#⇢✶mundane promotes 《promos》

[astrxthesiai]

“I will still be here even when humanity’s will to continue to exist flickers out. I will be here to rekindle it, as their Lady or Lord Arbiter.”

Feat. Rover from Wuthering Waves From astrxthesiai multi-fandom, multi-verse, multi-muse

Carrd & Masterlist & Tags

[astrcthesiai-archived]

General Tags

Updates

【⭐updates】

Promos

【⭐promotions】

Answers from Mun

【⭐ mundane answers】

OOC correspondence

【⭐whispers of the mundane】

About the Mun

【⭐about the mundane】

PSA

【⭐important messages】

Signal Boosting

【⭐signal boosts】

Self Promos

【⭐self promos】

[gacha-incels]

this is a machine translated and then edited article that is originally in Korean. If you see any discrepancies in the text please lmk and I’ll change it asap. Thanks everyone.

Seoul Milk's "Be Careful with Hand Movements When Opening Yogurt”

Seoul Milk has come under criticism after it was revealed that the company posted a notice asking influencers promoting its new product to "avoid using controversial hand gestures" when opening yogurt containers. Netizens claimed that the "hand gesture" Seoul Milk referred to was the 'pinching gesture (🤏),' which some believe is ‘intentionally used to mock a specific male body part’. They argued that it makes no sense to forbid such a natural and unavoidable movement.

According to a report by The Hankyoreh on the 6th, Seoul Milk recently recruited influencers to promote its new product, "Seoul Milk's Rich Greek Yogurt Soft." One of the promo guidelines instructed influencers to "be cautious of using controversial hand movements when opening the yogurt lid or holding the packaging." This came to light after one influencer made a post about it on social media, which quickly gained attention.

One netizen commented, "Is opening the lid with your fingers really considered a hate expression against men? Why do ordinary people have to be scrutinized for every little action?" Another wrote, "How should I open the yogurt lid then? With my middle finger or by gripping it with my fist?"

Seoul Milk's instructions for influencers have been criticized as excessive, with some accusing the company of censoring even the most mundane hand movements in response to certain men's claims that the 'pinching gesture' symbolizes misandry.

Kim Yuri, the head of the National Women’s Labor Union, told The Hankyoreh in a call, "The company's directive, which forbids a hand gesture that ordinary consumers wouldn't even consider intentional, is irrational." She added, "I worry that Seoul Milk is only incorporating biased messages into its marketing strategy."

As the controversy grew, Seoul Milk said in a call with The Hankyoreh on the same day, "We presented guidelines to block social controversy and focus attention on the product itself," and "We deleted the controversial phrase and revised it on the afternoon of the 5th."

Despite these explanations, public criticism has not subsided. This is not the first time Seoul Milk has been accused of misogynistic promotion, and some netizens are saying they will boycott the company.

In 2021, Seoul Milk faced backlash after releasing a promotional video on their YouTube channel that compared women to dairy cows. The 52-second video featured a woman in white drinking water from a leaf, only to transform into a cow after being startled by a man with a camera.

At the time, netizens criticized the ad for likening women to cows and including scenes reminiscent of illegal filming: "How could such a backwards video be aired in this day and age?" Seoul Milk later issued an apology, saying, "We sincerely apologize to all consumers who felt uncomfortable with the advertisement," and "We will pay more careful attention to prevent similar problems from occurring in the future."

In 2003, Seoul Milk staged a performance in front of the public and journalists, where three naked women were covered in flour and sprayed with yogurt. Four Seoul Milk employees, including the marketing director, were later fined by the court for public indecency.

[youremyonlyhope]

The Star Beast

Am I excited for the 60th? Eh... I'm just glad to have Doctor Who to watch after a year of nothing.

Why in the world were my Disney+ subtitles set to Chinese?

Donna my girl. You are the only reason for me to be excited. This whole post has a lot of salt throughout.

Also, I don't know how I feel about the exposition to the camera thing. Twelve did it better. Interesting opening sequence. And I think I have said I like the retro logo. Ok Rachel Talalay directed. That's promising. Those robots in the background felt cyberman-esque. Ughhhhh I have so many thoughts about the choice to have Donna name her daughter Rose. Ugh. I like that the running gag of Donna not seeing the chaos for random mundane reasons continues. Glad she's still roasting him. Ok if this is supposed to be a NEW Doctor, I don't like him saying Allons-y. Please. New catchphrase. The same face doesn't have to mean the same personality. Plus I don't know French but isn't saying "Let's - Allons-y!" redundant? Ok shoutout to Nerys that's fun. Shaun's a good man. I'm very glad we get to see more of him now since he was a bit of a non-character in End of Time. OH GOOD UNIT IS REALLY BACK PROPERLY. Wait do I remember seeing pictures of Kate in promos... I was about to ask why the ship was right side up if it crashed. Ok. It landed. God I've forgotten Donna's mom's name but I'm really glad to see she listened to the Doctor and shows Donna appreciation now. I was just about to ask how long it'd been. Because End of Time aired in 2009/10 but the whole timeline of the RTD era was messed up. So does that mean that Journey's End was technically 2008? God let me not try to make sense of this right now. God I hate this Meep thing with a passion. I hate its eyes. So much. Ah. Nightmare fuel. I don't like the sonic reverting back to be so similar to Nine/Ten's either. It would have been funner if he was using Thirteen's. Plus he should have been in Thirteen's outfit but I've already complained about that for a year. Cowards. "Off you pop" I wonder if that's a reference to Clara in the 50th. What is that the Time Vortex or something? Does Rose crochet these toys? Love that. (For the record I got nothing against Rose at all I'm just mad she was named Rose for pure fan pandering purposes.) Ok now I see why it was hiding in toys in the promo. Sylvia you are totally right to be angry at the Doctor this time around. "Oh wow he's so cute" no, it's nightmare fuel. GOOD JOB SYLVIA. He deserves that slap. Oh poor Shaun. He's such a good man though. Sees the chaos, sees a literal monster, and decides to compliment his mother-in-law's cooking. Good job. "I loved that man." Aw. Me too. "He's not dead." "You idiot." Love it. Kate came in to help take care of Wilf? Oh. Ohhh. My heart. "You've got two hearts? So do I." "You've got what." Oh Donna. Hmm so the hypnotized soldiers are not on the same side as the Wrath... I don't know how I feel about this sonic force field thing but ok. Resonating concrete. I'll accept that reference because it's about Nine. "Or we've got things very, very wrong." Yep I agree that Meep is probably evil and as nightmarish as the Meep looks. A living sun. I'll accept that reference because it's about Martha. Please RTD, reference something OTHER than your era though for this 60th anniversary of the whole show. SEE I TOLD YOU IT WAS A NIGHTMARE CREATURE. "With your weird child." Ah so Beep the Meep is a transphobe too. SEE. SEEEEEE. I WAS RIGHT TO HATE THIS THING. "I'm just passing by" Ok I always liked that line. God I hate this thing. SHE SAID THE DOCTOR. Ok these random Winter Soldier trigger words would have meant more had they actually be put into the show at some point prior to this. Because I have absolutely no memory of any of this besides the repeated "binary binary binary." Donna Noble is descending. Fixing up all the burning caverns like that is nonsense. OK ROSE. OK.

Ok no wait now I'm mad again. At first when the show was in promotions the assumption was that Donna named Rose subconsciously. Because we weren't sure if Yasmin was playing a trans character or not. Then when this episode started I was like "Ok so Rose picked the name Rose by random when she transitioned and it's a coincidence. Fine I'll accept that." but didn't actually put it in the post. And now NO. SHE HAS SOME OF THE METACRISIS IN HER. SO SHE NAMED HERSELF AFTER ROSE. I'm mad all over again. Just let it go RTD2!

Ok the Keep Out on the shed might be a reference to Twelve's sign on his Tardis. Fine. Fine. I'll take that. Glad they didn't zoom in on the Adipose before that. that would have been too obvious. Because the toy is just straight up an Adipose. Also happy 10th birthday to Owen the Adipose plushie I crocheted around this same time. "We're binary." "She's not." "Because the Doctor's male" "And female" "And neither. And more." Ok ok confirmation of the Doctor being non-binary ok. This has been a rollercoaster of me being angry and me being happy. "My father would be impressed, I have no higher compliment" That is VERY true there is not a higher compliment than that. Oh is the episode going to be dedicated to Bernard... Oh and we're getting that Toymaker dude later right? And Rose makes toys. Ok I see why this random Old Who villain is relevant to this story. "Shame you're not a woman anymore, cause she would have understood." True. So they can just... let the time lord energy go... sure I guess? OK THE SIGN BY THE ROBOT THINGS SAYS CYBERDOG. I DIDN'T SEE THAT BEFORE. THEY WERE MEANT TO LOOK LIKE CYBERMEN. I do like Ten being insulted by Shaun saying "But not him." since I do somewhat headcanon Ten as being a bit in love with Donna.

Ok at this point I realized that Tumblr had stopped autosaving this draft around when we saw the Adipose. So let's see if I can even post this last half.

I don't mind this Tardis design. Kind of like One's mixed with Eleven's. Ok the set itself is actually impressive. I like it. Oh Donna. Ew I do not like the breathy Doctor Who theme nope.

No dedication to Bernard at the end. Did we already get something dedicated to him? Or maybe they'll just dedicate the episode he's actually in.

As an episode, it was cute and fun. I think RTD2 needs to take some of his own advice and let it go, specifically the Rose thing.

As a 60th anniversary special... Ok I was glad this episode wasn't just purely RTD era callbacks every other moment. But still, it's an anniversary special. Give me more about all 60 years. Or at least the very least more about the Moffat and Chibnall eras. I guess we'll have to see since all 3 episodes are supposed to be anniversary specials. But for the episode airing closest to the anniversary, I'm disappointed that it didn't feel like an anniversary episode.

Edit: I went to check the cast and at the time it had a 9.2 on IMDB and was above Blink as highest rated episode. It's now down to 8.2 which is more reasonable. But god I'm annoyed at the way some fans have just eaten up all this pandering.

[wisdomdrawn-blog]

tag dump!! 

( MUNDANE. / HE’S HERE; HE’S QUEER; HE’S CRYING OVER FICTIONAL CHARACTERS. )

( POSITIVITY. / GUESS WHAT YOU’RE GOOD FOR LOVING I LOVE YOU. )

( SAVED. )

( REF TAG. )

( MEMES. / CHOOSE WISELY. CHOOSE GOOD. )

( WISHLIST. / FOR THAT DREAM. )

( SELF PROMO TAG. )

( PROMOTIONS. / THE STORY CAN’T GO ON WITHOUT YOU. )

( MUSINGS. / LIFE HAPPENS WHEREVER YOU ARE WHETHER YOU MAKE IT HAPPEN OR NOT. )

( HEADCANONS & ABOUT. / HOPE IS SOMETHING YOU GIVE YOURSELF. )

( MUSIC. / THIS IS YOUR REMINDER TO KEEP ON FIGHTING. )

( AESTHETIC. / DO NOT GO GENTLE INTO THAT GOOD NIGHT. )

( ZUKO. / CHOSE GOOD. )

( LU TEN. / BRAVE SOLDIER BOY. )

( AZULA. / PRECISE & DEADLY. )

( OZAI. / MISGUIDED. )

( IROH. / FOUND LIGHT. )

[unkiindness]

General Tag Dump

『mun quests』tagged again

『ooc』mundane shenanigans

『quiz results』 oh shoot i’ve been tagged

『mun answers』asks

『saved tags』tag reference

『memories』saved posts

『psa』important reminders

『updates』update announcements

『rp memes』icebreakers

『promos』early follower friday

『self promos』promotions for you

『scheduled』or queued

[ofthcwilds]

“ Mankind blunders through the world, CRUSHING what it does not understand; elves, dragons, magic... the list is ENDLESS. We must stem the tide, or be left with nothing more than the MUNDANE. This I know to be true.”

independent MORRIGAN from DRAGON AGE as loved by Mel

[tolkiens-middleearth]

Tolkien's story telling and Amazon's The Rings of Power

Having seen the trailer for Amazon's Middle-earth series, I won't lie: some parts look good in it. Especially the landscape is fantastic, some of the sets look good, and there are some decent effects in there.

However, it still leaves me wondering both about the atmosphere and the direction of the show.

There are, to these stories, two different emotions, as Tolkien put it: "the heart-racking sense of the vanished past" and "the more 'ordinary' emotion, triumph, pathos, tragedy of the characters".

I want to talk about both in regards to the show.

Distant trees and near trees

The Vanished Past

"I think you are moved by Celebrimbor because it conveys a sudden sense of endless untold stories: mountains seen far away, never to be climbed, distant trees never to be approached – or if so only to become 'near trees'." – J.R.R. Tolkien

Tolkien's description about getting close to an untold story is quite fitting: there is always the danger of turning something fascinating into something mundane.

He was a master of invoking that sense of a vanished past, and it's especially visible in The Lord of the Rings: for example Gandalf's words about the Palantir and Fëanor, or Aragorn telling the Hobbits about Beren and Lúthien, or Elrond remembering the Last Alliance.

But it's in his other writings as well: I feel that's one of the reasons why they have authors, why their tradition inside the universe is known, and one of the reasons why Tolkien uses frame stories. One of my favourite bits of his writings comes The Book of Lost Tales, the ending of The Fall of Gondolin:

"Then said Littleheart son of Bronweg: 'Alas for Gondolin.'

And no one in all the Room of Logs spake or moved for a great

while." – J.R.R. Tolkien

This little bit makes the whole tale even more emotional for me than it would ever be without it, and it's difficult to put into words why.

Traveling into history

And that, in my eyes, is the challenge of any series that tackles something like the Second Age or – even more difficult – shows parts of the First Age. They can't just turn these distant trees into near trees without a thought. For me at least this is what any visual material needs to try: it needs to try to keep some parts of the grandeur of the past legends. Tolkien excelled at it. Some artists are able to depict it in their work as well. Peter Jackson's movies managed to hit that emotion on rare occation.

Amazon's Middle-earth series? So far it does a good job in conveying this mood with wide shots of landscapes and architecture. However, based on the promo material it has release so far, there is no indication that this important atmosphere is achieved in their characters.

Certainly the invented Haarfoots can't achieve that, and characters like Halbrand or Arondir aren't predestined for it either. But the characters that could be this way among the Númenoreans and Elves – they don't give that impression either.

Ar-Pharazôn the Golden, the proudest and most powerful of all the Kings of any human empire in Middle-earth, is already an old men when we meet him in Amazon's Middle-earth show.

Some of these characters seem to be larger-than-life in Tolkien's writings, and they can be, because they're not average humans. The princes, kings and queens among the Eldar and the Númenoreans are supposed to be impressive – both in their monstrosity and their greatness. This applies to characters like Gil-galad, Celebrimbor, Finrod and Galadriel, and yes, to characters like Ar-Pharazôn as well.

We haven't seen much of them yet in the trailer footage and the promotion images. However, what we have seen so far makes me believe that the show won't be able to show this quality of Tolkien's writing in any convincing way – judging by the character designs it didn't even try. With characters like these, the show should have gone for extra, and I don't think they did.

Celebrimbor, grandson of Fëanor and creator of the Three Rings, who would later fight Sauron in person when defending the house of the Mírdain, looks utterly unimpressive in Amazon's Middle-earth show.

23 character posters for 8 episodes

"A story must be told or there'll be no story." – J.R.R. Tolkien

Another part that Tolkien adressed is the idea of story and the "triumph, pathos, tragedy" of the characters. And that's what my other main criticism of the trailer is about:

The trailer has failed to make me care about any of these people – and that is saying a lot, given the fact that I care a lot about these characters in Tolkien's writings.

I've gone back to trailers for series like The Witcher, Carnival Row, and Shadow and Bones. The ones that leave an impression on me are those that show me the promise of actual characters: the hint of an emotional conflict, the chance for an emotional connection with the character. Any good movie or series that can catch my attention and my heart has character stories at its core.

Since Tolkien barely wrote detailed stories for the Second Age that are "enough" for the screen, this is something the show writers have to deliver by themselves – and it would be too early to claim that they can't do it. However, the promotion so far is not encouraging:

There have been 23 character posters published when the series started its promotion These 23 major characters all have to share the screen time of 8 episodes, of which 2 will be an 'introduction' of sorts. That is not much time to do any of these characters justice – a problem that is not unique to this show by the way, many of the streaming shows these days that only allow for about 8 episodes a season struggle with this.

The other less-than-encouraging thing in the trailer is that it gives barely any clues about the characters themselves or what their story will be about: they all have a vast interest in the comet, they sense some vague darkness, and they have some generic lines like "the enemy is still out there" and "the past is dead" and "this could be the beginning of a new era". At best, Elrond's and Galadriel's discussion could be seen as a character moment, but neither dialogue nor acting is impressive, and the weird choices for Elrond's character design are still way too distracting.

The potential is certainly there in theory, according to various articles and interviews. But that's just that: promotional interviews that say little about the actual product in the end. Does anyone remember what all the actors of the dwarves in The Hobbit had to say about their characters? They had thoughts about their characters and their backstories and all, but for most of them all that didn't make it on screen and the characters were still barely refined for the viewer at the end of the story. I hope for this show's sake that they'll be better than that...

Long story short

To put an end to these rambling thoughts: I've seen legendary characters well done in media, and I have seen character work in general done well in media.

However, I don't trust this show to do to these very important things right, both in regards to story telling in general and story telling in Middle-earth. I don't trust them to get the atmosphere and mood right for Tolkien's legendary characters, and I don't trust them to make me care for these characters individually.

So while the trailer looks pretty, I still think it's mostly empty.

[back-to-louis]

(https://archive.ph/nbnsH)

I just don't understand the inability to accept or admit when you don't actually like a person, or don't like them anymore.

This ask/post isn't even assigning blame (although I am sure it is implied)! It's more mundane than conspiratorial. Sure, there's the token complaint about Freddie, but it isn't just that, is it? Ultimately this anon (and concurring CTs) doesn't like who or how Louis IS, as a person. They don't like how he talks, they don't like how he presents or promotes himself.

But the thing is, literally no part of Louis's persona is a surprise in 2022. He has always been exactly this person, which you would know if you ever actually watched anything he did for the promo you've come to hate, over the course of 12 years! It's okay to not like or enjoy or prefer who that persona is. Staying and following his activities when literally no one is forcing you to, then complaining about it in some sort of, yes, delusional, wish that he… do what, exactly?*, somehow, will always baffle me.

Therapy, indeed.

*Oh, I know what they want is for him to "drop" the act they think he has been performing and be his "true" self and "promote" what they want in an entirely different, magical way that matches the fanfic they've written in their heads.

[astrxthesiai]

#𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒙𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒂𝒊 30+ Mundane :: Mostly 18+ Muses :: Highly Selective :: Independent :: Multifandom :: Multimuse :: Contains both OCs & Canons :: Crossover Friendly Some parts are still under construction!

Contains Fandoms (so far) :: Fandomless, Sailor Moon, One Piece, Banana Fish, Trigun Stampede, Fairy Tail, Katekyo Hitman Reborn!, and more. (Starring Chrome Dokuro (KHR!), Sailor Mars/Rei Hino (Sailor Moon), Sarina (KHR!oc), Namiko (fandomless oc).

(For Rules & More) 𝑾𝒆𝒃𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒆 :: 𝑪𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒅 :: 𝑴𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒔 (For Muses) :: 𝑷𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝑷𝒐𝒔𝒕

"𝑰𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒚 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒔." - William Shakespeare

[thankskenpenders]

(re: the hooters ask) its VERY common in japan for media like games, anime, and manga to do promotions and sponsorships with companies for advertising purposes, and food is no exception. evangelion did a promo with a japanese burger chain, there was the famous one with code geass and pizza hut. hell, just to name how weird some of these could get, when the venom movie launched in japan, it was being promoted alongside, of all things, persona q2 on the 3ds

Okay you say this like cross promotions don't exist anywhere else in the world. I know what a cross promotion is! They slap Star Wars characters and Minions on every product they can think of when one of those movies comes out. I've seen Master Chief on Pop-Tarts boxes, I've seen Nathan Drake promote Subway! That is a completely mundane thing in America!! It's a part of everyday life under modern capitalism!!! I'm specifically bewildered by the fact that it's SONIC FORCES and HOOTERS

[chaoskirin]

Freddie and I share something in common - we both went to school for fine art. I earned my bachelor's degree in 2005. At times, I wonder if he ever got tired of the formal education, too. I wonder if he also laughed when his film teacher told him that "after this class, you'll never watch a movie the same way again" and then realized later with horror that it was actually true. How color theory takes over your life even when you don't mean it to. How everything you see makes you wonder if you could draw that, and what technique you would have to employ.

I don't know. I was ten when he died and I'll never get to ask. Somehow he doesn't strike me as the kind of person who would want to talk about his own art, anyway. I mean, there's not much we know about Freddie's private life, but everyone says he was shy.

So when I sat down and thought about what to do for Freddie's birthday, I thought analyzing one of his greatest works of art would be a good place to start. I had to pick apart and appraise so much art in school, whether it be my own classmates' paintings or pieces in a museum, or even poetry. And what are all Freddie Mercury's songs but poetry? In any case, it felt like a good tribute to him to analyze "It's a Hard Life."

British "Promo videos" were the prototype for today's visual extravaganzas, and were really meant to provide a simple visual aid to the music. Michael Nesmith says in his book, Infinite Tuesday, that they weren't meant to have much thought or money poured into them. The name of the game was getting a band on stage and recording them, which would then, theoretically, promote more sales. But they evolved, as things tend to do.

Music videos seem absolutely mundane today. A hit single has a music video, and people watch it, and it kind of gets swept under the proverbial carpet and filed away in our collective mind. Sometimes, the really good ones stand out, but more often than not, it's just some thing that's expected. It almost feels ludicrous to think that music accompanied by video wasn't the industry norm.

But in the 1980s, music videos were just becoming valid as a means of expression, and many artists had no idea how to exploit them as an art form. Even Queen did a song supporting the idea that video was killing radio. There were a few who believed that music videos were the way of the future (See again: Michael Nesmith who started down a path that would one day lead to MTV) but to others, they were just a fad, or even something to be resisted.

But in reality, music and video accompanied each other in various forms for years. The first motion pictures themselves were set to music - usually live - because watching a film in silence would have been utterly boring! (Note - artist opinion. I can't cite that, but I stand by my assumption.) Then in the 1960s, the Monkees performed "romps" on their TV show that became the precursor for modern music video. Later, just before MTV came into existence, came "Video Killed the Radio Star."

Since that short foray into music video history is out of the way, it's time to discuss Freddie Mercury.

Of course, Queen did other music videos before "It's a Hard Life." Some were quite artistic, and even Bohemian Rhapsody - which was one of those aforementioned "Promo Videos" - had quite a lot of skill that went into its production. The point is, Freddie seemed to detest the mundane. He wanted something that would make a mark and stand out among everything around him.

In the audio commentary for "It's a Hard Life," Brian May said that the video was a "Freddie indulgence, and we indulged him." He wasn't seeing the endeavor as Freddie did, however. This project was more than an indulgence -- it was a beautiful song, with beautiful lyrics, and there was a real chance to make the video speak just as much as the lyrics themselves. Freddie could recognize the music video medium as a canvas upon which he could paint his ideas. With formal training in fine arts, he knew the importance of symbolism and color in both still art and film, and couldn't fathom why the same principles couldn't be applied to his songs.

The lyrics don't just outright tell the story, though. The song says one thing that the video interprets, but both aren't completely in sync. The visuals are up to interpretation just like any work of art. Freddie had two stories to tell here... Not only the story outlined by the words of the song, but also how he felt about those words. And that's where he managed to unite music and video into a wonderful little four-minute movie.

At the center is the main character. Freddie. His entire life is this room in two parts - an opulent staircase that contains all his life's desires. As the scene expands, his court and other revelers dance around him, enjoying life, while the other players - Brian, Roger, and John - stand off to one side in shadow, interacting with no one.

The room itself is interesting. One side is extremely busy, while there is almost nothing on the other side. The balance is striking and obvious; the stairs and everything within - revelers, a throne, gold banisters, lace curtains, balconies and columns, is meant to represent man's desire. This side of the room is warm and comfortable, populated and eye-catching. It could be heaven, or the Garden of Eden or Valhalla. The other side of the room has nothing except shadow, tile, a few stray revelers, and Death and his angels.

And there's Freddie. The commentary on the video does shed some light onto its meaning. A man who appears to have everything is devastated by the lack of love in his life, which would have made him whole. Ultimately, though, the video is about a man who is so crushed by the lack of love that he makes the decision to kill himself.

Red is used carefully but liberally to highlight passion and desire. Interestingly and importantly, red is also the color of blood - remember that for later - although at the beginning, it is very representative of desire. A red "carpet" leads up the stairs, for example, where brightness waits for anyone who enters. Freddie, as the subject of this metaphor, is also wearing red, and is also covered with eyes that are open and forever searching for what he craves. Passion, romance, deep love, and trust. One one arm, this red costume is starting to unravel as he realizes that what he wants is difficult to obtain. He's begun to believe that it's even impossible for him.

And so we reach our second important color. Blue. Often, the lighting abruptly shifts from red to blue, which is a color of sadness and longing, made even more obvious with the use of heavy shadow. It is weighty and unbearable. Crushing. It destroys everything except Freddie, who is alone when the blue light casts shadows upon everything in the room. There is no more red. No more passion. And only one way out.

He tries to make it work. A red, warm glow flashes onto the party again. But he's getting farther away from the party. He's delving into the emptiness.

Brian - as Death - brazenly walks past him on the stairs, but no one seems to notice save for a passing glance. People wearing slight hints of red rush past Freddie, engrossed in each other but ignoring their host.

Freddie is trying to save himself, but as the screen goes blue again, he knows it's over.

Roger - an angel of hell, and John - an angel of heaven, wander into frame behind Freddie. They are also important in this blue landscape of melancholy and loss. "I try and mend the broken pieces/I try to fight back the tears," Freddie says. "They say it's just a state of mind," he goes on to the sound of a discordant guitar sting, as the angels discuss him, perhaps arguing over his soul after the end has come.

This is the point where the video takes a gloriously subtle shift into darkness. It is a scene of cut time - a view of the past where Freddie was long-haired and in his prime, surrounded by the rich, extravagant life that so many people want. Even back then, his expression is devoid of what one would expect from someone with such a bountiful lifestyle, and the real tragedy is that no one seems to notice or care. They ignore his pain, but are suddenly amused and appreciative when he makes a show of himself. And these scenes are intercut with "present" Freddie, framed in blue and heavily shadowed, at his end.

The angels follow Freddie around as if deciding his fate. Though they are dressed as revelers, they always face away from the other people and interact with no one except each other. They go completely unnoticed by everyone, much like Death, although they have an important role to play. They know what's coming and when - they are even the first to climb the stairs as Death makes himself known.

And while the Garden - or Heaven - or Valhalla - is the goal of nearly everyone at this party, Freddie knows he can't find what he's looking for there. He has the ability to get there, but love is constantly eluding him, and he's come to the conclusion that it always will.

And then Death arrives for Freddie, who has finally given up and ended his own life. Suddenly, the red that appears before him isn't passion, but blood and death. Even so, the decision to commit suicide seems to be a cause for celebration - there is dancing, and the pages are throwing rice as if the day of a royal wedding has arrived. Freddie begins to climb the stairs to take a woman by the hand, only to be stung when she steps on his foot and leaves him in pain. It's not what he wanted. It's not what he hoped for.

And then he notices the angels.

The hall is empty, save for them and Freddie, and the looming visage of Death, who leads Freddie out of the Garden and into the empty hall. The angels take their place at the gates, their stare making it absolutely clear that Freddie has been denied any form of afterlife, and that they are in agreement that he will be alone. He can never go back.

But Freddie has no regrets.

"I'll look back on myself and say 'I did it for love,'" he says, as he offers the first and only smile in the entire video.

He did it for love.

[k-i-l-l-e-r-s-blog1]

Where Oh Where Should We Go On Our Next Vacation?

This is a common question asked online literally hundreds of times a day, in one form or another. Needless to say, the world is huge, and there are literally thousands of cities to visit, so it can be a daunting task to pinpoint just one to vacation to when the time comes to plan one. This also becomes a bit more complicated when you have multiple people traveling together with different wants and needs when traveling. The vacation planner, usually me in my case, will have to consider many things when making the decision, like the nearby attractions and things to do that particular spot and also the weather and eateries. This may be why Florida is usually at the top of the list when this question comes to mind for me.

Florida has something for everyone, literally. Like rides? Theme Parks. Like to eat? Themed restaurants and unique diners. Like Nature? State Parks with springs and nature hikes. Like to lounge? The Beach and countless pools. You see? Everyone has something to look forward to doing when going to the Sunshine State. Yeah, they get hurricanes, but those are easy to plan around. Every place in the US has something quirky or irksome to watch out for, California has fires and earthquakes, Vegas has swarms of grasshoppers, the midwest gets tornadoes and floods, and so on and so forth. Anyway, Orlando being the main attraction in Florida is centrally located, and since it’s not on the coast isn’t usually hit too bad by hurricanes.

Well, it’s that time again for me and I was thinking if not Florida, then where? My first thought was Mexico. The kids have been bugging us to take them on an international trip ever since we went and got their passports. I figured we’d take them somewhere, sometime, out of the country, but never got around to actually planning it. It’s better to be prepared with the passports in case we got some spare time off and wanted to do a spontaneous trip. Well, guess who’s got the next 8 days off?! Me. And who’s asking for time off at their job, too? My husband.

So, we were thinking Cancun. It seems to be a great starter location when traveling abroad. The weather seems as if it’ll be hot and sunny during the stay and there’s plenty of activities to enjoy, like Xcaret and Xel Ha. Not to mention the old, historical Mayan Pyramids. I mean it’s kind of like Florida in the way that the weather will be nice and plenty of stuff to do at the resort and nearby.

I also already found great airfare. I’m guessing since the summer is over and the kids are back to school the rates have gone down significantly. It’s only like $150 per person when usually it’s over twice that much. Then, when I was looking for a place to stay, we came across some really good timeshare deals that included meals and drinks. The resort promotions on the Stay Promo site looked amazing and I saw that it was a lengthy stay (4 nights) for under $1,000. The pieces just kind of came together and it seems to be pointing to Cancun as the next vacation destination for me and my family. We still need to do a little bit more research and make sure my husband can get these short notice dates off, too. Then we will need to decide if we want the kids to miss a couple of days of school (I mean, they all maintain A’s and B’s, so I doubt they’d miss much or get behind for just a couple of days). I know we have to move quick though, these days off will go fast especially with the first and last days already taken up by travel and packing.

I know one thing for sure, the kids would be Stoked, with a capital S. I mean, they don’t even know that we’ve got this extra time off. I’ve just been quietly lounging at home on my laptop computer, researching different options all day and texting with my husband to get his input on it. Not even one of them has asked me what I’m doing, so they’re obviously oblivious to the plan I’m trying to put together for us. I mean, if we are able to do this, spend a week or so in Cancun, with meals and drinks included for the whole family, for under a couple thousand dollars, we should definitely do it. Who knows when we will get another chance? The kids are getting older and will eventually leave the house and get busy with college, and then we may have missed the opportunity, if we don’t do it now.

Now, I know that sounds dramatic, but it seems like time flies when you’re stuck in a day to day life. The mundane routine, wake up, shower, go to work, come home, go to bed, wake up, shower, etc...and so on. It’s a really vicious cycle and sometimes you just need to shake things up. Stir the pot. Really go out and experience new things and it’s all better when you’re with the ones you love. Memories are priceless, and if you don’t take full advantage of it when you have the time to, when will you? I might wake up tomorrow to discover that I’m 90 years old and have never seen the beautiful cenotes of Cancun. How dramatic, but how true?! Anyway, I’m sure you get my point. It seems like I’ve found our next vacation destination.

I have about 20 tabs worth of deals I found up to show my husband when he gets home from work. And I’m fairly confident that by this time tomorrow we’ll all be packed and ready for a few fun days in Cancun. Now I will just need to spend tomorrow making last minute purchases at Walmart of things we’ll need to bring with us and putting together a list of fun activities and sights to see while we’re visiting.

First thing on the list: Beachfront Daiquiri with my husband.

[tazusher-blog]

Making your Mark online

Empowered by the WWW, social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are home to a hubbub of social activity, interaction, and the kindling and (re-kindling) of relationships. Social networks allow us to maintain considerably more friendships than we would ever be able to manage in the off-line world. They allow us to create strong ties with people we have history with by interacting with them at the click of a button. At the same time, we establish weak ties with those who we share mutual friends, interests or even the same obsession for a celebrity with. These weaker, less intimate relationships, form the online communities that we engage with.

In the last five years or so, social networks have evolved into a platform on which not only social relationships can thrive, but business relationships can too. Such interactions are often seen in the form of digital adverts on our Facebook news feeds or company pages designed exclusively for engagement between businesses and their existing and potential customers.

Instagram, on the other hand, gives businesses a slightly different approach to their sales’ strategy. The major difference being their use of public figures and celebrities to do the selling for them. For example, you might recall Calvin Klein’s use of Justin Bieber and David Beckham to flaunt their undies, or the wave of online clothes shopping and teeth whitening adverts that flooded the accounts of Love Island contestants following their departure from the show.

2017 Love Island contestant’s, Jess, paid promotion for teeth whitening brand.

Additionally, more and more companies are now beginning to turn to Influensters for help with their sales. One example is female clothing Brand, Boux Avenue who run an annual student ambassador scheme. A scheme which I am lucky enough to be part of this year! Female university students can apply to participate in the scheme by submitting an application via their Instagram accounts. Those chosen to be ambassadors then work closely with Boux Avenue throughout the year; working hard to promote the company and their values through social media posts, blog entries, and attendance to launch events. in return, ambassadors receive multiple new additions to their wardrobes and the chance to win some worthwhile prizes (including £5000 paid of of their tuition fees!). I really enjoy the scheme; mainly due to the online community which I have become a part of. Members of this community include other ambassadors, members of the company’s management team, and Boux Avenue’s customers.

Here’s a few of the members of my online community.

I definitely wouldn’t call myself an Influenster, as being one requires a lot of devoted time to building such an online presence. However, being a part of the scheme has definitely given me a platform on which to build my self-brand. This was especially influenced by Boux Avenue’s inclusive ethos and endorsement of self-confidence of women. A theme which is especially in keeping with my personal blog’s core values of positivity and having a bright insight to life. You can read my blog here:

https://tazusher.wixsite.com/tjubrightinsight

Who are Influensters and what do they do?

Influensters are social media users who influence the way that others think, act or feel. The best Influensters do so in a creative and empowering way; addressing topics ranging from fashion, to travel, to self love. They do so in a way that is unique to them, and by creating their self-brand.

Self-branding. Where to start?

Establishing a self-brand is a gradual and challenging process. Although we are all unique in the offline world, the tricky job that Influensters face is to translate their personality, values, and interested into one which stands out online. Most importantly, they must occupy a style, insight or knowledge which is beneficial and of interest to their followers. Characteristics defined by author Malcolm Gladwell as belonging to internet users called ‘Mavens’. 

To explain exactly where you might start when it comes to creating your self brand, I’ve created this short animation. 

8 Steps to creating a Self Brand:

But where do we draw the line between self-branding and money making?

It’s a tricky one to call. So often nowadays you will see Influensters using their successful digital platforms to promote businesses in exchange for money. Yes, in some cases this means that they can rely on their pristine Instagram feeds as their main source of income, but for their followers who might be expecting something a bit more unique, the abundance of adverts and promo posts on our news feeds can become a bit mundane. Equally, such content has been said to be misleading. It is occasionally confusing whether celebrities and Influensters were promoting brands for business reasons, or if they have a genuine love for a certain hair product or weight loss tea. 

This is where #Ad steps in. As of this year, the requirement for Influensters to include #Ad in their posts has become much stricter. Personally, I think it’s a good idea for Influensters to remind their followers whether what they’re posting has a business incentive behind it or not. After all, the success of their digital platform (enabling them to form such partnerships) is something for them to be proud of. However, ensuring that their followers have an honest impression of them should be a top priority too. 

References:

Gladwell, M. (2000). The tipping point: How little things can make a big difference. New York: Little Brown. 

The Soapy Group (2018). Retrieved from: https://thesoapygroup.co.uk/facebook-advertising/

[chaosbcrne]

😤✍⌘

munday asks

😤 : Worse role play-related encounter and what advice you would give to others to avoid similar situations?

honestly any time i’ve written something for people who clearly like roleplaying more in theory than in practice. people who like making blogs more than actually writing, you know ? people who make nice graphics, icons, always have fancy tag drops, promos, hcs, starter calls, but no actual writing on their blogs, or very little of it anyway (usually just answered asks or starters to thread they don’t keep up with past one reply). it’s just, so disheartening to get involved with people who seem so serious but who do everything but actually write.

my only advice to people who want to avoid that is to pay attention to the people they want to write with before starting to interact. if the person is always blog-hopping, promoting their other muses, asking for asks when they have plenty of drafts, and/or reblogging their starter call without ever writing any actual starter, those are pretty explicit signs that you might never get actual content from starting something with them

✍ : Offer 3-5 tips on how to get other role players started on interacting with your muse.

oof um lets see here

don’t take it personally if he doesn’t like your muse/is rude to them/etc. he never likes anyone at first and i don’t think there’s ever gonna be an exception

definitely don’t change/downplay your muse’s personality traits to cater to his bad mood/try to get him to like your muse/etc.

honestly i can’t really think of anything besides that general idea like, don’t be intimidated. not your muse, i mean, your muse has every reason to be intimidated, but you, the mun, don’t be discouraged from his bad attitude

if that wasn’t obvious enough, definitely don’t get involved if you want a solid friendship from the get-go, that’s not gonna happen. in fact, don’t get involved if you absolutely necessarily want something positive because i really can’t guarantee that with this guy

⌘ : Where do you get some of your inspirations for plots/head canons? Offer an example, if possible.

admittedly i think a lot of the more ‘mundane’ ones are just me self-projecting. for example, just earlier today i was telling a friend that i imagine shadow’s chest fur grows out around his neck in winter because i know that running in cold weather make your throat freeze and it’s really hard to breathe. a good portion of why he uses the air shoes i came up with due to my own issues with running. one of the more wholesome threads i had here recently happened because i’d eaten too many cookies

otherwise i mean i don’t really know i listen to music a lot ? it can help a ton when you’re looking for the right mood or vibe you want to run with, and sometimes you can come up with an idea just from imagining something around certain lyrics. i’ve always had a lot of imagination though so like… there’s not really a specific recipe i think you just gotta do what works for you

[oneslyfuhsaz]

The Problems with Louis’ previous promo campaigns

As I sit here and ponder what 2019 will bring for Louis Tomlinson, I couldn’t stop thinking about the “things” which will undoubtedly hurt the promotion and marketing of LT1. Over the last few months (since joining Tumblr), I have seen more than my fair share of failed attempts at promotion and marketing of Louis as a serious artist.  There are several issues I had with his campaign from 2016-mid 2018:

1.       No clear goal: Every promotional campaign needs to have a clearly defined goal.  Unless Louis’ teams goal was to drive home he was a heterosexual, with a child and a girlfriend, his team implicitly failed him.

2.       Poorly constructed interviews/questions:  I believe personal questions dominated most of the time allotted to Louis’ interviews and that was a shame.  Now, I realize some of this falls into the hands of the interviewer, but Louis’ team could have read through the questions a head of time.  If the team knew what types of questions would be asked, then shame on them for not doing their due diligence and maintaining a professional atmosphere for their artist.  Most of the interviews I saw or read were focused on information which really had no bearing on his music.  The best interview was from the Guardian by Tom Lamont in June of 2017.  The worst, I can’t pick because there are so many of them. The two which instantly come to mind are the Dan Wootton ‘obviously’ interview and the interview where they brought out a cake for Freddie’s birthday because that had something to do with his song “Just Hold On”.

3.       Press Release Pointer sheets:  These, although useful if done correctly, have been so mundane, rehashed, and basically written by what appears to be a third grader; need to go.  Disseminating information to the press in easy to read pointer sheets has its benefits and can be a pivotal component for an artist.  I have written press releases in the past using pointer sheets (and other things), and it really makes the job easy.  However, the way they have been used and what appears to be on them…career ending.

4.       “Pap” walks and pictures:  Two words to describe these:  ridiculous and meaningless.  I am unsure as to how paps help Louis as they again have no true bearing on Louis the artist or his music itself.  

5.       Louis’ Twitter/internet presence:  If this has been something his past Promotional team has felt was beneficial and encouraged the activity, let’s hope his new team has reigned him in. (Zayn cough cough).  For those who don’t have social media, there is nothing connecting them with Louis and his music.  One of the reasons I joined Tumblr and twitter is to get access to news as it happens, and affords me the opportunity to sift out the nonsense which is published about him in internet articles.  His web page is atrocious and hasn’t been updated in like forever.  

6.       Louis appearing to be uninterested:   has bothered me since 2014. Louis really has this nonchalant, could careless aura sometimes when he gave interviews.  While in 1D, he would goof around, act immature at times, and demonstrate complete disinterest in the interview and interviewer, and I feel it has greatly impacted his current situation with the press (I feel it was warranted in some of the interviews like the Yahoo one with the book).  Unfortunately, I believe his behavior during this time is influencing who will interview him, how serious they take him, and what magazines will publish him.  I also feel strongly about how he handled himself while appearing on the X Factor, mainly his physical appearance.  I noticed most of the negative comments were how Louis dressed, and how unprofessional it was for him to come out in basically his sweats and t-shirt.  I believe his new management messed up on this aspect in allowing him this freedom.  Personally, I could care less what he wore, and I love athletic leisure, but I don’t think it left a good impression with some of the potential new fans, and ultimately the effect is/was negative on his persona.  I feel this will be the most difficult aspect his promotion campaign will need to deal with.  

7.       Limitations on his audience:  Target market is to narrow, and some of his more popular songs being labeled explicit.

I realize Louis has recently (July 2018) signed with WMA, and I don’t know how much input the agency has into the promotional component of Louis campaign, but I will be including them anyway in my next post.  It is unfair to completely blame them for the past (or lack thereof) campaign, however, if they have any involvement in the direction of Louis’ career maybe they will be able to change the narrative.  Louis also signed with new managers, Matt Vines and Mark Gillespie, and I have already seen some changes.  

My next post, I will be giving my two cents as to how these issues can be addressed.