#Detroit-Specific Hashtags

[freshthoughts2020]

[willow-does-stuff]

INTRO POST!!!

hiya! welcome to whatever this is!!

♡ i am very much new to this site, i don’t really know what i’m doing soooo bear with me please 😭😭

♡ don’t be surprised if this post gets edited a lot. i’m the most indecisive person i know 😰 + my hyperfixations and content might change and such

links!!!!

have you done your click today??

please check out my pronouns.cc!

♡ you can call me willow :>

♡ other names are lunar, luna, and melody (in order of most to least used) if you want those :)

♡ i mostly use all pronouns, em/fae are usually pretty safe bets. if you want more specifics ask!! i’m genderfluid so who fucking knows lol

♡ i wont be sharing my real age on here, but i am a minor!!

♡ i am lesbian and genderfluid, and very fem leaning :>

♡ my mental health stuff is a mess, but as of now i can safely say i have ADHD (or at least ADD), anxiety and depression. however, autism and ocd are a big maybe???? idk

what do i even post ????

♡ here are some of my interests (idk what classifies a special intrest?) those bolded are the ones i’ll probably reblog/post the most about!

steven universe

sally face

gravity falls

undertale

deltarune

doki doki literature club

class of 09

detroit: become human

yandere simulator (I DO NOT SUPPORT THE DEV PLEASE SPARE ME)

stardew valley

fnaf

what remains of edith finch

animal crossing

titanic!!!

six

ride the cyclone

hamilton

heathers

taylor swift

chappell roan

♡ to be a bit more broad, here’s the kind of content i might post

art

au

random analysis/thoughts

general fandom-ness

yapping

♡ ALSO! i’m planning on posting some stuff about an au i’m making ! it’s sally face + ddlc related !! i’m probably going to make a separate blog + hashtag for it for both of our conveniences. i’ll keep y’all posted if you’re interested!!!!

quick DNI/boundaries

♡ PLEASE keep nsfw and similar off my page!! do not send asks about it, don’t reblog/comment about it, just please keep it away T_T

♡ i have pretty bad entomophobia + arachnophobia (fear of insects + spiders), so i’d prefer if you didn’t bring up/talk about those topics on my page really heavily as it usually leads to some bad intrusive thoughts :( also no pictures of bugs please unless they’re heavily cartoony or whatever tyyyy

♡ really just don’t be rude to me or anyone here. you’re allowed to dislike or hate me or my interests, but you are NOT allowed to harass me or anyone else about it. please don’t publicly hate on my art, content, or interests on my page. if you don’t like my content, scroll or block me. i promise i won’t be offended!!

♡ i don’t have much of a DNI, it’s really just basic stuff. don’t be a bad person and don’t be a jerk and we’re all good!

♡ just know that i will not hesitate to block anyone who makes me uncomfortable or is rude.

♡ that’s… all i can think of to put! tysm for reading, i know it gets kinda long. if you have similar interests as me, feel free to follow!! byeeeee!!!

*all pics are from pinterest*

[perfectimpressions]

Event Promotion with Custom Banners in Farmington Hills and Royal Oak, MI: Guide to Success

In the vibrant city of Royal Oak, Michigan, where community events and business activities thrive, the role of effective event promotion cannot be overstated. Custom banners in Farmington Hills and Royal Oak, MI, emerge as powerful tools for businesses and event organizers looking to make a lasting impact and draw attention to their events, whether it's a grand opening, a festival, or a community gathering.    1. Grand Openings That Demand Attention:   Custom banners play a pivotal role in announcing grand openings. Whether it's a new business, a store, or a restaurant, a vibrant and well-designed banner strategically placed at the entrance creates excitement and curiosity among passersby in Royal Oak.   2. Festive Flair for Community Events:   Royal Oak is known for its lively community events; custom banners contribute to the festive atmosphere. Event organizers can use banners to announce upcoming festivals, parades, or outdoor concerts, adding color and flair to the city's streets.   3. Tailored Messaging for Targeted Audiences:   Custom banners allow businesses and event organizers in Royal Oak to tailor their messaging to specific audiences. Whether it's a family-friendly event, a food festival, or an art exhibition, the banner's design and content can be customized to resonate with the intended demographic.   4. Reinforcing Brand Identity:   Businesses hosting events can reinforce their brand identity through custom banners. Consistent use of brand colors, logos, and taglines helps in building brand recognition among Royal Oak residents, fostering a sense of familiarity and trust.   5. Maximizing Visibility in Strategic Locations:   Location matters when it comes to banner placement. Businesses can strategically position custom banners and sign installations in Detroit and Farmington Hills, MI, in high-traffic areas, near famous landmarks, or at the entrance of event venues to maximize visibility and reach a broader audience.   6. Engaging Designs That Tell a Story:   An engaging and visually appealing banner design tells a story and captures attention. Incorporating images, vibrant colors, and concise yet impactful messaging creates a memorable impression, making it more likely that residents in Royal Oak will take note of the event.   7. Informative and Clear Call-to-Action:   Custom banners serve as informative signposts. Including essential details such as event dates, times, locations, and a clear call-to-action encourages Royal Oak residents to mark their calendars and participate in the upcoming event.   8. Utilizing Social Media Integration:   In today's digital age, custom banners can be designed with social media integration in mind. Including event hashtags, social media handles, and QR codes allows residents in Royal Oak to connect with and share information about the event online easily.   9. Versatility for Various Events:   Custom banners are versatile and can be used for various events, from business promotions to cultural festivals. This adaptability makes them an invaluable tool for event organizers and businesses aiming to connect with the diverse community in Royal Oak.   10. Sustainable Choices for an Eco-Friendly Royal Oak:   Businesses in Royal Oak can align their event promotions with the city's sustainability values by choosing eco-friendly banner materials and printing methods, showcasing a commitment to environmental responsibility.   Custom banners offer a dynamic and visually impactful way to promote events in Royal Oak. By understanding the city's unique characteristics and its vibrant community, businesses, and event organizers can leverage custom banners to create buzz, engage residents, and ensure the success of their events in this lively Michigan city.   

[workingforitallthetime]

pre-med student forgets his sleeves

[jamesvanriemsdyk]

Best GMs and coaches in the league ACC to you?

we can start with gms because coaching is a bit more complicated. best gms in the league is easy to look at because like, who has a good team? who has had a consistently good team? whose locker room is the most cohesive, whose coaching staff is the best? who is the best at acquiring and keeping the best players, coaches, staff, etc? and you can see that in the way teams play. 

(putting this under the cut because it got long. and i mean Long.)

so, in no particular order: kyle dubas (leafs), steve yzerman (red wings, i will explain this later), don waddell (canes), julien brisebois (lightning), joe sakic (avs), and kelly mccrimmon/george mcphee (golden knights) (god i still hate that name and also will explain this later too) are the best in the league in my opinion. honorable mention to marc bergevin, who has held onto his job much longer than he arguably should have, but still has a decent team on the ice and a decent coaching staff, although the french rule does severely handicap them (i understand why it exists but it does, it just does). 

david poile (preds) is the longest tenured gm in the league (has been the preds gm since fucking 1997, thats insane, thats legit before i was born, what the fuck), and i do genuinely think he is very good at his job, and that he is very hockey smart, but oh boy have his recent decisions been suspect as hell, and that reflects in the state of his team. doug wilson (sharks), who is the second longest tenured gm in the nhl, is in the exact same boat (the karlsson deal is a nightmare, and also did he just forget that his star core was gonna get old and retire or ??).

with dubas, waddell, brisebois, sakic, and mccrimmon/mcphee all have the same basic strengths: they draft well, they have a fundamental understanding of their team structure and how to manage public perception of the team and everything that implies, and they have two fingers on the pulse of their locker room at all times. im not going to pretend to know as much about sakic and mccrimmon/mcphee as i do the eastern gms, but it doesnt take much to figure it out. look at the avs, and their locker room, the success theyve found after being dead fucking last in the league. look at the knights and their incredible success that theyve found after literally not existing before 2017. ive talked about dubas a lot on my blog, but its incredibly easy to see that waddell and brisebois do the same shit he does, and i can do a deep dive on them if asked. bergevin has moments of brilliance, like the suzuki trade and acquiring caufield and anderson, but things like kotkaniemi’s development and their entire blue line give me a massive pause, which is why he’s not in the main list. he’s a good gm. he’s just not the best.

in regards to steve yzerman: you have to understand that this is the man that built the tampa bay lightning as we know them. this man was gm of the bolts until fucking 2018. tampa bay has been a monster in the eastern conference for years, BECAUSE of the work steve yzerman put in. his team set the franchise record for wins, and he was the first and is the only lightning gm to have won gm of the year. look up the 17-18 roster. it is, essentially, the roster that won them the cup last year. make no mistake, i think brisebois is great, and hes on the list for a reason, but the biggest part of brisebois’ success was steve yzerman’s incredible hockey mind. brisebois essentially had to sell off a fourth of his roster, and the lightning are still a top team in their division and in the league, and thats why he’s there (it is so incredibly easy to fuck shit up post cup win), but the brisebois lightning would not exist without steve yzerman, plain and simple.

what steve yzerman is doing in detroit should be watched very, very closely by every single person in the hockey world. youre fucking nuts if youre not paying attention to them, not gonna lie. the mantha trade was excellent, if really sad if you know even a bit about the wings, but the amount of draft picks steve yzerman has amassed and the way he’s using the prospects and players he already has is really fucking admirable. mike babcock left the red wings organization absolutely in tatters, and i think, honestly, it was always steve yzerman’s plan to go home to detroit and rebuild. if there is anyone who is going to strike absolute gold this draft year, it is steve yzerman. watch the red wings, i am telling you, keep a beat on detroit. they are going to be good. its not an if, its a when.

(real quick on the knights situation: mcphee was the first gm of the knights, and was also president of hockey ops at the same time, and then in 2019 mcphee said he was just gonna focus on his job as president, but we all know hes still an integral part of the way the knights are run, and he and mccrimmon have kinda been building the knight together since the beginning anyway bc mccrimmon was originally mcphee’s agm. so. thats why theyre together)

as for coaches, it’s very simple. rod brind’amour (canes), sheldon keefe (leafs, yes im biased, we’ll get into it), jared bednar (avs), joel quenneville (panthers), jon cooper (lightning), barry trotz (isles), and mike sullivan (pens).

(disclaimer: obviously coaching is done as a team, and assistants and specialist coaches and staff are all very important, but the head coaches set the tone and organize the entire machine, if you will, so im going to be talking about head coaches as if theyre the entire coaching staff. its just easier this way im sorry)

im gonna just start with the easy ones: barry trotz, mike sullivan, and jon cooper have been in the league for years. cooper is the longest tenured coach in the nhl for a reason (again, just look at the tampa bay lightning. its the gm’s job to make the coach’s life easier and the coach’s job to make the gm’s life easier, and this is one of the prime examples of it in the league. its dope as hell tbh), trotz is one of the most respected coaches in the hockey world for a reason (the caps lost something when he walked. they just did. and now the isles are absolute hell to play against and that is largely the coaching of barry trotz, you legit cannot tell me im wrong), and while mike sullivan does have his faults, i think hes found a way to please both management and the crosby-and-malkin unit, which has been really really fucking hard to do. he also led the pens to back to back cups, which you can never really uh. ignore. lmao. so theres those three.

i know less about bednar, but again, another example of the coach and gm working together to make each others’ lives easier. sakic gets bednar the players and staff he needs to make the avs better, and bednar takes those players and staff and makes them into the absolute giant they are. it wouldve been really, really easy to fuck up makar’s development, or bowen byram’s, or sam girard’s, or ryan graves’s, or jost or mackinnon or rantanen’s, but he hasn’t, and he hasn’t just given up on players like burakovsky or kadri, he’s given them new life as players and made them more successful.

joel quenneville is the reason the bl/ckh/wks were a legacy team point blank period. sure they had the talent, sure the gm drafted well, but you do not get the legacy of the chicago bl/ckh/wks without joel quenneville. they fired him on a whim and it absolutely was a mistake, and the moment the cats hired him i literally out loud said ‘oh no’ because i knew exactly what that meant for the leafs and their position in the standings. the panthers are underrated generally, yes, but they would not be the powerhouse they are this season without quenneville. just look at q’s wiki stats. he’s absolutely unbeilevable. he won the jack adams in fucking 2000, before he’d even won any of the cups with the h/wks. i cant tell you what kind of a locker room coach this guy is, but i can tell you his teams win and win convincingly, and that firing him was the biggest mistake the h/wks have made in years.

whenever i talk about coaching, i talk about rod brindamour and sheldon keefe in the same breath every single time because there is no match, and i mean none, for the love inside those locker rooms. the avs, maybe, but my point stands. keefe and brindamour fucking BLEED team spirit, it is at the center of their coaching styles and their teams are good because of it specifically. marner and matthews are good, yes, and they always have been, but they have surpassed all expectation and then some with keefe. aho, teravainen, and svechnikov are good, yes, and they always have been, but they have surpassed all expectation with brindamour. brindamour and keefe have both hashtag played the game, so they Get It, and more than that, theyve grown and changed their understanding of the game as the game itself has changed, and so they can command the authority of their teams while also connecting to them on a really deep level. i should make a note here that keefe and brindamour are incredibly, deeply hockey smart, and that they are also just technically good coaches, skimming their wiki or nhl dot com articles will tell you that, but what makes them stand out to me is that their players would fucking die for them. the leafs would go through the end boards for keefe, the canes would do the same for brindamour. travis dermott said it best when keefe got promoted: boys wanna play for him. beyond that, the management skills both brindamour and keefe have are just frankly amazing (the amount of ego keefe specifically has to manage in the leafs locker room is astounding and he does it so incredibly brilliantly). the leafs and the canes are talented, yes, and would have been talented regardless of who was coaching them. but brindamour and keefe bring both of those teams from talented to exceptional, and the true mark of an amazing coach is not only how many games their team wins, but how they win them, and the leafs and canes have been winning games this year for and because of each other, and that starts with their coaches. what makes a great coach, to me, is not the talent on the team (though that certainly helps), but how the coach manages his players no matter who they are, and how he helps those players grow not just as players as people, because no matter how much pure stats people and twitter hockey dudebros wanna deny it, that shit does affect on ice play, and it does make good players better.

so theres my analysis of the best coaches and gms of the nhl, im so sorry this is so long, oh my god. also, shoutout to @bishops--knifetrick for sending me an ask about this literally a month ago that i just never answered, sorry for that, but here i hope this is good. :)

[fredfilmsblog]

An interview with Ron Haywood Jones.

Ron Haywood Jones is the fantastic artist who did the painting for this year’s New Year’s poster. We’ve known each other for many years, having first met at his pre-pandemic spot on Manhattan’s Prince Street, right off Broadway. But for all the years we’ve chatted I didn’t know all that much about his background, so I thought I use the poster painting as an excuse to dig in deeper. We conducted the interview over text, perfect of our times.

I started collecting some of Ron’s work (embedded below) and even commissioned him for the candy company I had for a quick minute. But, I cannot for the life of me figure out what took me so long to ask him to work on one of my posters. Ah well, stupid me.

Photo of Ron Haywood Jones by Gilly Youner via Flickr October 22, 2010

Born and raised in Michigan, Ron attended college at Parson’s School of Design. He graduated with his BFA and went on to start careers in ad agencies and textile design studios. The influence of textile design is apparent in his artwork through the bright colors, repeated symbols, and textures. He is presently working on a series of artworks that have “an ongoing theme of past individualization of people from Africa, and past social movements circa the 1960’s and current urban issues” Jones remarks “ my work is like some kind of urban Guernica.”

You can follow Ron at Instagram here. 

.....

FS: Where'd you grow up?

RHJ: Hey Fred. I grew up in both Detroit (born) and Highland Park Michigan.We moved to the burbs in the fall of the 1968 after the riot in April.

FS: When did you know you were going to be an artist? Did you ever think of doing anything else?

RHJ: I split my time between playing sports and art. I was a creative kid. I was always drawing and making things like building go carts. My childhood friend’s father’s had a small storewhere we  printed and sold comics of our own superheroes.I still have my sketch book from 1974(14 then) and the letter from Marvel Comics! I sent them work and they like it but said it needed time to develop. My folks were super supportive always so that was a big plus.

FS: Did your family think you were crazy to become a "fine artist?"

RHJ: They didn’t think I was going in the wrong direction because I showed some talent early.Very serious art boy! 😂

FS: I first ran into you on Prince Street selling your art about 20 years ago. How did that come about, how long have you been out there?

RHJ: I started selling in Soho around 1998 (full time). In 94 -95 I was laid off or canned!! from a textile design studio job.

That summer I freelanced a bit and started making African inspired sculptures out of found metals which I still make. At one point I had a display of all sculptures. I wanted to get more painting in so what I sold on the street changed. I started making more paintings and less sculptures. The sculptures are these hand made industrial urban creations and the paintings reflect the sculptures.

From Ron’s Instagram...

FS: Your work often has explicit signals that you're a Black American, it's one of the first things I noticed and liked. I particularly like following you Insta hashtag #afrostract.

RHJ: The paintings are about the black experience in America. They are in tune with what’s going on now with BLM. So , I was a bit early. What the heck!

From my collection...

FS: At a gallery site where you showed, they mentioned that your use of collage had something to do with your past work in textiles. Is that it?

RHJ: There was some collage thinking as a way for making art in my textile days and in my illustration work. Going forward I’m doing digital collages for ideas and inspiration for future paintings.

Exhibition at Detour Gallery, Red Bank, NJ, July 15 – August 12, 2017

FS: What's the difference between showing in a gallery and the work you sell in Soho on Prince Street?

RHJ: The paintings on the street are not as large as the gallery work also the gallery paintings are somewhat more developed and may have realistic elements.

FS: You seem very influenced by popular culture. What else? (We both love robots, I know that!)

RHJ: Pop culture yes! SciFi  , black culture , futurism  graphic design and the different schools of making paintings. 

From my collection...

FS: Red and blue seem like key colors for you. Does that come from anywhere in particular?

RHJ: I think the 4-5 years  working at the textile design studio influenced my since of color use somewhat. It was a kid driven studio as far as bright color schemes.

Photo and illustration from a “Black Lives To The Front” showing @ the US Open

FS: I've been noticing your use of self portraiture. What's that about?

RHJ: Yes , I use myself as a model sometimes.If I’m doing a painting where I don’t have to be specific I’ll use myself and alter the features a bit.  

FS: Thanks Ron! And thanks for a great painting for our 2021 poster.

[findafriend]

Help me through quarantine-related boredom!

Hello lovely people! I'm Violet, 22 and from Germany (time zone: GMT+1)! Due to the recent quarantine I'm stuck at home with nothing to do so I'm looking for an internet buddy to talk to during the day!

Specifically, I am looking for someone to voice chat with, either on Discord, Skype or What'sApp. I can talk about pretty much any topic and I tend to be really talkative once we get to know each other.

A little about me, so you know if you want to get to know me: I absolutely love learning foreign languages, it's my biggest hobby and I've been studying a lot since the begin of the quarantine. I'm a university student but I work as well (although both my uni and place of work have shut down). I read and write a lot (mostly fanfiction, but also non-fiction and classical literature), love watching YouTube and some TV shows and enjoy travelling and hiking (neither of which are doable at the moment, haha). I also love to cook and bake and like going to the theatre/opera.

Apart from foreign languages I'm also interested in biology, history, linguistics, philosophy and psychology.

I have a ton of fandoms so I won't list all of them, but some of them are: Harry Potter, Detroit: Become Human, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Supernatural, Merlin, DC/Batman and more! I love talking about them!

I also have a dog <33 

I would love to learn every single language in existence but I already fail at speaking my native language. I can still help if you are learning German or if you're learning a different language we could motivate each other to study more?

I would absolutely love to find someone I could have a genuine connection with (soe we can skip that awkward initial stage in friendships).

I'm really super chill so don't feel any pressure if you can't talk for a while!

You can contact me either here on tumblr or on Discord (hatshepsut [hashtag]2330). My tumblr is empty but I promise I will still reply :)

Please only contact me if you are also female! Stay safe & healthy everyone!

[postmailgo-blog]

Summertime saga android

Vince Staples may be guaranteeing the 50th and last spot on our rundown however that is in no way, shape or form a diss to his ability on the mic. Hailing from Long Beach, California, Staples grasps everything that makes West Coast hip-bounce so incredible, with the exception of he includes his very own special bend. Post on top On his collection Summertime '06, Staples raps over twisted, rough beats while bringing a blend of repressed and high vitality streams to the table. Joined with his conspicuous rhythm, Staples consistently comes through with a genuinely imaginative stream that will make them rap alongside him to each tune.

On collections like Big Fish Theory and FM, Staples effectively tested himself, and carried significantly more experimentation and raps with an energetic extravagance that is both invigorating and appealing. Post on top  It's practically difficult to not sway your head along to his tracks and vibe to each and every syllable originating from his mouth. Plainly Staples is in his very own class among his companions and still has a lot of space for development as he advances all through his vocation.

Smino has such huge numbers of spots left to go, however he has just demonstrated that he'll never come up short on thoughts to fuel him on his adventure. Post on top  There's a fun loving nature to his verses that is similarly reflected by they way he passes on them. He plays with expression, speed, and articulation like any expression is the most accommodating type of putty. His negligence for the shows of the English language is well-noted and he gains acclaim for his request that all words be as capable as his vocal exhibitions. In the present age of the melodic rapper, groveling over a craftsman who is equipped for shifting back and forth among rapping AND singing could affect eye-rolling. Yet, Smino does it with a capability that hazy spots the line between the two, so no one can tell where you stand. He continues upgrading the diagram.

Of all the "new-school" rappers, Detroit symbol Big Sean is one of the felines with the most debilitated stream. Post on top  It feels like anything he spits comes easily off his tongue and keeping in mind that he used to acquire analysis for hopping strange on occasion, the most recent couple of years have demonstrated the Don get significantly more predictable in his rhyming examples. Nowadays, every melody he drops merits a tune in and you definitely realize he'll be turning his words in a unique manner.

The way Sean places accentuation on specific words addresses his innovativeness and receptiveness to investigate streams that have not been asserted previously. Post on top  Without a doubt, he may not be as significant as an Andre 3000 or a Lil Wayne however Big Sean consistently comes through with what must be alluded to as his "trademark" stream, and is commonly known for advancing the Hashtag Flow. For proof, simply look at "All Your Fault" with Kanye West. The subsequent stanza is illustrative of what Sean is prepared to do.

[firstofall-howdareyou]

Fyi I know everyone is starting with Twitter hashtags, which are great and help gather a movement and a collective voice

But if you are interested in reaching out to media in Detroit who you feel could cover this

—and if you don’t know the Larry Nassar story started because Rachael Denhollander emailed a reporter at the Indy Star after they wrote a story about USAG investigating coaches abusing gymnasts—

These would be my suggestions for Detroit local media this week:

Every media outlet has a generic “news tips” email that can be found on their website. Sometimes they are buried. But they are read daily. They can be called releases@xyz.com or news@xyz.com

Make the subject line as clear as possible

Make the first line as attention grabbing as possible

Link to the good work that’s already been done (USA Today articles, NYTimes articles)

The two organizations I would go for would be the NBC affliate because it would be covering the US Nationals and the Detroit Free Press because lucky us, it’s a USA Today network paper. If USA Today is already backing Christine Brennan’s work, it would be more likely to pick up this story and run it nationally.

If anyone has specific questions on how to do this, dm me!

[artsybanchou]

OOf. I gots another AU, everyone. Sorry.

Technically, I’ve got another roughly seven or so because Detroit: Become Human is just begging for crossover AUs with other fandoms. This one is a Merlin: Become Human AU. Some info is in the really quick doodles I did above. The rest will be below the cut so I don’t clutter people’s dashes.

HOO Boi, you fool! Clicking on that keep reading link, welcome to my hell. My brain won’t stop churning these out and apparently you want in on that. I’ll hit you with what I’ve been thinking about regarding this so far. I welcome discussion. If you’ve got ideas relating to this or want to participate with me, go ham in the comments or make your own post and just tag me or use Merlin:Become Human AU in the tags so I can see how you’ve expanded on it! 

General Premise:

Merlin is an android (not sent by Cyberlife). He’s actually an independent prototype, unlicensed and unregistered, created by a disgruntled former Cyberlife employee (Gaius) who felt that Androids and their AI had reached a point that they should be recognized as an intelligent species with their own rights. Cyberlife disagreed and Gaius left the company because of what he perceived as their immorality. Gaius, now working on his own in the middle of nowhere with no oversight, makes the one of a kind Merlin. Merlin is designed to look and act incredibly human, even moreso than most androids. His programming, in particular, is designed to heavily encourage deviation and machine learning in the hopes that Merlin will advance so far beyond his original coding that he is virtually unrecognizable when compared to how he began, emulating the kind of growth that makes humans seem so alive.  Another feature Merlin is programmed to have in order to appear more human is the ability to change how old he appears to be (to reflect on Merlin’s frequent age changing shenanigans in the original show). Merlin is also given an atypically large amount of information about technology and programming so that he can have the ability to grapple with his own existence in the same way humans do when studying biology, psychology, or neurology. What this means, though, is that Merlin is able to accomplish feats akin to magic (heh) with technology. Probably even reprograms himself on occasion or changes his own hardware just because he can. 

So Merlin is born and he’s a pretty great success. Gaius feels as though he really is living with a petulant, sassy late teens/early 20s human being. Sometimes, he genuinely forgets Merlin is an android. So does Merlin. These two are out in the middle of nowhere living their best life with a few others (maybe Hunith-- good mother figure for Merlin, could be andoird or human). This eventually develops into Merlin having to go to High School or college. Maybe Merlin watched too much TV with that setting and became unbearably curious and annoying about going, maybe Gaius wanted to prove that humans and androids could not only coexist but it’d be so incredibly seamless that no one would even notice anything-- maybe a little bit of both. High School or College are good settings for Merlin to test out his immersion because of his own youthful demeanor (aka abundance of snark and attitude). 

MERLIN GOES TO SCHOOL.

I think we all know what happens from here. 

Merlin arrives at his first day of school to a scene of Arthur and some other kids knocking around an android who is gardening on campus. Merlin gets pissed and intervenes, because while he’d seen stuff about people hating androids on the net, he’d never experienced it in real life. Arthur tells Merlin to back off and that he and his friends can do whatever they want to the android because his family can pay the school for damages to their property since his family is rich. Merlin gets sassy (”You sure you can afford that? I’d assume that if you had enough money to replace an android, you’d have enough to fix your awful personality.”) Conversation continues, maybe roughly in the vein of:

Arthur: “Dude, chill. This thing is just an object. Why are you getting so pissy about this?”

Merlin: “Do you even know the first thing about androids? Because my bet is no.”

Arthur: “Excuse me, I’ll have you know I’m--”

*Merlin shoves everyone away from the android so he can examine the gardener and finds both the audio and visual processing units are damaged (the ones that Marcus damaged in the one scene, spoilers? I’m trying to be vague don’t mind me).*

Merlin: “You damaged this android’s __ and __. He has completely lost the ability to see and hear and yet you keep kicking him. I don’t suppose any of you remember the last group of humans that found fun in assaulting the disabled.”

Merlin probably insults the intelligence of Arthur and all of his friends (well, I can’t say I’m surprised. None of you look like someone passing history class). Arthur fires back about Merlin being a bleeding heart or some shit. Arthur reveals he is the son of the politician leading the anti-android movement. Now that Arthur knows this new guy is an android-apologist, Arthur declares Merlin had better watch his back. Merlin gives him a sassy response in the way of that not being how a politician’s son should behave, probably. From there on Merlin and Arthur frequently but heads over the treatment of androids and androids’ rights.

There will, of course, be other shenanigans going on. Merlin is going to be incredibly odd, as he learned how one acts in High School/College from TV and maybe webcomics so he has trouble fitting in at first. He definitely makes friends though, because that’s just who Merlin is. Eventually, he’ll also stumble into Arthur’s friendship, although at this point I have no idea how.

Last thoughts: 

These are my less developed ideas, although the above can hardly be called developed either. 

Being an android is parallel for being a magic user. Hence Merlin being an android disguised as a human who is standing up for android rights.

Morgana is probably an android, assuming we stick to this idea. She might not know it or just be hiding it, but Uther would know and it would be a prime highlight of the hypocrisy he is known for. Morgana would likely also be a very unique android, possibly a gift from Cyberlife to Uther. Finding out that she is an android could be a great moment of tension for both Morgana and Arthur as their confidence in the man they believed to be their father was shaken. 

Ooo, what if Morgana was an experimental android in aging technology. She was gifted to Uther as a baby and every year she has a “check-up” where her AI is transplanted into a slightly larger android body to mimic the process of growing up. She could be unconscious during these check ups and hence it would be perfectly natural for her not to realize that she is an android. As for why Uther would accept this gift, I have no idea. 

Because of Merlin’s ability to change the age he appears, it would make sense if Gaius was the head of the project Morgana was the android of before he left. Gaius could be the expert on aging technology in androids. It could be that seeing the humanity in Morgana as she slowly grew up alongside her human brother was what pushed Gaius over the edge in demanding that androids be seen as human because he feared what would happen to Morgana if the public ever found out. 

Some kind of android purge taking place in the story, possibly due to the events in Detroit, would be a great arc for the characters where everyone has a new conflict to worry about. Whether or not Arthur knows how many of his closest friends and family members are androids at this point-- I have no idea. I want to see Arthur agressively protecting Morgana, but at the same time an enthusiatic Arthur participating in the purging until he discovers his own sister should be the target of his rage would be an incredibly palpable moment and just-- there is a lot to consider.

So yeah. That’s roughly where I am now with all of this. If you want to expand on this, do it. I want to hear other people’s ideas. If you make your own post (speculation, fanfic, fanart, telling me I’m full of shit) about it tag me or use the hashtag Merlin:BecomeHumanAU so I can see! I have no idea when I’m going to post about this specific AU again, because I’ve got six other D:BH AUs I want to just throw out here into the void first, but seeing other people’s theories and thoughts on things like this always gets me energized.

THanks for scrolling through this disorganized monster of my thoughts. This was probably a lot to deal with.

[qwertzu824]

Owner’s handbook: Viktor

Congratulations, you are now the eccentric and whimsical owner of the majestic Viktor. To ensure his proper and problem-free operation, please read this manual.

 Technical Specification:

Name: Viktor Nikiforov

Manufacturer: RSU, St. Petersburg, Russian Federation

Date of production: 25 December 2017

Age: 15** / 27* (please check the serial number)

Colour scheme: long** platinum hair, blue eyes

Languages: Russian, English, French, Japanese*

* Adult Viktor only ** Teenage Vitya only

 Activation:

Your Viktor comes with a Makkachin unit and a bag of dog treats. To wake Viktor up, activate the Makkachin unit first – simply fill a bowl with the dog treats, and then have Makkachin lick Viktor awake.

Alternatively you can ask a Yakov or a Chris unit to wake him up. He will get up eventually.

If you have a Yuuri unit, ask Phichit to dress him up and have him walk by Viktor’s box. Don’t be surprised if your Viktor wakes up head over heels in love with the beautiful boy from his dream.

 Accessories:

Your Viktor comes with

- a Makkachin unit, handbook on the care and feeding of Makkachin, dog treats and various dog accessories

- a pair of skates with golden blades

- a heavy box of medals and awards (you’re the one who bought the most decorated skater in history, don’t look at us like that)

- digital* album full of lovely Makkachin pictures

- a photo of him and Yakov

- a photo of him and Chris

- a heavy box of skincare products

- five suitcases of designer clothes

- a lovely Makkachin tissue box

- a stash of fanmail

- a coach badge*

- an engagement ring for Yuuri*

- Japanese electronic dictionary*

- an album of accidentally seductive Yuuri photos, courtesy of Phichit*

 Compatibility:

Makkachin – Your Viktor loves Makkachin and will grow sad if forced to spend too much time away from his Makka.

Yuuri Katsuki – Viktor and Yuuri are soulmates. Adult Viktor will want to become Yuuri’s coach (among other things).

Yakov Feltsman – Viktor has a lot of respect for his coach, even though both teenage Vitya and adult Viktor are prone to ignore his advice most of the time.

Yuri Plisetsky – Yuri and Viktor are rinkmates. Yuri is often annoyed by Viktor but recognizes him as a great skater and rival.

Georgi Popovich – Rinkmate and friend. Due to the fact that the production of Georgi units began only a day after Viktor’s, they often celebrate their birthdays together. Viktor appreciates Georgi’s penchant for drama and will offer make-up advice if asked.

Mila Babicheva – Rinkmate, friend and shopping buddy.

Christophe Giacometti – Friend, rival, drinking pal, shopping buddy, fellow diva, great butt selfie partner.

Jean-Jacques Leroy – While JJ sees Viktor as an adversary obstructing his path to the top, Viktor tends to ignore him and will often forget his name. This will make your JJ sad. We recommend keeping them apart.

Phichit Chulanont* – Phichit has Viktor’s endless gratitude for being the endless source of Yuuri trivia and adorable pictures (these may or may not include drunk pics, pictures from Yuuri’s pole dancing practice and post-workout gym photos).

 Functions:

Skater/Living Legend – Your Viktor will activate in this setting. Please note: Don’t leave this function on for too long, or else he might get depressed.

Coach* – This function will only activate after meeting adult Yuuri, though teenage Vitya will happily teach teenage Yuuri a thing or two.

Yuuri fanboy – This function will activate instantly upon seeing Yuuri skate, dance, stand around or, you know, breathe.

Dog person – Viktor’s pre-programmed setting, cannot be deactivated. Don’t be surprised if he ignores you in favour of a dog, especially if it’s a puppy or a poodle.

Son-in-law – Available even before marrying Yuuri. Son-in-law Viktor will gladly help with Yu-topia’s upkeep, including cleaning, cooking and promoting this beautiful resort.

 FAQ and troubleshooting:

My Viktor won’t skate anymore and he’s permanently melancholic!

It seems you left the Living Legend mode on for too long. Introduce your Viktor to a Yuuri Katsuki unit and ship them to a remote location of your choice. Don’t be surprised if they come back engaged.

My Viktor is crying!

Oh, my. This may have several causes:

- Check Makkachin. If your Makkachin unit is malfunctioning, repair them according to the handbook on the care and feeding of Makkachin (included in the package). Send someone to get Yuuri Katsuki.

- Yuri Plisetsky has told Viktor that he’s getting bald. Hug your Viktor while repeatedly reassuring him that it’s not true. Send someone to get Yuuri Katsuki.

- Phichit has sent him a Detroit Days photo of Yuuri. It’s okay, let him cry. Or you can also look at the photo and join him.

- Yuuri has agreed to marry him.

 My Vitya is being chased by fangirls!

Viktor usually likes the attention but if he doesn’t, get him sunglasses and a hoodie to hide his hair. Introduce him to Yuuri*/teenage Yuuri** and whisper ‘hashtag Victuuri’ into Phichit’s ear.

 My Viktor has dyed his hair black and put on Goth make-up!

Either your Viktor is trying to surprise his audience or you might have mistaken Georgi for Viktor.

 My Viktor won’t stop flirting with anything that moves!

That’s not Viktor, that’s Chris. Don’t worry, he’s mostly harmless (except for an occasional quick butt grope) and doesn’t mean anything by it. If you want, you can bring him to any ISU shop or mail him to us and we will trade him for Viktor.

[firstfootingscotland]

Shoe the Donkey, #FirstFootingDance

Greetings from my home state of Michigan where I spent this week reconnecting with friends (including my first clogging teacher Sheila Graziano), lovers, family, and performing with traditional musicians from the American Midwest at the Ann Arbor Ark! The Ark, which has been presenting folk and traditional music for over 50 years hosted their 24th annual Crossroads Céilí, a midwinter celebration of Celtic music, song, and dance. As always, this show was curated by Mick Gavin, a fiddler and melodeon-player originally from Co. Clare, Ireland who moved to Detroit in 1974 at age 28. Mick has mentored countless Michigan musicians and dancers and has been tremendously encouraging to me, sharing thoughts, history, and traditions of dancers from Ireland. I remember he once mailed me a VHS tape of Irish old style dancer Paddy Bán O'Broin when I was twelve! In 2018, the Michigan Traditional Arts Program recognized Mick with a Michigan Heritage Award for his dedication to teaching and performing traditional music in Michigan. 

I had the pleasure of performing a duet with Mr. Gavin during the concert, including the mazurka Shoe the Donkey. A popular couple's dance at Irish céilís (an Irish social dance event, similar to a Scottish ceilidh), Mick and I performed the piece as a duo. The fact that Shoe the Donkey is considered a couple’s or "social dance" also presented an interesting challenge - how to evoke the joviality, the physicality, and the specific gestures of a pas de deux with only one dancer. 

(Shoe the Donkey, www.TheSession.org)

In the first part of Shoe the Donkey traditionally, dancers execute subtle brushing steps imitating the phrasing of the tune. In performing the piece with Mick, I wanted to retain that mimetic element, using the melody as inspiration for the footwork. During the performance, I began by using the actual steps from the couple's dance, duple sets of brushes preceded by a hops, then extemporized on them, while continuing to imitate the melody percussively. In the second part of the couple's dance, pairs of dancers walk four steps with hands crossed and joined, then turn 180 degrees in tandem. I've always enjoyed the playfulness of this repeated re-orientation and wanted to pay homage to it by turning, returning, and re-turning with each phrase in the second part of the tune. I found the challenge of corporeally referencing the ways bodies turn in the traditional version of the piece to be eminently enjoyable. The 180 degree turn itself is a gesture which feels so good. Thinking about my own experience as a queer person combined with the sensation of this specific movement also reminds me of the ways that we use the term "orientation" in terms of identity, gender, and desire. There is labor, but also pleasure re-orienting repeatedly. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Nic Gareiss (@nicgareisslfi) on Dec 30, 2018 at 9:07am PST

I like the idea of performing a tune typically used for partner-dance with only one dancing body - or more accurately two bodies, both of which are moving and making sound simultaneously. {After all, there's no sound without movement} In the performances in Ann Arbor this weekend, Mick Gavin and I both made sounds - and while there was no physical contact between Mr. Gavin and myself, it still felt as though we were dancing together. This reminds me of something Jazz, House, and Lindy Hop dancer LaTasha Barnes said once about solo dance: in solo dance forms, we don't touch each other but rather, we "touch the music." In my chapter in Clare Croft's book Queer Dance: Meanings and Makings, I write about this dancer+musician connection as a rapport between bodies in motion: 

Though I am the only dancer onstage and he is the only fiddler, somehow I do not feel like a soloist, but rather his dance partner ...  lifting, bearing each other’s weight, initiating sound and gesture through a reflexive, mutually-dependent process of affectual suggestion. (1)

Finally, just a quick reminder to post your First Footing dance videos, photos, and reminiscences tonight as the bells ring out for New Year! Be sure to use the hashtag #FirstFootingDance on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!! 

First Footing is a collaboration of the Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland, University of Edinburgh Moray House School of Education, and the School of Scottish Studies with support from Creative Scotland. For engagement opportunities check out the First Footing website.

(1) Nicholas Gareiss, An Buachaillín Bán: Reflections on one queer's performance within traditional Irish music & dance. Queer Dance: Meanings and Makings. Ed. by Clare Croft, Oxford University Press. 2017. 

[ducnguyen22]

Week 5 What is Digital Citizenship? Hashtag Publics, Political Engagement and Activism

Assuming that you are a responsible and well-behaved person when using the Internet, you could become "digital citizens." Professional Karen Mossberger at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology adds to the above statement that you must use it efficiently and regularly when being referred to as "Digital Citizenship." So, what is digital citizenship? It is the responsibility of technology to be used by everyone who owns the devices that allow access to the Internet, such as phones and computers to a specific extent (Chris Zook, 2019).

Through illustrated images and analysis, I will primarily focus on hashtags and activism in the context of digital citizenship. Initially, hashtag publics were regarded as the primary tool for connecting digital information to keywords or themes denoted by the symbol #. It could be used in mass media to cover everyday events, political instability, or protests (# Russia vs # Ukraine), branding or advertising campaigns (# Nikerunclub), or it could be created by users uploading their daily activities to Internet platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and so on. (Xiong, Y., Cho, M. and Boatwright, B., 2019)

So, what's the link between Hashtag Public and Activism? Merriam-Webster defined activism as a theory or practice that enables obvious action in support of the approval or opposition to a controversial problem related to political status. Everyone could be impacted by "crowd psychology," which can lead to becoming a part of a protest (Jill Hamilton 2010). With the 14 different categories, people who follow activism in negative ways could easily happen in any case. For example, by refusing to buy non-original cosmetics and other merchandise as an opposition to the non-qualified manufacturing process being conducted and the final goods being released into the market. This phenomenon could be spread in a wide range of areas, probably by the hashtags they see on social media.

REFERENCES:

1.    2022. [online] Available at: <https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/activism> .

2.    Hamilton, J., 2010. Activism. Detroit: Greenhaven Press.

3.    Taylor & Francis. 2022. Towards a typology of hashtag publics: a large-scale comparative study of user engagement across trending topics. [online] Available at: < https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/22041451.2016.1155328 > .

4.    Xiong, Y., Cho, M. and Boatwright, B., 2019. Hashtag activism and message frames among social movement organizations: Semantic network analysis and thematic analysis of Twitter during the #MeToo movement. Public Relations Review, 45(1), pp.10-23.

5.    Zook, C. and Zook, C., 2022. What Is Digital Citizenship & How Do You Teach It?. [online] Aeseducation.com. Available at: <https://www.aeseducation.com/blog/what-is-digital-citizenship> .

[karastrukel]

Week 7 Blog Post

As always with different social media successes, effective content is developed and shared on different platforms, and each platform has different ways to be shared to ensure that content will be successful. When it comes to sharing content on different social platforms, you have to keep in mind what platform it will be shared on, and determine how you are developing and sharing it based on which platform it will be located on. As with every platform, frequency of how often you post should be determined by feedback and insights coming from your audience. I’ll be discussing individual platforms below;

Facebook is a platform for sharing content. For Facebook specifically, I have learned in module 3 of the Hootsuite information that organic, non-paid post reach is on the decline due to how busy Facebook has become. This means that each post you make will only reach a certain percentage of your fans/friends. To ensure that your posts reach your fans/friends, you must focus on sharing content to increase engagement, such as well researched articles that include a lot of valuable information. I have also learned that shorter posts get more engagement, and Hootsuite suggests to keep the length of posts to a maximum of 120 characters. I have attached a link to a good example of a Facebook post. This link is to a post made by the Detroit Lions, and has a video of the game-winning touchdown. https://fb.watch/9K5_u5J-ws/ This post has gotten 4.5k likes, 264 comments, and 655 shares in the past 20 hours (when it was posted).

Like Facebook, Twitter is a platform that calls for shorter posts of 120 characters. Twitter purposely has a character limit per tweet, which is part of their fast-paced environment provided on their platform. Due to their platform being so fast-paced, this means that more frequent postings are okay. The posting volume is much larger on Twitter than on Facebook, which means you can re-promote the same content. Hashtags are also a very good way to maximize engagement on Twitter. Hootsuite also suggests to keep your volume of retweets under 20% and focus on selecting and amplifying high-quality content that would be valuable to your audience. I have attached a link to a good Tweet posted by Wendy’s. Wendy’s is always replying to customers, and other companies. In this example, Wendy’s is collaborating with T-Mobile with #TMobileTuesdays. Wendy's replies to many comments written by customers to increase engagement. https://twitter.com/Wendys/status/1467922487514173440?s=20

Lastly, I will discuss Instagram, which Hootsuite notes is the leading social media platform for discovering new brands, experiences and trends. Due to their algorithm, the posts a user sees on their timeline depend on how much a user interacts with similar content, and that more recent posts are prioritized over older content. With this being said, it is important to post engaging content regularly on Instagram. Hootsuite comments that experts advise only 20% of your content should be promotional; and the rest should tell your brand’s story. Instagram also offers a carousel feature, which combines photos and videos into one post, and should be utilized by users. Instagram also lets you use hashtags, which helps make your content more discoverable. Due to the most recent posts being prioritized on a timeline, times you post your content are important as well. You need to keep track of when your followers are active, which you can do with a business profile in the insights section. An example of a company with a good instagram strategy is Tiffany & Co. They post at the correct times to increase engagement, have short but meaningful captions, and use branded hashtags to make their content more discoverable. https://www.instagram.com/tiffanyandco/

Becoming a social organization has a lot to do with effective content development and sharing. This is the key to increasing engagement with posts from a company. Once a company has a thorough understanding of how to effectively develop and deploy content on a per platform basis, they will increase their engagement, which is the goal when competing with competitors for target audience’s attention. Another thing that is important is keeping up with the trends of social media. The social media world is always everchanging, and keeping up with trends that are popular on social media will also help keep engagement rates up.

[kentonramsey]

6 Upcycling Brands That Are So So Good

Some of my favorite Instagram follows are upcycled or re-worked vintage brands, which alter a vintage item to make it something different. Oftentimes, upcycling is done to repair a garment or alter the size, but what really gets me excited is a full-blown reinvention—the sartorial equivalent of changing your name and moving to a new town whilst wearing a fake mustache.

I’m talking about piecing together old quilts to make a new jacket, like Psychic Outlaw does. Or combining several vintage T-shirts to make a new tank top, like those of JJ Vintage. Taking apart towels from the ’70s to make a bucket hat like DOS Swim has. Or even making loafers out of vintage hand-woven Turkish rugs a la Res Ipsa. The list goes on and on, as evidenced by the #reworkedvintage and #upcycledclothing hashtags I follow on Instagram, so I asked the team to share some of their favorite upcycled and reworked vintage brands out there. —Elizabeth Tamkin

JJ Vintage, recommended by Elizabeth

View this post on Instagram

WEBSITE LAUNCH TODAY @ 4:30 PM EST!! Here’s a sneak peek of pieces that will be dropping on the website! Sizes ranging from XS-XXL

A post shared by JJVintage (@jjvintage__) on Aug 1, 2020 at 12:11pm PDT

I scored a JJ Vintage original a couple of months ago from the brands then-Depop. After selling vintage reworked items in 2015 as a side business, the brand’s founder, Jasmin, launched JJ Vintage in 2019—and since my purchase, has since set up her own website to release a new batch of designs—sometimes weekly—announced in advance on the brand’s Instagram. The product sells out within seconds, so don’t dilly-dally. JJ Vintage also offers 25 custom orders per drop, in case you have a specific color combination in mind or need custom sizing. In this case, Jasmin pieces together existing clothing—and therefore is able to custom fit to the client’s measurements. Prices range from $30 for less intensively reworked pieces to $150 for dresses and sets. My personal favorite pieces: her vintage sports logo one-shoulder tops and tanks, often boasting a Nike swoosh. I like to wear my top (which is a three-panel tank) dressed up with a little skirt and Mary Jane flats or pants and heeled mules. I feel incredibly cool wearing it—and I love knowing that there is no other top in the universe that is the same.

See All 5

Eat Da Rich, recommended by Lorenza

View this post on Instagram

Shop FAUX-PRO online 24/7 or IRL by appointment from our Detroit Showroom

A post shared by 𝙀𝘼𝙏 𝘿𝘼 𝙍𝙄𝘾𝙃 (@eat_da_rich) on Nov 16, 2019 at 11:56am PST

Eat da Rich has been on my radar for a few years now. Artist and founder Simone Else does her magic by making irl edits to dated silhouettes and adding metal chains anywhere possible. Her EDR collection is quite large, with accessories, clothing, intimates, housewares and sale—he even has a section on her site for chic unaltered vintage finds. Pricing varies from $18 statement earrings to $5,000 tufted fine art rugs. EDR also offers custom orders as well as collaborations with other local artists. But no shop is complete without a staple item—so might I suggest EDR’s signature Hot-Wheels bolo tie? I already own a handful of their creations, but here’s what I have my eye one at the moment:

See All 5

Girl of the Earth, recommended by Mikaela

View this post on Instagram

Sustainable brands operate on small margins in order to offer products we’re passionate about Here’s a girl of the earth brand receipt for our newest arrival: the amsterdam shorts in a 1960’s red check fabric, now on girloftheearth.com #whatsyourbrandreceipt @maisoncleo

A post shared by girl of the earth (@girloftheearth) on Jul 1, 2020 at 7:13am PDT

I came across this brand on Instagram, and though I have yet to buy anything, I am always in love with everything they make! It was the scarf shirts that got me— there’s just nothing quite like waking up on a hot summer day, removing your head scarf and tying it around your bra-less boobs. Throw on some jean shorts and you got a whole ‘fit. Anyway, I digress: They specialize in upcycling vintage fabrics, so all of their pieces have gorgeous prints and trusted blends like 100% cotton or silk. I’ve been giving the “eyes” emoji to their Williamsburg top, so if you snag one we can match.

See All 4

3 Women, recommended by Harling

View this post on Instagram

Trio of custom halters

A post shared by 3 Women (@3womenco) on Jun 18, 2020 at 8:48am PDT

I found this California-based company through my Explore page on Instagram (I love when that happens!) and was immediately drawn to it because of the unique fabrics they use to make upcycled clothes. Upon further investigation, I found out most of their fabrics are from old 1940s-era flour and seed sacks and tablecloths—so cool. They have a small ready-to-wear collection of upcycled clothes in addition to a general vintage offering, and they also offer size-inclusive, custom-fit pieces based on your individual measurements. I haven’t purchased anything yet (the pricing for their upcycled pieces ranges between $160-$250 on average, which is steep, and things seem sell out almost immediately as soon as they’re posted to the Instagram account), but I’m a very content “window shopper” for now, and I love seeing how they reinvent stuff.

See All 5

Psychic Outlaw, recommended by Amalie

View this post on Instagram

Op-Art Quilt Coat for @riverrunsthru . Custom Quilt Jacket these jackets are made-to-order for each client using a vintage quilt, chosen from our “quilt shop”. This makes each one unique & personal for info on how to have your own made, visit the Custom Quilt Jacket page on our website! link in bio … #psychicoutlaw #handmade #handmadeclothing #vintagequilt #recycledfabric #recycledmaterials #patchwork #quiltcoat #quiltjacket #chorecoat #workwear #slowfashion

A post shared by Psychic Outlaw (@psychic.outlaw) on Aug 13, 2020 at 5:45am PDT

I first became aware of Psychic Outlaw when she took a beloved family quilt from none other than Ruby Redstone and reinterpreted it as a coat! Since this editorial last year, styled by none other than Harling Ross, I haven’t been able to get patchwork out of my bloodstream. The longer the trend extends, the more palpably I feel like I actually just want to wear quilts from my head to my toes (no joke—where are the quilted shoes). Though the price point is on the higher side, Psychic Outlaw provides the unique service of turning an heirloom into a wearable work of art. Even if the quilt you choose to be made into a coat is of little importance to you personally, how fun that a bespoke jacket was made just for you? They also make one-of-a-kind dresses out of bandanas, if the quilted route isn’t for you. The brand emerged in early 2018, from what I’ve divined through an Instagram lurk, and has taken off in the past few months. Snag a coat or dress while you can!

See All 3

I Need Vintage, recommended by Tiffany

View this post on Instagram

SOLD Completino Bikers for Girls Size: Taglia Unica (S,M,L) Per acquistare LINK IN BIO Per Info DM #ineedvintage #vintageshirt #girls #ilovevintage #bikers #ilovevintage #vintage #universe #hype

A post shared by I need Vintage (@ineedvintage_) on Jul 9, 2020 at 2:48am PDT

I started to notice a specific subset of upcycled, vintage, sportswear on my Instagram Discover page, where old fleeces, soccer scarves and sweats were remade into sporty two-piece outfits—the modern equivalent of the twin set. Of these brands, my favorite is Italian contender I Need Vintage which reworks vintage cycling jerseys into crop tops and mini skirts for an end product that’s equal parts Tour de France and Euro disco. The sets are a steal at €35.00 (around $40) and feature an amazing mashup of ’90s prints and typography. In a dream world, I’d wear mine to enjoy an aperitivo after a long day of cycling up and down a mountain somewhere in Europe. In our current reality, I’ll settle for pairing one of their crop tops with some jeans or Dickies for a socially distanced park date.

See All 5

Thirsty for more? Here’s an extended list of excellent upcycling brands to shop:

3 Women 3J Garments 4YE Aisling Duffy Almost on Time Asata Maisé Bode Cacti Crops Chi qc Conversations Over Chai DOS Swim Eat Da Rich Ellie Misner Flat Fifteen Frankie Girl of the Earth I Need Vintage J’adore Vibes JJ Vintage Keeka Vintage Kiki the Brand Les Fleurs Studio Lifer Lily Eve Lola Alba Maddy Page Knitwear Nat Lam Need Things Next Level Vintage Nicole McClaughlin Ohemaa Peachy Salvage Pentimento Shop Pigment The Label Psychic Outlaw Rave Review REAL100TECH ReKREATED Threads Rentrayage Res Ispa Resurrect by Night Rhi Dancey ROOP Rua Carlota Samaria Leah Sami Miro Vintage Scarlett Orange Seks 5th Avenue Selina Sanders Slow Hands Sole Rebels Sororité Vintage Streetwrk Clothing Styles in Seams The Label Rae Tonari Upcycled by Reissued Who Decides War Youth Junk

Do you have a favorite upcycling brand? Let us know in the comments below!

The post 6 Upcycling Brands That Are So So Good appeared first on Man Repeller.

6 Upcycling Brands That Are So So Good published first on https://normaltimepiecesshop.tumblr.com/ 6 Upcycling Brands That Are So So Good published first on https://mariakistler.tumblr.com/

[connorrenwick]

We Stand Together Against Racism: Black Lives Matter

At Design Milk, we post pretty pictures + products but behind all those pictures, there are human beings. People are always, always more important than stuff. We are heartbroken and saddened at the continued unfair and unjust treatment of the black community.

We use our platform to inspire and challenge people to look at things in a new way. It’s time to turn that lens on ourselves. We care deeply about this issue and need to be the change. There is a lot of work to do in the design + architecture community. We stand in solidarity against racism, oppression, violence and injustice. We encourage you to do what you can to help, whether it’s donating, protesting, joining organizations, reading books, listening to podcasts on race and diversity, or having difficult conversations. Now is the time to take action.

We will not sit back and watch or be silent. We are an anti-racist company and we must fight against hate and discrimination. No brand and no person is perfect, but our intention is to reflect, learn, help and DO.

Below is a list of resources that may be helpful and some answers to questions you might have about us and what we are doing.

Organizations to donate to and/or get involved in:

The Minnesota Freedom Fund has received a lot of donations and has asked that people donate to “other local organizations, especially those which are Black and BIPOC led, and which are working to lift up communities, end police brutality, and build a more just future.”

Black Lives Matter (find a local chapter here and start a chapter here)

Black Visions Collective

Black Women’s Blueprint

ACLU

Antiracist Research and Policy Center

National Bailout

Anti-Racism Project

AAPF

Equal Justice Initiative

Innocence Project

Marsha P. Johnson Institute

North Star Health

The Bail Project

Showing Up for Racial Justice

We the Protesters

We also were made aware of a multitude of Twitter threads and Google docs with specific local funds and organizations here, here and here.

Books:

Here is a great list of books you can read

More book suggestions here

Podcasts:

About Race podcast

All of It / How to be an Antiracist

Code Switch

Intersectionality Matters!

The Stoop

Talking to kids:

@theconsciouskid

Coretta Scott King Book Award Winners

Teaching your children about Black History Month

Design + Architecture resources:

Black in Design conference

Black Interior Designers Network

Black Design Collective

Creative Equals

Deem Journal

Design Core Detroit

Design Indaba

Female Design Council

National Organization of Minority Architects

Now What?! + ArchiteXX

Organization of Black Designers

People of Craft

More general resources:

Anti-racism resources

Anti-Racism with Monique Melton

What have we been doing + what are we going to do now?

In the past, we have made donations to a variety of organizations promoting social justice and reform. We have reached out to various organizations that promote black designers, architects and creatives to see how we can partner and collaborate and/or support their efforts. We have actively been involved in and supported live talks in the design community addressing diversity and activism during design trade shows and events. We have covered design and architecture by black designers and other POC and underrepresented communities and people. But, since we have been so dedicated to the work, the products, the architecture, the interiors, we haven’t spent enough time highlighting the people behind those things, and given them the visibility they deserve. Our past efforts weren’t enough and our current efforts aren’t enough. We will do better.

Our team is coming together to discuss what we are going to do as a company to take action. As a company that values our team’s many voices, it is important to discuss the options together and decide what to do as a team. We will share those actions with our community.

What will we continue to do?

Racial justice and reform require a long-term commitment, and therefore, we will continue to commit ourselves to anti-racist actions, and will continue to highlight black and other POC as well as underrepresented communities in our articles. Sharing a list of resources is easy, using a hashtag is easy, but dismantling and rebuilding a system takes time and effort and energy and we will do our part in that. We will collaborate with organizations that promote POC in design and architecture. We will give them time, space, editorial, and promotion. We will be a resource for anyone that is looking for help and hope that others in the design and architecture community will join us in supporting our efforts to combat racism.

We hope that this has been useful to you and we will update this list and share a link on our platforms. Please leave any resources we may have overlooked in the comments and you can always contact us or any of our team members with your thoughts, or to pitch stories, designers, and share ideas.

via http://design-milk.com/

from WordPress https://connorrenwickblog.wordpress.com/2020/06/01/we-stand-together-against-racism-black-lives-matter/