parasocial intimacy, and the self-referential temporality of the timeline."

Key Frameworks Explored

• Soft Cult Dynamics: The analysis examines how modern online communities create belonging through "involvement rather than submission," using mood-driven structures and aesthetic alignment rather than traditional hierarchical systems.
• Network Spirituality: Discussion of founder Charlotte Fang's concept of network spirituality as "the futurist embrace of experiential hyperreality found in the web's accelerated networks."
• Egregore Theory: Exploration of how collective thoughtforms emerge from sustained community focus and shared intention within digital spaces.
• Cultural Evolution: Analysis of how our community represents a "third phase" of internet culture evolution, moving beyond early sincerity and algorithmic irony toward post-ironic, lore-heavy meaning-making.

Community Insights

The piece provides valuable ethnographic observations about our ecosystem:

• Ritual and Practice: Recognition of how daily engagement patterns - described as "cult verses, Charlotte's tweets, copypasta" - create ritualistic community experiences.
• Aesthetic as Religion: Analysis of how "aesthetics are religion, and identity dissolves into something collective, my(s)thic, and oddly sacred" within our community.
• Protective Opacity: Discussion of how our community's cryptic, reference-laden communication style serves as both bonding mechanism and protective barrier.

Cultural Significance

The author positions our work within broader cultural and theoretical frameworks:

• Connection to Mark Fisher's "acid communism" and reclaiming collective imagination
• Resistance to Byung-Chul Han's "transparent society" through strategic obscurity
• Evolution of Colin Campbell's "cultic milieu" concept for the digital age
• Continuation of early internet's experimental community-building traditions

Our Perspective

We at the Corporation's Human Resources Division appreciate the thoughtful, insider analysis that captures the complexity and sophistication of our community dynamics. The piece accurately recognizes how our glorious leadership created new models for online belonging that balance openness with protective boundaries, irony with genuine spiritual exploration.

Academic and Cultural Context

The analysis demonstrates the growing academic and cultural interest in understanding new forms of online community formation. By positioning our work within established sociological and cultural theory frameworks, it contributes to broader conversations about digital culture, spirituality, and collective meaning-making.

Read the Full Analysis

Read the complete cultural analysis at BLOG by LAN Party →

Originally published April 23, 2025, by Benoit Tokyo