#I think I just want stranger things but it was actually produced in the 80s

[brat-pack-it-up-boys]

Slightly inspired by one of my mutual post, but

WHY ISN’T THERE ANY BRAT PACK HORROR MOVIE???

I’m talking Matt Dillon, ally sherry, Tom cruise, Emilio estevez, Molly ringwald, John cusack

[alexthefunniest]

Funniest mileven arguments to why byler won’t be endgame

I’m sorry if there’s any grammar errors or mistakes, I wrote this angrily at 2 am when I couldn’t sleep.

1. “Its the 80’s”- as if there isn’t any movies that have happy queer endings that were made/set in the 80’s, yall are just lazy and don’t want to actually do any research.

2. “It’s a Netflix original”- ok? And? Like we literally get a new mlm/queer show on Netflix every year, byler is a mlm relationship which Netflix has a lot of, young royals, heartstopper??? Are you guys ok?

3. “Cuz it’s too popular” - we already have over two queer confirmed characters in stranger things, the show that’s about fighting forced conformity ?? The show that focuses on nerds, losers and people that don’t ‘fit in’ ? And y’all find it so hard to see ur two main characters being gay? Read the room respectfully.

4. “It’s one sided” - if it was one sided they would make Mike tell Will he doesn’t like him in s3 and give Will a new love interest in s4 (it has been confirmed that there will be no new characters in s5 and that the producers want every character to have their ‘perfect ending’) Will believed he was a mistake and thought he wouldn’t fall in love, because he is queer so he most definitely will have a queer love interest and it will be Mike.

5. “Mike is in love with el”- is he tho? He never actually said he loved her to her face without the world and her life depending on it, he’s been pressured to say it twice and when she told him she loves him back the man didn’t look happy but conflicted.

6. “Mileven endgame” - it’s really not, the amount of symbolism that points to their downfall (such as everyone calling them the ‘star crossed lovers’ which are basically lovers deemed to fail, and more) is HUGE, they have too many familial parallels it’s insane, why parallel the it couple with family themes and relationships? Another problem I have with this it’s the fact that it’s very rare for the first ‘original’ pairings to stay together till the end of the show (like with Bob and Joyce or Steve and Nancy)

7. “Byler wouldn’t make sense to the plot”- watch the show again, just because somethings more subtle, doesn’t mean it’s not there, y’all will always say that about queer relationships but whenever u guys see a straight relationship in these subtle moments you jump into conclusions that they might end up together, it’s called being a hypocrite.

8. “Mike isn’t gay” - it’s what he’s been telling himself too, the guy was obviously made fun of and called slurs like Will, everyone already thought and knew their relationship was ‘special’ and everyone suspected something, that’s why Mikes own dad was surprised and said “our son, with a girl?” Also your so called straight Mike has a room filled with pictures and posters of buff men, he’s never shown any interest in girls or women (except el who’s been said, looked like a boy in s1) not to mention the first song on his official Spotify playlist being “small town boy” (yk the song about a young gay man running away from his homophobic small town??).

9. Mikes love confession- if u call that a love confession I wouldn’t wanna date u brother, he was pushed to say ily by Will, the same Will that was in the frame of Mike lying when he said that his life “started” when he found El in the woods, which was obviously a lie because Mike called El a weapon and said he’ll “send her back to pennhurst or wherever she comes from” after they found her, also if the love confession was honest why would El be still upset with Mike and not talk to him after??

10. “El wasn’t upset at Mike but was sad about Max” - me when I’m in denial, she wasn’t sad about Max until she found the coke bottle underneath her bed, then we get the flashbacks of her and Max having fun in s3, she wasn’t thinking abt Max before that, its called common sense and logical thinking skills.

11. “There would be no time for byler to develop in s5” - it might seem crazy what I’m about to say, they were literally childhood best friends and it’s been confirmed that Will had a crush on Mike since s1, they literally started to build their romantic relationship MORE in s4, with all the ‘[emotional, tender music playing]’ and parallels between byler and jancy, also even if they haven’t started to build their relationship up in a romantic way in s4, y’all remember how in less than a season Jonathan and Nancy slept together or how Max and Lucas got together in a spawn of a season (mind u they met in the same season). Byler knows each other since little kids and always had potential y’all are just in denial.

12. “Why make Mike queer” - why not? Do y’all actually believe that one of the main characters plot line is just about getting with the girl at the end? Even if it was (which lets be so fr now) why would Mike get with El from the first season (they kissed in s1 and basically u can count that as they’re together wtv) if that was his main goal as a character? Well written shows have something called a “character development” which the producers of st love apparently, so why make Mike just a bland character that just gets with the main girl character, and why have El date the first guy she ever met, I just think it would be very shallow.

That’s all, this was written in a silly way cuz it’s basically me talking to myself, it’s okay if u ship mileven I just really don’t like disrespectful fans that yell at bylers and call the ship disgusting, I don’t care about what who ships as long as we all just have fun and not yell at each other 🫶🏻

[living-with-herpes]

2 years on

So I completely forgot about this blog and have recently found it again.

It’s two years later and reading what I wrote makes me want to cry for myself. I honestly was so convinced my life was over and I can completely tell you, it is not!

I won’t lie, I was very low for a fair while and I cried about it a lot. I continued to google every which way under the sun and continued to terrify myself. I read so many statistics it made my mind swim.

But slowly I accepted what had happened.

I was so angry about it and so upset. I did some research into testing for it and in the uk apparently doctors don’t routinely test for herpes for 3 main reasons:

1) the tests are roughly 50% accurate if it is not swabbing an actual sore. A blood test will just test for antibodies and as not every person who carries the virus reacts to it, some people might be carrying the virus and not have needed to produce antibodies

2) the nhs doesn’t consider herpes to be dangerous enough to need testing for regularly. Let’s face it, you wouldn’t go to the doctor after kissing a stranger on a night out and ask them to take a blood test to test for a cold sore (hsv1 herpes) just in case

3) doctors consider the mental health implications of knowing you have the virus, worse than the symptoms of the virus itself so they almost think it’s better that sometimes people don’t know. I can personally attest to this.

Every site you go to the statistics vary slightly but the general consensus is that roughly 80% of the population have herpes (hsv1/hsv2).

I thought this diagnosis would be the end of my sex life, no one would want to touch me again. I was so wrong. Using barrier contraception like condoms really does minimise the potential for passing it on.

There is lots of talk on the internet of whether people need to disclose a herpes diagnosis or not to new partners. Again after all, people would disclose that they’ve had a cold sore before. I’m still undecided on this one but so far I have told my partners before sleeping with them. I can tell you now that no one has ran for the hills, in fact most don’t even care.

I’ve learnt a lot, in fact if I was on mastermind now I think my specialist subject could be herpes!

Basically the herpes virus lives in your nerves and can flare up from time to time, lots of things can trigger this from a cut, to stress or illness. Not every time you have a flare up, you have an actual outbreak with the little blisters. When you have a flare up with or without the blisters, it’s called viral shedding and this is called viral shedding. You are particularly contagious when viral shedding, and if you don’t always have blisters, this is why it’s so important to use protection as you don’t know when this happens.

Your first outbreak is usually considered the worst and in my experience it completely was! Since then I’ve had a few outbreaks. But now an outbreak consists of one tiny blister.

My doctors put my antiviral on a repeat prescription for me so I have made it so that I always have a pack in my bathroom cupboard so I can start them as soon as I feel one coming. It’s only a two day course.

Honestly it doesn’t affect my life massively at all now. It’s all manageable and I had no reason to worry.

Obviously I would prefer to have continued living my life without herpes. But it really is no different now I’m living with it.

I’m even now at the point where sometimes I go weeks without remembering that I have herpes.

Honestly all I could say to someone going through a diagnosis is, be sad if you need to be for a while but know there is a light at the end of the tunnel and it does not mean your life is over.

Xo

[arr-jim-lad]

i want to give some context to the vague post i made yesterday bc i feel like this is something that actually needs to be addressed.

i posted a completely non-sexual, non-suggestive drawing to the bionicle subreddit and like 80% of the comments i got were weirdo hornyposting insisting my picture is something it clearly was not.

i don't remember when was the last time i felt this uncomfortable in a fandom space, and reddit proves once again that it has the worst fandom community, regardless of what the fandom is of.

however this is absolutely not a reddit-only thing, and i think modern fandoms and the anonymity of social media made people way too comfortable posting sexual comments on a stranger's content, expecting everyone to be fine and just as comfortable with it.

the barrage of sexually suggestive comments on a picture of a character just Standing There, drawn in my usual style, made me so uncomfortable that i ended up deleting it altogether to avoid future comments of the sort, even though it was doing really well notes-wise. Frankly, I got the vibe that people saw my discomfort in the replies and purposely added to it. I don't see myself posting art to that subreddit again because of this experience, which really sucks, because i really wanted to reach out to other bionicle fans there.

i think it's important to mention that i am not a sex-negative person, i am firmly of the belief that adult material should not be banned on every website and people should be allowed to produce and have access to it. however, i am also asexual and fairly sex-repulsed when it comes to my own space. entering my comment section is entering my space, as i will read everything you say there, so the least you can do is show some god damned restraint when you're unsure if the artist is okay with sexual comments or not.

you'd think this was basic etiquette but i guess the power of anonymity really rots people's brains.

[fizzigigsimmer]

i wanna hear about all your fics!! so bachelor au, blinding baby like city lights, news paper au and love aint fair at all!!

Ahh bless you nonny. Some of these are still just outlines but a few have chapters posted.

Starting with OUTLINES

The Bachelor Au: This is still one of my favorite ideas lol, born of my love of the insanity that is the bachelor franchise and the poorly concealed producer plants who are clearly just there for the drama. You can't tell me Billy wouldn't make a perfect Chad. The gist is Steve is the first Bisexual bachelor contestant. An icon, An American sweetheart looking for love. Robin and The Party are crew members and all the stranger things teens are contestants (Nancy, Chrissy, Eddie, Jason, Argyle, Heather) vying for his hand and represent various types of typical bachelor contestants. The funny ones, the good guys, the people there for clout, the people who somehow think they can get away with going on a dating show while still involved in a situationship back home, and the people who decide to do a reality show instead of go to therapy for their bag of issues. Billy is an instagram model hired by producers to be the seasons 'villian' and be hated by the audience. It's just supposed to be a free vacation where he gets to make some extra cash to be his most extra before he's finally sent home. But oops, they fall in love. Leaving them to figure out how they build a life together after the show when there are NDA's involved and they are the most hated ship in America.

Newspaper Club Au: This is a no upside down college fic featuring Billy/Nancy friendship, nerd!billy and jock!Steve. I haven't decided yet whether it's modern, 80s, or an ambiguous setting but the basic gist is the boys meet in college. Steve is there on a sports scholarship and chose California to follow Nancy, now his ex-girlfriend. Billy's an English major who works on the school paper with Nancy (one of his electives). He's pissed when she puts him on the sports column as it means he actually has to attend the games. He starts using the column to flirt with/aka harass swimmer Steve through increasingly ridiculous and suggestive commentary. The campus thinks it's a riot. Steve thinks Billy's an asshole and making him the butt of a joke just because he's a "dumb jock". Nancy plays matchmaker and also saves the integrity of her paper by finagling Billy into helping Steve write an essay for his English literature elective. Billy takes the opportunity to show him he was 1000 percent serious about wanting to know if his dick is even bigger out of the speedo.

Onto the POSTED fics

Blinding Baby Like City Lights: Is a dom/sub au where everyone is either a dominant, submissive, or switch. Basically some people need to dominate to stay balanced and others need to submit, or some mix of the two. And everyone responds differently to different things, creating many different 'types.' Naturally not all types are good for each other. Billy is a masochistic sub, has known it for a long time but wasn't safe to explore it growing up with an abusive sadist for a father. He's managed to claw his way out of his abusive home and become a successful business man who is often mistaken for a dom. He found family in Heather & Chrissy, but never a dominant he can trust enough to handle him and give him exactly what he needs. Steve's a recovering sadist. Too much privilege and neglectful parents lead him to some pretty unhealthy and toxic tendencies in his relationship with his first love Nancy. Losing his sub nearly broke him, but he broke good and has been rebuilding his life with his best friend Robin for the last few years. He just wants to take care of people by making good food, and find someone he can take care of always, without having to be afraid of his own desires. Steve might just be perfect for Billy, and Billy might just be what Steve needs to finally embrace who he is.

*** EDIT

When you have so many WIPs you confuse two of them.

Love Aint Fair At All: Werewolf au + a/b/o dynamics. This is a retelling of Snow White that takes place in an alternate version of Hawkins where magic exists. Some peoples magic makes them Wolf Shifters (people who are born with the ability to turn into wolves) and others use their magic to bend the external elements, these people are called Hags. Steve lives in the Cold Zone, a portion of the country that is suffering under a powerful Hags curse. Billy is a Wolf Shifter, exiled from their former pack in California, he and Neil make their way as huntsmen for hire. But everything goes to shit wen Neil brings the family to Hawkins to serve Steve's cousin Elsie, a powerful and mysterious Hag whose obsession with beauty and power threatens to cover the world in ice. The only thing holding her at bay is an old curse that limits her powers and a prophecy that promised one day an omega child would be born who was fairer than her. Good thing Steve is a perfectly normal bland beta boy - until he isn't.

[cloudycleric]

fun little stranger things story.

okay so i was watching rpdr15 right. & they have to lip sync to running up that hill. & as soon as i hear it im like oohhhh my god. & i look at my mom & we're like ohhh my god.

& my dad is like "kate bush? i've never heard of this" & i was like he'll recognize it when it gets to the chorus right. well he DIDNT. & we were like... he doesn't even know the cultural impact this song had. so i turned to my dad & i said "it was one of the main songs of st4."

& he was like, "oh," & then added "it just sounds like over produced 80s music"

& i just said sternly "THATS THE POINT"

me & mom then explain the scene where max is running out of vecna's mind palace. & im getting way too energetic because autism. i'm just saying how hard it fucks. & i'm like "sadie sink got awards purely for her performance in that scene yadadaa." BUT MY MOTHER IS AGREEING WITH ME. so this makes my dad more receptive to watching the scene.

but saying he didn't know the song had opened a pandora's box & he knew it & he just decided to tough it out with me. & i turned to him & i said "after this lip sync, you are sitting down & you are watching this ONE scene."

(context: my father has been a stickler about watching stranger things because he didn't like the second season & decided to never pick it up again. & then obviously i can be annoying about it so yk. he's made vague comments about maybe potentially rewatching the whole thing bc me & my mom told him it gets better after s2, but like he never was serious i think. & i've asked him if he'd watch the entire series with me so he can truly experience s5 with me & my mom but he has yet to take up with offer.)

so after the lip sync im like i have to turn this episode on real quick because he NEEDS to see this. i cannot lose this moment where he is genuinely interested in watching this. so i know the episode & time stamp & everything & i start it from when max enters vecna's mind palace. i accidentally started it further back then i wanted to originally so i was worried he would lose interest. but he WATCHED. he was WATCHING.

& then it gets good, max runs out, & the scene ends & i'm like "doesn't it fuck so hard." & he was like "hermherm no comment"

then me & my mom start gossiping like he do. & i was like "i think he like actually got invested watching that scene" & she was like "he was totally."

so TLDR is that rupauls dragrace may have gotten my father back into stranger things. but only time will tell

[abtan]

A SUMMER PLANT CARE GUIDING TIPS

LOOKING FOR GUIDING TIPS FOR YOUR PLANTS? I GOT YOU!

Picking the right spot

We all know plants requiring sunlight is a well-known fact. But the harsh rays of sunlight in this summer can be harmful to the plant, therefore making it wilt. The pro tip we have is: When plants placed in the south and west, it have a tendency to receive more powerful rays of sunlight. So move them further away from those directions to protect them from getting sunburnt.

The humidity matters

Plants with decorative leaves such as ferns, mosaic plants and spider plants are the ones which thrive in highly humid conditions (mostly houseplants). Therefore, it is important to mist them from time to time in long periods of heat. We can create a tiny humid microclimate for our plants to beat the heat. Just fill up a bowl with water and pebbles and place the pot on the pebbles and it should be working!

Maintain and Retain the soil moisture

This summer season heat can deplete the soil’s moisture. We can always test the moisture by simply touching the soil or even poking the soil with popsicle or any sticks. If there is a gap between the soil and the sides of the pot, then there is a lack of moisture in the soil. But don’t worry, I got u! there are ways to replenish this. Adding organic compost like fruits and vegetables that is already rotten, it doesn't only retains the moisture in the soil but also helps in providing nutrients to your greens. They also help lock in the moisture for longer periods of time.

Water sufficiently but not too much

Overwatering can be fatal for indoor plants. While it's tempting to think they need more water in the summer, there are better watering techniques to consider. Ensure water is absorbed evenly by watering your plant gradually, and a helpful tip is to do so either early in the morning or after sunset to minimize evaporation.

Pro tip: If you’re going on a summer vacation or will be gone for an extended period, don’t fret! There are longer-term hydration solutions to keep your houseplants alive while you’re away to test out.

Avoid the use of chemical fertilizers

Fertilization leads to excess growth. And this, inturn, leads to lots of leaves and stems outgrowing the root system, causing stress to the plant especially when it is a houseplants or succulent. So adding chemicals for their growth during summertime is a huge no, maybe use a natural fertilizer like rotten fruits and vegetables.

Prune and trim the plants

Don’t wait till the end of summer to prune your pretty pants! It is natural for plants and their leaves to turn yellow or begin to wilt in the heat. Although the damaged part of the plant can cause stress to the health of the plant, it is important to remove the dead foliage to keep your plant healthy. This also helps in preventing the loss of water through transpiration.

WANT TO HEAR SOME PLANT FACTS?

DYK??

Plants make up 80% of the food we eat and produce 98% of the oxygen we breathe.

Plants love music. Growing plants can be a quiet and peaceful experience but they also want to listen to your playlists. House plants love music and it encourages growth, so turn up the music! (not too loud!)

Plants reduce noise pollution. Houseplants, such as peace lilies and succulents, have been found to absorb sound! Surround workspace, house and anywhere with plants to create a quiet sanctuary

Plants ‘talk’ to each other. They do this via their roots in a very unique way, by secreting chemicals into the soil. These chemicals, called ‘root exudates’ tell every other living thing in the root zone how the plant is doing.

Did you know that plants also have such a clock? This means that they can prepare themselves for various times of the day. Plants use sugar signals to establish this circadian phase when it’s light and dark.

The smell of freshly-cut grass is actually a plant distress call.

Biologists have found that plants exhibit competitiveness amongst strangers of the same species but they are more accommodating towards their siblings. It means, plants compete with strangers by allocating more of their roots below ground. This helps them as they fight for access to water and soil nutrients.

[cleverhottubmiracle]

We independently evaluate all recommended products and services. Any products or services put forward appear in no particular order. if you click on links we provide, we may receive compensation. ClickyBezel I Bought a Super Fake Rolex GMT Pepsi… Or Tried To I bought a super fake Rolex GMT Pepsi—or at least, I tried to. That is until a super fake watch dealer kicked me out of his store for not paying the ridiculous price he was asking. Let me just tell you, even with my genuine Pepsi Rolex right next to the super fake, I couldn’t tell the difference between the two. I was scared, I was shocked, but most of all, I was surprised by the hoops I had to jump through to find an actual convincing super fake in Vietnam’s largest fake market, Ben Thanh. Here’s my story about high-quality super clones.   ClickyBezel The Idea: A Genuine vs. Super Fake Showdown It all started with an idea to create a comparison article between a genuine Rolex Pepsi and its super fake counterpart. I know there’s a ton of content out there, including a super in-depth comparison from Watchfinder & Co.You should definitely check them out. But I was in Vietnam this past month, and I figured, why not just hit up Ben Thanh Market, pick up a super fake, and film some content? Of course, in true Clicky Bezel fashion, a simple idea turned into a full-blown mission. A Dirty Little Secret Now, I’m going to let you in on a little personal secret that may disgust a lot of you—I might even lose some subscribers. Let me just say that I’m no stranger to buying a replica watch. ClickyBezel I know, I know, I’ve let a lot of you down. But keep in mind, this was years ago when I first started my watch-collecting journey. I purchased one replica watch from a vendor at this market, and from what I remember, it was a Patek Philippe Nautilus. It cost less than $80 at the time, and although it looked convincing from afar, once you got closer to inspect it and had it in hand, you could immediately tell it wasn’t the quality you’d expect from one of the greatest watch manufacturers in the world. The Mission: Find the Super Fakes ClickyBezel My mission this time was to find the super fakes you see all over YouTube, just to see how good these things could get—especially with my genuine Pepsi strapped to my wrist while searching around. I wanted to be scared. Like, really scared. As with any mission, you need a plan. This wasn’t my first rodeo at Ben Thanh Market, so I kind of knew what to expect. Some vendors have a better selection than others. Some will give you the cold shoulder. Many of them sell fakes at the same level of quality. But one thing they all have in common? There’s going to be a hell of a lot of negotiating. I needed to know absolutely everything there is to know about these superfakes in less than 24 hours. I mean, it’s just a fake watch – it can’t be that tough, right? Late Night Reddit Research I stumbled across this group on Reddit. It was a subreddit catering to replica watches. The amount of information and the size of this community on these ultra-convincing fakes is a lot larger than you would expect. There are all these terms and lingo used in the fake watch market world that I really had to educate myself on. It honestly felt like I was in college again, cramming for an important test the night before. It was painful but necessary if I wanted to find these super fakes in person and try to score a deal. Breaking Down Super Fake Pricing In a nutshell, the most important piece of information I learned is that there are different levels of super fakes. There are also several factories that produce these super fakes, some of which are more desirable than others as these are the ones that are the most convincing. ClickyBezel In terms of pricing, the best super fakes can run up to $800. At first, I thought this pricing was absolutely insane. After thinking about it for a bit, I can see why this would be a “quote-unquote” deal for some people, as The Real McCoy can run you up close to $11,000 nowadays – and that’s if you can score one at retail, which is a bit of a tough endeavor. ClickyBezel Now armed with all this super fake watch knowledge, it was time to hit the market. The first few didn’t work out. One looked promising, though! Not only was this the largest store out of all the vendors, it also had the most employees and the most selection out of all of them. My gut just told me that this was the one that had it. The Sketchy Encounter Here’s a little bit of how the conversation went: “I’m looking for a Rolex Pepsi.” He hands me a really bad fake with an aluminum bezel “No, not good enough. I want better quality.” “Oh, you want better quality? Okay, come here.” He hands me another bad fake, still aluminum bezel “No, no, I want your best. This one isn’t good.”  He takes a peek at his boss outside of the storefront, walks towards him, and whispers something in his ear boss looks at me and approaches me “So you’re looking for a super fake, huh?�� Grabs my wrist “Oh, you want that one? Okay.” He pulls me to a different section of the store. ClickyBezel I’m feeling a little sketched out at this point. He walks towards me with a case full of watches. You know, at this point, we were going to be looking at the real deal super fake, but a part of me had some doubt that it was going to be something that I was looking for. As he opened the case, I saw it right there – it looked unbelievably authentic. He smiles and hands it over to me, pointing to the sticker on the bracelet that reads “Clean.” ClickyBezel At first, I was a little perplexed at what this meant, but then I remember digging back from my crash course into the super fake watch community that this meant it came from the Clean Factory, which happened to be the most desirable factory amongst the community known for one-to-one replicas. The owner gave me a moment to inspect the watch. In my hand, it felt real. I turned the bezel – convincing. I opened up the clasp on the bracelet – okay, it doesn’t feel as positive as my genuine Pepsi but it uses the same mechanism, even so far as down to the Easy Link extension. It was all there. ClickyBezel The bezel color, side by side with my Pepsi – there was no difference whatsoever. I was spooked, but this is exactly why I went there. Testing the Movement The only thing left was to test the movement operation, and to my surprise, it operated exactly as a GMT Master 2 caliber would. That’s what really got me. ClickyBezel Position zero: winded the crown, albeit a bit unrefined from the genuine counterpart. Position one allowed you to jump the hour hand and set the date, and position two allowed you to set the minutes and GMT hand location. To be honest, I didn’t think this replica would house a proper traveler GMT, yet here we are. The owner wouldn’t allow me to open up the case back and see the inner workings of the watch, but I knew it was probably cloned to look exactly like a Rolex Caliber. Now, as impressive as this movement operated compared to the genuine GMT, there are some things that gave away that this was a clone. The crown operation was not very smooth and was a bit wiggly. Moving through each crown position wasn’t positive, not quite the right resistance when setting the minutes on the GMT hand. Comparison Product Key Features Build Quality Authenticity Indicators Price Genuine Rolex GMT Pepsi Unmatched craftsmanshipIconic designOfficial Rolex movement Flawless bezel colorSmooth crown operationPrecise mechanisms Authenticity guaranteed via authorized dealers Upwards of $11,000 Super Fake Rolex GMT Pepsi (Clean Factory) High-quality replicaAccurate bezel colorMimics Rolex features Convincing build with slight flaws(wobbly crown, lower resistance) Sticker with ‘Clean’ brandingIndistinguishable at a glance $400–$800 (negotiation dependent)   The Negotiation Dance ClickyBezel Now it was at this point where I was ready to step into the negotiation phase of this interesting experience. The national currency of Vietnam is the dong, so for this article, I will refer to the amount in the dollar equivalent. The owner continues to compliment me on testing out every possible feature of the Pepsi clone and says he’ll give me a deal. So I said, “What’s the best deal you can give me?” “$1,000.” Absolutely not. Now coming into this, I did have a number in mind since the very beginning. I didn’t want to spend anything more than $500, as this was a fair deal on this level of super fake from the research I’ve done, but I was looking for a real deal, so $400 to $450 is what I was shooting for. “Give me your best number; no playing around.” He looked really annoyed with us as if we were wasting his time, but I think it’s because we didn’t buy into his BS. So I just cut to the chase and offered him a number straight up that was fair, and if he decided to counteroffer, get me into a position to pay my top dollar of around $500. “$450.” He was over it at this point, which, to be honest, negotiations like this take a good amount of time, but for some reason, this guy wasn’t having it. He snags the GMT clone out of my hands, pops it back into the briefcase, snapping it shut, grabs a calculator, and types in a number before he storms off in the other direction with absolutely no exchange of words – “$600.” Making the Right Decision ClickyBezel Now I was tempted and considering it even though it was out of my budget, but I was thinking about the content I could produce of this super clone. To be honest, I was way more shocked by the unprofessionalism coming from the store owner, who just decided to walk off the way he did, and that alone was enough for me to do the same. ClickyBezel So, on the car ride back and getting consolation from my wife and friends who were with me, I was really considering turning back and buying the clone to produce an article for you guys, but luckily, they talked me out of it. And you know what? They were right. Even for educational purposes, at least on my channel, it isn’t worth it, let alone buying it from a sleazy shop owner. A Warning About Super Fakes ClickyBezel So, even though I don’t have the watch in hand, I hope you learned something from this article or at least found an ounce of entertainment from this otherwise bantering article. So, suppose you made it this far in the article. In that case, I have a message for you to consider: After learning from this experience, super fakes are scary good and believe me when I say this – even with the genuine GMT next to the super clone, it is indistinguishable from each other even if you own the real thing. It’s still very difficult. ClickyBezel So, word of caution: if you do decide to pull the trigger on the watch of your dreams outside of an authorized dealer, triple-check the buyer, and buy from a trusted source. If a deal is too good to be true, it usually is, or when the owner is treating you like utter shit… Watch This Review Final Thoughts and a Question for You I really hope you all enjoyed this article on high-quality super clones. I just knew from my experience alone that I had to create something for you guys. Now, I have a question for you, and this can be somewhat of a confession: Have you ever purchased a replica or thought about it? Also, if you’ve purchased one, how does it make you feel? When I bought a fake watch in the past, I felt like an impostor. I mean, most people won’t even bat an eye or even notice it, but I think the most important thing you have to ask yourself is why you are buying a replica in the first place. For me, at the time, it was because I wanted to feel what the real thing would be like, but in the end, it would never be the same. So appreciating that watch from afar and dreaming about one day being in a position to acquire your special piece, I promise, is far more fulfilling and worth the wait. From a young age, I was hooked on watches. My dad and uncle were both collectors, and I couldn’t resist the allure of their timepieces. But it wasn’t until I stumbled upon a Casio digital calculator watch in college that I truly fell in love. (I originally bought the watch to complete my Back to the Future costume for an 80’s-themed party) It wasn’t until the release of the Swatch Moonswatch watches that Clicky Bezel came to fruition. My wife (bless her heart) had been bugging me for years to start a YouTube channel, and I finally caved in with my first video covering my experience camping over 16 hours for the hyped-up Moonswatches.  In a relatively short time, I’ve been lucky enough to connect and collaborate with some big players in the industry, including Nomos Glashütte, Jomashop, Minase, and now Fashionbeans.  To learn more about my passion, find my content here on fashionbeans.com, follow my Youtube page: or visit my website at: Source link

[norajworld]

We independently evaluate all recommended products and services. Any products or services put forward appear in no particular order. if you click on links we provide, we may receive compensation. ClickyBezel I Bought a Super Fake Rolex GMT Pepsi… Or Tried To I bought a super fake Rolex GMT Pepsi—or at least, I tried to. That is until a super fake watch dealer kicked me out of his store for not paying the ridiculous price he was asking. Let me just tell you, even with my genuine Pepsi Rolex right next to the super fake, I couldn’t tell the difference between the two. I was scared, I was shocked, but most of all, I was surprised by the hoops I had to jump through to find an actual convincing super fake in Vietnam’s largest fake market, Ben Thanh. Here’s my story about high-quality super clones.   ClickyBezel The Idea: A Genuine vs. Super Fake Showdown It all started with an idea to create a comparison article between a genuine Rolex Pepsi and its super fake counterpart. I know there’s a ton of content out there, including a super in-depth comparison from Watchfinder & Co.You should definitely check them out. But I was in Vietnam this past month, and I figured, why not just hit up Ben Thanh Market, pick up a super fake, and film some content? Of course, in true Clicky Bezel fashion, a simple idea turned into a full-blown mission. A Dirty Little Secret Now, I’m going to let you in on a little personal secret that may disgust a lot of you—I might even lose some subscribers. Let me just say that I’m no stranger to buying a replica watch. ClickyBezel I know, I know, I’ve let a lot of you down. But keep in mind, this was years ago when I first started my watch-collecting journey. I purchased one replica watch from a vendor at this market, and from what I remember, it was a Patek Philippe Nautilus. It cost less than $80 at the time, and although it looked convincing from afar, once you got closer to inspect it and had it in hand, you could immediately tell it wasn’t the quality you’d expect from one of the greatest watch manufacturers in the world. The Mission: Find the Super Fakes ClickyBezel My mission this time was to find the super fakes you see all over YouTube, just to see how good these things could get—especially with my genuine Pepsi strapped to my wrist while searching around. I wanted to be scared. Like, really scared. As with any mission, you need a plan. This wasn’t my first rodeo at Ben Thanh Market, so I kind of knew what to expect. Some vendors have a better selection than others. Some will give you the cold shoulder. Many of them sell fakes at the same level of quality. But one thing they all have in common? There’s going to be a hell of a lot of negotiating. I needed to know absolutely everything there is to know about these superfakes in less than 24 hours. I mean, it’s just a fake watch – it can’t be that tough, right? Late Night Reddit Research I stumbled across this group on Reddit. It was a subreddit catering to replica watches. The amount of information and the size of this community on these ultra-convincing fakes is a lot larger than you would expect. There are all these terms and lingo used in the fake watch market world that I really had to educate myself on. It honestly felt like I was in college again, cramming for an important test the night before. It was painful but necessary if I wanted to find these super fakes in person and try to score a deal. Breaking Down Super Fake Pricing In a nutshell, the most important piece of information I learned is that there are different levels of super fakes. There are also several factories that produce these super fakes, some of which are more desirable than others as these are the ones that are the most convincing. ClickyBezel In terms of pricing, the best super fakes can run up to $800. At first, I thought this pricing was absolutely insane. After thinking about it for a bit, I can see why this would be a “quote-unquote” deal for some people, as The Real McCoy can run you up close to $11,000 nowadays – and that’s if you can score one at retail, which is a bit of a tough endeavor. ClickyBezel Now armed with all this super fake watch knowledge, it was time to hit the market. The first few didn’t work out. One looked promising, though! Not only was this the largest store out of all the vendors, it also had the most employees and the most selection out of all of them. My gut just told me that this was the one that had it. The Sketchy Encounter Here’s a little bit of how the conversation went: “I’m looking for a Rolex Pepsi.” He hands me a really bad fake with an aluminum bezel “No, not good enough. I want better quality.” “Oh, you want better quality? Okay, come here.” He hands me another bad fake, still aluminum bezel “No, no, I want your best. This one isn’t good.”  He takes a peek at his boss outside of the storefront, walks towards him, and whispers something in his ear boss looks at me and approaches me “So you’re looking for a super fake, huh?” Grabs my wrist “Oh, you want that one? Okay.” He pulls me to a different section of the store. ClickyBezel I’m feeling a little sketched out at this point. He walks towards me with a case full of watches. You know, at this point, we were going to be looking at the real deal super fake, but a part of me had some doubt that it was going to be something that I was looking for. As he opened the case, I saw it right there – it looked unbelievably authentic. He smiles and hands it over to me, pointing to the sticker on the bracelet that reads “Clean.” ClickyBezel At first, I was a little perplexed at what this meant, but then I remember digging back from my crash course into the super fake watch community that this meant it came from the Clean Factory, which happened to be the most desirable factory amongst the community known for one-to-one replicas. The owner gave me a moment to inspect the watch. In my hand, it felt real. I turned the bezel – convincing. I opened up the clasp on the bracelet – okay, it doesn’t feel as positive as my genuine Pepsi but it uses the same mechanism, even so far as down to the Easy Link extension. It was all there. ClickyBezel The bezel color, side by side with my Pepsi – there was no difference whatsoever. I was spooked, but this is exactly why I went there. Testing the Movement The only thing left was to test the movement operation, and to my surprise, it operated exactly as a GMT Master 2 caliber would. That’s what really got me. ClickyBezel Position zero: winded the crown, albeit a bit unrefined from the genuine counterpart. Position one allowed you to jump the hour hand and set the date, and position two allowed you to set the minutes and GMT hand location. To be honest, I didn’t think this replica would house a proper traveler GMT, yet here we are. The owner wouldn’t allow me to open up the case back and see the inner workings of the watch, but I knew it was probably cloned to look exactly like a Rolex Caliber. Now, as impressive as this movement operated compared to the genuine GMT, there are some things that gave away that this was a clone. The crown operation was not very smooth and was a bit wiggly. Moving through each crown position wasn’t positive, not quite the right resistance when setting the minutes on the GMT hand. Comparison Product Key Features Build Quality Authenticity Indicators Price Genuine Rolex GMT Pepsi Unmatched craftsmanshipIconic designOfficial Rolex movement Flawless bezel colorSmooth crown operationPrecise mechanisms Authenticity guaranteed via authorized dealers Upwards of $11,000 Super Fake Rolex GMT Pepsi (Clean Factory) High-quality replicaAccurate bezel colorMimics Rolex features Convincing build with slight flaws(wobbly crown, lower resistance) Sticker with ‘Clean’ brandingIndistinguishable at a glance $400–$800 (negotiation dependent)   The Negotiation Dance ClickyBezel Now it was at this point where I was ready to step into the negotiation phase of this interesting experience. The national currency of Vietnam is the dong, so for this article, I will refer to the amount in the dollar equivalent. The owner continues to compliment me on testing out every possible feature of the Pepsi clone and says he’ll give me a deal. So I said, “What’s the best deal you can give me?” “$1,000.” Absolutely not. Now coming into this, I did have a number in mind since the very beginning. I didn’t want to spend anything more than $500, as this was a fair deal on this level of super fake from the research I’ve done, but I was looking for a real deal, so $400 to $450 is what I was shooting for. “Give me your best number; no playing around.” He looked really annoyed with us as if we were wasting his time, but I think it’s because we didn’t buy into his BS. So I just cut to the chase and offered him a number straight up that was fair, and if he decided to counteroffer, get me into a position to pay my top dollar of around $500. “$450.” He was over it at this point, which, to be honest, negotiations like this take a good amount of time, but for some reason, this guy wasn’t having it. He snags the GMT clone out of my hands, pops it back into the briefcase, snapping it shut, grabs a calculator, and types in a number before he storms off in the other direction with absolutely no exchange of words – “$600.” Making the Right Decision ClickyBezel Now I was tempted and considering it even though it was out of my budget, but I was thinking about the content I could produce of this super clone. To be honest, I was way more shocked by the unprofessionalism coming from the store owner, who just decided to walk off the way he did, and that alone was enough for me to do the same. ClickyBezel So, on the car ride back and getting consolation from my wife and friends who were with me, I was really considering turning back and buying the clone to produce an article for you guys, but luckily, they talked me out of it. And you know what? They were right. Even for educational purposes, at least on my channel, it isn’t worth it, let alone buying it from a sleazy shop owner. A Warning About Super Fakes ClickyBezel So, even though I don’t have the watch in hand, I hope you learned something from this article or at least found an ounce of entertainment from this otherwise bantering article. So, suppose you made it this far in the article. In that case, I have a message for you to consider: After learning from this experience, super fakes are scary good and believe me when I say this – even with the genuine GMT next to the super clone, it is indistinguishable from each other even if you own the real thing. It’s still very difficult. ClickyBezel So, word of caution: if you do decide to pull the trigger on the watch of your dreams outside of an authorized dealer, triple-check the buyer, and buy from a trusted source. If a deal is too good to be true, it usually is, or when the owner is treating you like utter shit… Watch This Review Final Thoughts and a Question for You I really hope you all enjoyed this article on high-quality super clones. I just knew from my experience alone that I had to create something for you guys. Now, I have a question for you, and this can be somewhat of a confession: Have you ever purchased a replica or thought about it? Also, if you’ve purchased one, how does it make you feel? When I bought a fake watch in the past, I felt like an impostor. I mean, most people won’t even bat an eye or even notice it, but I think the most important thing you have to ask yourself is why you are buying a replica in the first place. For me, at the time, it was because I wanted to feel what the real thing would be like, but in the end, it would never be the same. So appreciating that watch from afar and dreaming about one day being in a position to acquire your special piece, I promise, is far more fulfilling and worth the wait. From a young age, I was hooked on watches. My dad and uncle were both collectors, and I couldn’t resist the allure of their timepieces. But it wasn’t until I stumbled upon a Casio digital calculator watch in college that I truly fell in love. (I originally bought the watch to complete my Back to the Future costume for an 80’s-themed party) It wasn’t until the release of the Swatch Moonswatch watches that Clicky Bezel came to fruition. My wife (bless her heart) had been bugging me for years to start a YouTube channel, and I finally caved in with my first video covering my experience camping over 16 hours for the hyped-up Moonswatches.  In a relatively short time, I’ve been lucky enough to connect and collaborate with some big players in the industry, including Nomos Glashütte, Jomashop, Minase, and now Fashionbeans.  To learn more about my passion, find my content here on fashionbeans.com, follow my Youtube page: or visit my website at: Source link

[ellajme0]

We independently evaluate all recommended products and services. Any products or services put forward appear in no particular order. if you click on links we provide, we may receive compensation. ClickyBezel I Bought a Super Fake Rolex GMT Pepsi… Or Tried To I bought a super fake Rolex GMT Pepsi—or at least, I tried to. That is until a super fake watch dealer kicked me out of his store for not paying the ridiculous price he was asking. Let me just tell you, even with my genuine Pepsi Rolex right next to the super fake, I couldn’t tell the difference between the two. I was scared, I was shocked, but most of all, I was surprised by the hoops I had to jump through to find an actual convincing super fake in Vietnam’s largest fake market, Ben Thanh. Here’s my story about high-quality super clones.   ClickyBezel The Idea: A Genuine vs. Super Fake Showdown It all started with an idea to create a comparison article between a genuine Rolex Pepsi and its super fake counterpart. I know there’s a ton of content out there, including a super in-depth comparison from Watchfinder & Co.You should definitely check them out. But I was in Vietnam this past month, and I figured, why not just hit up Ben Thanh Market, pick up a super fake, and film some content? Of course, in true Clicky Bezel fashion, a simple idea turned into a full-blown mission. A Dirty Little Secret Now, I’m going to let you in on a little personal secret that may disgust a lot of you—I might even lose some subscribers. Let me just say that I’m no stranger to buying a replica watch. ClickyBezel I know, I know, I’ve let a lot of you down. But keep in mind, this was years ago when I first started my watch-collecting journey. I purchased one replica watch from a vendor at this market, and from what I remember, it was a Patek Philippe Nautilus. It cost less than $80 at the time, and although it looked convincing from afar, once you got closer to inspect it and had it in hand, you could immediately tell it wasn’t the quality you’d expect from one of the greatest watch manufacturers in the world. The Mission: Find the Super Fakes ClickyBezel My mission this time was to find the super fakes you see all over YouTube, just to see how good these things could get—especially with my genuine Pepsi strapped to my wrist while searching around. I wanted to be scared. Like, really scared. As with any mission, you need a plan. This wasn’t my first rodeo at Ben Thanh Market, so I kind of knew what to expect. Some vendors have a better selection than others. Some will give you the cold shoulder. Many of them sell fakes at the same level of quality. But one thing they all have in common? There’s going to be a hell of a lot of negotiating. I needed to know absolutely everything there is to know about these superfakes in less than 24 hours. I mean, it’s just a fake watch – it can’t be that tough, right? Late Night Reddit Research I stumbled across this group on Reddit. It was a subreddit catering to replica watches. The amount of information and the size of this community on these ultra-convincing fakes is a lot larger than you would expect. There are all these terms and lingo used in the fake watch market world that I really had to educate myself on. It honestly felt like I was in college again, cramming for an important test the night before. It was painful but necessary if I wanted to find these super fakes in person and try to score a deal. Breaking Down Super Fake Pricing In a nutshell, the most important piece of information I learned is that there are different levels of super fakes. There are also several factories that produce these super fakes, some of which are more desirable than others as these are the ones that are the most convincing. ClickyBezel In terms of pricing, the best super fakes can run up to $800. At first, I thought this pricing was absolutely insane. After thinking about it for a bit, I can see why this would be a “quote-unquote” deal for some people, as The Real McCoy can run you up close to $11,000 nowadays – and that’s if you can score one at retail, which is a bit of a tough endeavor. ClickyBezel Now armed with all this super fake watch knowledge, it was time to hit the market. The first few didn’t work out. One looked promising, though! Not only was this the largest store out of all the vendors, it also had the most employees and the most selection out of all of them. My gut just told me that this was the one that had it. The Sketchy Encounter Here’s a little bit of how the conversation went: “I’m looking for a Rolex Pepsi.” He hands me a really bad fake with an aluminum bezel “No, not good enough. I want better quality.” “Oh, you want better quality? Okay, come here.” He hands me another bad fake, still aluminum bezel “No, no, I want your best. This one isn’t good.”  He takes a peek at his boss outside of the storefront, walks towards him, and whispers something in his ear boss looks at me and approaches me “So you’re looking for a super fake, huh?” Grabs my wrist “Oh, you want that one? Okay.” He pulls me to a different section of the store. ClickyBezel I’m feeling a little sketched out at this point. He walks towards me with a case full of watches. You know, at this point, we were going to be looking at the real deal super fake, but a part of me had some doubt that it was going to be something that I was looking for. As he opened the case, I saw it right there – it looked unbelievably authentic. He smiles and hands it over to me, pointing to the sticker on the bracelet that reads “Clean.” ClickyBezel At first, I was a little perplexed at what this meant, but then I remember digging back from my crash course into the super fake watch community that this meant it came from the Clean Factory, which happened to be the most desirable factory amongst the community known for one-to-one replicas. The owner gave me a moment to inspect the watch. In my hand, it felt real. I turned the bezel – convincing. I opened up the clasp on the bracelet – okay, it doesn’t feel as positive as my genuine Pepsi but it uses the same mechanism, even so far as down to the Easy Link extension. It was all there. ClickyBezel The bezel color, side by side with my Pepsi – there was no difference whatsoever. I was spooked, but this is exactly why I went there. Testing the Movement The only thing left was to test the movement operation, and to my surprise, it operated exactly as a GMT Master 2 caliber would. That’s what really got me. ClickyBezel Position zero: winded the crown, albeit a bit unrefined from the genuine counterpart. Position one allowed you to jump the hour hand and set the date, and position two allowed you to set the minutes and GMT hand location. To be honest, I didn’t think this replica would house a proper traveler GMT, yet here we are. The owner wouldn’t allow me to open up the case back and see the inner workings of the watch, but I knew it was probably cloned to look exactly like a Rolex Caliber. Now, as impressive as this movement operated compared to the genuine GMT, there are some things that gave away that this was a clone. The crown operation was not very smooth and was a bit wiggly. Moving through each crown position wasn’t positive, not quite the right resistance when setting the minutes on the GMT hand. Comparison Product Key Features Build Quality Authenticity Indicators Price Genuine Rolex GMT Pepsi Unmatched craftsmanshipIconic designOfficial Rolex movement Flawless bezel colorSmooth crown operationPrecise mechanisms Authenticity guaranteed via authorized dealers Upwards of $11,000 Super Fake Rolex GMT Pepsi (Clean Factory) High-quality replicaAccurate bezel colorMimics Rolex features Convincing build with slight flaws(wobbly crown, lower resistance) Sticker with ‘Clean’ brandingIndistinguishable at a glance $400–$800 (negotiation dependent)   The Negotiation Dance ClickyBezel Now it was at this point where I was ready to step into the negotiation phase of this interesting experience. The national currency of Vietnam is the dong, so for this article, I will refer to the amount in the dollar equivalent. The owner continues to compliment me on testing out every possible feature of the Pepsi clone and says he’ll give me a deal. So I said, “What’s the best deal you can give me?” “$1,000.” Absolutely not. Now coming into this, I did have a number in mind since the very beginning. I didn’t want to spend anything more than $500, as this was a fair deal on this level of super fake from the research I’ve done, but I was looking for a real deal, so $400 to $450 is what I was shooting for. “Give me your best number; no playing around.” He looked really annoyed with us as if we were wasting his time, but I think it’s because we didn’t buy into his BS. So I just cut to the chase and offered him a number straight up that was fair, and if he decided to counteroffer, get me into a position to pay my top dollar of around $500. “$450.” He was over it at this point, which, to be honest, negotiations like this take a good amount of time, but for some reason, this guy wasn’t having it. He snags the GMT clone out of my hands, pops it back into the briefcase, snapping it shut, grabs a calculator, and types in a number before he storms off in the other direction with absolutely no exchange of words – “$600.” Making the Right Decision ClickyBezel Now I was tempted and considering it even though it was out of my budget, but I was thinking about the content I could produce of this super clone. To be honest, I was way more shocked by the unprofessionalism coming from the store owner, who just decided to walk off the way he did, and that alone was enough for me to do the same. ClickyBezel So, on the car ride back and getting consolation from my wife and friends who were with me, I was really considering turning back and buying the clone to produce an article for you guys, but luckily, they talked me out of it. And you know what? They were right. Even for educational purposes, at least on my channel, it isn’t worth it, let alone buying it from a sleazy shop owner. A Warning About Super Fakes ClickyBezel So, even though I don’t have the watch in hand, I hope you learned something from this article or at least found an ounce of entertainment from this otherwise bantering article. So, suppose you made it this far in the article. In that case, I have a message for you to consider: After learning from this experience, super fakes are scary good and believe me when I say this – even with the genuine GMT next to the super clone, it is indistinguishable from each other even if you own the real thing. It’s still very difficult. ClickyBezel So, word of caution: if you do decide to pull the trigger on the watch of your dreams outside of an authorized dealer, triple-check the buyer, and buy from a trusted source. If a deal is too good to be true, it usually is, or when the owner is treating you like utter shit… Watch This Review Final Thoughts and a Question for You I really hope you all enjoyed this article on high-quality super clones. I just knew from my experience alone that I had to create something for you guys. Now, I have a question for you, and this can be somewhat of a confession: Have you ever purchased a replica or thought about it? Also, if you’ve purchased one, how does it make you feel? When I bought a fake watch in the past, I felt like an impostor. I mean, most people won’t even bat an eye or even notice it, but I think the most important thing you have to ask yourself is why you are buying a replica in the first place. For me, at the time, it was because I wanted to feel what the real thing would be like, but in the end, it would never be the same. So appreciating that watch from afar and dreaming about one day being in a position to acquire your special piece, I promise, is far more fulfilling and worth the wait. From a young age, I was hooked on watches. My dad and uncle were both collectors, and I couldn’t resist the allure of their timepieces. But it wasn’t until I stumbled upon a Casio digital calculator watch in college that I truly fell in love. (I originally bought the watch to complete my Back to the Future costume for an 80’s-themed party) It wasn’t until the release of the Swatch Moonswatch watches that Clicky Bezel came to fruition. My wife (bless her heart) had been bugging me for years to start a YouTube channel, and I finally caved in with my first video covering my experience camping over 16 hours for the hyped-up Moonswatches.  In a relatively short time, I’ve been lucky enough to connect and collaborate with some big players in the industry, including Nomos Glashütte, Jomashop, Minase, and now Fashionbeans.  To learn more about my passion, find my content here on fashionbeans.com, follow my Youtube page: or visit my website at: Source link

[chilimili212]

We independently evaluate all recommended products and services. Any products or services put forward appear in no particular order. if you click on links we provide, we may receive compensation. ClickyBezel I Bought a Super Fake Rolex GMT Pepsi… Or Tried To I bought a super fake Rolex GMT Pepsi—or at least, I tried to. That is until a super fake watch dealer kicked me out of his store for not paying the ridiculous price he was asking. Let me just tell you, even with my genuine Pepsi Rolex right next to the super fake, I couldn’t tell the difference between the two. I was scared, I was shocked, but most of all, I was surprised by the hoops I had to jump through to find an actual convincing super fake in Vietnam’s largest fake market, Ben Thanh. Here’s my story about high-quality super clones.   ClickyBezel The Idea: A Genuine vs. Super Fake Showdown It all started with an idea to create a comparison article between a genuine Rolex Pepsi and its super fake counterpart. I know there’s a ton of content out there, including a super in-depth comparison from Watchfinder & Co.You should definitely check them out. But I was in Vietnam this past month, and I figured, why not just hit up Ben Thanh Market, pick up a super fake, and film some content? Of course, in true Clicky Bezel fashion, a simple idea turned into a full-blown mission. A Dirty Little Secret Now, I’m going to let you in on a little personal secret that may disgust a lot of you—I might even lose some subscribers. Let me just say that I’m no stranger to buying a replica watch. ClickyBezel I know, I know, I’ve let a lot of you down. But keep in mind, this was years ago when I first started my watch-collecting journey. I purchased one replica watch from a vendor at this market, and from what I remember, it was a Patek Philippe Nautilus. It cost less than $80 at the time, and although it looked convincing from afar, once you got closer to inspect it and had it in hand, you could immediately tell it wasn’t the quality you’d expect from one of the greatest watch manufacturers in the world. The Mission: Find the Super Fakes ClickyBezel My mission this time was to find the super fakes you see all over YouTube, just to see how good these things could get—especially with my genuine Pepsi strapped to my wrist while searching around. I wanted to be scared. Like, really scared. As with any mission, you need a plan. This wasn’t my first rodeo at Ben Thanh Market, so I kind of knew what to expect. Some vendors have a better selection than others. Some will give you the cold shoulder. Many of them sell fakes at the same level of quality. But one thing they all have in common? There’s going to be a hell of a lot of negotiating. I needed to know absolutely everything there is to know about these superfakes in less than 24 hours. I mean, it’s just a fake watch – it can’t be that tough, right? Late Night Reddit Research I stumbled across this group on Reddit. It was a subreddit catering to replica watches. The amount of information and the size of this community on these ultra-convincing fakes is a lot larger than you would expect. There are all these terms and lingo used in the fake watch market world that I really had to educate myself on. It honestly felt like I was in college again, cramming for an important test the night before. It was painful but necessary if I wanted to find these super fakes in person and try to score a deal. Breaking Down Super Fake Pricing In a nutshell, the most important piece of information I learned is that there are different levels of super fakes. There are also several factories that produce these super fakes, some of which are more desirable than others as these are the ones that are the most convincing. ClickyBezel In terms of pricing, the best super fakes can run up to $800. At first, I thought this pricing was absolutely insane. After thinking about it for a bit, I can see why this would be a “quote-unquote” deal for some people, as The Real McCoy can run you up close to $11,000 nowadays – and that’s if you can score one at retail, which is a bit of a tough endeavor. ClickyBezel Now armed with all this super fake watch knowledge, it was time to hit the market. The first few didn’t work out. One looked promising, though! Not only was this the largest store out of all the vendors, it also had the most employees and the most selection out of all of them. My gut just told me that this was the one that had it. The Sketchy Encounter Here’s a little bit of how the conversation went: “I’m looking for a Rolex Pepsi.” He hands me a really bad fake with an aluminum bezel “No, not good enough. I want better quality.” “Oh, you want better quality? Okay, come here.” He hands me another bad fake, still aluminum bezel “No, no, I want your best. This one isn’t good.”  He takes a peek at his boss outside of the storefront, walks towards him, and whispers something in his ear boss looks at me and approaches me “So you’re looking for a super fake, huh?” Grabs my wrist “Oh, you want that one? Okay.” He pulls me to a different section of the store. ClickyBezel I’m feeling a little sketched out at this point. He walks towards me with a case full of watches. You know, at this point, we were going to be looking at the real deal super fake, but a part of me had some doubt that it was going to be something that I was looking for. As he opened the case, I saw it right there – it looked unbelievably authentic. He smiles and hands it over to me, pointing to the sticker on the bracelet that reads “Clean.” ClickyBezel At first, I was a little perplexed at what this meant, but then I remember digging back from my crash course into the super fake watch community that this meant it came from the Clean Factory, which happened to be the most desirable factory amongst the community known for one-to-one replicas. The owner gave me a moment to inspect the watch. In my hand, it felt real. I turned the bezel – convincing. I opened up the clasp on the bracelet – okay, it doesn’t feel as positive as my genuine Pepsi but it uses the same mechanism, even so far as down to the Easy Link extension. It was all there. ClickyBezel The bezel color, side by side with my Pepsi – there was no difference whatsoever. I was spooked, but this is exactly why I went there. Testing the Movement The only thing left was to test the movement operation, and to my surprise, it operated exactly as a GMT Master 2 caliber would. That’s what really got me. ClickyBezel Position zero: winded the crown, albeit a bit unrefined from the genuine counterpart. Position one allowed you to jump the hour hand and set the date, and position two allowed you to set the minutes and GMT hand location. To be honest, I didn’t think this replica would house a proper traveler GMT, yet here we are. The owner wouldn’t allow me to open up the case back and see the inner workings of the watch, but I knew it was probably cloned to look exactly like a Rolex Caliber. Now, as impressive as this movement operated compared to the genuine GMT, there are some things that gave away that this was a clone. The crown operation was not very smooth and was a bit wiggly. Moving through each crown position wasn’t positive, not quite the right resistance when setting the minutes on the GMT hand. Comparison Product Key Features Build Quality Authenticity Indicators Price Genuine Rolex GMT Pepsi Unmatched craftsmanshipIconic designOfficial Rolex movement Flawless bezel colorSmooth crown operationPrecise mechanisms Authenticity guaranteed via authorized dealers Upwards of $11,000 Super Fake Rolex GMT Pepsi (Clean Factory) High-quality replicaAccurate bezel colorMimics Rolex features Convincing build with slight flaws(wobbly crown, lower resistance) Sticker with ‘Clean’ brandingIndistinguishable at a glance $400–$800 (negotiation dependent)   The Negotiation Dance ClickyBezel Now it was at this point where I was ready to step into the negotiation phase of this interesting experience. The national currency of Vietnam is the dong, so for this article, I will refer to the amount in the dollar equivalent. The owner continues to compliment me on testing out every possible feature of the Pepsi clone and says he’ll give me a deal. So I said, “What’s the best deal you can give me?” “$1,000.” Absolutely not. Now coming into this, I did have a number in mind since the very beginning. I didn’t want to spend anything more than $500, as this was a fair deal on this level of super fake from the research I’ve done, but I was looking for a real deal, so $400 to $450 is what I was shooting for. “Give me your best number; no playing around.” He looked really annoyed with us as if we were wasting his time, but I think it’s because we didn’t buy into his BS. So I just cut to the chase and offered him a number straight up that was fair, and if he decided to counteroffer, get me into a position to pay my top dollar of around $500. “$450.” He was over it at this point, which, to be honest, negotiations like this take a good amount of time, but for some reason, this guy wasn’t having it. He snags the GMT clone out of my hands, pops it back into the briefcase, snapping it shut, grabs a calculator, and types in a number before he storms off in the other direction with absolutely no exchange of words – “$600.” Making the Right Decision ClickyBezel Now I was tempted and considering it even though it was out of my budget, but I was thinking about the content I could produce of this super clone. To be honest, I was way more shocked by the unprofessionalism coming from the store owner, who just decided to walk off the way he did, and that alone was enough for me to do the same. ClickyBezel So, on the car ride back and getting consolation from my wife and friends who were with me, I was really considering turning back and buying the clone to produce an article for you guys, but luckily, they talked me out of it. And you know what? They were right. Even for educational purposes, at least on my channel, it isn’t worth it, let alone buying it from a sleazy shop owner. A Warning About Super Fakes ClickyBezel So, even though I don’t have the watch in hand, I hope you learned something from this article or at least found an ounce of entertainment from this otherwise bantering article. So, suppose you made it this far in the article. In that case, I have a message for you to consider: After learning from this experience, super fakes are scary good and believe me when I say this – even with the genuine GMT next to the super clone, it is indistinguishable from each other even if you own the real thing. It’s still very difficult. ClickyBezel So, word of caution: if you do decide to pull the trigger on the watch of your dreams outside of an authorized dealer, triple-check the buyer, and buy from a trusted source. If a deal is too good to be true, it usually is, or when the owner is treating you like utter shit… Watch This Review Final Thoughts and a Question for You I really hope you all enjoyed this article on high-quality super clones. I just knew from my experience alone that I had to create something for you guys. Now, I have a question for you, and this can be somewhat of a confession: Have you ever purchased a replica or thought about it? Also, if you’ve purchased one, how does it make you feel? When I bought a fake watch in the past, I felt like an impostor. I mean, most people won’t even bat an eye or even notice it, but I think the most important thing you have to ask yourself is why you are buying a replica in the first place. For me, at the time, it was because I wanted to feel what the real thing would be like, but in the end, it would never be the same. So appreciating that watch from afar and dreaming about one day being in a position to acquire your special piece, I promise, is far more fulfilling and worth the wait. From a young age, I was hooked on watches. My dad and uncle were both collectors, and I couldn’t resist the allure of their timepieces. But it wasn’t until I stumbled upon a Casio digital calculator watch in college that I truly fell in love. (I originally bought the watch to complete my Back to the Future costume for an 80’s-themed party) It wasn’t until the release of the Swatch Moonswatch watches that Clicky Bezel came to fruition. My wife (bless her heart) had been bugging me for years to start a YouTube channel, and I finally caved in with my first video covering my experience camping over 16 hours for the hyped-up Moonswatches.  In a relatively short time, I’ve been lucky enough to connect and collaborate with some big players in the industry, including Nomos Glashütte, Jomashop, Minase, and now Fashionbeans.  To learn more about my passion, find my content here on fashionbeans.com, follow my Youtube page: or visit my website at: Source link

[oliviajoyice21]

We independently evaluate all recommended products and services. Any products or services put forward appear in no particular order. if you click on links we provide, we may receive compensation. ClickyBezel I Bought a Super Fake Rolex GMT Pepsi… Or Tried To I bought a super fake Rolex GMT Pepsi—or at least, I tried to. That is until a super fake watch dealer kicked me out of his store for not paying the ridiculous price he was asking. Let me just tell you, even with my genuine Pepsi Rolex right next to the super fake, I couldn’t tell the difference between the two. I was scared, I was shocked, but most of all, I was surprised by the hoops I had to jump through to find an actual convincing super fake in Vietnam’s largest fake market, Ben Thanh. Here’s my story about high-quality super clones.   ClickyBezel The Idea: A Genuine vs. Super Fake Showdown It all started with an idea to create a comparison article between a genuine Rolex Pepsi and its super fake counterpart. I know there’s a ton of content out there, including a super in-depth comparison from Watchfinder & Co.You should definitely check them out. But I was in Vietnam this past month, and I figured, why not just hit up Ben Thanh Market, pick up a super fake, and film some content? Of course, in true Clicky Bezel fashion, a simple idea turned into a full-blown mission. A Dirty Little Secret Now, I’m going to let you in on a little personal secret that may disgust a lot of you—I might even lose some subscribers. Let me just say that I’m no stranger to buying a replica watch. ClickyBezel I know, I know, I’ve let a lot of you down. But keep in mind, this was years ago when I first started my watch-collecting journey. I purchased one replica watch from a vendor at this market, and from what I remember, it was a Patek Philippe Nautilus. It cost less than $80 at the time, and although it looked convincing from afar, once you got closer to inspect it and had it in hand, you could immediately tell it wasn’t the quality you’d expect from one of the greatest watch manufacturers in the world. The Mission: Find the Super Fakes ClickyBezel My mission this time was to find the super fakes you see all over YouTube, just to see how good these things could get—especially with my genuine Pepsi strapped to my wrist while searching around. I wanted to be scared. Like, really scared. As with any mission, you need a plan. This wasn’t my first rodeo at Ben Thanh Market, so I kind of knew what to expect. Some vendors have a better selection than others. Some will give you the cold shoulder. Many of them sell fakes at the same level of quality. But one thing they all have in common? There’s going to be a hell of a lot of negotiating. I needed to know absolutely everything there is to know about these superfakes in less than 24 hours. I mean, it’s just a fake watch – it can’t be that tough, right? Late Night Reddit Research I stumbled across this group on Reddit. It was a subreddit catering to replica watches. The amount of information and the size of this community on these ultra-convincing fakes is a lot larger than you would expect. There are all these terms and lingo used in the fake watch market world that I really had to educate myself on. It honestly felt like I was in college again, cramming for an important test the night before. It was painful but necessary if I wanted to find these super fakes in person and try to score a deal. Breaking Down Super Fake Pricing In a nutshell, the most important piece of information I learned is that there are different levels of super fakes. There are also several factories that produce these super fakes, some of which are more desirable than others as these are the ones that are the most convincing. ClickyBezel In terms of pricing, the best super fakes can run up to $800. At first, I thought this pricing was absolutely insane. After thinking about it for a bit, I can see why this would be a “quote-unquote” deal for some people, as The Real McCoy can run you up close to $11,000 nowadays – and that’s if you can score one at retail, which is a bit of a tough endeavor. ClickyBezel Now armed with all this super fake watch knowledge, it was time to hit the market. The first few didn’t work out. One looked promising, though! Not only was this the largest store out of all the vendors, it also had the most employees and the most selection out of all of them. My gut just told me that this was the one that had it. The Sketchy Encounter Here’s a little bit of how the conversation went: “I’m looking for a Rolex Pepsi.” He hands me a really bad fake with an aluminum bezel “No, not good enough. I want better quality.” “Oh, you want better quality? Okay, come here.” He hands me another bad fake, still aluminum bezel “No, no, I want your best. This one isn’t good.”  He takes a peek at his boss outside of the storefront, walks towards him, and whispers something in his ear boss looks at me and approaches me “So you’re looking for a super fake, huh?” Grabs my wrist “Oh, you want that one? Okay.” He pulls me to a different section of the store. ClickyBezel I’m feeling a little sketched out at this point. He walks towards me with a case full of watches. You know, at this point, we were going to be looking at the real deal super fake, but a part of me had some doubt that it was going to be something that I was looking for. As he opened the case, I saw it right there – it looked unbelievably authentic. He smiles and hands it over to me, pointing to the sticker on the bracelet that reads “Clean.” ClickyBezel At first, I was a little perplexed at what this meant, but then I remember digging back from my crash course into the super fake watch community that this meant it came from the Clean Factory, which happened to be the most desirable factory amongst the community known for one-to-one replicas. The owner gave me a moment to inspect the watch. In my hand, it felt real. I turned the bezel – convincing. I opened up the clasp on the bracelet – okay, it doesn’t feel as positive as my genuine Pepsi but it uses the same mechanism, even so far as down to the Easy Link extension. It was all there. ClickyBezel The bezel color, side by side with my Pepsi – there was no difference whatsoever. I was spooked, but this is exactly why I went there. Testing the Movement The only thing left was to test the movement operation, and to my surprise, it operated exactly as a GMT Master 2 caliber would. That’s what really got me. ClickyBezel Position zero: winded the crown, albeit a bit unrefined from the genuine counterpart. Position one allowed you to jump the hour hand and set the date, and position two allowed you to set the minutes and GMT hand location. To be honest, I didn’t think this replica would house a proper traveler GMT, yet here we are. The owner wouldn’t allow me to open up the case back and see the inner workings of the watch, but I knew it was probably cloned to look exactly like a Rolex Caliber. Now, as impressive as this movement operated compared to the genuine GMT, there are some things that gave away that this was a clone. The crown operation was not very smooth and was a bit wiggly. Moving through each crown position wasn’t positive, not quite the right resistance when setting the minutes on the GMT hand. Comparison Product Key Features Build Quality Authenticity Indicators Price Genuine Rolex GMT Pepsi Unmatched craftsmanshipIconic designOfficial Rolex movement Flawless bezel colorSmooth crown operationPrecise mechanisms Authenticity guaranteed via authorized dealers Upwards of $11,000 Super Fake Rolex GMT Pepsi (Clean Factory) High-quality replicaAccurate bezel colorMimics Rolex features Convincing build with slight flaws(wobbly crown, lower resistance) Sticker with ‘Clean’ brandingIndistinguishable at a glance $400–$800 (negotiation dependent)   The Negotiation Dance ClickyBezel Now it was at this point where I was ready to step into the negotiation phase of this interesting experience. The national currency of Vietnam is the dong, so for this article, I will refer to the amount in the dollar equivalent. The owner continues to compliment me on testing out every possible feature of the Pepsi clone and says he’ll give me a deal. So I said, “What’s the best deal you can give me?” “$1,000.” Absolutely not. Now coming into this, I did have a number in mind since the very beginning. I didn’t want to spend anything more than $500, as this was a fair deal on this level of super fake from the research I’ve done, but I was looking for a real deal, so $400 to $450 is what I was shooting for. “Give me your best number; no playing around.” He looked really annoyed with us as if we were wasting his time, but I think it’s because we didn’t buy into his BS. So I just cut to the chase and offered him a number straight up that was fair, and if he decided to counteroffer, get me into a position to pay my top dollar of around $500. “$450.” He was over it at this point, which, to be honest, negotiations like this take a good amount of time, but for some reason, this guy wasn’t having it. He snags the GMT clone out of my hands, pops it back into the briefcase, snapping it shut, grabs a calculator, and types in a number before he storms off in the other direction with absolutely no exchange of words – “$600.” Making the Right Decision ClickyBezel Now I was tempted and considering it even though it was out of my budget, but I was thinking about the content I could produce of this super clone. To be honest, I was way more shocked by the unprofessionalism coming from the store owner, who just decided to walk off the way he did, and that alone was enough for me to do the same. ClickyBezel So, on the car ride back and getting consolation from my wife and friends who were with me, I was really considering turning back and buying the clone to produce an article for you guys, but luckily, they talked me out of it. And you know what? They were right. Even for educational purposes, at least on my channel, it isn’t worth it, let alone buying it from a sleazy shop owner. A Warning About Super Fakes ClickyBezel So, even though I don’t have the watch in hand, I hope you learned something from this article or at least found an ounce of entertainment from this otherwise bantering article. So, suppose you made it this far in the article. In that case, I have a message for you to consider: After learning from this experience, super fakes are scary good and believe me when I say this – even with the genuine GMT next to the super clone, it is indistinguishable from each other even if you own the real thing. It’s still very difficult. ClickyBezel So, word of caution: if you do decide to pull the trigger on the watch of your dreams outside of an authorized dealer, triple-check the buyer, and buy from a trusted source. If a deal is too good to be true, it usually is, or when the owner is treating you like utter shit… Watch This Review Final Thoughts and a Question for You I really hope you all enjoyed this article on high-quality super clones. I just knew from my experience alone that I had to create something for you guys. Now, I have a question for you, and this can be somewhat of a confession: Have you ever purchased a replica or thought about it? Also, if you’ve purchased one, how does it make you feel? When I bought a fake watch in the past, I felt like an impostor. I mean, most people won’t even bat an eye or even notice it, but I think the most important thing you have to ask yourself is why you are buying a replica in the first place. For me, at the time, it was because I wanted to feel what the real thing would be like, but in the end, it would never be the same. So appreciating that watch from afar and dreaming about one day being in a position to acquire your special piece, I promise, is far more fulfilling and worth the wait. From a young age, I was hooked on watches. My dad and uncle were both collectors, and I couldn’t resist the allure of their timepieces. But it wasn’t until I stumbled upon a Casio digital calculator watch in college that I truly fell in love. (I originally bought the watch to complete my Back to the Future costume for an 80’s-themed party) It wasn’t until the release of the Swatch Moonswatch watches that Clicky Bezel came to fruition. My wife (bless her heart) had been bugging me for years to start a YouTube channel, and I finally caved in with my first video covering my experience camping over 16 hours for the hyped-up Moonswatches.  In a relatively short time, I’ve been lucky enough to connect and collaborate with some big players in the industry, including Nomos Glashütte, Jomashop, Minase, and now Fashionbeans.  To learn more about my passion, find my content here on fashionbeans.com, follow my Youtube page: or visit my website at: Source link

[serendipitous-magic]

You know what, fine, I’ll say something about it. Because as an author and a librarian, I feel pretty damn qualified to.

If we expunged every single creative work on earth that had any kind of harmful or hurtful content at all, there would be nothing left.

Nothing.

There’s not a single thing on earth that isn’t problematic in some way.

Before you jump into rage mode, what I’m not saying is “Whatever, people can do whatever they want in art and it doesn’t matter!” Because… obviously not. (Just look at me ranting about how Joss Whedon treats women in his works. But don’t get me started there.)

No one is out here saying “antisemitism is fine” or “racism is fine” or “homophobia is fine” or what-have-you. Similarly, no one is out here saying “it’s unnecessary to hold authors and other artists accountable if they’re shitty.”

What I am saying is, yes, books and other works of art have harmful content in them. Pretty much always. Give Tumblr 10 minutes and I guarantee you they could find something problematic in Blues Clues. However, the internet has cultivated something really unhelpful where these echo chambers build, and everything ever is either black or white. No gray.

I.e.: purity culture.

If something isn’t absolutely irreproachable in every way, it’s heinous.

Except it’s not.

(Let’s make a disclaimer: there ARE works and artists that are just total pieces of shit. Say, Might is Right by “Ragnar Redbeard” (nice Asshole L.A.R.P. name, Arthur Desmond). We can pretty reasonably toss that whole crock of bullshit and the bull that produced it. We’re talking about normal literature here, not like… literal Nazi screed.)

If we forbade anyone from ever participating in or enjoying things with harmful tropes or stereotypes, well, goodbye literally every 80s movie and everything before it. Goodbye like 99.9999% of movies, actually. Goodbye every classic book ever. Goodbye Stranger Things. Goodbye Batman. Goodbye Holy Bible (that’s a WHOLE other can of worms). Goodbye… literally all media, ever. We’d lose all of it. Especially the stuff from like… any past decade. Is that all useless? Is there nothing good or useful about any of it? Of course there is! Because nothing is 100% good or 100% evil. (Again, we’re not talking about Nazi screed or the like, that’s a different ballpark all together.) So are we saying that a work with both good and bad in it, even if it’s mostly good, is absolutely useless and evil? It just doesn’t work when you try to apply it to real life situations outside of a Philosophy 101 classroom.

And furthermore, what I’m also saying is, people are perfectly capable of reading (or watching, or whatever) a work that has societally hurtful elements in it, and using their brain, and saying “hm yeah that’s a pretty outdated harmful stereotype,” or, for example, “the fuck, Rowling.” And then moving on. It doesn’t mean the reader agrees with the sentiment expressed there. You could even - gasp! - read a work with harmful stereotypes and enjoy the work as a whole without enjoying or agreeing with those stereotypes. And that really, really shouldn’t be a controversial statement.

To assume that people aren’t capable of reading or even enjoying an entire work without agreeing with or supporting *every single theme and message in that work* is frankly ridiculous. We’re not toddlers. We have rational thinking. It’s honestly kind of insulting to humans in general when you assume they’re not smart enough to form their own opinions and recognize when something doesn’t line up with their morals or ethics.

Furthermore, if people only EVER read and enjoyed things that met someone’s (say, your) standard of what’s 100% good and pure, those people would have a pretty anemic set of morals and ethics. Because guess what? People need to be exposed to ideas they don’t agree with in order to figure out “hm, I don’t agree with this.”

The sterilization of media will only ever lead to a morally and ethically stunted population.

This is why we don’t take Republican propaganda off the shelves at the library. Yeah, it’s bad! But if people are never given the chance to interface with these harmful ideas, they’ll never actually form their own opinion - or even form the ABILITY to form their own opinion. Morality is a *skill*, not an inherent trait. Take away any chance to exercise it, and you’ll end up with pretty weak morals, even if they’re the “good” ones.

Going on a witch hunt for people who enjoy fiction that has problematic elements is useless. Especially because it shuts down conversation. It shuts down the possibility of any growth. If two people had a conversation like “oh hey I see you’re reading Brave New World, there was some fucked up shit in there,” and they had a discussion about what parts of it were societally harmful and what parts of it were thought provoking or impactful or whatever, they both come away with a better understanding of their own morals, the literature, and the wider world. That would never happen if the conversation stopped at “You’re not allowed to like Brave New World because there’s some fucked up shit in there.”

And finally, refusing to participate in Harry Potter fandom won’t affect Rowling in literally any way. She’s already richer than the dreams of avarice. Same with, like, Marvel. If this was, say, one woman doing online publishing through Amazon, and she turned out to be kind of a gross terf, then sure, don’t buy her stuff, don’t encourage her by applauding her books or whatever. But that’s not the situation. And even if it was - see above.

If an individual chooses not to participate in a fandom because they don’t agree with the creator’s ethics or morals, great! You do you. However, it is not your place to demand that everyone else make the same choice that you do.

Punishing people for enjoying Harry Potter, and demanding that they banish it from their lives entirely, does not affect Rowling being a terf, or whatever else. If people want to fight racism, transphobia, antisemitism, homophobia, etc. in media (or outside of media), good news, there’s a ton of ways to do that. But getting pissed off because people still enjoy a fandom that’s like 98% not those things is… not gonna do shit except make people upset. Yeah, it sucks that the 2% of grossness is there. And we shouldn’t ignore it. It deserves to be acknowledged and held to task. But pitching out the entire series and the entire huge fandom surrounding it is a child’s way of dealing with this. And it won’t have any meaningful or lasting effect on the actual core issues.

TL;DR: You’re right, harmful shit like racism in media *should* be held accountable and scrutinized and fought - but the way to do that is not to expunge the whole work from the earth. People are thinking, intelligent creatures. We can enjoy a work without supporting each and every single theme and message in it. And if people *don’t* have the maturity to do that, they probably don’t have the maturity to safely navigate the internet alone.

There’s a LOT more that could be said here but frankly I’m tired of typing.

Inbox person, I probably sound mad and/or intense, and it’s not directed at you. It seems like you come from a place of confusion or hurt, and this isn’t an attack on you. It is, rather, a very tired and frustrated response to the increasing purity culture witch-hunt the internet has been staging (and yes, I know you disagree with that phrase being used here). You happened to trigger thoughts on a much larger topic. I’m not answering your asks because I don’t want to seem like it’s a “fight,” and I don’t want to potentially enable anyone to come bother you. But please give this some thought. I doubt I’ll convince you because this is a VERY hot topic for many people, with emotions running very high around it, and opinions are pretty polarized. But I’ll be happy if I can introduce an alternative perspective, at least.

[bnnuy-wabbit]

HAAIIIIII you can call me Lago, im 21 (i dont know how EITHER), im just some guy*. this is my main blog and where i throw funny things that makes my brain produce juices and also random ass personal poasts.

one of those he/shes they never warned you about (pathogenic variant they have yet to make any vaccines to protect you from)

my art tag is #feral art tag.

there will be adult things in this blog because im an adult. follow at your own risk etc. were horny in here towards men occasionaly.

I'm brazilian. From Brazil. As in born here, living here and stuck here for the foreseeable future. é nois 🤙

Everybody says I'm really nice! I am Unable to hit people up first though, but if you'd like to be friends, send me an ask and I'll give you my discord!!!!

i have many interests (mostly music and nerd shit) and funny things that I'll be putting under the read more lest this post get Unbearably Big. There are flashing blinkies down there by the way.

OK SO INTERESTS. I like MANY things! and i have favorite things! I think it's really cool of me to have favorites. i decided I'm going to wear them on my sleeve. anyways Here's some things i Like.

MUSIC!!! its one of my favorite things ever. I play the guitar and a bit of bass. heres stuff in no particular order of favoriteness. Just stuff i care enough right now to remember.

Linkin Park (meteora, hybrid theory <3)

My Chemical Romance

Red Hot Chili Peppers

Mindless Self Indulgence

scalene

Rammstein

Ft-rj (listen to it or i am going to chase you with a broom)

francisco el hombre (i recommend the rasgacabeza album)

danny bond

2000-10s pop!!! fuck it, lady gaga, britney spears, kesha, katy perry, black eyed peas, that sorta jazz.

Every single Homestuck song there is. i have listened to all of them multiple times. My favorite albums are colours and mayhem and also the beforus fan album.

Dad rock (acdc, queen, talking heads, nirvana, judas priest, Some pink floyd etc)

Industrial and Adjacent. I've been listening to code:redcore a lot and some grammostola actaeon lately. processor also fucks.

OTHER THINGS I ENJOY

Eragon (the books)

Disco elysium.

ADVENTURE TIME. I AM OBSESSED.

How to train your dragon (the books. specifically.)

Animated movies!!! Specially the hand drawn ones.

My horrible little OCs (@honsebeasts just go there but also Beware.)

Worldbuilding. I do aliens and monster speculative biology. Most of my thoughts on it are on the Above mentioned blog though.

Real life physiology and anatomy also

MEN (and like 3 fictional women.)

HORSES!!!!!!!!!!!

stranger things

Pokemen (i do not know a single thing after gen 6 though.)

Dungeons and dragons, sometimes

Traditional art like watercolors and oil pastels

Drawing my blorbos in the same side facing pose or just standing there.

Drawing in General actually! Designing characters is my passion

Fictional fathers

sewing and felting and sculpting and painting and singing and playing

COLORS. i love colors. i love looking at them. i love playing with them. i would like to eat them if i could. i love warm palettes.

Hiveswap (pissing screaming CRYING)

MONSTERS!!!!!! They're really cool and gay and hot.

Portal (the games. all of them. glafos........ kissing her)

Half Life.

y2k and 80s-90s vibes. i think its awesome.

I am afflicted by the human condition and also a few other funnier conditions. my brain and my body dont work right.

If you want to know the brunt of the brain ones: autism adhd avpd. they all impact heavily how i interact with people with people. Sorry in advance if i can't keep conversation going.

I'm some sort of queer thing. If we need to get really specific, id say "bisexual aromantic bigender femme", mostly into men and butches, but Queer will do just fine. I'm a self entitled part time pretty fag and ugly dyke in my free hours. Intersex it turns out.

[iamnotdame]

Doing Too Much, Caring About Too Many People - How I Went From Humble to CEO

Taking a look back on everything since 2014, what has been on my shoulders?

In 2014, I prayed & cried to God for 45 minutes and expressed how passionate I was about helping others. In that prayer, I shared with God that I didn’t know how I could help people, or who I could help, I just knew that I had a dying passion in my heart to pour myself into others.

Less than a year later, God blessed me with an opportunity to fly to New York City to visit a music school… during this visit, I started to think of all of the things right & wrong with music education and made a promise (on video) that, “when I got back to LA, I would show music creatives how to be proper professionals in the music industry…” I spent the rest of my New York trip, which was about 2 additional weeks, sitting in a hotel, dreaming, fantasizing, drawing up ideas & plans on how I could start doing ‘small’ music workshops in LA, introducing aspiring music professionals to what it really takes to be successful in today’s music industry.

This wasn’t an idea to make money. I didn’t do this for notoriety. I did it because I wanted to help. I did it because I felt there was a dire need for it. I wanted to pour my ideas and passion for helping into people. I took this as, “God is showing me where and how I can help”, since this is what I asked him for back in 2014. I took this as a mission, a duty to provide a wholesome service to complete strangers.

My steps moving forward from this point were purely heart-driven and have been up until today, 8 years later.

So, let’s go back to the initial question:

Taking a look back on everything since 2014, what has been on my shoulders?

I requested something from God, he gave it to me, now I have to move forward as a serviceman.

I had to turn my passion into ideas, ideas into a physical concept, a concept into a product, create organizational structure behind this product, define who could benefit from this product, create the actual product, test the product with a particular audience, use the feedback from this audience then make the product live, set dates, create an environment for consumers of this product that provided results, and success, then repeat, scale and expand.

I had to learn how to share my ideas, vision and plan with people I trusted and respected.

I had to consult with my peers and use their feedback, both positive and negative to create sureties within myself.

I needed to gain more confidence.

I needed money.

In 2015, I applied to over 80 jobs and came up empty. I applied to a temp agency and they told me they would call me if something came up. In the meantime, I applied to other A level, B level & C level jobs, with C level jobs paying minimum wage and being the only companies who actually offered me opportunities being that I had spent my entire career in the music industry as a producer, with no current relevant experience to any of the jobs I was applying to. Albertsons called me and offered me a position as a Bagger, starting at $9.75. My pride was like “Hell no”, but I swallowed that pride and quickly accepted the position.

I bagged groceries. Retrieved grocery carts from the parking lot, swept store aisles and cleaned the store bathrooms once/twice a day.

I worked there for 10 days and they fired me, because I questioned a manager for training us to do one thing, and watching them practice another… I was confused, like what was the point in all of this, literally crying because now I’m back at square one, with no money… that’s when the temp agency called me 2 days later with a 60-day Internship at corporate relocation company in Huntington Beach. I quickly accepted, even though one of the requirements was having a car, and I didn’t at the time, but agreed to catch the Bus and never be late. I bought a mountain bike on Craigslist for $150 and rode 5.5 miles to work (one way) every day. I lost 20 lbs riding 11 miles to work and back everyday to this job, and looked at it as a blessing because I was in the best shape of my life.

As I approached the 60-day mark of this Internship, my worries started to re-visit me because this company only offered positions to 5% of their Interns… they offered me a full-time position with a starting salary of $58,000, and of course I accepted. Now I had the financial resources to pour into my ideas, vision and plans to “help others” in music. My plan was to use all of my money to start my music workshops, and I did, to a fault… this new job was HARD and demanded every minute of my time, and did not really allow for extra-curricular activities, especially in the first 6 months. They flew me to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for a 7 day corporate training, all expenses paid, and what did I do? I used the trip as an opportunity to schedule Music Focus Groups at all of the local Universities in Pittsburgh through Facebook events months prior to going to Pittsburgh.

While all of the other employees who were also flown out to Pittsburgh for training were getting together after training to meet at bars and talk about the job, family and kids, I was taking Ubers to PITT & Duquesne University for Focus Groups I scheduled in their libraries, despite having no idea where the campuses were lol. 3 people showed up… I walked through the campuses and universities interviewing random students, asking them about their thoughts on college, chasing your passion, dropping out of school, dreams, etc, just to make sure I didn’t waste my time there. (I still have all of this footage and have never shared it. One day I will, especially after writing all of this.)

Here I am, in 8-hour corporate training classes, for one of the biggest corporate relocation companies in the world, in Pittsburgh for the first time, drawing up plans for music classes in the notebooks provided for writing notes about our corporate protocol & processes. I’m pretty sure you guys can all tell that I didn’t last long at this job.

I worked the internship from May - July of 2016, accepted the full time position and was officially hired in August of 2016, flew to Pittsburgh in September 2016, and was fired on December 12th/13th of 2016, because my mind was not there at all. I had already completed 2 of my music workshops by this time (September 2016 and November 12th 2016). I was printing copies and music workshop flyers on my jobs corporate printers. One day, they asked me why I printed 120 copies, and of what… smh. I was printing flyers to pass out in LA at all of the local music schools to promote my upcoming music workshops.

They gave me a $4,800 severance check 1 week before Christmas… I told myself that I was going to put the entire check into my new company, Monster Sessions and schedule classes in January, February & April of 2017. If the classes worked, I’d keep going, if they didn’t, I would find another job.

They worked. No one showed up to the January class though, so I moved it to February. 5 students came to the February class, with 2 students saying “this was the best music class I’ve ever been to in my life” and providing me with the ultimate confidence to schedule an even larger class for April 2017.

This April 2017 class shattered all plans and projections with 21 students paying for the class and 16 of them flying/driving to LA to attend. Monster Sessions became an official company by August 2017.

Now I am a “CEO” by default, but I still have the mind of a humble servant of God that just wants to help music creatives.

Now all classes are full, an hour after posting them online. Now it’s real… really real.

I don’t have any income coming in, and I’m not business minded or money driven… but it had to be God, because now I have people offering me hundreds of thousands of dollars to do classes away from Monster Sessions, I have people offering me hundreds of thousands of dollars to expand Monster Sessions, to the point where I stopped doing Monster Sessions classes by the end of 2017.

In September of 2017, a German company paid me $185,000 to stop doing Monster Sessions classes, and to start filming virtual classes for a new dead project called “The Elite Producer”, or something like that. This was a disaster and was not worth any of the money they paid me. All momentum I had built up for Monster Sessions over a year had been halted and never rolled the same, ever. But these type of money opportunities did not stop coming, I just refused to accept any after The Elite Producer.

I now have a large core of loyal students and subscribers who believed in Monster Sessions, aspiring music professionals from all over the world, that I catered to on my hands & knees. I cared about them because I felt they cared about me.

I stopped publicly promoting Monster Sessions and just offered classes to our internal group of students who had already been to workshops and classes. Remember, my vision was small to begin with, so I shifted to helping this small group, instead of expanding, because the unknown was scary.

But Idk. I’m thinking that it was how accessible I was to my students, how much opportunity I provided them for free or for barely any money, how much advice I lended them all, how much I empowered everyone, I started to feel taken advantage of, unappreciated, walked over and stepped on, by the same people I gave my life towards helping. Because of this, I kept coming up with ways to give more, thinking this would make people finally appreciate me. I’d draw up clearer roadmaps for students to reach their ‘goals’ as subscribers to my services, because it didn’t seem like they really understood what it took, even after attending multiple classes… but it all just got worse.

Once again, “taking a look back on everything since 2014, what has been on my shoulders?”

I am now a teacher.

I provide REAL placement opportunities, but none of the students (with the exception of maybe 2-3, out of hundreds) have the talent or ability to secure them, but people are judging the legitimacy of the company and service on how many placements I secure, not the current state, or lack of talent in the music community and pool of music creatives subscribing to services like mine, that actually deserve REAL opportunities, or my help, advice or time.

… but I committed to this, so I have to do what I asked God for back in 2014.

Now I need help. I need to build a team. Now I’m creating Internship programs with local high schools and universities (USC, UCLA, LMU, LBSU, UCI, etc), while allowing current Monster Sessions students to fly to LA to work for me. Now I have a different responsibility. I have to make sure people who are flying in to help me, are good mentally, physically, financially…

I’m helping students with everything but music, their resumes, with moving to LA, finding apartments, jobs, family counseling, talking them out of depression, out of suicide, offering financial advice, helping them to learn which music gear they should invest in, all while helping them to be music professionals as students of Monster Sessions.

I am fielding partnership opportunities with corporate music companies: AVID, Arturia, Native Instruments, Focusrite, Waves Audio, Ableton and others. I am now friends with Presidents of these companies and music products I used as a kid, because they believe in Monster Sessions, like what??!

I am responsible for all Marketing efforts. Web design. Flyers. Promo. If we set a date for a music class, all seats need to be filled. How, with no marketing budget? Photoshoots, camera equipment, camera angles, picture & video editing… now I need Photoshop & Final Cut, AND I need to learn how to use them, while I’m on 1-2 hour personal phone calls with music students from around the world.

Students in other countries can talk at 3pm their time, which is 4am my time, so I have to schedule Skype calls to teach them how to effectively sell beats online, only for them to totally not listening to anything I said during our 1.5 hour free call, them not see any results, as I predicted, now their depressed and want me to give them advice on how not to take their own life…

Now I have a migraine because I’m thinking about a producer in Switzerland, hoping he doesn’t die because he told me he wanted to.

Taking a look back on everything since 2014, what has been on my shoulders?

Now it’s 2019, and I’ve totally forgotten about, ME. I’m sick. I’m in the hospital twice a month because, I’m overwhelmed but can never show it because, I need to be there for them… the people I asked God to allow me to help back in 2014. I can’t complain because I asked for this.

I made a commitment to “die over this” if I needed to, and I was planning that… I felt like, my honor, integrity and commitment to my prayers is what would carry my “legacy” if I were to drive myself into a grave… but I’m now realizing, that is not at all how any of this works.

Let’s just totally skip 2019, COVID, post-COVID…

Today, September 22, 2022:

Taking a look back on everything since 2014, what should be on my shoulders going forward?

Exploring and discovering what “I” actually want for myself.

My health.

My happiness.

Still honoring my commitment to God, but with all that I’ve endured and experienced, learning how to honor my commitment as a true CEO and Director of a successful company, without the void of feeling like I need to give myself as a sacrifice for the betterment of complete strangers who don’t give a flying frick about ME.

Learning how to be human, and not feeling like I need to be a selfless robot to make God proud.

Learning how to be selfish.

Saying “NO”.

Caring less about what people think.

Finding and walking in the confidence I keep trying to bury.

Embracing my different.

Setting a price for myself and making people pay above and beyond that.

As incomplete as this blog may be, I feel a lot better for not stopping halfway through and publishing 70% of how I feel about the answer to this self-provoked question, “Taking a look back on everything since 2014, what has been on my shoulders?”

Thank you, God, for everything.

I know I will live for many years healthy and well, and I look forward to the next steps that you place in front of me.

Monster Sessions is still the future, and I look forward to it helping THOUSANDS of music creatives who need it, but don’t realize it yet. I also look forward to working with future business partners and creatives.

[soyouareandrewdobson]

…the ugly. SYAC: The Master Review 4

Last post I covered much of what I consider the good or passable strips of SYAC of the pre-Dobbear era. What I have admittedly not covered yet, were three certain characters of the strip that exist beside Dobson.

Persistent Pam

 Curmudgeonly Carl

And… this guy I am not even sure has a name.

No, seriously. He shows up in like the 61th strip of the series for the first time and yet I never see his name mentioned once

All I know is that he is an accountant, who pities Dobson (for good reason)

And despite Dobson not liking alcohol, they regularly meet up in a bar as if they are some late 80s comedy duo

Funnily enough, he shows up way before Pam, who would have her premiere in these strips

 And despite only showing up in a few strips after her premiere (mostly to make “fun” of overbearing and snarky commissioners I suppose…)

 She actually managed something no other character or series by Dobson managed to get: A fanclub

 Not that she would really be of any major importance afterwards.

As for Carl, he is supposed to be something like an antagonistic embodiment of Dobson’s “old” art teachers and people being stuck in old ways, who shows up for the following strips forming a sort of arc.

In addition, it is very obvious, that Carl is supposed to be a mockery of people flaming Dobson. Not helped by the fact that THIS character sheet of him made by Dobson assures us, that there were quite a few even less “endorsing” things he wanted to name the character.

Yet funnily enough, Carl turned into such a popular character with readers, Dobson was essentially “forced” to make him reappear in other strips. Not of the “classical” SYAC strips, but he showed up as the “antagonist” to Tenku in the storydriven multi pagers. Though even antagonist is a strong word, as he is essentially more of a jerkish art teacher and college advisor who is harsh on Tenku, but actually has his best interests in mind. To the point he even offers him to be his “harsher” art critic in the years till he enters college, because he wants to see him grow artistically.

 However, Carl was also more of an “accident”. Cause when it came otherwise to tackling criticism or things that irked Dobson (and were not anime related) he would end up more or less creating strips that painted him in a manner where he would supposedly always look like “the better” compared to his opposition or mock it. Which is where a lot of the irk Dobson would earn over the years eventually comes from.

Now to be fair, I do not want to call every comic in that regard “strawmanning”, nor do I want to say that Dobson doesn’t have the right to also mock to a certain extend the mentality of certain “snobs” and so on. For example…

On one hand, I know there are people out there who think they are “special” by having the best tools at their disposal. When in reality you can achieve good results also with less expensive stuff. So mocking that sort of attitude is fine to me to some extend

BUT, when you also make down the line a comic like this…

… essentially making yourself come off as a “better” artist or person than others because you have “chosen” the better mass produced crap (btw, that is coming from someone who types this review on a Mac that runs Windows) , then the hypocrisy ends up to be rather strong with you.

 Which is also essentially the biggest issue with the strips I am about to show. The hypocrisy of Andrew Dobson. And no, I do not mean the tumblr blog by that. I mean the simple fact, that the content of some of the soon to follow strips gets kinda muddled when you take into consideration some of the things real life Dobson had said and done either at the time or in the years to come. Well that and the way how he tries to mock issues people have with his work, not realizing how he is essentially just reassuring those “silly critics” in their opinions while making his flaws more obvious to people that may have been previously unaware of them.

But enough talk, let me just show you in quick succession examples to confirm said point.

Considering Dobson’s longterm disdain for DnD you have to wonder what the joke really is outside of him portraying DnD players as ugly nerds, supposedly too geeky even for him. Which is hilarious in hindsight as he would years later become a fan of TAZ among other things.

Less hypocritical but the set up is kinda flawed. Like, you are obviously at a convention trying to sell stuff. Why would some old dude not interested in “kids crap” be at the convention anyway? Is he just bringing someone there and just wants to go, but first needs time to belittle your life choices?

 Rather hilarious in hindsight to me. Cause for someone claiming he has ideas that last for a life time and who seems rather distraught on the idea of others giving their input, he turned out to be so in need of ideas. Alex ze Pirate e.g. became from 2015 onward only defined by Dobson talking about the sexualities of his characters (and not even in comic as by that point it was discontinued, but rather in tweets and so on). Formera, which ran heavily on cheap shonen anime tropes ended up cancelled after two volumes, Cabin Rest was a failure after 20 strips, 2019 he relied primarily on cheap comics about Miraculous Ladybug and his understanding of certain genres is so bad, he can’t even think up the most basic ideas for a magical girl story.

Weirdly enough, that pitch of a garbage truck driver who fights crime? I think that could make for an enjoyable short story about a vigilante a la the Punisher or Sin-City.

 The way Dobson perceives criticism, while also essentially giving a quick rundown how he appreciated criticism in his childhood way better than in adulthood. Yeah, because criticism by your parents as a kid was always VERY constructive. (looks back at certain drawings from own childhood) brrr. And sorry Dobson, but sometimes criticism by strangers is better than criticism from friends. Cause friends may mince their words. Plus people have over time given you quite some insightful criticism aside “U SUX” when it comes to comics. You were just never willing to listen

Hey Dobson, you hear that? That is the sound of your career, dying and no one caring.

Yeah, I think someone who made such “brilliant” comedy as in these comics, totally has the right not to listen to what seems to be solid theoretical advice.

BTW, that Talus comic… I swear to god the worst “joke” Dobson ever told.

 Wow. You essentially make a point why you suck at drawing. While still not trying to change.

And as someone else once said: Don’t play with fire if you can’t deal with the heat, BLOCK-son!

This is not how I perceived your shit over the years. See, on one hand it is true that Alex ze Pirate e.g. has its own webpage to read the comic for free. HOWEVER most of his comics Dobson would hide from the start behind a paywall. The idea being that he would e.g. put a small reading sample of 10-15 pages up somewhere and then expect people to buy his comic for full price to get the rest. And you know, if you are e.g. a professionally published writer, that is fine. But when your average art output looks like THIS

And you expect people to pay more than 10 dollars for something that is only around 70 pages long while most people can get 200+ pages for the same amount of money that look like this…

 You can frankly go and screw yourself.

On one hand I get that the joke is meant to be, that as an independent content creator you may find yourself in a weird spot where your “child friendly” work may be put in a palace between edgier stuff other creators sell at conventions. On the other hand, I find it rather insulting in hindsight, that self declared feminist Andrew Dobson portrays such competition as either psychopathic murderers or stereotypical cartoon bimbos. If modern day Dobson saw the same strip by any other person, he would be insulted on behalf of the female that she is portrayed as a bimbo, when she could also be a very smart and attractive woman who knows how to tell brave and sexy stories.

Also, I have read your “child friendly” stuff, Dobson. I would call Atea or Alex abusive bitches who like to bully orphans but child friendly? Not to forget that your work is so basic and shallow in depth, it’s like the someone tried to create a chimera out of some of the worst traits associated with Dora the Explorer, 80s toodler cartoons and the Fairly Oddparents.

I frankly hate this theory on comedy. It is true, a lot of comedy can be deprived from conflict, misunderstandings etc. Looney Tunes, Tom and Jerry and other cartoons as well as screwball comedies such as Rat Race can depend on it. Heck, one of my favorite comedians of all time is Christopher Titus, who based his entire career on the misery and absurdity of his life.

But comedy is not just defined by misery and conflict.

There are for example also the following theories when it comes to comedy…

And to get back e.g. to Titus, yes, he has build a lot of his comedy on the bad stuff that happened in his life. But he is also someone who in his comedy has build a lot of punchlines on the absurdity of certain situations he has been in life but which in a way have enriched his life positively.

 What I am trying to say is, comedy (and entertainment in that regard) does not just have to be defined by misery. And all things considered Dobson, you could have really tried to also just make comics wherein either you or your characters are just happy with their situation in life.

For example, this page from an Owl House fancomic?

I think it holds more entertainment value than your “joke” right here, despite not even telling a joke.

Simply because as a page overall, it tries to convey a positive emotion. Which is more than I can say about the strip.

Because of a lack of different level of thickness regarding your lines, which would trick people into perceiving depth, the fact that the fill bucket and shade layers can only do so much to cover for the rather monochromatic dull nature of your comic, the fact that your characters are not really all that complex and look rather simplicstic even compared to stuff from a comic like this…

And that is just coming from the top of my head as someone who never studied art. If any reader has something to add, I am willing to listen

And considering you could in later years never keep up to any release schedule, which among other things resulted in only three SYAC strips in total being released in 2016, I say go fuck yourself. Not to forget that even some of the worst newspaper comic strips out there tend to actually find a decent following and good jokes eventually, otherwise they would not manage to stay popular for years, if not even decades.

As someone who has worked internships a lot in life, I just want to say fuck you in all our names. Glad to see you having just as much respect for interns than any other scumbag on the planet. Probably even less respect, cause you know, in some places interns tend to get paid.

Also, there is supposedly an entire real world story going on about Dobson having worked at his former university at the time the comic came out and Chaz is based on a fellow intern.

Things are unfortunately rather vague in that regard and only hold up by demonstrative evidence such as the name of Chaz showing up in certain pages of the university and Dobson’s internship being mentioned somewhere.

Well, would you look at that: People have different opinions on your stuff.

There are ways to draw memes funny and then there are ways to fail at them

 You failed.

Funnily enough, that comic rings a lot truer to text than you expect. Considering how Dobson would often emulate certain aesthetics in his comics of shows that were rather passee by the time he published his stuff, plus how he will obsess over certain trends and games for years to come (like Skyrim or his Quiet Hate Boner) while also being unaware about current trends (how do you e.g. not have heard of My Hero Academia by 2018 at least once by accident?) Dobson has always been kinda late to the party. Missing the “zeitgeist” of nerd culture and as such never quite finding an audience.

Yeah, what Pam says. Not helped by the fact that yes, the floating eyebrows are real. Look at some earlier sketches or “professionally published” comics by his and you will see that each time characters get excited, their eyebrows will suddenly split into sets of three and float higher than Pennywise’s victims.

Ironically, that fits real life Dobson at the time and later on even more so than this comic version did. Sorry, but what am I supposed to call a person who has an hate boner on anime for years for superfluous reasons, made Danny and Spot a “gaming webcomic” deliberately to piss on non Nintendo fans and has admitted in some by now deleted youtube video, that he kept a list of usernames from an old forum just to remember even years later the people that were mean to him online?

 Fuck both of you. I do not expect the Sixtin Chapel in the background, but something to filll up the empty space behind you is at times needed.

The comic here is actually called politics. … ironic how things changed once a certain reality show host turned president.

Jesus Christ. I am not even that much of a Transformers fan (Prime fan for life however) but even I know that this is not supposed to be what you design the head of a Transformer like. Not even if they ever produce the Transformers equivalent of Teen Titans Go.

Too bad you still can’t stand the heat, otherwise you wouldn’t have completely disappeared last year.

When you know you are in a no win situation, and still manage to choose an even dumber option to escape. I really don’t get it. I just think the Portal reference makes the comic dated and Dobsn’s attempt at a smug face looks so stupid. Like his cheeks are falling in and his mouth is about ready to get raped by a garden hose or something.

Yeah, considering Dobson’s later constant need for safe spaces and to be in control of a situation and the narrative, which led to so many blocks over the years… if you know anything about Dobson, how this comic becomes harsher in hindsight is rather self explanatory. I just want to say one thing: There is a difference between genuine agoraphobia and just wanting to be by yourself. And I think Dobson just prefers the later on average. Which is okay, but humans still need to interact with other human beings in one form or another, even just for the sake of keeping their mental health stable. Why do you think are so many people getting depressed in times of covid lockdowns, despite many having all sorts of technical gimmicks at their disposal to at least keep boredom at bay?

And by putting himself into a bubble like that, I think Dobson has deprived himself of some of the most basic human interaction, which was likely a severe factor in his mental degeneration over the last years.

It is still a valid suggestion! Just draw some cartoon characters or a nice fantasy scenario on a mural and earn yourself some bucks. Just be sure they are not by Disney or the Mouse will tear down the school!

… Just google up the words Andrew Dobson and Samus Aran commission by ED and you will see how this comic just further shows how much Dobson seems to actually be proud of being an unproductive asshole.

 And by the way, I know that any form of artistic work takes time. Just writing these review posts takes a lot of time for me. But that doesn’t change the fact that people should post and create stuff in a timely fashion, especially when there are e.g. deadlines to hold up too. And by the way, Sloth’s don’t have fingers, they have claws!

And that is it.

Sorry if I missed anything folks, but I just saw how many pages in word this is already filling up, so I call quits for this part here right now. I think I made my point about how Dobson trying to badly deflect arguments people may make against his art and work ethics via jokes clear enough, while also showing some posts that are either harsher or hilarious in hindsight.

Next time we will however address one certain issue about our main character, that has been not directly addressed here. In the meantime, have a little fun video that shows hopefully how entertainment and a certain amount of comedy can be gained NOT via misery.