#I can go outside and see 60 other people doing the exact same thing they’re doing

[gagfadget]

xxx

[liesoverthec]

OG 911 Character Details from Canon Pt 2

Hi y’all I’m back! I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who reblogged the last details post - I sort of just thought people would like it and it would die, so to see it travel and hopefully reach more writers was so great so thank you again!

Details under the cut since I went a little crazy 😅 and if this is your first time seeing this, the first part, and any future parts, can be found under this tag here!

Quick note before I get to the details - always, ALWAYS take details from dialogue or plot over details from the set or props if they contradict each other. The writers have the ultimate say over what happens on the show/for the characters, so whatever they say goes, even if it goes against something props has already laid down (eg, Chim’s birthday, sorry Libra crew. He’s an Aries or a Pisces). So keep that in mind for the future in case some of these details I have which are from props/set are changed in the future, or if you’ve noticed something yourself!

Also if you have questions, I am MORE than happy to answer them, although if you leave them in the tags on this post I’m probably gonna lose them, so if it’s something you’d genuinely like an answer to, drop it in my inbox! Besides my standard “ask” tags, I’m also tagging asks about canon details with this tag here. Every time I make a big post like this, I’m going to link all the asks I’ve gotten since the last post, but if you’re looking for more info in the mean time, that’s the other spot to look!

Buck has a grill on his patio.

Eddie doesn’t hang Christopher’s art on the fridge - instead it is either hung on the corkboard in Chris’ room to the left of the door, or Eddie puts it in an actual frame and hangs it using a hammer/nails in Christopher’s room. All the Diaz family has on their fridge is a bunch of bendy people magnets. (I absolutely ADORE him putting all this effort into treating Christopher’s art like it’s something you’d buy from a professional artist).

Info on everyone’s ages can be found here. (Little more discussion of Chim’s situation here).

Albert has a bachelor’s degree! I don’t know in what though, except that it’s some field for which is a Master’s is useful.

Athena was in a sorority in college, Delta Sigma Theta. Their website describes them as “ ...a sisterhood comprised primarily of Black, college-educated women ... [that] considers the issues impacting the Black community and boldly confronts the challenges of African Americans and, hence, all Americans ”, which I love for Athena, and feel is very in-character for her at that time in her life!

Chim is an aviators dude. When he wears sunglasses, they’re always aviators.

Athena also wears nothing but aviators.

Bobby wears square aviators.

Eddie, on the other hand, always wears Wayfarers.

Buck either doesn’t really like sunglasses or he constantly forgets he owns them, since we’ve only seen him wear them once in 60 eps, in a move I’m pretty sure was ONLY for dramatic effect.

Hen’s sunglasses change style over the seasons like her regular glasses do, but she tends to like browline sunglasses.

Info on Christopher’s school can be found here!

There are two colors of dispatch polo, and there doesn’t seem to be any rhythm or reason for who wears what. Maroon - Maddie and Linda. Blue - Josh and May. Jamal has actually worn both maroon and blue, so it doesn’t seem to be TOTALLY set in stone although I’ve never seen anyone else switch. Sue is too badass to wear a dispatch shirt.

Both Bobby and Eddie drive 4 door pickups. Bobby’s is navy. Eddie specifically has a black, 2020 GMC Denali 1500 pickup truck (in case you want to specifically look up what the inside of it looks like or what features it has 😂)

Info on the 118’s medical certifications can be found here.

Correction to Eddie’s living situation from last post: no next door neighbors, but instead UPSTAIRS neighbors. (Pointed out by Abigail in this ask). Also since someone else was wondering the notes of the last post - no, there is absolutely no discussion on the show of whether or not Eddie rents the apartment or owns it. But based on the fact that it’s 1) LA and 2) an apartment, my guess would be he rents it.

When Maddie isn’t feeling like herself, she tends to straighten her hair rather than curl it. It seems to be more when she’s uncertain about her place in her own and other people’s lives, rather than just when she’s simply worried - eg it’s straight in 2B, when she’s uncertain if she wants to continue working as a dispatcher/is unsure about her relationship with Chim.

For work, Chim, Eddie and Buck all use black duffel bags with a LAFD patch on the top. Hen uses several different cute bags, and Bobby seems to have a plain black duffel bag.

Watches - Bobby, Athena, Chim, Hen and Buck all wear their watch on their left wrist (but Athena ONLY wears hers for work, she takes it off at home.) Eddie wears his on his right wrist, and Maddie doesn’t wear one.

Chim (and Maddie by default) literally still have the exact same couch as in the pilot. (Which means that Chim has cuddled Tatiana on that couch, AND Albert has had sex on it. TIME TO GET A NEW ONE, BUCKLEY-HANS 😂)

The 118 has five different rigs - the engine (E118), the ladder truck (T118), two ambulances and the captain’s truck. 95% of the time, when the team is chilling in the cab of a rig and chatting (eg the ‘stuck under a live telephone pole’ scene in Jinx), they’re in the engine, not the truck. (Which I personally learned recently are NOT interchangeable terms!)

Athena and Michael got married when Athena was 37.

If you’d like to give Maddie a full name beyond “Maddie”, you should use Madeline. (I know, I know, in 4x04 she says Maddie is the name on her birth certificate, and that you should never use props details if they contradict script details, but I always thought that was a super weird exchange in 4x04 which could be explained by Maddie getting a nickname since she was born when Margaret and Phillip, you know, actually loved their kids and showed it, so of course Buck doesn’t get one, and in 4x04, Maddie was trying to avoid the entire issue of why she got one and Buck didn’t. But! Do what you want, and use Madeline as the full version of Maddie if you’d like, since that’s what’s on the BOLO in 2x13 😂)

Athena’s call sign is 727 L30, but she doesn’t have a specific squad car - the number changes throughout the series.

Chim really likes chewing gum, but he’s the only one out of the entire family!

The station has an Xbox One S, and it’s white.

In the real LAFD, there are stations 1 through 114. To avoid confusion while filming on the streets (I’m assuming), our fictional LAFD never uses the number of a real station. So if you want another station for a fic, and you want something that would be real in OUR universe, use the numbers 115 and above. They’ve gone as high as 221 in our universe.

Battalions - station 118 is in Battalion 7, which is also not a battalion in real Los Angeles. The 118 has interacted w/ Battalion 1, which is a real battalion, but other ‘non-real which makes them more likely for our universe’ battalions include numbers: 3, 8, 13, 16, 19 and above.

S1 Buck knew the term Jedi, but based on context, didn’t understand AT ALL the context provided by Star Wars, so there’s another edge of his pop culture limits for you.

Chim is the most tech-savvy out of everyone, hands down.

Athena has a VERY active Twitter account.

Abuela’s house number is 8902. I don’t have a street name for you unfortunately though. :/

Athena’s favorite flowers are white roses. None of the other women are really flower people.

Michael likes to wear purple.

When they’re at a call, Buck does pretty much all of the stuff with the hammer and the saw. Eddie does all the work needed with the drill.

Harry goes to Meadowbrook Elementary.

Buck lives on the fourth floor of his apartment building, across the hall from Apt. 416. The lovely @lovelessmotel found this listing for what is more or less the apartment. What happened was: the set crew rented this apartment for the one episode at the end of s2 when Buck moved in, and then over the summer before s3 built their own set of it, and changed some things - eg giving him an island, and moving the sink to a second counter against the far wall, you can see the changes here in this amazing gif set by the awesome Austen, but the listing should let you click around a little more upstairs and figure out dimensions better than what the show provides!

When Athena and Hen go out to eat together, it’s always fast food burgers and fries.

Waffles are Athena’s favorite food, and tiramisu is her favorite dessert.

Every takeout we’ve seen Buck eat has always been in a Chinese food takeout container, and we know he likes Thai food the best. EXCEPT! The one time we see him eat takeout with Eddie and Christopher, they have pizza. So take from that what you will......

Eddie has a cell phone and a landline.

Chim is a shameless multiple texter.

Chim and Bobby sleep closest to the door in their respective bedrooms (both right side of the bed if you are standing at the foot, facing the headboard), and Athena and Maddie sleep furthest away from the door (left side).

Some canon last names for other firefighters at the station in case you wanna add more people to a fic - Mitchell, Sanchez, Serrano (woman), Porter, Meyers (woman), Maxwell, Voyta

Hen and Karen really love decorating their house with dark/red wood.

Karen is Mommy and Hen is Mama.

Bobby has a brother, and a grandmother, and that’s literally ALL we know about his family outside of Marcy and the kids.

Evidence points to Eddie being the oldest child in his family.

Karen has multiple brothers (no sisters), but no idea how many - just that one of them is named Trey, and one of them lives in LA and has kids. They might be the same brother and they might not be.

Both Hen and Athena are only children.

Athena has been on the police force for 30 years.

Christopher and Denny are the same age (born in 2011), and Harry is two years older than them.

Michael lives in apartment 308.

The bank in this universe is CalAm.

Hen and Karen have a picture of Denny, May and Harry on their fireplace mantel.

Eddie having a black thumb + a lot of plants in his living room = him buying fake plants bc he likes the aesthetic ™ or someone (cough Carla cough) is taking care of them for him.

The COVID timeline in OG’s universe is fucked up compared to the real world’s, so it shouldn’t be used as a way to measure time! They just throw it in wherever it makes sense for the story they want to tell (eg the vaccines in s4 ep 8), since s3 was both done before COVID hit but also airing while it was happening. It makes absolutely no sense for May to graduate in March nor for Chris to be going to what is specifically labeled summer camp, and the vaccine plotline was INCREDIBLY early, even for real life, so don’t use anything from that as a measure of time. I’ve found except in specific examples, eg the two tsunami episodes, it’s very safe to say every episode covers a week - fall holidays on the show line up with their real life counterparts, indicating about the same amount of time is passing for us and them.

On that note - Jee-Yun was born in late January, early February 2021. (Conceived in Pinned, which was end of March/beginning of April, meaning Maddie was around a month along at May’s graduation in May ➡ 42 weeks + 3 days from then = late Jan/early Feb. Which unfortunately means we most likely won’t see her birthday celebrated on screen. If we assume she was conceived on the date Pinned aired, aka the very sexy hotel scene, then January 21st or 22nd would be Jee’s birthday, depending on if she was born after midnight or not.

Buck has had at least one other Jeep between the one Maddie gave him, and the one he has now, which means that when he needs a new car, he is purposefully choosing Jeeps.

I hope this was all as interesting/enjoyable to you as it was to me! And just to repeat - I love answering questions so pls let me know if you have any at all ❤

🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝

Tagging: @buckbuckley

[cardentist]

I haven’t been in the star trek fandom for very long (I’ve only just started binging the series in the last couple months), so it’s been pretty surprising to find out just how negative the perception of the reboot movies are.

this isn’t coming from the perspective of someone who grew up with the series, so it hit different for me than it might for people with a different relationship to TOS, but I thought it was genuinely clever and Respectful with how it was handled.

To quote leonard nimoy: “Well the alternative timeline gives them license to escape from canon concerns. I can’t see people saying ‘they shouldn’t do that because…’ or ‘that doesn’t tie in to such and such’ because it is a different time and place. Am I right about that?” [Link]

the entire Premise is that the original series happened as it was presented in TOS, but an event late in Spock’s life caused the creation of a parallel universe in which everyone’s lives were significantly altered through two key changes to the timeline. this gives them the freedom to Both revel in fanservice And explore different facets of the characters and their relationships. 

the destruction of vulcan Vastly impacts the characters and the plot moving forward, and its a detail that a lot of people take issue with. but the emotional impact of sarek admitting Directly to spock that there is value in his humanity, that his feelings Aren’t wrong, that sarek married amanda because he Loved her cannot be understated. you can read all of these things into sarek as he was in the original series, but he Never had an open conversation about these things with spock. this creates a Believable and Rewarding change in their relationship, where we get to see a different facet of them Because of the changes made. and that’s exactly the appeal. showing us pieces of these characters that we never got in TOS that are nevertheless undeniably Them.

everyone is Different yes, but they’re also fundamentally the same people at their core and that matters.

kirk’s personality obviously takes the biggest change, with him experiencing trauma at a young age, losing his father, and having an implied abusive father figure after that point. he has a harsher personality in reaction to harsher conditions, he’s spikier and harder to love. but he’s also still fundamentally a Good person whose willing to risk everything to help people. he still has what made kirk prime a good captain and a good friend.

I’m not gonna say that it’s the most nuanced story in the world, but it explores a version of kirk that was born from even Less fortunate circumstances than kirk prime, exploring a kirk brimming with potential who learned to bite back after he was kicked down. exploring those themes of trauma and loss, of insecurity and growth, and coming to the conclusion that Fundamentally He Is Capable Of Good isn’t a Bad thing. you don’t have to like it, but his growth into a better person is The Point. they deepened his flaws (all of which were present in a less exaggerated form in TOS) To Show That Growth.

and then of course there’s his relationship with spock.

people are totally justified in not liking that they had a rough start to their relationship, I usually don’t like to see that kind of thing in reboots or hollywood adaptations either, but the way people talk about it is just unfair.

Yes kirk and spock and bones have a very strong relationship in TOS, they also already know each other by the time the show starts. to look at them having to learn to get to know and trust each other when they first meet and say that it’s Bad because they were already full on ride or die for each other in the og series is silly. TOS kirk and spock had to meet and fall in love with each other too, it didn’t just happen over night kings.

secondly, the entire point of the first movie is that Even With reality itself being altered to pull them apart they are fundamentally compatible people that are Bound to each other. they meet each other on bad terms because of circumstances outside of their control, and yet they’re still pulled into each other’s orbit and find the other slotting into place next to them as if they always belonged. one of the first things that spock prime says in the movie is “I am and always will be your friend,” spock and jim are Meant for each other and the movie goes out of its way to explain that. which is what makes it so Weird to see people complaining about how they don’t like each other.

it’s a Different relationship, but it’s absolutely no less steeped in yearning or queer subtext. 

speaking of queer subtext ! some people are Very unhappy with spock’s relationship with uhura.

first thing I wanna say is that making the argument that they’re doing anything that the original series hasn’t done is just, completely untrue. kirk has fallen in love with more girls in the og series than he knew what to do with, leonard nimoy was a heartthrob in his time (and he deserves it, awooga) and spock reflects that ! Spock usually turns the women who come onto him down (or when he doesn’t it’s because a plant has literally altered his mind), but there are exceptions to even that. all of three of the main boys have plenty of romance subplots, it happens. if that takes the possibility of them being queer off the table for you (which it shouldn’t, m-spec people exist) then I’m sorry to say that TOS is not exempt.

now, I can understand why Specifically This Relationship could rub people the wrong way or being disappointed that they didn’t outright depict kirk and spock as having a relationship (if not in the first movie then in the following ones after they’ve gotten to know each other), but even in that context the way I’ve seen people talk about it comes off as insensitive.

no, the relationship did not come out of nowhere. they considered having spock and uhura date each other in the original show (and you can see signs of this in the earlier episodes, where uhura very obviously flirts with him and they spend time together in their down time) before they decided against it, and spock was originally going to kiss uhura until shatner insisted that he wanted to do it (because it was the first interracial kiss on tv). [Link 1, Link 2, Link 3]

nichelle nichols was asked about this exact thing (spock and uhura’s relationship in the movie), you can read the interview in full here [Link] but I’d like to highlight this paragraph in particular:

“Now, go back to my participation in Star Trek as Uhura and Leonard (Nimoy) as Spock. There was always a connection between Uhura and Spock. It was the early 60’s, so you couldn’t do what you can do now, but if you will remember, Uhura related to Spock. When she saw the captain lost in space out there in her mirror, it was Spock who consoled her when she went screaming out of her room. When Spock needed an expert to help save the ship, you remember that Uhura put something together and related back to him the famous words, “I don’t know if I can do this. I’m afraid.” And Uhura was the only one who could do a spoof on Spock. Remember the song (in “Charlie X”)? Those were the hints, as far as I’m concerned.”

the film makers looked at the fact there were Hints for uhura and spock, that they were Interested in exploring an interracial couple for the first time (both before and immediately after interracial couples won the right to legally get married) but Couldn’t because of the circumstances of the times and decided to Make that depiction. you don’t have to Like their relationship just because of that fact, but it’s Incredibly reductive to play down it’s significance as just a No Homo cop out. explicitly queer relationships are not the only progressive or culturally important relationships in fiction.

moreover, if you can’t imagine polyamory in the communist utopian future that’s on you.

moreover, this perception that this was a soulless cash grab is just, unfounded.

leonard nimoy returned to the role as spock for the first time in 16 years (since 1991) and this was Entirely because of the respect they had for nimoy, spock as a character, and the franchise as a whole. 

Lets look at some quotes from nimoy in interviews regarding the film:

Leonard Nimoy: When I first read the script (...) I immediately contacted J.J. and said “I think it is terrific…I think you guys have done a wonderful job. There is still work to be done, but it is very clear that you and your writers know what you are doing and you know how to do this movie and know what it should be about….and I am very interested.” Then as time went by we worked things out with Paramount, but the most important things were J.J. and the script. (...) I am very pleased about that and I am very comfortable with where this is going. I think the writers have done a terrific job. They have a real sense of the characters and the heart of Star Trek and what it is really all about.

(...)

TrekMovie.com: Now in the case of the new movie you have been retired from acting for years. What was it about this one that made you want to act again and go through the make up again? What was it that made you say ‘I really want to do this?’

Leonard Nimoy: You are right, this is a special situation. First it is Star Trek and so I have to pay attention. I owe that to Star Trek. Second place is that it is J.J. Abrams who I think very highly of, he is a very talented guy. Then came the script and it was very clear that I could make a contribution here. The Spock character that I am playing, the original Spock character, is essential and important to the script. So on the basis of those three elements it was easy to make the decision. So those three things: Star Trek, J.J. Abrams, and an interesting Spock role.

[Link]

Praising the cast playing younger versions of characters from the original 1960s TV series, he [Leonard Nimoy] said: “Let me take the opportunity to say this. Everybody at this table [the cast] are very, very talented and intelligent people.”

“They found their own way to bring that talent and intelligence to this movie, and I think it shows. (...)  When Karl Urban introduced himself as Leonard McCoy and shook hands with Chris Pine, I burst into tears. That performance of his is so moving, so touching and so powerful as Doctor McCoy, that I think D. Kelley would be smiling, and maybe in tears as well.”

“The makers of this film reawakened the passion in me that I had when we made the original film and series. I was put back in touch with what I cared about and liked about Star Trek, and why I enjoyed being involved with Star Trek. So, it was an easy way to come on home.”

“[In this Star Trek] they said things and showed me things, and demonstrated the sensibility that I felt very comfortable with, and I think that shows in the movie. I like it.”

[Link 1, Link 2]

again, you don’t have to like it just because leonard nimoy did, you don’t have to Agree. but the idea that nobody working on the film Cared is provably false. near everyone working on the project was already a fan of the series or were excited to be involved and did their homework. it’s genuinely a Miracle just how much of a labor of love this was, and in my opinion you can feel that through the movie itself. I’d highly recommend looking into interviews and behind the scenes details about the movies. they had a respect not just for the source material, but for leonard nimoy as a person.

there’s definitely more I Could say about this, but it’s 4 am now so I’m gonna shelve it jklfdsa

that said! it’s Fine to not like the movie, not everything is going to be suited to everyone’s taste, but the specific criticisms I’ve seen feel very off base

[juyoens]

odds | ksw

summary: you’ve believed in soulmates all your life. you’ve seen the people around you meet theirs, and you’ve always dreamed of the day you would meet yours. only problem is: your soulmate doesn’t believe in soulmates. pairing: kim sunwoo x reader, eric x reader if you squint genre: good ol’ soulmate au, fluff

Ever since you’ve discovered the meaning of the crescent moon on your wrist, all you could ever think about was when and how you were going to meet your soulmate. 

Could they be in another country? What were they like? Are they tall or short? How do they like their eggs in the morning? What’s their biggest fear?

Every possible question, you were certain you’ve asked your soulmate in your head at some point. The idea of someone being out there, who’s been pre-determined by the universe to be the one for you was one of the most fascinating, beautiful things you’ve ever heard of. It was the reason why you loved the idea of it so much, and why you were so determined in finding yours. 

But the idea is making you grow extremely impatient, desperate almost.

“What are you thinking about, Y/N?” you’re snapped out of your daydream when you hear Eric’s voice, his arm snaking around your shoulder as he sits down beside you.

You simply let out a huff, looking back down at your notebook and trying to go back to reviewing. Eric knows you better than anyone and immediately knew what you were thinking about, simply letting out a chuckle as he reassuringly rubbed your shoulder.

“Don’t be like that. You know, my mom told me her sister met hers when she was like, I don’t know, 30?” 

Although Eric was obviously trying to make you feel better, you couldn’t help but feel even more upset.

“Yeah, Eric, what if I meet my soulmate when I’m 60?!” you hiss, earning a few shushes from the other people at the library, causing you two to sit up straight and mutter your apologies.

“Ok, not the best example! But come on, Y/N. It’s not everything! That doesn’t mean you can’t go out and date! There are people who still haven’t met theirs, like me!” he whispers.

“I guess so,” you sigh. “Sorry. It just sucks, y’know? Look around us, most of these people are soulmates,” you continue, turning your head to scan the library with Eric trying to follow your gaze.

Your eyes land on Choi Chanhee and Kim Younghoon, who sat just a few tables in front of you two. You frown at the sight of Younghoon leaning his head on Chanhee’s shoulder as he studied, pointing at the two to Eric. 

“See, over there! Chanhee and Younghoon. I asked Chanhee all about it. They’re the real deal, Eric! They have the same infinity symbol on their arms.” you whisper-yelled, but Eric only shrugs, turning his attention back on you.

“Alright, good for them then. But still, don’t rush it! You still have the rest of college to figure it out.” he raised his eyebrows at you. Eric was right. Maybe you were just overthinking too much about it. 

“Now cheer up, Y/N! You’re wonderful, amazing and you have a good heart. I’m sure even if you don’t meet your soulmate until you’re like 80 you’ll have many people who will date you! Or even marry you. I mean, who knows, maybe this whole thing isn’t real and everyone just has a really weird birthmark that they share with someone.” he joked, earning him a playful hit from you to his bicep.

You let out a deep, gloomy sigh as you rest your chin on your hand, turning your head to see Eric now on his phone, a smile plastered across his face as he watched some video on Twitter. 

He sure is handsome, isn’t he? you thought to yourself, Eric noticing your gaze and flashing you a bright smile. “Why? Is something wrong?”

You shake your head and get back to whatever you were reading, hearing a small giggle coming from him as he turns his attention back to his phone.

Eric has always been someone who made you feel loved and reassured. And maybe, just maybe, if this entire soulmate thing isn’t for you, it’s him who you’d want to spend your days with.

The constant reassurance from your friends made you feel bad, having them constantly remind you to stop stressing over your soulmate. 

It was childish, you can admit that, but you simply couldn’t help yourself. Were you doing something wrong? Does everyone really have it?

You stared blankly at the busy street from inside your usual cafe spot, drifting off once again as your mind restlessly thought about university, and among other things. 

Suddenly, you hear someone lightly tap your shoulder, startling you and making you look up to see who it is, seeing the part timer with your order in hand. “Sorry. Here you go,” 

You give him a small smile, about to thank him, until you see the exact same crescent moon on his wrist as he sets down your drink on the table. You didn’t have time to even process the whole thing. This was it. This was the moment you’ve been waiting for.

“Wait!” you exclaim, and he stares back at you with startled, wide eyes. “I’m Y/N.”

“What? Oh. I’m Sunwoo. Is there something wrong with your order?”

You aren’t quite sure how to break it to him in a way that won’t sound creepy. It would be odd to straight up just tell him you two were meant to be together, wouldn’t it?

“I don’t...want to be weird. But can I just ask, have you met your soulmate?”

He’s taken aback by the question, and it takes a while for him to respond. “No, I haven’t.”

You nod, and you pull back your sleeve to show him the same crescent moon on your wrist.

“I’m sorry, I think you have the wrong person.” he coldly says, seemingly unfazed by it, politely giving you a small bow before going back inside the counter.

Your smile falters and your skin goes pale. You were sure you had the right person. It wasn’t possible. It was the exact same crescent moon, and there was no way there could’ve been more than one person you shared the tattoo with.

You sat with Eric and Haknyeon at the university cafeteria, still upset at the unfortunate encounter that happened the day before. 

“Something wrong?” Eric asks. 

You frown, looking back at the two boys whose faces were filled with concern. “I met my soulmate.”

“Y/N!” the two of them gasp. “You’ve been waiting for this since like, forever! But what’s with the long face?” Haknyeon pouts, cocking his head to the side.

“I know! It’s just...it’s just that he told me I had the wrong person. Which is impossible! There’s no way I would have the wrong person. I saw the mark with my own two eyes!” you rant, frustrated.

“Maybe he just wasn’t ready?” Eric suggests. “Maybe he just panicked?” Haknyeon adds, leaning his head on Eric’s shoulder.

Before you could respond, you look over and recognition dawns on your face when you suddenly see your soulmate, walking over to the vending machine. 

“Holy shit, he goes here.” you breathe out, the two boys looking back to try and see what you were looking at. 

“That’s him?” Eric turns back to you with raised eyebrows. You nod. “Speak of the devil,” he utters.

You immediately got up and approached him despite Eric and Haknyeon’s protests for you to stay seated.

“Hey! It’s me, Y/N. The one from yesterday!” you call out, and he turns to look at you with a blank stare, freezing as soon as he sees you right in front of him. “.....Hey.”

“I think we should, uh, talk.” you stammered. He quirked an eyebrow at you. “About yesterday? When I told you we were….y’know....”

He simply nodded, taking your hand and leading you outside.

“Listen, Y/N,” he lets go and lets out a deep sigh. “I don’t believe in soulmates.” he gives you an apologetic look.

You’re unsure what to say at that moment. It felt like you were a kid getting told Santa Clause isn't real, or something.

“Could you...tell me what you mean by that?” you faltered. “I just don’t believe in it. Sure we have the same mark, but that’s not for sure. What if soulmates are just platonic? Or this is just some weird mark? I really don’t believe in it, Y/N.”

“Maybe. But you’re only saying that because you haven’t met yours yet! And I’m right here,” you gulp. “Not that I’m saying we should date. I’m just saying we should be friends!”

Sunwoo is clearly hesitant, not seeming to listen to your reasoning. He nibbled on his bottom lip for a while, before reaching his hand out to you. 

Your face lights up and you smile brightly, shaking his hand. “Friends it is then.”

Eric and Haknyeon seemed unfavored at the idea, feeling as if Sunwoo wasn’t genuine in being friends with you and only doing it because you said so.

And it really was like that at first, something you secretly knew deep down and something Sunwoo felt horrible for.

Waiting for him to finish his shift at the cafe; which wasn’t a problem for you at all since it had been your usual cafe spot; helping him catch up and study for exams, such and such.

It was like that for months, slowly trying to get Sunwoo to open up to you and see you as a newly found friend he could rely on rather than someone he needed to hang out with just because he had the same crescent moon on his wrist. 

However, you felt stuck. You were growing frustrated now that you’ve learned something you’ve dreamed almost all your life wasn’t as ideal as you’d thought it would be. Sure you felt happy to just be in Sunwoo’s presence, but you felt as if you were talking to a wall sometimes. Aren’t soulmates supposed to have some connection?

Eric soon found his soulmate, and you couldn’t help but feel upset whenever you would constantly listen to him go on and on about his, how much they had in common and how they make his heart skip a beat whenever they do practically anything. You wanted to be happy for him, he was your best friend after all, but you couldn’t help but feel annoyed. 

You sat in the empty dimly lit cafe, watching Sunwoo replace the open sign on the cafe door to a closed sign. 

“Aren’t you going home?” he says as he took off his apron, sitting down right across from you. You shook your head.

He nods, and the cafe is engulfed in awkward, uncomfortable silence.

“Can I tell you something?” Sunwoo suddenly speaks up. “That’s a first,” you remark, almost passively aggressively. “You're upset with me.” he pouts.

“I know I’ve been giving you a hard time. Eric told me all about how much this whole soulmate thing meant to you. I’m sorry you’re stuck with me,” he says with a sense of guilt.

"I really appreciate you always being there when i need a hand. I do admit I was shitty to you. But my thoughts about you has completely changed.”

“I guess, what I’m trying to say is,” Sunwoo leans closer. “Go on a date with me.”

A strange feeling of excitement filled you as you heard the words spill out of his mouth. You weren’t stuck like you thought after all.

“Oh I’ll show you it’s real, alright.”

[formenis]

Likeness

Anon asked: "I really love your one shots 💖 and was wondering if you could make a one shot for Matsuda? 😅" 

*slams hands on the table* OF COURSE!

(and thank you, Anon-san~♥)

pairing: Touta Matsuda x gn!reader

warning: fluff floof maybe

requested: yes

D/N: dog name

A/N: as I always say, English is not my first language so you’ll find some mistakes in my stories. I’m sorry! ><

«The total amount is 6600¥» (A/N: something like US$ 60 or 50€ with the current exchange rate)

«Alright»

Y/N searched for their wallet and payed their groceries. That evening they wanted to prepare a magnificent dinner so Y/N needed many things to buy.

They left the konbini (A/N: a small retail business that stocks a range of everyday items, they're also called "convenience store") with two large shopping bags. They were not much heavy but Y/N could already sense a slight pain on their hands.

It stopped raining few minutes ago, everything was wet and shining: cars, buildings and even the road. There was not much people around them due to the weather but the streets were congested, filled with vehicles. A freezing air hit Y/N's face and once outside the konbini they took a deep breath before leading back home.

During the walk, Y/N thought at the menu for the dinner: rice, soup and three side dishes for sure. Yes, but which side dishes? Tempura, grilled fish, hamburger steaks or something like salads and boiled veggies? Luckily Y/N brought everything in case they were unsure once at home.

Cooking was a sort of "ceremony" for Y/N. Why? First, because they liked it (A/N: sorry if you don't); and secondly, because that was how they met their s/o Touta Matsuda. But he was a detective, how could they meet? Simple (and rather cliché, Y/N admitted it): they bumped into each other in one of the aisles inside a konbini. The two of them were doing their grocery shopping when both of them aimed at the same bag of seaweed.

«A-Ah! I'm terribly sorry!» he immediately apologised.

«Omusubi I guess?» (A/N: it's another name for onigiri, a food made from white rice formed into triangular or cylindrical shapes and often wrapped in seaweed).

«Yeah…I always bring them at work»

A normal conversation with a stranger would end there, they would come back at their normal life and maybe forgetting about each other the next day. But not with someone as Matsuda: he was so outgoing, chatty and…somehow cute. Y/N got along with him immediately: the initial simple acquaintance changed into friendship; and friendship turned into love. And cooking helped a lot: they would exchange recipes and tricks every time they would meet.

«Gee, I took too many Mentsuyu bottles» (A/N: it's a noodle soup base)

But back to the present. During their way back home, Y/N felt a set of steps behind her. At first they thought it was some weirdo who was following her but when they turned they didn’t see anybody. So they kept walking; after five minutes the steps became four.

When Y/N turned again, they were ready to use the shopping bags to beat whoever was following them but they saw something else instead: a puppy. Very thick, pure white double coat, two large black eyes and cute tiny ears (and no collar). Y/N opened the mouth in disbelief.  

«Oh my-a white cloud fell from the sky! Come here, cutie» Y/N kneeled down and the puppy walked closer right away. It must be hungry, it was a bit skinny…poor floof.

«Do you wanna come with me? I'm a rather talented chef, you know» Y/N asked the dog with a hint of presumption. The puppy wagged its tail in response, it must love that idea. «Then, jump in» Y/N opened one of the largest pockets of their jacket and the white floof stepped closer to it: it sniffed the cloth and once it verified there were no dangers, it jumped inside. Once it found a comfortable position, its head popped out from the pocket.

«You're so cute, just like Matsu~» Y/N took the shopping bags again and walked back home. The few people on the streets looked with cute awe at that pocket.

.

.

♰ TIME SKIP ♰

At home, the same apartment they shared with Matsuda, Y/N was cooking peacefully when a sudden thought appeared in their mind: «What if Matsu is allergic to dog fur?»

They never asked him since none of them never talked about pets. Y/N's gazed moved from the tempura to the floof: the puppy was drinking from the bowl still wigging its tail. They smiled, everything about that dog reminded them of Matsuda.

Y/N was so focused on the floof that they almost didn’t hear the front door open. «I'm home!»

In a rush, Y/N took the dog and hid it behind the armchair and put the bowl in the sink. Then they pretended to cook again. «I-In the kitchen!»

Few moments later Matsuda appeared in front of them: tired face, messy black hair and loosened dark tie. When he smelled the air his lips curved in a smile.

«Welcome back, Matsu. How was work?»

«I'm so tiiiired» he sighed walking closer to his Y/N and kissed their cheek. «Is that tempura?»

«Good nose, dear» Y/N chuckled and let him taste a piece.

Matsuda yummed in bliss and tried to steal another piece but Y/N hit him softly with the chopsticks. «You have to wait»

Touta complained but didn’t say anything else. Instead, his gaze moved to the sink. «Why did you use the bowl?»

Y/N froze. Damn, they forgot to hid it. «Uhm…I was trying a new recipe but I failed…eheh» they laughed nervously.

Matsuda could be naïve sometimes but he was a detective after all. «And you used the bowl…and nothing else? Nor a pot or a ladle?» he asked with suspect.

«As I said, new recipe» Y/N kept cooking the tempura playing it cool. However, this didn’t convince Matsuda and continued analysing the "crime scene".

He was walking closer to the armchair, Y/N was sweating cold. He almost reached the point where the floof was hiding but then, as to save the situation, someone knocked at the door. «Coming!» Matsuda yelled and ran towards the front door.

Y/N ran towards the armchair and took the little floof. It started wigging its tail when it saw them, its ears were all up. Y/N went towards the bedroom and put it down half-hidden under the bed.

«Stay here cutie, I'll come back soon» and with that, they ran back in the kitchen. In that exact moment, Matsuda appeared again.

«Who was it, dear?»

«Uhm…it was Ogawa-san. She gave us some cookies she did today»

«Really? So gentle of her» was Y/N's reply. They were mentally hoping the floof would not do noises.

.

.

.

After dinner, as usual, Matsuda was relaxing on the couch watching TV with Y/N beside him. They were watching a documentary about rainforests around the world when Matsuda started giggling quietly.

«Pff Y-Y/N…please stop»

«Uh?» they looked at him in confusion. Soon enough that giggling became a proper laugh.

«You know I'm ticklish, please~»

«I'm not doing anything-» Y/N stopped talking when, despite the slight darkness, they could recognise the floof's white fur: it was playing with the hem of Matsuda's pants and the fur was tickling his feet.

Y/N started panicking was going to grab the dog but Matsuda was faster. «A dog?» he said in disbelief. «Y/N? Why there's…a dog here?»

«Uhm…ah…well…I-» Y/N wanted to explain but no words (or good excuses) came out from their throat.

A loud sigh marked their defeat. «It was following me when I went at the konbini…I couldn’t leave it there! Just…look at it, Matsu!» they took gently the puppy in their hands so it was looking directly at the detective: tiny ears up, soft white fur and large dark eyes. The dog tilted the head in confusion and so did Matsuda.

«See? You two are so similar, so cute! Can we please keep it?»

The initial confusion of the young detective soon turned into a gentle smile: in that moment Y/N was doing the cutest "puppy eyes" he ever saw. So he was not the only one who looked like that dog. It was the main reason that made him smile.

«Did you choose a name yet?»

«Hmm…what about D/N?»

«It sounds perfect»

«This means we can keep it?!» Y/N asked happily and D/N wigged swiftly its tail as if it was even happier. A series of cute barks could be heard as Matsuda said yes.

[algernoninwonderland]

Miraculous’s Paris feels quite impersonal and its geography is incomprehensible most of the time, which makes it difficult to care about it whenever it’s in danger

TL;DR: Paris in Miraculous has a weird geography, and unfortunately, the show doesn’t hide it all that well, which makes it hard to believe in the city as a coherent and cohesive space. Bad lighting and poor texturing makes scenes set outdoors during the day look real bad, and while some of the famous buildings in Miraculous are pretty close to the real thing, they don’t mean much to the viewers emotionally speaking, they don’t elicit a reaction other than “huh, that’s neat”. If your heroes’ mission is to protect a city that’s just “neat”, well it’s pretty hard to care about said mission. 

When you aren’t French and you want to make a show or a film with a scene set in Paris and you want to sell it to an international audience, you put the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre and cafés everywhere. And that’s fine! It’s just a backdrop, you’re not supposed to care about it all that much, because you’re going to spend 2 hours there at most and what’s more, more often than not, Paris is just a decor, not the whole conceit of the film/show.

Miraculous’s version of Paris follows that same logic, weirdly enough, even though it’s made by French people, and initially intended for a French audience. The Eiffel Tower is in a whole lot of shots, we spend a lot of time at the Louvre and near some other touristic landmarks such as the Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame, the Grand Palais, the Place des Vosges and the Place du Châtelet alongside the occasional metro station, they’re all decently made, at least they’re recognisable. Good job, you guys! (I’m sincere about that bit of praise, too)

It uses referential elements, i.e. things from the real-life Paris… And mashes them together in a bizarre way. Monuments are way too close to one another, or they are places they shouldn’t be. That, in and as of itself, would be fine. Paris is big. You can’t model every single Parisian street in existence, you have to make choices to stay within your budget. And with Miraculous, it kind of works…? If you don’t think about it too much, that is.

This, for instance (that’s from Animan) doesn’t make any damn sense. The Eiffel Tower should be on the other side of the Seine, not here, and the Place des Vosges isn’t that close to the water. Still, it sort of works, if you haven’t lived in Paris yourself. Which will be the case for most people watching Miraculous. It’s a show about a girl who uses a magical yoyo, so I can excuse that sort of weird stylistic choice due to budget constraints.

So, basically, Miraculous has pretty good individual sets, especially indoors sets,Marinette’s house, Agreste mansion, the school, these cool touristic locations, the Grévin museum, even, but they either feel too close to one another or like they belong to different, disjointed spaces. It’s hard to tell where each location is meant to be in relation with one another, even when our characters travel from one place to another.

And how do they travel? Well, they jump from rooftop to rooftop and the landscape stretches endlessly. Rooftops that all look the same. It’s the exact same "set” every time. That isn’t a bad stylistic choice per say, if the point you want to make is that Paris is really really big and there are lots and lots of houses that all kind of look the same, it’d work really well. It’d make the city feel a little oppressive. But you want Paris to be a space the audience cares about, right? So maybe don’t do that?

The way travelling works in Miraculous is, you jump onto a rooftop, you run you run you run and then you land and you’ve reached your destination. Each trip works the same. Doesn’t help make the various sets feel connected, no, sir. Plus, the Eiffel Tower teleports all over the place.

Can you tell me where Alya’s flat is supposed to be? No, really, can you? It’s a nice art déco building, someone probably went through lots of references to model it and it shows! Nice job, really, I mean it. But where is it?  

Well, it’s in an Autodesk Maya file in a database somewhere, but other than that… You’ll tell me if you ever figure that out, I sure wasn’t able to!

So it’s hard to believe in Paris as a kind of non-fragmented space, even more so when wide shots look like this 

and that tells you everything that can go wrong with Miraculous’s outdoors scenes. (also that shot composition isn’t bad at all but it’s weird for a scene like that)

Copy and paste your assets, benches, trees and houses, and don’t modify them one bit. The thing it, that’s fine in shots in which the camera moves a lot, it works well with certain angles, which is the reason why there are lots of chase scenes that go too fast for you to notice that there aren’t all that many “regular house” models, some with an alternate “café” ground floor which features awnings with three different colours. That’s a trick cartoons like Scooby-Doo already used in the 60s to simulate speed. That’s good when things move!

Only, sometimes you see two awnings with the exact same colour in the same, very still shot that lets you see the street in which the house models alternate in a pattern that is easy to detect. You become truly aware that this is a set created by people that feels very artificial. 

Textures in Miraculous are great when it comes to the character models. For the rest not so much. The really ugly pavement texture you see here…

… looks fine when shot from above but looks like dogshit when the camera is closer to the ground, if I may be so blunt. Everything looks worse in the daytime, because daylight is rendered rather poorly most of the time, and the textures either haven’t loaded properly or aren’t high-res enough. That pavement feels real flat, like a texture, not like pavement. Which isn’t very good. Trees often feel like plastic, dirt doesn’t look like dirt at all, more like sand. Miraculous isn’t going for a photorealistic vibe, nor should it be, but these textures just don’t work very well to represent what they are meant to represent. They seem a little off, just enough for you to notice.

Often, everything looks squeaky clean too. Norman Reynolds of Star Wars fame understood that squeaky clean props and sets and costumes aren’t very convincing and tend to feel cheap, so you need to apply a bit of weathering. And Paris isn’t exactly clean. In Miraculous, most buildings are spotless. They don’t feel like they’ve existed for long despite their 19th century architecture. Are you supposed to feel like this is a story set in a giant dollhouse starring action figures? I’m not sure that was the intended effect, there’s an episode with alive toys and the toy world looks even plasticky-er

(Nighttime scenes, on the other hand, can be really gorgeous. Sapotis’s outdoors scenes are truly magical, it’s a really nice-looking handful of scenes because you get to have a better control on the way your scene is lit. Likewise, most scenes set indoors tend to look quite good because there’s greater control over the lighting sources).

Some spaces feel familiar and friendly, homely, even, namely Marinette’s house, the houseboat to a lesser extent, these are all places you’d hate to see get destroyed, and you get a sense of where they are. Sort of. Ish. But outside of that… There aren’t any memorable streets, most monuments are just that, monumental, important imposing buildings don’t feel personal. There are no charming details about them for the camera to zoom on either. 

Miraculous’s outdoors Paris is a series of more-or-less well-made sets that are loosely connected to one another in a way the audience can’t properly process. You aren’t made to feel attached to most of these sets. Technical issues and a limited budget alongside creative choices to feature iconic touristic landmark rather than having streets that feel more intimate, unique and lived-in means that you can’t really care all that much about Miraculous’s Paris as a place.

And it’s a shame. If these two heroes are fighting to protect a city the audience isn’t made to care about, the stakes are much lower all of a sudden. 

The scene in the New-York special with that helicopter shot of all the destruction caused by Mayura’s amok didn’t feel nearly as impactful as it should have. You really ought to wonder why.

[ananapanini]

Sicknesses, Disasters, and Weather

Trigger Warning! descriptions of injuries and death! For example: mention of blood, burning, drowning, freezing, heatstroke, etc.

Side note before hand because it's technically relevant

A state that's down south and almost always has hot weather would feel warmer to others and be affected by the cold easier, while a state up north with colder weather would feel colder to others and be affected by heat easier.

Fighting over thermostats and cuddles ensue

(Most people go to Alaska when they have a fever, and to Georgia when they're going through a cold front (they'd go to Florida but he's chaos and Texas is,, Texas. Besides, Geo has blankets))

Wisconsin: *opening all the house's doors and windows to enjoy the nice warm 60 degree weather*

Texas: *on the couch in a bundle of 5 blankets* how the fuck are you not dead

Florida: *next to Texas, trying to steal some blankets* Sconnie, I love ya dude but I will not hesitate to set this house on fire to warm up

Colds/Flus

The states can get sick two ways, outbreaks or just catching it.

Outbreaks

If there are a ton of outbreaks of something, for example: flu season, in their state there's a 50/50 chance they develop symptoms for however long the illness would last for someone who actually caught it. Though they'd suffer through the symptoms, they wouldn't actually have it and wouldn't be contagious or anything. But! Just because they're not contagious doesn't mean the other states wouldn't back up when they hear the news, being coughed on is still gross even if it doesn't endanger your health.

According to last year's report Louisiana had the most influenza outbreaks, followed by Arizona, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Nevada, Tennessee and Texas. So for that years flu season Louisiana would be sick and at least half of the others listed would also be sick.

Catching it

Now, they probably have really strong immune systems.

Or at least, they should but things can happen in the state that compromises that.

If there's a natural disaster, somethings changing in the state's government (new governor, new law, system change, etc), or there's riots impeding/distracting the state government their immune systems would be weak for however long it takes to readjust or fix the problem. During this time they can actually get sick, symptoms and all.

If this happened then the state would be contagious to the other states, immune system be damned. It'd be like when another person is sick, you have a chance of catching it.

On the rare occasion there'll be a state with a naturally horrible immune system (his name's Washington, someone please get him a cough drop and some water)

DC

He doesn't have people or land for outbreaks to affect him, only the government buildings.

Instead of having outbreaks he has government workers, if a handful of them or just the president gets sick he'll have the 50/50 chance of having symptoms.

Now, if the government is going through big changes or something is happening then DC will have a weaker immune system and would be able to get sick from the states. They honestly don't know if he could get them sick because he always self isolates and denies help when he is.

If there's some serious chaos going on with changes in government then he'll just straight up get sick. No catching it from anyone, nothing giving him a bug, he just develops symptoms of a really bad cold.

Recap:

Humans can't get states sick unless the state isn't at 100%, unless it's just an outbreak states can get other states sick no matter what, states can't get DC sick unless he's not at 100% leaving him as the designated caretaker when no one else wants to help (he would help regardless even if he could get sick, tis his job as parent friend)

Hurricanes + Tropical Storms

The way they affect the state depends how much damage was done and how their population reacts to it.

For example, a tropical storm or low level hurricane would maybe give Florida a bit of head rush or he'll get a little dizzy but nothing he can't ignore with a white claw. His people are used to them and honestly Don't Give A Fuck, if the house is fine and the car's still there we move on with our lives.

Then you have states that rarely get hurricanes and would panic when one hits, even if it's just a weak one. They'd have a headache, feel dizzy and sore.

Then there's higher level hurricanes, for those bruises will appear along with a migraine. Everything hurts and they're coughing up water, it's hard to breathe, and cuts from debris being thrown around by the winds are appearing everywhere.

In the end though, regardless of what scale it was, they're always left soaking wet and cold.

Earthquakes

First there's the feeling of a sea sick like nausea, that's the only warning they feel and only a few states (Literally just California and Alaska, someone please help them, the poor fault line babes) know how to recognize it instantly.

If they're outside of their own state then they'll get dizzy, balance is Gone and they fall over. If they're lucky enough to not hit their head or crash into something when they fall over then depending on the magnitude they could black out any number of times. I say black out and not pass out because while usually mixed up, blacking out doesn't always mean you loose consciousness.

Their vision goes completely, their eyes are open but all they can see is a dull black with staticky darker specks causing, well, static. They can't see if they try and if it's one of their first earthquakes they do try but it hurts to keep their eyes open, only worsening the feeling that their head is splitting open.

Sometimes their skin cracks. Sometimes if a highly urbanized area was hit and buildings go crashing they feel an invisible weight building up on their chest, it can lead to trouble breathing, or a broken rib, maybe multiple broken ribs.

Fires

There's two kinds of fires, fire season which is mostly for the western states and Florida who have the normal yearly stuff that the ecosystems need in order to function, and then there's when fires get out of hand and turn into disasters.

Fire Season:

Fevers that can range from low to high depending on how much land is burning, overheating when things, tiredness, dry skin, but overall manageable symptoms. Occasionally there are bad days but it's usually chill. It's not particularly nice, it sucks actually, but it's a yearly thing and they're used to it.

During the worse parts of fire season, for states with a ton of land on fire, smoke will come off them. They can suppress it but it takes a lot of energy. Statehouse living situation isn't the easiest because now it'd really suck to smoke out the house, others could get hurt, so they get good at minimizing it. (This mostly applies to California)

Irregular, Out of hand, or Man-Made:

A really high fever and burns slowly appearing everywhere. Smoke is harder to control and fills their lungs, making it hard to breathe. Sometimes they'll straight up faint, staying conscious while you're literally burning up isn't easy.

Death

They're immortal for as long as whatever they're a personification of exists. They can die just like any of person and it'll be painful but they always just,,, wake up. In the exact same spot they died except healed. If whatever killed them is still there then they'll die until it's over or someone saves them. If they die multiple times within a short period of time then every time they come back they'll have healed less and less.

Leftover Stuff

Floods = Initial flooding has them throwing up water and sometimes they can't breathe but afterwards it's more of just a cold, murky feeling in their chest (since these usually happen during big hurricanes just slap this on top)

Droughts = dehydration (dry skin, thirsty, insert symptoms of dehydration here)

Heatwaves = just, hot. For no reason. Air conditioning? Ice pack? Fan? Doesn't matter, they're hot.

Cold fronts = same story, different day. Blankets, jackets, and heaters don't matter or help much, they are cold. Depending how cold it gets and taking into comparison the usual temperature for their state they can develop hypothermia.

Tornadoes = Dizzy and disorientation. Bruises if they hit populated areas and destroyed stuff.

Dust Storms = trouble breathing, irritated eyes, more trouble breathing. Afterwards there's that feeling of when you went to the beach yesterday and suddenly there's the crunch of sand in your mouth.

Power Outage = they can't turn on or operate electric things, even living in the statehouse. For example, with the situation in Texas he wouldn't be able to turn on the lights, flipping the switch wouldn't do anything, but another state could do it for him (if they choose to help)

[silentsockfeet]

tlou2 photomode tips

disclaimer: these are just my go-to tricks that i like to use, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll work for everyone! each person has their own taste and style that they have to develop and these are just what i’ve found work best for me

just going through section by section which settings I use. but i just want to note that a lot of the things i keep in mind when taking photos are what i’ve learned through real life photography and through my film major, where i was taught things like composition, lighting, etc. i have general tips i can give about that as well but for now i just thought i’d keep it to the actual settings i use, partly bc this post is already long as fuck

camera

for portraits, set camera roll to 90 (or -90, it’s the exact same just in different directions)

for all my portraits i’ll usually have field of view set all the way to zero and camera zoomed in as far as it’ll go, tho obviously this changes depending on what you want

depth of field

depth of field is one of the most important tools for drawing the eye and keeping your photos less muddled. you can keep your subject in focus while blurring everything else, so your viewer knows exactly what they’re supposed to be looking at

for nearly all my photos i keep DOF intensity at about 70

DOF is also good for creating a mood. for example, if i want really soft, cosy type photos i’ll have really intense DOF (about 80). if i want crisp action photos i’ll have less intense DOF (50-60)

lately i've been doing some experimenting and setting DOF at 100 to try and get some cool effects but again, this all comes down to personal taste. do your own experimenting and find what you like!

display

brightness changes from photo to photo. i started a system where i’ll find a 10-point range where the brightness looks good (ie. 35-45) and then take a photo at every 5 points (so three photos at 35, 40, 45)

again, these numbers aren’t set, i find whatever range looks best for the photo and then choose the best looking one after uploading to my computer

sharpness i usually don’t tamper with

i only use saturation alongside a 50% noir filter, which i’ve explained more below

screen effects

chromatic aberration is usually always the original settings. every now and then i'll amp it up if i think it looks cool but i've very rarely done this. again, all comes down to personal taste

film grain is pretty much always set to zero unless i want to use it for stylistic effect, which is rare

filters

what i do fairly often to get the dark backgrounds i like is to set filter to noir but change intensity to 50. then i’ll go to the display tab and change saturation to 30, sometimes 35 (the numbers aren’t always these tho, you have to eyeball it to find where the skin tones look normal)

this keeps the edges dark but still makes characters look as colorful as normal

noir is probably the filter i use most often, but every now and then i’ll use vintage, blorange, or none. 

this is really where you can take my advice with a grain of salt because filters are very much a personal taste option, so find what you like!

vignette

for most of my photos, i have vignette ON but size and intensity are both set to 0. i find it helps even out the photo, so that background isn’t too bright while characters are too dark

if i want a particularly dark background, i’ll sometimes set both to 50. very rarely, if i want a darker background but all 0 is too light and all 50 is too dark, i’ll set size to 75 and intensity to 25.

but again, for nearly all of my photos they’re both set to 0

misc.

to summarize, my most common settings: camera roll 90, DOF intensity 70, multiple shots at different brightness settings, film grain 0, noir 50% with saturation bumped slightly, vignette ON but both settings at 0

your flashlight is your best source of lighting! it’s the only source you can actually control, so it’s especially helpful when photographing NPCs. shine your flashlight in their face and harass them!! i use the very edge of the light bc the center is often too bright and leaves a weird ring of light on their face

sometimes using the NPC’s flashlight as a source of light for your main character is also helpful, but it’s definitely harder, since obviously you can’t control them. just something to keep in mind

besides the flashlight, other in game objects can help to make cool effects as well. in this set i posted recently i used smoke bombs to make a more solid backdrop. they also help to emphasize light rays so i want to experiment with it more lol 

most important thing to note is that i take a SHIT TON of photos. i’m guessing for every one i post there’s ten i don’t. the reason for this is, the graphics on your tv are gonna be set to different formats than your computer or phone, so your photos won’t look the same on each device. i always choose photos based on how good they look on my phone, because i figure that’s what most people will see them on. so if you’re like me and you don’t have / can’t afford good photo editing software, the best way to account for what looks best is to take a bunch of the same photo but on different settings and then compare on a separate device

i pretty much don’t make any edits outside of photomode save for cropping photos, but even then i've been trying to do that less. very rarely i'll make some brightness adjustments if they turn out too dark on my computer, but i try to avoid that as much as possible

i seriously can’t stress this enough, but just have patience and keep trying! the worst thing i always do is get all in my head about which posts were successful and whether or not people like my photos, but honestly? just ignore it and photograph what YOU like. art is an inherently selfish hobby. don’t let anything discourage you, just post what you like and keep trying to improve!

i tried to keep this limited to my general settings, but again, it changes with every shot. if y’all want to ask more specific questions about specific shots or whatever please feel free! or if you just want to ask general questions that's cool too! i'm always happy to help :)

[krabmeat]

𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚒 𝚜𝚊𝚠 𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚗𝚊

𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜: wilbur soot

𝚖𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚜: he/him

𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜: toxic escapism, implied toxic relationship, food, mention of fire, mentions of death, general negative self talk, asthma 

𝚊𝚞𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚜:

im posting the third part of my YCGMA series because im currently working on two other fics! if you would like to read the other two parts so far, here is the link to those!! jubillee line, saline solution

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The cute bomber jacket you’ve had since sixth form

She left her jacket in my car. A dark blue one with grayish-yellow accents on the sleeves. It used to be white, but it’s been growing more and more dirty the longer it sits in my car. 

Adorned with patches of places you’ve been

Is nothing on my khaki coat that I got from the roadside when I was 16.

My rough fingers graze against the overlapping fabrics of small souvenirs she had all over the sleeves of the jacket. 

New Zealand, Paris, Rome, New York, Dubai, Amsterdam, Yellowstone

And it doesn’t even stop there! There’s more and more that spread across the plasticy fabric, and each and every one of them seems to slightly peak my interest. But still, her old jacket

I haven’t washed it in a while. Haven’t had the chance to. But I’m driving to a nearby laundromat with some money in my pockets to use. The area around me isn’t familiar, as it usually isn’t. Just been looking at my GPS and going wherever I need to go. I don’t ever go back, that’s a vow I made to myself and I don’t plan on breaking it. 

My boots are from airports, my backpacks from friends

I’m not a man of substance and so I’ll pretend 

I’ve made it to the laundromat with my car parked in the parking lot. It’s very deserted- only 2 other cars parked. My trunk is scarce yet dribbled with dirty clothes here and there that I toss inside of my backpack.

Change is jingling around the laundromat, the soft whirring of the washing and drying machines and a small child pointing at a snack in the vending machine. His mother walks over and regretfully inserts her money into the slot, getting her child a small pack of powdered donuts. He happily takes them, clumsily walking over to the nearest bench to enjoy his snack.

To be a wanderer, wandering

There’s a washing machine that’s open a bit down from the vending machine, so I make my way over while setting my backpack down on the metal bench. A bit later, I’m putting washing detergent into the designated compartment, and soon after stuffing my dirty, smelly clothes in one by one. My stomach rumbles in hunger. Normally I can barely afford to eat 2 meals per day, let alone one. One glance at the vending machine makes my stomach rumble again, hand grabbing the remaining money in my coat pocket. The sight saddens me, barely enough to afford drying my clothes but not enough for a small snack. With a sigh, I stuff the money back into my pocket and continue to fill the washer with clothes.

After a few seconds, a small tug is felt on my pant leg. I sigh gruffly until my eyes are surprised to meet the little boy from before, powdered sugar all over his lips. He reaches into the packet he had gotten from his mother and holds out a powdered donut to me as high as he possibly can. My face morphs from one of irritation to one of surprise. The situation makes me lightly chuckle, specifically at the fact that he’s offering me one instead of more. It’s generous, but it’s still a kid who wants to enjoy his treat while caring for someone.

I thank him and take the food from his hand gratefully. The kid is satisfied with his as well as my actions, so he wanders back over to the bench to finish his food. Soon after, I finish drying my clothes and head back on the road with my backpack of newly cleaned clothes.

I don’t know where I’m going, each turn I make is a gamble I take because I have nowhere else to go. I had told my roommate that I was going to see the world one by one. The most I’ve been seeing is littered trash and dull scenery. Every time I’m fortunate enough to accidentally come across an airport or something, I hesitate. I’m kidding myself, it’s not like I can afford to leave anyways. I drive away every time. 

Leaving ascetic belongings

I should have washed her jacket, shouldn’t I? A slight tilt of my head leads my eyes to the exact jacket, huddled into the creases and folds of my backseat. Suddenly, I got both a feeling and an idea struck into my head and I set my GPS to the nearest restaurant. 20 minutes pass by and slowly in the distance a small building makes its way into sight.

In hostels and restaurant bins.

SLAM!

My car door echoes into the air. An arm lazily grabs the bomber jacket- my hand. With it, the travel to the bin outside of the restaurant doors is short. I took a look at the jacket one last time. I can’t believe her. But she’s out of my life now, for good. The jacket is tossed into the bin and I’m already on the road with the gas pedal slammed as hard as it can go.

The roads are my home as horizons my target

I’ve been away from our old house for about 4 months now. Occasionally staying at a motel if I can afford it but for the most part I sleep in my car in the backseat. And hey, sometimes I even apply for jobs at convenience stores if I’m low on cash! 

If I keep on moving, never lose sight of it 

But I never stop and stay anywhere for more than a month. I’ve kept that promise to myself, and I don’t plan on breaking it anytime soon. Every time I settle down somewhere for more than a week, all I get is reminded of her, our house and the memories and feelings that I’ve tried too hard to push away for them to bubble up again. 

Treating my memory of you like a fire, let it burn out 

She still appears in my mind every now and again, so it was probably right of me to throw out that old jacket. I don’t want to remember, it’s overwhelming. Why do people tell me that memories should be cherished? They’re one of the worst things I’ve had to experience, so to live through it again and again in my mind? No. I can’t.

Don’t fight it, try to move on.

I know what I did was right. But is it knowing that that jacket still exists somewhere? Should I have burned it instead? I don’t know.

It’s been 60 weeks since I saw Vienna

More than a year I’ve been on the road. And I don’t wanna stop, but I know I’ll have to eventually. Everything has turned into one big routine that hasn’t been disrupted yet. How have I not run out of gas in the middle of nowhere yet? I’m not sure, but I’m happy with my luck. I haven’t crashed yet, and my car is doing quite well for $1000.

A bandage and a wide smile slapped across my face

I’m content, and I’m tired. Am I content? I’m just happy to be away from her. This is exactly what I needed, to be by myself. I can hear the squeaky wheeze when I take a deep breath in, I can’t breathe. Luckily, I still have my inhaler sitting on the dashboard of my car. One puff of that and I can slowly feel the air flowing through my throat smoothly.

I’ll pick up my hiking boots when I am ready

And I’ll put down my roots when I’m dead.

Sigh

A deep, long exhale is what I needed. I might be losing track of time and the days I’ve been on the road, but I’m never going home-

-and I’m never getting one, either.

The distance is futile 

How much longer am I gonna be out here? I never predicted for me to even be ALIVE this long! I haven’t planned this far ahead- I just acted out of anger and spite. 

C’mon, don’t be hasty

I’m going too fast, aren’t I? Nothing is planned anymore! What was I looking for when I decided to do this? Certainly not answers, because I’m more confused than before.

You’ll get that feeling deep inside your bones.

But what feeling am I looking for? I know I want something, but I don’t know what. I’ve been traveling around the same horrid place for so long that I forgot my intentions. 

I’ll be gone, and you

Pushing my mixed feelings aside, there’s only one thing I’ve been wondering about while I’ve been away for so long…

Must be

How is she?

Alone.

I miss her.

[hoidn]

tree Explains Things 01: SnapMotion

In this tutorial I talk about using SnapMotion to create caps from video clips for the purpose of making gifs. (I recommend viewing this on YouTube for better quality and a larger video size.)

Please note that I'm not affiliated with SnapMotion or its creator in any way and there's nothing in it for me if you choose to purchase SnapMotion for yourself. Obviously, I recommend it, but do investigate your options, as there may be something out there that's better suited to you.

(This transcript is approximately 60% accurate to the tutorial and 40% me condensing my waffle into more sensible narration.)

--

SnapMotion is a Mac OS X program available to buy at the App Store. (As far as I'm aware, there are no releases for any other operating system.) It's fairly inexpensive: AUD $7.99 when I bought it two years ago. (In the video I said $12, from memory, but then I looked up the receipt email to confirm and found myself $4.01 wrong.) Considering that I've made thousands and thousands of caps in the couple of years I've been using it, I've definitely gotten my money's worth.

SnapMotion has two modes: what I call photo mode and then batch mode. Photo mode is good for one or two caps, but to extract caps in bulk you'll be using batch mode. (Something I forgot to mention in the video is that dragging your file to the SnapMotion icon will open it in photo mode by default. In order to access batch mode, you have to open the program and select it.)

Selecting Show Batch Mode takes you to the batch mode work space. Here you can drag and drop your clip or click the plus sign to add it. Once you've loaded a clip, select it in order to access the Add Batch Tasks menu.

One of the things that I particularly like about this program is that all the information you need about the file is clearly set out. In particular, it shows you how many frames per second you're working with. This is important because the fps rate determines how many frames you want to extract from a clip.

--

Why? Because math.

All the sources I've worked with have an fps rate of either 24 or 60. That number tells you how many individual images are contained in one second of video. Obviously, there's a considerable difference between 24 and 60, and that affects how many frames you choose to extract.

I've found I get the best results by extracting every other frame from 24 fps sources and every fifth frame from 60 fps sources. So:

24 fps = 2 (or 1/2 ← why does Tumblr do that?? I hate that!) 60 fps = 5 (or 1/5)

(That gives you roughly 12 caps per second for both sources. I say 'roughly' because, as you can see on my screen, the fps rate is rounded to the nearest whole number. 24 fps is actually 23.7 fps, so that missing .03 can have a cumulative effect.)

I find this is the best compromise between having smooth, natural looking motion in your gifs and keeping your file size within Tumblr's constraints. (I'll talk more about that in the next tutorial.)

--

Tools

The green bar is obviously your clip timeline. The cursor defaults to being in the centre for some reason. You have start and end caps (or whatever you call them) that define the start and end points of your extraction. The left and right arrow|bar buttons move your cursor to the start or end cap respectively, and between them is the play button. To the left are the transformation options. I've never used them, so I don't know what they do. (If you decide to experiment, please report back about your results!) To the right of that is the volume icon, which allows you to hear sound from your clip during playback. I don't find it useful, so I don't bother. The tortoise icon allows you to adjust the speed of your playback (left is slower, right is faster in case that’s not obvious). The arrowheads on the far right move your playback cursor to the start and end caps respectively.

Add Batch Tasks

This is where you specify the parameters for the batch.

Mode: there are four options. I primarily use Every X Frames. As this is a 24 fps source, I want to extract every 2 frames, so I use the value 2. When I type my value in and then press tab, the bottom of the panel shows the number of frames that will be generated from my selection. If I process this selection, SnapMotion will create twenty-five images. But because I moved the start and end caps earlier, and I actually want to extract frames from the whole clip, I need to adjust them. When I tab through my X value again, I see an updated number of generated frames.

I always include the Starting and Ending frames because I trim my clips to the exact frames I want (unless I'm being lazy).

Max size: This refers to the width of the image in pixels. (Technically, it refers to the maximum size of the largest dimension, but since video sources are universally landscape oriented, for our purposes this number will always refer to the width.) The default setting is 4,000 pixels and since the source clip is 1920 pixels wide my caps are going to remain 1920 pixels wide. However, if you know what width you want your eventual gif to be and you don't want to go through the extra step of resizing it in Photoshop, you can use this setting to do that for you. For example, if you want your gif to be 540 pixels wide you would enter 540 in this field. When you process this batch, SnapMotion will resize each frame it extracts to a width of 540 pixels with a proportional height. (Yeah, I said width at first and then I had trouble getting out the word height. Talking is hard!)

I don't use this feature simply because sometimes I change my mind, and I would have to rerun the batch if I did. (This isn't a big deal for a single shot like this, but if you're working with a whole scene that contains hundreds of frames, it's a hassle.) I also reuse caps sometimes. As you probably know, if you follow my Longmire gifs, sometimes I do a full scene using small gifs and then I go back and do large versions of some of the Vic shots. (Because I love her so.) And sometimes I make other graphics. In those situations, I want the image at its original size, so that I can resize or crop it the way I want.

Format: I prefer PNG.

Override: this tells the program what to do when a file with the same name already exists in the destination folder. The options are Replace existing files or Use alternative name. They're probably fairly self-explanatory (but just in case, I included a note).

Errors: I don't think I've ever had an error in this program. You can choose to generate a log file with each batch, but I kept getting logs that said "no errors" every time I ran one and it was annoying having to constantly delete them, so I switched to No error handling.

Headline/Credit: I believe this is like watermarking your images. If you want to watermark your gifs (I honestly don't see the point but some people do it), I think it'd be a lot easier to do it in Photoshop (or whatever program you use for image editing).

Export: this is where you specify the destination for your extracted image files. Click Choose to open the menu from here. Alternatively, when you're ready to process a batch, click the red button (aka the "Do the Thing" button according to me when I recorded this), and if there is no destination already specified, it will prompt you for a location.

Once you've clicked the Do the Thing button (yeah, I'm just leaning into it now), SnapMotion will display Task Added. If you look at the top of the window, you'll see a progress bar showing the percentage of completion as it processes.

When the images are fully exported, you'll see All Tasks Done and also an alert if you've selected that in your preferences (which I haven't gotten to yet but it's coming up). If you go to the destination folder, you'll find all the images that have been extracted. That's it!

--

I want to address the syntax for how files are named because I found the options very confusing to begin with. The default syntax made no sense to me and it took me a while to configure something that did. File names are defined in the program preferences, so go to the SnapMotion menu, select Preferences, then select the Batch tab.

Number of concurrent snaps: how many frames should be extracted at the same time. This has an impact on your RAM usage and also impacts how long it takes a batch to run.

Alert users with: this is where you choose whether or not you want a notification outside the program. It's useful if you're running a larger batch in the background and therefore don't see the All Tasks Done message.

Output name format:  these are the elements I use:

<movie_name> = the title of your clip file

hyphen

<time_seconds> = the actual second position of the frame within the clip; for example, a frame that was extracted at 14s would be numbered beginning with 14. This parameter converts durations of 1 minute+ into seconds, e.g. 60, 61, etc.

<frame _index> = the running number of the frames extracted in the batch, beginning at 1. The position of this number depends on the total number of frames you're extracting. From 1 to 99 frames, the number will be 01; from 100 to 999 frames, the number will be 001. I've never extracted more than 1,000 frames, but I assume in that situation you'd begin with 0001.

If I were extracting 40 frames from my clip beginning at 14s, then the numerical portion of my file names would start at 1401. If I were extracting 120 frames, then the numerical portion of my file names would start at 14001.

<image_extension> = the file format you've specified

So, my file names are constructed like this: 

<movie_name>-<time_seconds><frame _index>.<image_extension>

And the files from the batch I've just run look like this if you separate the elements: 

1x05_2206 - 0 01 . png

In this batch, the seconds run from 0 to 3 and there are 34 frames in total. The first number column represents <time_seconds>, while columns two and three combined represent <frame_index>. You can see that the numbers in columns two and three are sequential from 1-34, whereas the numbers in column one aren't. That's because I've extracted multiple frames per second. Caps 1-7 were extracted from the first second of the clip, caps 8-18 from the second, caps 19-31 from the third, and caps 32-34 from the fraction of the fourth second.

This naming system is what works for me, but you should experiment with the options so that you can construct file names that work best for you.

--

The last couple of things:

You can import multiple clips either individually or at the same time. 

You can delete a clip by selecting it and clicking the minus button.

--

And that's SnapMotion!

If anything is unclear or I've omitted something that you wanted to know about, please let me know. Thanks for watching and listening (and reading). Next up, I’ll be explaining the process of importing your caps into Photoshop and creating your gif file.

[cuntess-carmilla]

I'm sorry, but as someone who belongs to and participates in an actual subculture, I can't take (Western?) fandom seriously.

I'm not saying alt subcultures are perfect by any means. I'm a goth and I could write and maybe have written whole essays on the bullshit within it, but even with all the racism, misogyny, performative liberalism and such (which are also present in fandom lol), there's just no comparison.

Alternative subcultures, as Problematic as they can be, are ALL about creating something new. I mean, not NEW new, we all come from somewhere, take inspiration, goth came directly from British punk, and pretty much none of the alt subcultures that were started since the 20th century would exist without Black culture, BUT... Guys, the goth subculture equivalent of fanfiction is a song cover.

Sure, lots of goth bands have released covers in order to get popular. Bauhaus themselves did it and they're one of the OG bands, but unless you're a tribute band (which literally only get as famous as they're able to be exact copies of the band they're imitating), no band considers themselves a real band if they haven't at least written original songs, most don't feel like a real one until they release studio recordings or play some live shows. Even those covers they make to get their names around get the eye roll if they don't add anything new and genuinely theirs to it.

Goths who're not musicians ourselves, first of all, don't think we're on Monica Richards' or Peter Murphy's level just because we sing THEIR songs half decently in the shower, like fanfic freaks (normal people who do fanfic excempt) who think their poorly written multichapter slowburn copycat romance is on the same level as Dante's Inferno or Paradise Lost.

Second, even if we're not musicians, we expect of each other to do something. Something original. I mean, people whose LOOKS are carbon copies of some other goth, famous or not, get eye rolled too, you know? This past decade things were a little different in that regard thanks to posers and Capitalism™, but other than that, we actually take offense when someone else copies the individual elements OF OUR FUCKING LOOKS that we cultivated to differentiate ourselves from other goths.

That's why DIY is so big in our subculture, why most of us practice SOME sort of creative hobby (music, writing, painting, clothes making, DJing, design, sculpting, etc) even if we suck at them. At least we try to do something that is completely ours rather than just redrawing a Victoria Francés illustration, changing the color of a dress, and publishing it as ours.

Shit, even our "elders" have no comparison. Fandom "elders" are rarely older than in their 40s, and most of the time they're fucking creeps who dedicate their lives to fictional characters decades younger than them and interact with younger fans in very inappropriate ways. There's asshole elder goths too, but our subculture generates so much genuine personal passion and sense of community, that we don't even consider it a YOUTH subculture anymore.

Our elders are ACTUALLY old. I'm talking people who were there since it started in the late 70s/early 80s as teens or early 20-somethings and are STILL goths. There's goths in their 60s nearing their 70s. And the reason we look up to them isn't just that they're weirdo predatory adults who intimidate or groom us into worshipping them. We look up to them because they've gathered knowledge through up to 4 decades of experience. They saw Bauhaus live before they broke up, they were in a tiny local band that opened for a bigger iconic one so they met them PERSONALLY, they keep relics from decades past, they witnessed our history.

Most importantly, they fought tooth and nail for our subculture to keep thriving not by being self-entitled weirdos pressuring others into validating their everything online, but by archiving ancient zines, keeping recordings of obscure bands who only played one live show before disbanding, passing on their knowledge to younger goths in person or online. They put their own money not into the pockets of big media corporations that don't need to make more billions than they already make, but into the pockets of struggling artists, bars, nightclubs, independent fashion designers, and their communities as a whole. That's why we respect them.

And ykw? I think that's the reason most fandom weirdos don't stick to fandoms for a long time, except for a few who cling to one or two but keep the rest rotating, and why most fandom "elders" aren't older than 40.

A show or movie series ends at some point and most creatives don't stretch them for decades on. Obviously they try to milk them as much as they can but if a story ended then it's over and there's only so much of the same repetitive fanfiction you can consume before you burn out and have nothing left to get your hands on. There's no community, yet you identify with a piece of media at the same level as you do your idk, college majors, star sign and shit.

You don't see me identifying as a Requiem in White fan on my description, I identify as a goth because I'm identifying with a history, a community I've interacted with in person, an ever growing body of new and old art and music, and wear my personal version of the uniform which I didn't buy ready to wear, but is the result of an effort of slowly building a wardrobe since 2007, that I've had to experiment with, play with, and each have their own personal stories attached to it. I mean, I remember EXACTLY what I was wearing when some Evangelical ladies sprinkled holy water on me in early 2008 and I still own those clothes, jewelry and shoes lol.

Fandom identity is, to me, only based on capitalist consumerism as identity and yeah, capitalism has clawed at my subculture especially during the 2010s, but it exists outside of that and it's so much more than buying shit, over-streaming songs to inflate an artist's performance, or taking something someone else created, slapping one sticker on it and calling it ours. My subculture can ACTUALLY politically organize, as can others (punk most notably), you know? Including organizing in rejection to the capitalist fast fashion that almost wrecked us this past decade.

All subcultures have some level of ideology attached to them (for better or for worse, sadly), and it's ideology most of us are passionate about. Goths have always been notorious for androgyny, and all forms of gender defiance are normalized and encouraged. A lot of us pay our respects to our punk roots of anti-capitalism. We don't believe in forced unhealthy positivity, we're less afraid of taboos, we appreciate eccentricity and oddity many times as an active choice against established norms, we find solace and home in what general society finds creepy or threatening...

What similar thing does fandom have beyond campaigning for Johnlock to hold hands or going to pride with some creepy yaoi sign? You guys aren't even good at fighting real bigotry within your spaces unless you're personally affected by them.

It's laughable tbh. I can't take fandom seriously at all, and I don't get how so many people can treat something so empty as if it was sacred.

[piduai]

You live in japan, right? but you’re not asian or am i wrong? do you feel any sort of special treatment there, be it positive or negative? my friend used to live in japan for a couple of years for work, and she’s a blue eyed blonde girl, and men at her office were kinda weird... during the day they were all polite etc but if they went drinking at the end of the day several men always tried touching her hair, told her how she’s a “rare beauty” and shit like that... she stopped going to bars after work eventually because such things happened too often and made her really uncomfortable. most women were nice to her, but there also were a couple of girls who were either jealous or whatever and were giving her the silent treatment. i’m wondering if it was just a shitty workplace or if it’s something cultural for foreigners in japan? my friend ended up transferring and never wanted to come back cause even with all the things she genuinely enjoyed in japan, all those relationships with her colleagues left a bad taste in her mouth...

that’s right, i am eastern european. if you’re a foreigner (looking) you’re going to stand out a lot no matter where you go regardless of race but each breed of foreigner has its own stereotypes and attitudes, and men and women of the same ethnicity are treated very differently. 

i do get special treatment, both negative and positive. i can get away with a lot of stuff that japanese people couldn’t, you know rule-breaking, failure to adhere to norms, being individualistic, being ignorant, i’m extended the benefit of the doubt a lot and even if i do something blatantly stupid or wrong and a lot of people will just shrug and be like ‘well she’s foreign, it can’t be helped’. i work in an ultra traditional company with ruthless subordination and overwhelming corporate abuse but if i decide to use my legal days off, for example, i probably won’t get turned down or fired (tho i also get much more exploited than the locals). i sometimes get stuff or random small gifts for free (like in small locally owned cafes i got free coffee a couple of times, people gifted me veggies from their gardens upon seeing me walk down the street, co-workers sometimes bring me coffee or other drinks or snacks unprompted). people are generally kind, understanding and very helpful.

but yeah there’s the other side of the coin too. i am tall and very beautiful thus always attracted attention, but here it’s tenfold. for japanese men, white women are a p*rn category. my first 4 years here i lived in a tiny town in a prefecture not far from tokyo with a lot of old people and yakuza-owned businesses, the only other white women living there were employed by them, and if you’re a woman there’s only one way to make money for the yakuza. i’ve been approached by men during regular ass activities like walking or shopping asking me if i’m prostituting myself and if they can buy me. finding a (regular and non-teaching) job as a non-western foreigner female is difficult, and sexual harassment is pretty much guaranteed, i am extremely familiar with what your friend went through. my boss commented on my appearance during the interview which yeah was a red flag, but it only escalated. as i said my company is extremely traditional, there are very very few women, and most of my co-workers are men in their 40-50-60s. bossman routinely makes me go drink with him and his henchmen making it so i’m the only woman in a company of 5-10 dudes older than my father, one time he made me go to an important dinner with partners and seated me to his right so i can pour to him, and referred to me in front of the partners as ‘his beauty of a slave’. i’m often used for decorative purposes. there is no touching though because anti-sexual harassment laws were fortified in the last few years and he’s very wary of lawsuits, plus as i said i’m not small. 

women mostly avoid me, though. i’ve always been told that i’m extremely intimidating and look difficult to approach, and i guess here it’s the same... back in uni a friend told me that she initially was terrified of striking up a conversation with me because i seemed so intimidating, but again i don’t know how much of it is me being a foreigner and how much is just my natural energy because people told me the exact same thing in my uni in europe. doesn’t save me from unwanted male attention, though. i’ve been stalked to the point of involving the police, followed, harassed, assaulted, roofied a couple of times (long story), barely escaped being trafficked once (long story x2), my intimidating aura doesn’t stop them from hitting on me any fucking where including the gay district (there wasn’t a single time some dude hasn’t tried to hit me up there. like why do you even BOTHER coming here if you’re str8, i ask them this every single time and they’re all like ‘well, it’s fun’. good for you but why are you trying to pick women up here?????? go to shibuya or something), trying to approach me on the street, on the train, in stores, in lines, on the escalator... men are annoying in general but when you stand out like this you simply become a walking target lol. 

note that all of this and what your friend went through didn’t happen because we’re foreigners, it happens because we’re women. not that japanese men respect their women at all, most are proudly misogynistic unconditionally, BUT if your only encounters in your whole life with a particular category of people happens through p*rnography where you witness them being raped and humiliated on screen, it’s pretty damn difficult to consider them human when you meet people like them in flesh. because of that we have an ‘easy’, sex-happy, slutty image. white men aren’t told they’re ‘rare beauties’. white men don’t get groped on the street or asked if they’re willing to suck someone off for 10k yen. oh to be a white man here, most of the doors are open.

most people are still nice, though. as a foreigner you’ll be a foreigner for the rest of your life, an outsider, an alien, different, strange, unfamiliar, you’ll never be truly accepted or treated as one of their own, and it’s ok, it’s something that you’ll never be able to change and better come to terms with at an early stage. but people are nice. i absolutely love japan and am willing to put up with its negative aspects because to me the ones that i like outweigh them, but i do not blame your friend for choosing a different path, this really isn’t for everyone.

[so-i-dont-forget-again]

So I Don’t Forget Again: A Breath of The Wild fanfiction

Entry 60: Goron City

The Gorons sure know their rocks. They do a lot of mining, but not for gems, they couldn’t care less about those. They mine to get specific rocks that they find delicious. I’m not sure whether this is cannibalism or not, but the Zora eat fish, and they’re aquatic creatures, so I guess this is fine.

There’s a mine right before the city which is where I first found some Gorons. They’re big round people made of stone. I actually found two workers in the mine who’s names end in ‘son’ and I convinced them to help with Terry Town.

As we traversed through the mine lava rocks suddenly came crashing down after an ear-splitting roar rang and the ground quacked. The Gorons were able to quickly calm Friend. Though there are not many animals here, their very… relaxed demeanor is calming.

The city and just about everything, even the people are made of stone. Lava flows like rivers through the city. There are even metal bridges that cross over them. Many ambers and ash flitter about. Though this place is not as elegant as Zora’s Domain, it still has it’s own rustic charm. Frankly it’s the exact opposite of Zora’s Domain, even down to the demeanor of the people.

From the city you can see the peak of Death Mountain which is still so far off in the distance, and the Divine Beast, which looks like a giant lizard, scuttle around the volcano. Though It’s much smaller than Vah Ruta, seeing it constantly move is more disturbing. I can’t imagine what it would have been like for Sidon and I if Vah Ruta constantly marched around the Domain.

When I got to the city I found an armor shop which sold clothing made of stone so I didn’t have to keep constantly drinking the elixirs, so now there’s more for Friend. With the constant eruptions Friend is a little shaken. The inn keeper was kind enough to offer to look after Friend so she doesn’t have to be outside when the eruptions occur.

Though I hadn’t been there long, I already felt at home, like in Hateno, or with Sidon.

After I immediately went searching for the leader of this place, which turned out to be an elder named Bludo. He told me this Divine beast is called Rudania. Because of it, the eruptions have become extremely dangerous, even for the Gorons. When he said that it used to protect the Gorons, it was clear he didn’t believe that. He says that if this keeps going the lava will soon overflow to the rest of Hyrule, completely destroying everything. Apparently, they have been able to use cannons to temporarily stop Rudania from moving but it never lasts long.

As he spoke to me it seemed he got hurt. Apparently, he suffers to back pain. It was only then he asked who I was. When I said I’m the Hylian champion he laughed, almost falling over then asked who I really was… Nobody knows me. It seems that their life span is similar to that of a Hylian. You’d think that being made of rock they’d live for a long time, but no, the Zora’s still live for much longer. It’s… very strange. To them I’m just a traveler and nothing more. In a way it’s almost relieving. There’s not this ghost of a past life I can’t recall stalking me. I’m just me.

When I said I was a traveler he assumed I came to pay my respects to him and already liked me.

He was just about to drive the Divine Beast away with the cannons when his back pain flared up, making traveling anywhere difficult. A Goron named Yunobo who also helps drive off the beast was sent to get Bludo’s medicine but has not returned yet. The medicine is at a place called the abandoned North Mine.

The ‘mine’ is a large body of lava with several stone island/hills like things. On the furthest one is a building. On the islands were many red Lizalfols. They unfortunately have the ability to swim in lava. The best strategy I could use was to use the lava’s updrafts to shoot them from above. I am so grateful to have the Zora’s crystal weapons. Metal ones would have burned me and wooden one would have immediately been lit aflame. Well, the arrows go on fire, but if I shoot quick enough it’s as if there’s no difference.

I had to use the Sheikah Slate’s bombs in order to activate the cannons. Using that I was able to blow up some rock formations and find new updrafts to use. The cannons are set in place, but they can be moved to face a different direction. In order to do this you need to use this lever, but it’s impossible to move on my own. I had to freeze it in time, then hit it a few times for it to finally flip. Clearly these things were only intended for a Goron to use. They’re unbelievably strong.

When I reached the building, the entrance was collapsed in on itself. I could hear a voice, but I couldn’t make out what they were saying. I had to use another cannon to open it due to the Sheikah bombs not being powerful enough to open it.

Inside were many supplies, but at the very back I found a Goron with his hands covering his head, huddled in a sphere shape. It may have been my eyes tricking me, but there appeared to be an orange glow surrounding him till he stood and turned around. Around his neck he wore a blue cloth with silver threading. It looks so similar to my tunic, and to the other champion’s clothing. When he first saw me he assumed I was a monster. When I got him to slow down and breath he realized I’m a Hylian.

He asked how I did it and was shocked to hear I had used the Boss’ cannons. Turns out only he is powerful enough to use them.

He’s a real kind guy, just is spooked easily. This may be a weird thought, but he really reminds me of Friend. They even have the same big, dark, liquid eyes. He’s taller than me, but not as tall as Sidon. More like a little taller than Kass.

He thanked me for helping him escape. It turns out that during one of the eruptions that were caused by the Divine Beast a lava rock hit the entrance sealing him in. He then asked why a Hylian was out here. When I told him the elder nicknamed Boss sent me he started mumbling to himself, he does that often.

As he began to leave more Lizalfols appeared. The moment he saw them, he immediately curled up into a ball shape and that orange glow had returned. He was shocked to see me fight them off without hesitation. Other things like Chuchus and Keese appeared so I ended up escorting him back to the city.

When we returned to the city Boss was elated to see us. Yunobo swiftly gave him the pain killers. He also spoke of how I helped and protected him. The Boss was impressed saying that he didn’t know that there were warriors like me among the Hylians. He gave me lots of fireproof elixirs as thanks. Now if I need to stay longer Friend can stay for a while longer too.

It will take some time for the medicine to take effect so nothing can be done about Rudania till then. I asked why Yunobo was needed if only Boss could use the cannons. He’s used as ammunition. Because he’s a Goron he’s denser than regular rock, and unlike the other Gorons he won’t get hurt because of a power he inherited from Daruk. The Goron champion.

They were surprised by my reaction of confusion. That name. For a moment I heard something echo in my mind. “Brother”. That word. I felt a tugging in my breast.

They turned me to face an entire mountain side they had carved in his likeness. The warm wind raced past me. My footing was a little unsteady, but not enough for me to fall or lose my balance. The view was unlike anything I had ever seen. I heard a cheer. He said he was finally getting the hang of controlling the beast. Even said it was fun to do so. He told me to tell the other champions that they better work as hard as they could to keep up with him. His presence was loud, yet there was also a strange serenity to it. He was also impressed with the view, just as I was. He then said that though he didn’t know much about Calamity Gannon, he’d protect the land to his death. Then said “Right, little guy?” and hit my back. I took a few steps to regain my balance causing him to laugh. Surprisingly it was quiet. Seeing him like that filled me with an at ease feeling, taking away all the anxiety that was choking me in an instant. He then congratulated me on becoming the princess’ appointed knight. He said it was a big deal but placed his massive hand on my shoulder saying there was no pressure. Then he spoke more seriously, saying that she had a strong personality, can’t see the range for the peaks as he put it. He said that if I remembered that, I’d be fine. Then the ground began to quake. Some peaks that were over us, came crashing down. He stood before me, that orange glow enveloping him. When the rocks made impact, they were crushed into pebbles. He then turned around and spoke to me as if nothing had happened, the orange glow gone.

Despite being surrounded by lava, when his image faded, I felt a chill. Like something had suddenly gone missing that should have been there. I was desperate to say something, but all I could say was what still lingered in my mind then, and even now as I write.

Brother

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[fungusqueen]

Here it is! The promised car-buying tips from my amateur and frugal experience! My general tips are to be prepared, do your homework, and don’t get caught off guard by not doing research and agreeing to things/paying for things you didn’t plan on. 

Car salesmen are not your friends and they’re trying to lead you down the path that’s most profitable for them, which is never going to be the best situation for you. It’s their job to try to sell you on a bunch of stuff you don’t need, so be prepared for their tricks and understand the process so you’re not blindsided. Something specific to the coronavirus pandemic is that dealerships will be very desperate to sell (because no one is buying cars right now) and dealerships are willing to take a loss on a sale! BUT! If you go unprepared, it may also leave you vulnerable to dealerships attempting to do unethical shit BECAUSE they are so desperate to sell. They might try to make profits in places you may not suspect. A lot of aspects of buying a car (especially in financing car) sound good up front, but you might find out you’re getting screwed over. 

I’m not going to discuss what makes a good car, or what you should buy etc. because I really don’t know and that’s your business! I’m mainly going to talk about the steps before and during the car-buying process (inside of a dealership and over the phone inquiring prices etc). I did my car search and car-buying alone (due to the global pandemic and my own desire to have minimal contact with others) and for my first time ever! So I’m only going to share my experience and offer resources.

I recommend this podcast episode from NPR’s Life Kit, “How to Buy a Car Without Being Taken for a Ride” as a simple starting point for car buying advice. It’s 23 min long. I know not everyone will listen to the podcast episode (and you don’t have to) so I summarized some of those episode tips below and elaborated on certain points.

1) Don’t appear too excited (at the dealership); they will try to build your excitement as high as possible. Playing on your emotions and creating a fantasy of a new life in a new car puts you in a position to make irrational decisions. When I was in the dealership, they actually asked me “Are you excited?” and I said “No.” I was also wearing a face mask, so with half my face covered, concealing my excitement was pretty easy! Their attempts may also appear as them trying to get you to talk shit about your old car to get you complaining, and further idealizing your future car. Overall, appearing too eager will not make them fight over you to get a sale. Make them beg!

2) Get pre-approved for a loan before going to a dealership. Know what kind of interest rate you can get and what kind of monthly payment you can afford. Your credit score will inform this; the better your score, the better your rate will be (so if you have time to improve your score, try to build it as high as possible). Your bank/credit union should have rates listed easily online. You don’t have to be a member of a credit union to get a loan with them, but there may be a discounts if you’re already a member. PLEASE KNOW that after applying for a loan, your bank/credit union will give you a time limit on how long you have to find a car/use the loan. My credit union gave me 20 days from the time I applied, but it can vary. You can also call to increase or decrease the loan if the car you initially wanted is no longer available or you choose a different one. When you apply for a loan, you have to supply the VIN (Vehicle Identification Number), but obviously car shopping can change so make sure you supply your bank/credit union with the new VIN number of the car you decide to go with. Your bank/credit union may not approve you for a car that is too old. This happened to me (I first applied for a 2013 car in my budget) and they let me know they typically dont approve loans for cars older than 2014, which was a blessing in disguise because I found a newer model of the same car for around the same price. I ended up changing the car VIN/loan amount 3 times overall from the time I first got pre-approved for my car loan. Just keep your bank/credit union updated. Also! It’s not necessary but it helps if they can send a written (emailed) confirmation of the loan amount with APR listed, as the dealership will need it later in the finance office. 

3) Definitely TEST DRIVE a car you see online before considering purchasing it. It might feel different than you thought! I test drove an older model of the car I wanted before test driving a slightly newer model and I’m really glad I test drove the older one so I had something to compare it too. There was only a two year difference between the models but the upgrades made a difference in ways I wouldn’t have thought before sitting in the driver’s seat!

4) Beware the 7 year car loan. It’s probably not the right car for you if you need 84 months to pay off. Car loans are not like home loans; cars are always depreciating in value. Interest on car loans is also always front-loaded, so the money you put in your first few years will mostly go towards your interest, not the principal of your car loan, and you could be spending way more than you thought. If the car does not last you 7 years, you may owe more than the car ends up being worth if you want to or have to sell it. At this point, it might be a smarter decision to lease a car, if for whatever reason, you insist on getting a specific car. 

4.5) To add to this last point, you’ve probably seen dealership ads on TV or in print that say “0% APR for 84 months!” This is kind of a scam (at least imo) because it’s very seductive in a way that can distract you from other ways you can save. These advertisements serve the purpose of getting people into showrooms. This is because interest rate is only ONE SMALL FACTOR into finding what’s right for your budget. An APR offer is minimal compared to your monthly payment...if the monthly payment is too high (overall car price too high), are you really saving $$? These offers might even be for a shorter payment term, (ex. 36 month instead of 60 month), your monthly payment could be too high for your budget because you didn’t have the flexibility outside of this offer! If your term payment is longer (ex. 84 months), while your car depreciates in value, you may end up owing more than it’s worth by time you pay it off. 7 years is a long time! As well, these offers are usually only for NEW cars (again, more expensive than necessary) and buying used might be a better option. As well, they are not transparent about the minimum credit score required to qualify for 0% APR, so you may not even qualify...even with great credit! The 0% offer is also usually offered along with other incentives, like a manufacturer rebate (thousand $ and above). You’ll often have to chose between one incentive or the other...you could be turning down a multi-thousand dollar rebate because that 0% is very seductive...but if you did the math, it might not be the best option for your budget. ALSO! If you’re going to buy new anyway, banks/credit unions offer better APR rates for new cars rather than used so compare. If you can get a super low APR from your credit union on a new car, why get stuck with a higher monthly payment on a too long/too short loan term you otherwise wouldn’t have chosen just to get that 0%?

5) To continue with the point above ^^ When you are with the salesman, start with price of the car and don’t talk about ANYTHING else until later. THIS IS WHERE THEY GET YOU! They will try to get you to talk about financing, how much money you want to put down etc. BEFORE promising you a juicy competitive price on the car. SO! APR rates shouldn’t even be discussed until you can agree to the price of the car! Sort of another way they GET YA! So distracting! Can prevent you from getting your lowest overall price possible! 

6) IT IS SO FRICKEN IMPORTANT AND I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH, BECAUSE THIS HAS HELPED ME THE MOST OF ANY TIP I’VE HEARD FROM FRIENDS: ASK FOR OTD (Out the door) price. The prices you see listed online or on a sticker on the car window are not the prices you’ll end up paying. OTD price includes everything, tax, fees etc. A few dealerships nearby had the same car I wanted (only varying slightly in color, mileage etc. but exact same year and model) so I called a few and said “HI I saw your car online, could you give me the OTD (out the door) price?” Ask them to break it down for you, what’s the price of the car, what’s tax, document fee, dmv fee, etc. If the OTD price is very high above the car price plus tax, beware! You should not be paying thousands of dollars in additional mystery fees. If a handful of dealerships have basically the same car, see which one can give you the best price. If a dealership cannot be up-front about their OTD price, and break it down for you so you know how all the money is adding up, RUN AWAY! You can ask for this information over the phone, some fees are often not necessary and are negotiable.

With this coronavirus pandemic, you should not be paying this full OTD price on the car, ask for at least 10% off and see what they say. In my situation, I called, got the OTD price at two different dealerships, one dealership asked me what they could do to get my business and I said, “I might come in today if you can give me 10% off the OTD price.” (I was cackling behind my phone tbh! it seemed ridiculous to me but whatevs). The salesman I was speaking to calculated it, said he’d call me back after asking his manager. When he called me back, they offered me just under 10% off...which sounded pretty sweet to me because the car was already being sold below it’s Kelly Blue Book value and that was the dealership I eventually went with. So u never know if you don’t ask! I asked the same of another dealership and they basically said no. So call around! This guy, Kevin Hunter, on youtube, gave me this idea! His channel is full of car buying wisdom so I highly recommend! 

He has a great recent video specifically about the car buying market in during this coronavirus pandemic. He has videos on topics like, honest car salesman techniques, are certified preowned vehicles worth it, fake fees you shouldn’t pay for, etc. 

7) Something I experienced that Kevin Hunter ^ also explains, (in this video titled, CAR SALESMAN TRICKS YOU into buying a car! DEALERSHIP Rip off: The SET UP) is this weird 4 square setup they did to me...and they do to everyone at a dealership. It’s another distraction tactic, that they will use to distract you from getting a good price on the car. It will look like this:

So the salesman will bring this informal piece of paper out. It’s not a contract, it’s not official, but they’re going to use this paper to pull information from you THAT YOU SHOULD NEVER GIVE THEM! At the point they bring this out, you should only be talking about car sales price. So this piece of paper has spaces to write trade in value (if you’re bringing in your old car to trade in), down payment, monthly payment, and car price. Anything that is not the car sales price will be used against you to try and get you to pay more. They’re trying to create the best profit for the dealership. 

When I was at the dealership, the salesman kept pushing me to say how much cash I wanted to put down, what kind of monthly payment I wanted (ie. how much money can I spend), (and in my situation, I didn’t have a trade-in car, so discussion about that wasn’t brought up). Practice refusing to answer these questions...I kept saying I did not want to discuss financing or cash down until we could agree to the price of the car. You can also say you prefer to discuss this with the finance manager. He tried to get me to sign this 4-Square paper with a higher price on it than I was given on the phone. Do not sign this, it’s weird. I brought out a paper with a much lower price and asked him to sign off on that price instead. Bring the focus back to the car price. Be prepared to walk out and TELL THEM you will leave if you don’t get the price you want! 

which leads me to my next point...

8) DO NOT SAY YOU ARE PAYING CASH. Do not say how much cash you have, do not discuss HOW you are paying at any point with the salesman. After you can agree to a favorable price on the car, you’ll be handed to a finance manager in another room. The salesman is NOT the finance officer. You should not tell your salesman your financial details. If anything, you only have to give the salesman VERY BASIC details so they can run a credit check before handing you to the finance manager.

and below....here is a WHY YOU SHOULDN’T DISCUSS HOW YOU’RE PAYING WITH THE SALESMAN. 

9) Dealers can make a lot of money off a car loan...if you finance through them. Make them believe in the possibility that you might finance through them. They might give you a lower price on the car because they might assume they can get ya with a high APR or long term payment...which will bring them money in the long term. Don’t tell them you’re financing through your bank/credit union before you settle on the car price! In some cases though, a dealership might be able to give you a better deal thank your bank. You can say, “Why don’t you run my credit and see what you can offer me” and then see if it’s better than what your bank/credit union can give you. They also might test you with a high APR, even if you qualify for a lower APR (just to see if you’ll take it), and might even use details of your credit report against you...

10) If you have a trade in, they will also try to make a profit from not giving you enough $$ for your old car. Get a price quote from Carmax and check the Kelly Blue Book value beforehand to see if they’re giving you a good price. If it’s not good enough, you might want to consider walking away from the dealership and just selling to Carmax. Because of online transparency and easy access to prices of cars, they will try to make money in other areas OTHER THAN the car price, and this is one of them. 

11) After you’ve settled on the price of the car and they’ve run your credit, you’ll be moved from the salesman to the finance office...where you’ll be signing contracts and discussing other add-ons, (warranties, insurances, protections etc.) When you’re in the finance office, DONT BUY ANY ADD ONS THE DAY YOU BUY YOUR CAR. If you decide to, research a good price for what they offer you. You can call the dealership and ask to speak to the finance manager ahead of time and ask what additional items you may be offered. These might be paint protection, tire protection, extended warranties, gap insurance etc. When they offer these things to you, they are often overpriced. You can also get these later, or get these elsewhere for a better price. Research ahead of time to see what’s right for you and don’t try to figure it out unprepared because they will try to convince you. 

That concludes my numbered dealership tips! I probably left some stuff out, so please continue to do your research.

This podcast episode from This American Life, 129 Cars, illustrates the importance of using timing and desperation on the part of salespeople to your advantage. This is a longer listen, over an hour long, but it follows salespeople during their work day as they try to meet their monthly quota in order to reach their sales bonus. Towards the end of the month can be an ideal buying time because dealerships may be willing to take a loss or make no commission from a sale because if they’re able to reach their quota, they will either...not be fired, or they may receive a sizeable bonus. Overall, TIMING can be key in getting a good deal. Dealerships also have yearly sales quotas, so if you can wait, you may be able to get a better deal on a car towards the end of the year. 

As well, I recommend a Monday/weekday since dealerships are least busy during this time. AND! If you need to contact your bank, it might be impossible on the weekend. Because of coronavirus, operating hours for banks/credit unions have been shortened so if you need to finalize some financing details or ask your bank/credit union questions, make sure you’re able to do so when needed! I ran into this problem and was delayed because my credit union was closing early. 

One last tip! You also will also need to insure this new car so call your car insurance carrier and let them know you’re car shopping and they can help you add the new car to your current policy, or change your current insurance. You car insurance might increase or decrease with the addition of a new car. And if you’re getting a car with a higher value, you might want to consider adding more coverage to your current coverage. The dealership might give you free temporary insurance so you can drive the car off the lot with coverage. When I called my insurance carrier to add this new car onto my policy, it didn’t take effect until midnight that night so the dealership gave me temporary insurance just in case something happened on the drive home. You legally do need insurance to drive it off the lot or if you’ve never been insured before. So if you’re currently on somebody else’s policy, get some quotes from different insurance carriers and try to get an idea of the future cost.

Those are all my tips! This took a lot longer than I thought, heh heh, but I seriously hope this helps someone because buying a car is a HUGE DEAL and there’s so much potential to get taken advantage of due to the lack of transparency!!! There’s a lot more I could have covered so I encourage you to take more time to do more research! And good luck if you plan on buying a car soon!

[ineffablebuddies]

Thoughts on how the Star Trek remakes should approach the characters , in a way that I think would be realistic for 2021 and our current climate:

Romantic relationships:

Sulu/Chekhov - We know they spend a lot of time together on a one to one basis, especially in the films, and they are very endeared to each other. It also wouldn’t change their dynamic or the dynamic on the bridge, and could slip into any future films or shows without change to character. (unlike Spock and Uhura, which I don’t hate, but required adjusting Spock’s character in order to enable a pre-existing relationship.) Like, all you’d need is one throwaway line to make it canon and you could keep the rest exactly the same. And there is obvious value in representing an interracial same sex relationship.

Uhura/Scotty - this would work as a slow burn, because Scotty is a bit of a hopeless romantic whilst he is younger, and is easily misled by his heart and can be a bit overprotective in a very 60s style which is a character flaw integral to his character (and is the plot of a few episodes). Which is why a slow burn is nice for him, because he needs to learn to come from a place of genuine respect and deep affection. And whilst I do like that Uhura stays relatively unattached as one of the few prominent female characters in tos, I do think that as a black woman it is important to allow her to have a romantic relationship due to current representation issues. Which is why I think the slow burn is also nice for her, because you can’t change her character, or make her the object of affection, but showing a deep love and affection developing on the job is nice. We also only start getting the scotty/Uhura romantic dynamic coming in the films when they’re much older. And again I think this is one you can show without having to change anything integral to them. Same with checkov/sulu that it shouldn’t be a plot point, but a character thing that happens without needing to be focused on. Neither of them seek it, but it happens naturally.

Amanda/Sarek - obviously this is already canon, but I think it should be explored in a little more detail. I also think we can do away with the whole “Vulcan is incredibly sexist and treat women as property” thing, which doesn’t actually make sense considering the female Vulcans we do meet, so doesn’t really add to the world building anyway.

Ambiguous Relationships:

Kirk/Spock/Bones - now I know this is controversial, but I don’t think they should necessarily make them canon in the remakes, except possibly at the very end of the shows/last film. To focus on the romantic relationship between Kirk/Spock too early on will potentially reduce the time for Bones to be included as a very necessary part of the main three, and the fact of the matter, the three of them are presented as having a deep bond, not just Kirk/Spock. And there’s a certain level of yearning and unspoken love that really defines their relationships. They should always end up together in some manner, with no other romantic attachments. Part of me would love to make it a ployamarous relationship, but I don’t think it’s likely to happen anytime soon.

I do think however that they should make Spock gay, and I think they should keep the relationship with the Romulan commander but make it a man, because that was actually very well written and acted, but the fact that Spock is able to use that romantic affection to his advantage against a woman is a little sexist considering it’s like the only time we see a female romulan commander, but as a man we wouldn’t have those same issues. And I think that’s the only other relationship we should see Spock have outside of Kirk/bones, because it’s marked by the fact that he can’t act on it the way he would like to, and none of the other relationships in tos really work IMO because it just seems ooc for him. But I think it’s important to allow him to be confirmed as gay considering he is queercoded.

I don’t think it’ll be as easy to confirm a queer identity for Kirk, but I think that for the women he has flings with, he should never be the one to initiate it, but have the same flaw of scotty as being a bit of a hopeless romantic who can be misled by his heart, and again that would give more value to the slow burn he has with Spock. I think you can very much allow him to refer to Spock with love, and I think you can confirm a relationship with Spock at the very end, but I think it should be non-sexual. Vulcan kisses are the way to go, and should allow you to give confirmation of romantic love whilst also having plausible deniability for the people who would riot against it.

I think it’d be fucking amazing if we could cast a trans guy as Kirk. I don’t think you’d get away with saying the character is trans, but having a trans actor and just never mentioning it in show may just be enough to get away with it. Especially if this is a relatively unknown actor who passes completely so casual watchers can’t even get fussed about it (I know this wording has some issues, but I’m thinking more about getting around execs and producers, than on what would be best for rep.)

I’m torn on how far you could get away with including Bones in their relationship. The bones/Spock dynamic is interesting because it is like enemies to lovers, they definitely develop that care for each other, whilst Kirk/bones are old friends. I think Bones shouldn’t have romantic relationships on screen, and should maybe be quite unromantic as a result of his divorce. I don’t think we should ever meet his daughter, though I’m also quite interested in the idea of his ex wife having remarried for a number of years and then having a brief affair with Bones, before breaking it off, but then gives birth to his child but it remains a secret. Because it’s definitely part of his character that he has no attachments to his home, and it makes more sense of his attachment - his love for a daughter that never knew him - if it’s one he can’t do anything about. And would understandably make him more bitter towards his ex, which can make him more unromantic. But I don’t think it needs to be a major plot point.

Like I said, Spock/bones/Kirk should always end up together in some way. And I think it’s in their character to never define why they end up together, but to acknowledge that they can’t live without each other. And I think you could get away with including that as ambiguous to how far their love for each other goes. There’ll be too much backlash to make it completely canon for it, but you could get away with the Good Omens approach. Perhaps you could include Bones in a Vulcan kiss subtly enough to get away with it.

Characters who should be important:

Christine Chapel - she should definitely be in it and made a more significant character, because otherwise Uhura is really the only woman in the show. But it’d be very nice to have a woman who doesn’t need to have a relationship, and there’s no need for her romantic desire for Spock to exist in any remakes. It would also be nice to just make her a doctor from the get-go. Her friendship with Uhura was present in tos, but can now be focused on more, as well as her supportive role to Bones throughout. She wouldn’t be part of the main group, but she should be a big part of their lives.

Doctor m’benga - he was an interesting character, and it’d be nice to have a fixed medical team that work closely together. There’s also a potential for an interesting concept of him being an expert on Vulcans, Bones being an expert on Humans, and thus they’ve both been hired on the ship to work together for the sake of Spock. Also, having another established doctor on board could give an actual explanation for why it’s okay that their only doctor keeps beaming down to dangerous missions and going up to the bridge for no reason lol. Plus there is a lot to be said for casting a dark skinned black man in the role of knowledgable caregiver, especially if they can make him more of a scientist of alien biology too. There may be value if it naturally develops of him having a relationship with chapel, because whilst I like allowing women to exist without relationships, it might be balanced out with the positive representation of an interracial relationship.

Lieutenant Rahda - remember her? She was like In one episode but was great, and she should definitely be introduced as part of the bridge team again. Though her exact culture or religion is not disclosed, she is seen to wear a bindi, and i think it’s always a great time to add more diversity. It makes sense to have more people in the bridge crew too, even if they aren’t part of the main team dynamic. Considering the current political climate, it’d also be a great idea to add another bridge crew team who is visibly a Muslim woman who wears a headscarf, seeing as various countries are still trying to ban that.

Walking Bear - he was only in the TAS for one episode, but again I think he would prove a valuable addition, especially considering star trek’s representation of native people has never been the best, so it’s time they started to make up for that a bit. In most episodes there’s always usually others in the bridge that are helping the main team, and it’d make sense to have a fixed cast of who these people are and flesh them out a bit more.

Saavik - she shouldn’t be in it until much later, at least not as part of the enterprise crew, but there is something very interesting about her character and the dynamic with Spock (which is why I think they should meet later on, because he takes on a role of mentor which is a dynamic shift, and thus should probably happen later. Multiple Vulcans on board is also a dynamic shift that I think should be addressed more.) I do wonder whether it might be nice to move her to being a scientist rather than bridge crew, as that would afford her more interaction with Bones as well, who I think we should get to see interact with other Vulcans more, to establish that he is not xenophobic despite his conflict on Vulcan philosophy with Spock. (Or at least if he does start xenophobic, to start showing his development away from this.) She also should not have a relationship, especially not with Spock oh my god. I think a nice way for her to be introduced would be if she was staffed on a Vulcan only ship that the enterprise for whatever reason has to work alongside, because I think we need to see Spock interact more with other Vulcans and see that Vulcans, despite claims to the contrary, can have the same xenophobic failings as humans. I think her being one who is sympathetic to the enterprise and to Spock is a nice set up to them then meeting later and working together (and also why she might change careers and move away from the Vulcan only ships, as we do get the sense it is unusual for Vulcans to serve on board a starship.) Whilst I do think that a romulan/Vulcan offspring could provide an interesting story, I think she should be fully Vulcan in order to make her acceptance of Spock more poignant.

Kevin Riley - I just think he’s neat. Also maybe we can return to the Tarsus 5 colony story point?!?!?!?

I’d also think it’d be cool to establish some engineers that work beneath Scotty, and a mix of genders of course.

But yeah, I think there’s a lot of ways that any remakes could stay true to the original, whilst still pushing for progressiveness in the same spirit as tos, whilst managing to manoeuvre around execs and producers and negative media. Star Trek should always be progressive for its day, and it’s a new day now, so we need to keep moving onwards.

[jawabear]

(6) A Lesson In Want (Maxwell Lord x Reader)

A/N: Welcome to the past. This part is set before and during the very first meeting. Sorry for any mistakes. Hope you enjoy!

Genre: Fluff, angst

Warnings: none, it gets a little sad at the end though, Pedro Pascal comes with his own warning

Summary: To put things simply, its the beginning of the end

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6 / Part 7 / Part 8 / Part 9 / Epilogue

(Y/N) walked back into her room to see a black box at the foot of her bed and a new case file waiting for her on her pillow. She wouldn’t really call it a pillow, more like a slab of stone, that’s what her entire bed felt like but it’s what she had to live with. She reached for the file and read over the name of her next target.

MAXWELL LORD

“Ooh lucky, you get the handsome rich guy again” Mia giggled like a child from over her shoulder. (Y/N) didn’t answer, she remained silent as she skimmed over his information. It had the basics, his name, age, birthday, appearance, height, occupation etc, nothing she hadn’t read before in news articles about him, nothing to dissimilar to a few of her previous targets who also happened to be rich, stuck up, arrogant men. “My target is boring...” Mia pouted “I wanna go after the rich ones”

“It makes no difference if they’re rich or poor, they’re a target so why should it matter?” (Y/N) grumbled to her self as she looked into his dark eyes printed in the picture the was clipped to his file. They were interesting to say the least, dark and intriguing. She could hear Mia talking to her, but it was blurry in her ears, she was getting lost in Maxwell’s gaze, even though it was through a picture.

“-wouldn’t you agree (Y/N)?” Mia laughed. (Y/N) blinked rapidly, pulling herself from her trance and looked over to her friend.

“Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention to a single word you said” (Y/N) told her. She flicked through the pages and saw the list of events that he would be attending, the first one being that night. “I was doing something far more interesting”

“Well, that’s just mean” Mia whined as she folded her arms over her chest like a child. She turned her head from (Y/N), flicking her faded grey hair in her direction before slumping down on her bed, pulling the thin cloth, they would call a blanket, over her body.

“My first scoping is tonight so don’t wait up for me, I don’t know when I’ll be back” (Y/N) called as she stood from her bed and went to the box that had been placed at the foot of her bed, it was expensive looking but (Y/N) already knew what it was, a dress for her to wear. She opened the box and saw a dark blue dress, it was simple, like all of her dresses had ever been, she was in no position to need to stand out in a crowd. In fact she was to do the exact opposite, be seen by no one, only him. And that’s exactly what she planned to do. Everyone else at the Academy was impressed at just how easily she was able to hide in plain sight, she could stand in front of someone and the still probably wouldn’t notice her.

“It’s not like you to have sex on the first night (Y/N)” Mia said as she turned in her bed so she was now facing (Y/N). (Y/N) picked up the dress and walked over to the mirror in their room and held the dress against her body “who are you going as?” Mia asked in reference to her never ending list of covers that all had better lives then she did.

(Y/N) thought for a moment and looked over to the file that rested on her bed “I think I can tell Mr Lord’s type by the look in his eyes. I’ll go as myself”

Mia sat up slightly, shocked at her friend’s words “are you sure (Y/N)? Is that even allowed?”

“Of course it is. It doesn’t matter anyway. We’re ghosts remember? We could give our names to the CIA and they wouldn’t be able to find a damn thing on us” (Y/N) explained “I’ll be fine, it’s not like anyone else will want to talk to me other then him. That is, if all goes to plan”

“When does it not go to plan with you?” Mia questioned with a slight laugh. 

-

She managed to slip into the hall unnoticed, grabbing a drink from the tray of champagne in the doorway before weaving through the crowds. She would never stand in one place, she would take a different route with each circle of the hall that she did, standing in one place gave people a chance to talk to her, if she kept moving no one who bother her, unless she bothered them.

Her eyes scanned to room for Maxwell Lord, she had already memorised his face, and looking around at the mass of people, he wouldn’t be too difficult to pick out. He was a lot younger then the majority of people at that gathering, most of them in their late 50’s early 60’s or older, very few looked younger then that. Aside from a few girls she could spot in the arms of men. She wondered how many of them work in the same place she did.

The Academy was very strict, any woman who worked there was rarely able to mingle with anyone outside their roommate. (Y/N) wouldn’t have care to talk to people anyway, she much preferred to do her job and leave, she didn’t have time for friendship, Mia being the only exception. The Academy is an assassin organisation, unknown for obvious reasons, they take young orphan girls and train them to be master assassins of the richest and worst men in the city. Masters of disguise and seduction, their two greatest weapons. They’re taught that any man will fall to the feet of a beautiful woman if they talk the right way, and of course that what they do. Members of the Academy scratch rich names off one by one, they are told after every assassination that they are one step closer to cleansing the world of greed and corruption. Brainwashed into believing what they are doing is right, being denied any emotions towards a target, being denied any sort of emotion at all really. You can’t kill if you’ll feel guilty afterwards.

And (Y/N) was the best if the best. Aside from Mia, no other girl had met her, but they had heard stories. About how she had never failed a mission, about how strong she is, about how collected she is. Defiantly, she was the one to handle Maxwell Lord.

Ten minuets in to her being amongst the crowd, she spotted him. He was taking to a younger gentleman. Max wore a dark grey suit and a matching tie, he liked to match. For a while, she just stood back and watched him, she didn’t attempt to approach him just yet. He seemed engrossed in the conversation he was having, using hand gestures to emphasise his point. She was fascinated to know what was getting him so flustered. It was almost comedic to watch. But soon the show was over, he had calmed down and taken a large sip of his drink, his eyes moving from the man before him and looked around the room.

She hadn’t meant for him to find her so quickly but she was prepared nonetheless. His eyes seemed to widen slightly when they met hers, he dropped his glass from his lips and stared at her for a moment. She pulled her own glass to her lips and gave him a teasing look before turning into the crowd. She managed to find a quiet place and hoped that he had followed after her.

(Y/N) waited for a few moments and then he appeared. He looked calm and collected as she slowly approached her. “Excuse me” he spoke, his voice smooth and deep, not how she would’ve imagined it but she wasn’t complaining. He held his hand out to her “Maxwell Lord” he introduced.

She gave him a smile and gently shook his hand “(Y/N)” she said.

“Just (Y/N)?” He asked her as he removed his hand from her.

“For now” she said “what was getting you so flustered?” She asked him “made for quite a show”

“Some of these people don’t know how to properly run a business. I was trying to help him but he was adamant he knew exactly what he was doing” Max summarised.

“Ah, I see. And do you know exactly what you are doing?” She asked him.

“What I’ve been doing seems to have done me well so far. So I would say I do”

“Of course. I should’ve known not to ask such a question, the great Maxwell Lord clearly has everything under control. Any one would be lucky to gain advice from him” he couldn’t help but notice a hint of mockery in her voice as she spoke to him.

“Are you mocking me?” He asked her. If anyone else had spoken to him the way she just did, he would’ve destroyed them, but something about her just drew him in further, like he was happy to be mocked her. Her sheer beauty was mocking his very existence.

“Defiantly not” she shook her head “quite the opposite, I was complimenting you” she took a sip of her drink and raised an eye brow at him “surely you are familiar with the term compliment” she teased “I can’t imagine you are unused to hearing them in your position. You must have to shell out quite a fortune to keep the line if kind words flowing your way”

“I’ll have you know Miss (Y/N), any words that come my way, good or bad, are completely free. Unlike most people here tonight I accept criticism, it makes you a better person in my opinion”

“I somehow find that hard to believe. You don’t strike me as a very gracious looser”

“I wouldn’t know, I’ve never lost”

She let out a chuckle as she finished off her drink and rested it in the table behind her. “Well, Mr Lord, seems we both have that in common. But there is always a first time for everything. I have a feeling we may be meeting more often, so, until next time Mr Lord” she gave him a seductive smile and a soft wink before seamlessly disappearing into the crowd.

Max put his own empty glass down and followed after her, he wasn’t prepared to have her slip away so quickly, but even following in her exact footsteps he had lost her. He must’ve looked like an idiot, his head flicking in every direction looking for her but she had vanished. He let out a low growl of frustration and swore to himself in that moment that she was to be his.

(Y/N) lay beside his sleeping figure. He looked so at peace. A few stray pieces of his usual neat blonde hair had fallen from their place. She gently brushed them away from his face. She often thought of their first meeting, she often thought of every meeting after that too. She often thought of him. Everything about him. His soft hair. His beautiful, warm eyes. His voice. His body. The way he touched her, the way he spoke to her, they way he smiled at her. They way he made her feel.

She had to finally admit to herself that she was in love with him, she tried to push it down but the longer she was with him, the more she forgot herself, the more she fell for him. And she didn’t want to stop. She loved the feeling he hand planted inside her. She loved the warmth that spread through her body whenever he looked at her, whenever he touched her. She was in love with him and she knew she shouldn’t be. But she couldn’t help herself. This was the first time she had felt love and it was completely consuming her.

And being with him in that moment certainly didn’t help. His arm loosely around her waist, his mouth hanging slightly open as he let out soft snores. She wanted to snuggle into his chest, wrap both his arms around her and just stay pressed against him until the end of time, but the low buzzing in her ear stopped her from them. The noise from the earpiece signalled that she was to return back. She let out a quiet sigh and slowly slipped out of his hold. She immediately felt cold. She could’ve just slipped back into bed with him and ignored her job but she couldn’t, she wouldn’t be able to.

She was quick to put on her clothes and make a silent escape from his home that she had come to love. She had left him another note, thanking him for helping her relax in the bath and being so open with her about his past love. As she walked down his drive way she glanced back at his house, up into his bedroom window. She didn’t know why, she wasn’t expecting him to be in there, but for some reason she hoped he would be, but he wasn’t.

Once she had returned back to her room she flopped down into her solid mattress, a complete contrast to the comforting softness of Max’s mattress. She longed to be back in his bed, to have the thick covers over he body rather then the stupidly thin blanket she did have. To sink into his feather mattress, rather than be in pain from sleeping in her slab of rock. But mostly to have him beside her.

What she wouldn’t give to be able to just spend one entire night with him, to sleep soundly for once, and then to wake up next to him, to see the sun peek through his curtains and cast its golden light over his body, making him glow like some sort of god from the heavens. She would give anything to have a chance at that. Not that she had much to give. So, for now, she would have to be content in what time she did have in his arms. And god knows she was grateful for it, because she knew he didn’t have much time left. 

23/04/20