#Instagram feels too curated nowadays

[suhyla]

rabat / casa / ١٤٤٦

[gossipgirloff1]

To be fair does anyone else find it really weird how inconsistent she is with her social media? Any other influencer would be posting more consistently. Or does she still want to play it that she's 'private'. // (ik this has gotten a few similar answers already sorry just wanna add my two cents)

tbh i don‘t even truly label alexandra an actual social media influencer or even content creator….because she‘s extremely lazy about it. any other normal influencer has to be on their game all the time and post very regularly if not everyday (and stories multiple times a day) because that‘s how it works for normal influencers who don‘t have any „extras“ to make them always relevant. there are so many influencers nowadays that they are just forgotten easily if they don‘t constantly appear on their followers feed (i for example follow quite a few influencers and i notice how whenever one doesn‘t appear on my home page and feed nearly daily with at least stories, i forget about them….it‘s just what it is, they‘re not that special, as mean as it sounds, to have that effect and the algorithm quickly pushes them out too!)

but, alas, alexandra can easily afford to be extremely inconsistent and lazy with it because of charles and her wag status.

fans will be influenced and gagged and fawning over it anyway no matter what (or how little) she does. because essentially, all she does is post when she has nice pictures for her aesthetic (which mostly happens when she‘s with charles, oop, girl…don‘t ya live in monaco?? you surely have a nice damn place to take content in but oooh well) or when she senses she can play it up, aka being with charles on race weekends or vacation. any other influencer as of rn would be lost in the sea that is social media content and especially micro-trends if they handled it like alexandra does because it‘s boring when you don‘t get content from them as often. said what i said.

also i do guess that she‘s maybe playing into the private thing again, or maybe she doesn‘t have content to post. (again, seems like she only has some when she‘s away on vacay or with f1)

also as a random remark, i find her instagram feed by now almost too perfect…too perfectly set up, and literally nothing that truly sets her apart from others. idk if it‘s just me but i find it boring in a way, i feel like that about anyone online who is far too well curated in their content and aesthetics tho. i kind of miss something that would freshen it up (or shows an teeny tiny bit of personality)

[fashionlandscapeblog]

Hi!

This is somewhat random but I just wanted to leave an artist rec for you: Amalia Ulman (maybe you know her)

Thought of her when I read your post about people nowadays using this specific curation of visuals (cy twombly, margiela, black and white bauhaus interior design etc) as branding in social media, and you seem to like artists that are thought provoking

She became kind of famous after doing a performance piece on Instagram in the 2010s, transforming her "whole life" (or in reality what she showed in her instagram feed) into super cliche social media personalities -which today I guess would be "aesthetics". It really makes you reflect on how personal style and art appreciation is becoming a bit homogeneous because of social media.

I think you might enjoy her works! Even what she's doing up to date.

Have a great day

Xxx

Thank you so much for the recommendation. I'm almost positively sure I've stumbled upon her account before, will definitely check it further. I respect the huge amount of courage it must take to do what she does, because I already feel anxiety just by publishing something I write, let alone doing critical videos which cause a lot of polarization.

I believe the algorithm has a lot to do with this sameness. If you're not forming a 'clique' or community and posting the same things, you're not gonna get new followers and likes, because the algorithm won't promote it or show it to your followers. The fact that algorithms are now controlling/creating culture is scary, but very real. Plus, differently to the original bloggers, influencers nowadays are mostly rich socialites or people with connections, they're not interested in authenticity, they're interested in $$$. This stopped being organic a long time ago. Relatively normal-looking people have been substituted with pretty, rich kids with augmented lips and EDs. It's better for selling.

Back when I was a blogger/influencer, a lot of people (including myself) were wearing normcore and posting all white interiors which made us look like a blob of sameness (that's why I distanced myself from it), but none of these influencers/bloggers were posting the same art, architecture, etc. It's an incredibly personal thing. In fact, there were no fashion bloggers posting about art (excepting another influencer who posted paintings), architecture, music, and cinema, and less the same exact artists or architects. I actually sometimes blogged about architecture, since that's what I studied. My uni was specialized in modernist architecture, particularly the Bauhaus and Le Corbusier. I built models from Maison Citröhan and Weißenhofsiedlung and made several presentations. But now it's kind of a standard to post them and I will get called 'full of myself', a 'narcissist' for saying this.

I think it's normal to curate your feed to a certain point, but to fake everything, including your lifestyle, interests and tastes is super weird, especially when it's identical to others. I don't think genuine art appreciation can be replicated.

Thanks again and wishing you a lovely day too. x

[bisluthq]

https://www.tumblr.com/bisluthq/769334767003074560/yes-i-know-taylors-main-issue-wasnt-that-joe?source=share

I actually agree with the anon that it is a symptom of a much larger issue. But the issue in question is not about their relationship. The issue is how society works nowadays and the importance given to social media. And the hunger to live through other people's lifes, because ours suck. People nowadays seem to forget that there is actually a thing called real life, where you interact with people. Let's be honest here: the reason we want famous people to shout out their significant other and post cute Instagram photos and love captions is for our sake. Because it's so cute 😍 and omg I ship them 😍 and i don't have a boyfriend so help me believe love exists 😍

In reality, the person that should hear those things is your partner. And maybe their friends and family if they really love the public compliments. Posting it on social media is more fanservice to give people what they want that anything. Not everyone needs to do that. If I want to write a really romantic poem to someone I can do it and give it to her. Posting it for the whole world to read is not necessary. But for today's standards, if you don't do that kind of stuff on social media that means you are the coldest rock who hates your partner.

Actually what I observe is the couples who actually post more together and do all the happy circus are the ones that aren't at all that happy behind the scenes. Then they breakup and people are like omg but like how, they were literally just posting i love you to each other last week

I hear you and while I don’t disagree entirely, I don’t think it’s as deep necessarily. I don’t think people follow celebs purely because our own lives suck and I don’t think it’s something people started being interested in recently. People have, since the 1700s at least in the west, across their colonies, the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire - I don’t know about other places because I’m not as familiar with those histories - been interested in celebrities. A lot of the time these were the royals, but also poets/writers and their wives and mistresses and very much actors and actresses too who often wound up involved with the royals to some degree and many of whom wrote. I think it’s escapism. People are interested in pretty people who seem to have interesting and glamorous lives, not because they’re unhappy but because it’s interesting. With social media though, a lot MORE people have become famous. Now we’re interested in like influencers and shit too and I think it largely comes from the same sort of interested place.

I don’t think couples who post a lot are necessarily unhappy, I do think they like external validation for stuff though (which is okay) and I think it’s unrelated to whether or not they’re happy. It’s just a whole separate issue. Some people like having that out there, some people don’t. Whether or not they’re a good partner is another story though.

and like I say, in a weird way the internet made all of us capable of being little celebs in a manner that historically wasn’t possible lol. So we’re now interested in not only celebs (which as a society we’ve been interested in for a very long time), but in our friends and casual friends to a greater degree and to influencers who are more or less regular people but who share their lives with us.

some people like sharing a lot of content. Some people don’t. I’ve got like Instagram friends - obviously not close friends but I’m getting to why - who stun me when they suddenly post their wedding because I’ve not seen them share a partner before. I’ve got other Instagram friends who share so much about their lives that I feel like we ARE close friends even though I’ve like not hung out with them in years or in some cases only ever met them a few times. People curate their social media in accordance with what makes THEM happy and it’s not usually that deep. For celebs it’s a bit deeper because they talk to publicists about strategy and such but most people want it to reflect what they want to do and unless they have a really shitty team who bullies them then like they’ll help the person be authentic to who they are (posting a lot or a little as a result). Idk man. I just don’t think it’s got anything to do with anything.

In the Joe and Taylor example, had he been posting regularly I still wouldn’t have been shocked if she’d said she felt unloved. She talked about how he can be withdrawn and distant from Rep onwards. That’s who he is. He could’ve been that, and liked making social media content, and still been withdrawn and difficult to live with when the rose colored glasses had faded.

also Travis hasn’t yet posted Taylor. He doesn’t even follow her. He talks about her in his podcast, which is a thing he makes and enjoys making, and presumably she listens to all of it to be supportive and because he loves making his thing, but yeah. I don’t think she feels more loved because he makes a podcast. I think she feels more loved rn because he makes her feel like a priority.

also I will say not feeling like a priority is a common problem in longterm relationships. It takes work to make sure you don’t make the other person feel unimportant to you and sometimes idk maybe that person *has* become unimportant to you lol.

[scuderia-hamilton]

☕️ f1 gossip 🤣

i like a certain kind of f1 gossip, the one that’s about driver transfers, team mechanisms, stuff that happens in the paddock before, during a race or after a race. how the car performs, updates, you know anything that has to do with the sport itself. although this can reach a toxic level too sometimes.

when it comes to gossip about the drivers’ personal lives and their girlfriends, i don’t like that. i feel like it’s very invasive and it can reach a point where it’s just straight up disrespectful. i’m a very private person myself and i absolutely hate it when people try to find out things about me that i don’t want to share, so i can imagine how they feel, only it’s a hundred times magnified and therefore a hundred times worse.

i don’t like these fan pages, gossip pages, or when people make hate accounts of the wags and they’re trying to “expose” them, when their only “crime” is literally just living their lives. i think it’s childish and incredibly immature. you don’t have to like them, but have the decency to leave them alone. just because they decided to share a certain aspect of their lives doesn’t mean they owe you anything. at the end of the day we don’t actually know these people.

same goes for the drivers too, love them, support them, but also respect them as athletes and humans. some type of haterism crosses the line, even for me. i think this is more present on tiktok and a bit on twitter too. there is a certain level of this fandom, that doesn’t realize that this is an actual sport and the drivers are doing their job. i call this the boybandification of f1. i feel like some people are more interested in this side of f1, than the actual sport and it ruins the experience of so many people.

prime examples of these is when Carlos’ contract ended and his fans acted like Ferrari committed the worst crime in the history of the sport. or when Charles started dating Alexandra. don’t even get me started on the people who actually believe that Lestappen is real and not just some thing the fans made up for funzies. or when they can’t differentiate pr friendships from the real ones. (looking directly at Charlos fans here).

i kind of diverted from the original topic, but i think it all connects together. i feel like i really have to curate the content i see about f1 nowadays, especially on tiktok, which is a shame, cause there are so many amazing women on there making the best content ever, but they’re overshadowed by these gossip pages.

tumblr is like my safe space, i don’t have to worry about coming across that type of content here. instagram is unsalvageable i follow update profiles there and the official f1 accounts, but i never engage with the people there, some of them actually scare me. twitter is 50/50 i believe, there are amazing accounts there and horrible ones too. i’m not really active there i mostly just consume the content i see.

this kind of turned out quite lengthy, but the bottom line is check your parasocial relationships, remember that this is a sport, with real people. be respectful even when you voice your dislike, leave their personal lives alone, cause it’s none of our business. we have to filter and curate our own experiences and it takes time, but it’s really worth it. be kind.

[orionsangel86]

Sincere question, your response to the like-scolding post doesn't make sense to me. I already reblog often, so I don't need convincing, but I also don't feel the need to convince others to and don't understand when people do.

If a blog was empty, you weren't going to follow them anyway. They have zero impact on your dash.

I don't understand why following the tags, following blogs that make stuff in the tags, using tumblr's orbit thing or blog suggestions wouldn't be anymore sufficient than asking strangers that may not even care who follows them to make your personal dashboard more interesting.

I was hesitant to answer this, because I try not to get too involved in general tumblr discourse and I already have had a few passive aggressive remarks about my response to that post. I don't wanna open myself up to hate here so please know that this is just my opinion at the end of the day. I am one person and I have been on tumblr a long time and my reasonings for all of this is simply that I love this stupid website and want it to thrive.

Let me start by clarifying that I have nothing against likes! Likes are great! Likes are exactly what it says on the tin - a way to tell someone that you like their post. So I didn't have an issue with the sentiment of the original post that likes are not meaningless and are instead a way to tell people that you like their stuff! That's great!

But your reasoning here is flawed because of how tumblr works. No matter how many likes someones post gets, if no one reblogs it it will dissapear into a void. Tumblrs tagging system is not great. Tumblr's "in your orbit" section is something that most people ignore and do not use. The userbase on tumblr finds posts by following blogs and relying on the blogs they follow to reblog posts. The posts that circulate far and wide on tumblr are posts that are reblogged by users. Posts that have plenty of likes do not help a post gain any extra traction or help spread it to those that may be interested in it. Posts that are just liked and not reblogged do not get circulated and will get forgotten about and never find their audience.

This isn't about lurker types who never reblog anything and therefore won't ever get followers (nothing against lurkers!), its about this strange mentality nowadays which tumblr never used to have which is that people seem to be more particular about the kind of posts they'll reblog. People seem more hesitant to reblog long posts, or writing posts, or anything that doesn't immediately grab their attention. There is an expectation that for a post to be reblogged it has to be of a higher quality that a post that you may reward a simple like.

I think it is heavily tied to cringe culture. There is a mentality that your blog should be heavily curated and therefore you should only reblog the highest of quality which you feel is worthy for your own blog - rather than just reblogging anything that you may like or find fun or interesting. It is very much an instagram mentality and its been creeping into tumblr over several years - and because of it, fandoms are dying, its far more difficult to find fandom content, and it is becoming much harder to engage and build community. People are hesitant to add comments onto reblogs nowadays - when back in the day that was kinda how tumblr worked! You reblogged with commentary and thats how legendary tumblr shitposts were born! That's how Supernatural fandom "always has a gif for that" started! Because back in 2014 people didn't care about what others on tumblr thought about their blogs, because their blogs were all about the fun, about committing to the bit, about engaging with each other and adding commentary and additions, and speculating about your favourite shows on long posts where you could have an entire community of meta writers each adding a bit of their own analysis so you ended up with a huge post that was absolutely mind blowing. That's how artists on tumblr could have thousands and thousands of notes and gain huge popularity and be able to make a living based on their fanart.

I miss it so. fucking. much.

This place is a graveyard sometimes. Even among my current fandom. I will post something and ask that people add commentary. I will state quite plainly for people to please engage and add their thoughts, let me know your opinions! There are no wrong answers! Lets joke, make fun of the characters we love, write dumb little thoughts and headcanons and engage with them via reblogs, add reaction gifs and images with speech bubbles and just soak up the joy that can be found in engaging with fandom in this way - and stop being scared that your reblogs will be judged by some external source, that you will somehow lose followers or make OP hate you if you dare to add a comment to their post (in which case OP can go fuck themselves as far as I'm concerned because I ADORE comments and additions on MY posts). Just ENGAGE. Because a like, whilst appreciated, is literally the bare minimum, and if all we are doing on this site is the bare minimum, then what is the fucking point anymore? If there is no real engagement and community, if you aren't interesting in actually talking to each other and sharing posts among each other and just interacting with each other, then tumblr will die. I find that so fucking depressing. So yeah, I had a bit of a moan on that post, because I don't think y'all newbies understand how good it used to be here. Quit with the instagram mentality and start actually engaging. Because if y'all actually listened and started doing that, you'll bring this place to life again, and find so much more joy in it.

[firespirited]

Someone fairly new to doll collecting asked where the community is at, like with photo challenges and themes and discussion.

I kinda opted out when flickr and dollydaily stopped being so frequented. I wasn’t in a great place and wanted to focus on the thrift and repair side of things (and a more closely curated bunch of people who understand chronic illness and what I didn’t know at the time is probably ADHD: you know the sporadic bursts of communication then we don’t talk for two years but that’s still friendship to me and if you posted “folks i’m feeling miserable rn is there anybody out there”, i’d be loading up whatever chat program you’re on with my best stupid memes and animals being friends photos)

So where would a playline doll collector start nowadays? Any instagram accounts or hashtags or youtubers that galvanize the audience into posting their fave redhead and thoughts on new releases and that sort of stuff?

Peplies are open, pms too & please boost. Dollblrs great for a lot of things but we’re not exactly doing pink wednesdays and coachella challenges or your dolly doppleganger, stuff like that.

[thealexchen]

Do you have any tips for dealing with online hate? I know I shouldn’t let it get to me, but I got called an abuse apologist for liking chloe by someone with a pretty big following and it’s been messing with me a lot. I don’t condone Chloe’s coping mechanisms and I know she’s made a lot of mistakes, but I don’t think she’s irredeemable and I feel like it’s really unfair and cruel to call people who relate to her abuse apologists…

Wow, yeah. I’m really sorry to hear that happened to you. I don’t have a ton of advice because I fortunately have not received any severe hate messages, but here are some habits I learned that have improved my overall experience on social media:

Be clear and curate your experience: You’re not obligated to take anyone’s shit. If you expressed to this person your intentions and told them what you told me (you don’t condone her behavior, it’s cruel to call someone an abuse apologist, etc.) and they still won’t listen, that’s their problem, not yours. It’s perfectly alright to unfollow, block, and move on. And you don’t even have to block people who are actively harassing you; there’s no rules for unfollowing or blocking and you can shape your content consumption in any way you like.

Remember it’s fiction: Fiction and media are powerful, influential tools that can change lives and start meaningful discussions, but at the end of the day all these stories are just ideas hatched by people. Characters, and their stories and behavior, aren’t real and aren’t affected by any audience member’s opinion of them. They are also not always reflective of the author’s perspective or intentions. Fictional characters do not have the same psychological impact as real abusive people. Similarly, liking imperfect characters doesn't mean you're a bad person, problematic, or an abuse apologist. Flaws and mistakes are what make characters interesting, nuanced, realistic, and even likable. There’s no such thing as a perfect, unproblematic person or character, and it’s all a part of what makes us human.

Don’t take it personally: If this person’s accusations aren’t just limited to you, it’s likely they don’t actually have a problem with you but are just looking to start drama with anyone who disagrees with them, and their followers just reinforce an echo chamber. Those kinds of people are especially unproductive because they don’t care about the harm they create, only clout.

Changing platforms: Whatever social media site this hate is occurring on, you’re also not obligated to stay there. I’m on Tumblr because it’s long past its prime and has become a (shockingly) chill place where I can just blog about my interests and chat with others. I used to be more active on Reddit, but I got tired of the LiS2 hate and joined Discord. Even then, I’ve been through my fair share of bad servers and nowadays I’m only active in about 3-4 small, private servers where I know everyone. I have no plans to join Twitter, Instagram, or Tiktok because they seem way too big, overwhelming, and time-consuming. I honestly don't believe I'm missing out on anything. We all have limited free time, and you never have to sacrifice any of it on people or social media that make you unhappy.

I hope this helps! Have a great day! ❤️

[duuhrayliegh]

social media

warnings: none? maybe a smidgen of language? fluffy bucky, bad description of dancing? idk, there really isn’t anything in this one to be warned about it just super wholesome

word count: 2437 

a/n: okay so this came out longer than i meant it to, but i’m not mad at it. there’s mention of he/they pronouns and gender identity, if i didn’t do the subject justice please let me know. also tiktok mentions and all creators are tagged accordingly so please go appreciate their wonderfulness :) 

p.s.: my requests and tag lists are open!! 

if you want to know where these characters are coming from, check out the other parts! you don’t have to read them in any particular order!

ray’s m.list

******************************

Being from the 1940’s, Bucky didn’t have much education in the world of smartphones and social media. When he came out of cryo in Wakanda, Shuri wasted no time showing him the ways of the iPhone. Honestly, he was stunned because there were so many things you could do with it. So much information was available at the touch of his fingers.

Shuri taught him the ins and outs of the phone. He had gotten pretty good at it, if he did say so himself. She had just begun to teach Bucky about social media when Steve pulled him back to the Big Apple. When he returned to New York, he was able to easily contact Steve, who was not as proficient as Bucky was. So when he met the fantastical group of four friends, they began to teach him. This was one of those things that they were incredibly excited to teach Bucky about.

“So you don’t have an account on anything?” Freddie held his hand out for Bucky’s phone.

“No, I have one on something. I think Instant Graham? My friend set it up for me, but she never taught me how to use it.” Freddie smiled and shook his head, dark curls bouncing back and forth.

“It’s Instagram, bubs and that’s a good jumping off point.” He opened the black iPhone and swiped through the pages on the homescreen. Coming across the sunset colored icon, he hovered his finger over it. The screen changed, opening to a white screen with the words, WELCOME to INSTAGRAM, whitewolf. Bucky smiled at the name displayed and Freddie scrunched his brows.

“What is a White Wolf?”

“I’m the White Wolf. It’s Wakandan. We can change it if we need to.” Freddie looked over at Bucky and saw the happiness on his face at the name.

“No, it’s good we can leave it.” He clicked on the profile button in the bottom right corner of the screen. “Okay, so this is your personal profile.” In the top left corner whitewolf was written with a little arrow next to it facing downward. Freddie opened the edit profile section.

“Do you have a favorite picture of yourself? You have to set a profile picture so people know that it’s you.” Bucky nodded in understanding, and then took his phone back to scroll through his pictures. He didn’t have many, just the ones that he took recently. There was hardly any of just him, but he eventually found one he deemed good enough.

“Alright, now what do you want to put in your bio?” Shrugging his shoulders, Bucky leaned back into Cassie’s plush couch.

“What does yours say?” Freddie pulled his own phone out of his pocket. The pale lilac color seemed to shine through the clear case that it wore. Opening his own Instagram, Freddie leaned the phone towards Bucky.

|| he/they || activist || va te faire voir ||

“What does ‘he slash they’ mean?”

“Oh, those are my pronouns.” Freddie received a head tilt from Bucky, so he decided to elaborate. “So, I identify as a non-binary who is comfortable with you using he/him pronouns or they/them pronouns. If you’re talking about me to someone else, you can say ‘he is at the store,’ or ‘they are at the store.’” Bucky nodded, still a bit confused on the subject.

“When do you use each one? Like is there a certain time that you say he and him and another time for they and them?” Bucky was trying to get some clarification on the topic.

“Not necessarily. Usually, when you’re first talking to someone, it’s common practice nowadays to use they/them pronouns so as to not misgender anyone. I know it probably sounds a bit excessive and a small bit over sensitive to you, but to a queer or non-binary person it makes a whole hell of a lot of difference when someone tries to be inclusive.”

“Okay, so like if I just meet someone on the street, I should use the they/them pronouns until told otherwise?”

“Yeah, absolutely. Do you want to include your pronouns in your bio?” Bucky smiled and nodded, happy with himself that he was able to understand that so well.

“So, what does it mean to be non-binary and still use the he/him pronouns? Don’t those two contradict each other?”

“Not really. Gender is a spectrum, as is sexuality, but for someone to identify as non-binary and use he/they pronouns, means that I feel that not everything about manhood accurately describes my truth. On that same hand, I still do identify as a male.”

“Right, right.” Throughout Freddie’s lesson about gender identity, he was able to finish Bucky’s profile and begin to follow the three girls. After clicking the blue follow button on all three of the girls profiles, the group chat between them started blowing up, that was a new phrase Bucky learned last week.

Evie: um, i just got the weirdest insta notif

Penny: me too???

Cassie: I did too.

Cassie: Wait, who is Bucky with right now?

Evie: DANG IT FREDERICK I WANTED TO HELP HIM SET IT UP

Bucky: My name isn’t Frederick, Evie

Incoming Call from Evie

“What do you want, spaz?” Freddie answered on speakerphone. An indignant scoff  came from the other end.

��I thought we were all going to help him with that, Frederick.”

“Um, I don’t remember us talking about that.” He laughed as the door to Cassie’s apartment opened, allowing Penny to walk in and smile at the two men on the couch. “Also, when were we going to have time to do that with you being at school and all?”

“We were going to wait until the weekend!”

“Eves, you’ve been saying that for the past like three weeks.”

“Oh my gosh, fine.” Her end of the phone got real quiet, “I’ll be home in like ten minutes. I call dibs on helping him set up a TikTok.” Three beeps signalled to the room that Evie had hung up the phone. Bucky turned to Penny and began to ask about her day.

“Ya know, the usual. Rude customers, bratty co-workers, life’s a dream at the bank.” She slipped out of her nude heels and made her way to the sofa. “What have you boys been up to?”

“We have been setting Buck up with some social media and learning about gender identity and respecting pronouns.” Freddie said proudly as he handed Bucky his phone back.

“Sick! Which ones did you do?”

“All the classics, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook just for PR though because hardly anyone uses it anymore.”

“Right, and can’t do TikTok until Evie gets here. Um, did you set up a Spotify for him?” Bucky recognized the name and the memories of Shuri helping him floated in his head.

“Oh, I have one of those. That was actually the first thing that Shuri helped me set up whenever I got this thing.” He opened the app quickly to prove what he was saying. Penny smiled and gave a small thumbs up. “I do have one question.” The two of them gave Bucky their undivided attention. “What is a TikTok?”

“Right, so it’s just short videos. It’s really pretty cool and a really good way to waste time.” Freddie answered while pulling up his own page on the app.

“Yeah, and the thing that shows you videos is curated to your tastes because it’s based on your likes and people you follow.”

“I’m almost positive that Evie is going to teach you a dance and do a TikTok with you, if you agree to it.” Penny laughed at the thought of Bucky doing one of the dances that she saw on her For You page. The door to the apartment swung open a second time, revealing a winded Evie.

She dropped her school bag on the floor, hunching over while gripping the side of the granite countertop. Evie held a finger up and the group on the couch waited for her to speak.

“I ran--” deep inhale, “I ran from the subway.” Another deep breath as she lifted her upper half, stretching out her back with her hands on the back of her hips. “You haven’t done TikTok yet right?”

“No, your Highness, we haven’t done TikTok.” She smiled big and then plopped herself on Bucky’s left side. She thrust her hand toward him, wiggling her fingers. Bucky cautiously placed his phone in the center of her palm.

“This is going to be good. Okay so since your name on Instagram is whitewolf, we can’t use that for TikTok. It’s gotta be something snappy.”

“I don’t know, I think you can use the same one for both, Eve.” Penny remarked as Evie downloaded TikTok onto Bucky’s phone.

“Well, of course you can, but we’re not going to.” She giggled as the app opened. She looked over at Bucky with wrinkled brows. “Do you have any nicknames?”

“Um, Bucky is my nickname.” He said in a duh tone.

“Well, obviously, but do you have any other ones? Like, what do your friends call you?”

“Bucky or Buck, I don’t really have nicknames.” Evie groaned and threw her head back.

“Okay, well let’s think. You’re a Sergeant. Your real name is James Buchanan Barnes. Superhero name is Winter Soldier or White Wolf. You have a metal arm.”

“You’re literally just stating facts, Evie.” Freddie said from the other side of Bucky, who was nodding along in confirmation to Evie’s statements.

“I know! I’m processing. What about vibraniumjames?”

“That’s disgusting.” “Mm, yeah that’s a no from me.” Penny and Freddie talked at the same time.

“metallicsergeant? jamesbby? Any of those tickle our fancy?”

“The first one isn’t terrible, but it’s not great. Why don’t you just use whitewolf like his Instagram? Or you could do iambuckybarnes.”

“Yeah, I’m with Freddie. I like whitewolf or iambuckybarnes, it’s simple. And I am the White Wolf, so yeah.” Bucky said to a disgruntled Evie.

“Oh my gosh, fine. We can always change it later, but this is fine for now.” She set up his profile, making it match the other ones that Freddie had made. Once she was finished with her work, she turned to Bucky and smiled big again. “Now, I can teach you a dance and if you’re cool with it we can post it on your profile.” Bucky shook his head and pulled himself off of the comfy couch beneath him.

“If we’re going to do this, we need to do it right, so don’t hold back on me.” He smiled as Evie squealed in excitement.

“You know, my school friends were just dying to see the day that you got social media.” This statement confused Bucky.

“And why would that be?” Evie laughed as she scrolled through her TikTok feed, searching for the right dance to do with Bucky.

“Well, for one, they think you’re hot and they’re thirsty hoes.” She clicked on the original dance video, showing the screen to Bucky. “And, for two, they love you. Everyone does.” Bucky shook his head at that. He did too many bad things for everyone to love him.

“Hey, remember what we talked about?” Penny said from across the room. “We don’t downgrade our progress. Most of the general public is more forgiving than we give them credit for.” Bucky nodded then focused his attention on the video.

“This is Cardi B’s song Up. People on TikTok have made a challenge of doing this dance to the song. I think it originated with a girl named Mya Nicole. Anyway! We’re going to do this one, if you’re up for it.” Bucky looked at Evie with one brow quirked. There was so much shaking in this. Nonetheless, he shrugged his shoulders., it clearly was making Evie happy so he wasn’t going to take that away.

“Sickening! Okay, let’s start learning it.” It took a good hour and a half to help Bucky move his body in the way that the dance required. By the time they were ready to start filming the actual video, Cassie had walked in.

“What is happening here?” A large smile spread across her face as she watched Bucky and Evie practice one last time. A breathless Evie turned to Cassie.

“Bucky agreed to do the Cardi B Up dance with me.” She then turned to Bucky, “You ready to do this for real?” The tall man beside her shook his head while laughing.

“Yeah, let’s do it.” From the safety of the couch, Freddie, Penny and Cassie were watching the scene before them unfold. Both Bucky and Evie jumped into frame, with their legs spread wide. Throwing their fists in front of them and then behind their legs in time with the music. Bringing their hands above their head to clap and then jumping again, throwing just one hand up at a time.

Shifting to the side, the pair brought the leg closest to the camera up to their waist while hitting it back down with their fist. They both remained facing sideways as they shook the leg they just hit and ran their hands down their torso. The pair did another vertical jump, bringing their knees up to their fists. Once their feet hit the floor, they folded at the waist, slamming their palms flat on the ground.

Smiles were plastered on both their faces as they finished out the dance, knees bent, bouncing their legs back and forth while tossing their hands above their heads. Loud laughter rang out from the three friends in the living room as Bucky and Evie dropped to their butts. The video ended with Bucky and Evie yelling at the other three in the room.

“You’re definitely going to go viral with that one, Buck!”

“Like an infection?” He asked with wide eyes of concern, more peels of laughter rang out.

“No, like famous, lots of people are going to see it.” That relieved and scared Bucky at the same time. He wasn’t quite sure how he felt about it, but he knows that his friends wouldn’t steer him wrong.

“Now we can caption it something cute!” Evie breathed out as she leaned over the couch next to Cassie, who was now curled up beneath a fluffy white blanket.

“Don’t forget to tag the original creator, I hate it when people don’t do that.”

The video was posted with the caption,

iambuckybarnes: am i doing the tiktok right realpokemonevie? dance cr: theemyanicole

And it wasn’t long after posting that Bucky got a call from Steve that he needed to come into the tower.

***************************

@mishaandthebrits

[defdaily]

THE STAR Magazine April 2021 Issue featuring JAY B

Translated by defdaily.

GOT7’s eternally sincere leader JAY B. A friendly interview where you can feel his warm-heartedness.

*This interview was done in informal language to give off the feeling of two friends chatting*

It has been a while since we last met for GOT7’s feature in 2017.

Right, hi. I’m JAY B. Nice to meet you. Have you eaten?

JAY B has been chosen to be on the cover of THE STAR’s 8th anniversary issue.

Dobby is free now. (Laughs). I’m a freelancer now but I still can’t believe the fact that I was chosen to be on the cover of THE STAR’s anniversary issue. I’m so thankful to THE STAR for choosing me to be on the cover so I worked extra hard during the shoot.

How are you doing these days? We’re curious to know what you have been up to.

A freelancer’s daily life is always similar. I work when there is work and rest when there isn’t. I was busy recently organising this and that to release GOT7’s digital single ENCORE. I took the lead and there were many things I needed to figure out such as paperwork. So I was very proud. The members have all joined agencies but I want to take a little more time and think about it carefully before choosing. I’m still a freelancer.

Does the freelancing life suit you?

I don’t know if it suits me but it’s fun. Now work-related calls come to me directly, so I would be asleep then receive a call. I’d go “Ah I fell asleep for a moment, sorry. What is this about?” (Laughs). Since I do even these kinds of small communications myself, it’s nice and fascinating to realise the value of work and opportunities. If I didn’t have this time and experience, I think I might have not realised the value of work as much. I used to be on edge at times when the managers used to tell me things in the past. But now that I’ve learnt how much processing has been done before the information reached me, I feel sorry. Now I have a heart full of gratitude for opportunities.

I don’t know if it’s because you’re a freelancer now, but you seem much brighter than before.

Dobby is free now. (Laughs) I’m joking. Of course it was very helpful having a company. But now that I do everything myself, I feel more satisfied. I enjoy it.

The GOT7 members have all started solo activities. It must not have been easy for everyone, how did you come to your decision?

Right. It definitely was not easy. The seven of us researched a lot so that we can continue as GOT7 together. But then we thought that we should broaden our view so each of us could end up in a better situation. In the process, what we each wanted changed a little and, there is a future that each person dreams of right? The company said we did everything we could do on our part and that they will cheer us on in the future, that made me feel proud. We are also very thankful to the company. I felt that we received a lot of protection under a large umbrella. After all, the company is like the mother that gave birth to GOT7, so I’m thankful to them and respect them. I also thought a lot and looked into a lot of things about how to continue as GOT7. I also went to the president and asked him for advice, and I greeted and thanked Jinyoungie hyung for everything.

While preparing for new activities, what was the thing most discussed amongst the members?

“So what is it that you want to do?” “So what do you want to do?” We asked that a lot. So everyone said “We have to do it" So I asked again “No, not 'I have to', but do you want to do this? Or do you not want to do this?” If you are going to do something, you should do it properly, right? If you are not going to do something with an active attitude, I think it’s better to not do it. So we all came together and decided to give it a try.

It’s clear that you are GOT7’s leader.

One advice the company president told me was that my talent and effort as a leader starts now. Personally handling matters related to our recent digital single, I felt this “Taking the lead as a leader, I need to really work hard.” There was a lot of pressure, but if I don’t do it, who would. It pushed me to work hard.

You mentioned very clearly in your social media livestream that “GOT7 did not disband.” I felt your affection towards the team, what does GOT7 mean to JAY B?

One extremely important thing in my life. Actually, it’s an indispensable part. I’m thankful for the fact that our team exists. You have to know that because GOT7 existed, we individually exist too. It wouldn't matter if my beginning was as a solo, but my beginning was as GOT7. That's what made me who I am now.

How is Lim Jaebeom different as JAY B within GOT7, JJ Project, Jus2 and ØFFSHORE?

Comprehensively they’re all sides of me but if I have to split them, they would be a novel vibe versus an essay vibe. ØFFSHORE and Def. are all about music I like, regardless of genres, and honest stories I want to tell. As for GOT7, JJ Project and Jus2, we would have a particular concept and make it a bit more fancy.

Most of the songs you have shown on SoundCloud are R&B genres with a groovy feel. Have you ever had a conflict between music you want to do and music you have to do?

I felt that I needed to work harder to prove [myself] to do what I wanted to do. I can’t always be spoon-fed. To prove [myself] I made more GOT7 tracks and sent around 15~20 demos. Later on Jinyoung hyung and the president acknowledged me and said “Jaebeom will take care of the musical aspect. You can trust him with that.” I felt really proud hearing that. I don’t really feel a sense of conflict between the musical differences. From pop and R&B to folk and modern rock, I don't want to draw lines between genres and make music that sounds good.

We are curious about the music JAY B will show alone and what you’ll pursue. What stories do you want to tell?

I want to do a variety of things. Alone, I think I will try mixing genres and do things that are fun and experimental. I can also do R&B pop or Urban genres which I’ve originally liked. But that might change later on.

Is there an artist you’d like to collaborate with in the future?

Someone with a pleasant tone to listen to. Even now, when I listen to music and I like the artist’s tone, I send them a DM asking if they’d like to collaborate. And Korea's top hip hop artist, IU-nim. Do you think it's possible? (Laughs).

Then would you like to send a message to IU?

Suddenly? Um… I will work very hard. If by chance you think my song is alright, I would love for you to add your nice voice to them. (Laughs)

An appearance that may seem cold with a tsundere charm. But what do you think your real personality is like?

I’m the type that is quiet and calm, but people close to me tell me I’m a weird person. When I cry reading a book or watching a movie, or when I get emotional they say “It’s so weird, it doesn’t suit you.”

Are you the tender type?

I think I just often get hit by waves of emotions.

We’re curious about the lifestyle you seek and your values.

To live each day without any regrets.

Is there a place you’d like to visit after COVID-19 ends?

Kyoto, Japan. It’s a place where there is a lot of Japanese heritage and it’s also pretty.

Recently you have combined your two Instagram accounts @jaybnow.hr and @def.cnvs, what was the reason?

I’m the one doing everything after all, it is just the musical name that was different. I can’t split my body into two. I realised I could combine them into one account and just show the difference within it. And as I get older, it’s hard to manage two accounts. (Laughs). Was I too honest? Now I'm confused about what's what.

Was there any other moment that made you feel old?

I don’t do much and my whole body aches. In the past, my body wouldn’t get affected by the weather. Now when the weather is gloomy my back hurts and my knees go numb. (Laughs).

I can see that you’re interested in artistic aspects such as photography, painting and fashion etc. Do these things influence your music?

Of course. They affect the way you live in itself. I’m a person who wants to express and leave behind what I feel. Calling myself an artist feels somehow cocky.

What are you interested in recently?

It’s not art but I’m interested in moving around. Living as a freelancer, I spent more time lying down at home, but now I need a fast-paced daily life. I try to wake up in the morning to eat breakfast and nutritional supplements then go outside to photosynthesize and soak in the world. Everyone has to keep moving. (Laughs).

Are you interested in fashion and lifestyle curation and design etc?

I don’t think I’m a person who dresses up exceptionally well, but if someone asks I’d be willing to help.

What would you introduce as JAY B’s preference?

Freedom. Regarding fashion too, I liked vintage and grunge styles but recently I’m interested in work look and amecage styles. My preference keeps changing. I can't define myself clearly either, but I like the sense of being free.

What inspires you?

Many situations and people, my experiences as well as indirect experiences.

How do you have an indirect experience?

Watching movies and reading books. Nowadays I read song lyrics and unfold the scenes in my head. I try to think of various points of view in these one-act plays.

To JAY B, love is?

Nonexistent. A moment. I don’t know. As you live life, I think falling in love is a momentary emotion. If it lasts long, I think it’s affection not love. I'm a person who has to talk about love, but sometimes I wonder if it’s okay to feel this way. There are also many different forms of love. The love that my parents give me and the love that my fans send me. I’m thankful for everything.

While promoting for 10 years, what was the happiest moment and most lacking point?

I feel like every moment until now has been somehow lacking. Whenever you look back you end up thinking “I should’ve done better back then.” I think everyone feels that way. But I never regret those times I’ve spent. The happiest instance was when I spotted my parents at a fanmeeting and ran to them and held them while singing. It felt like I was boasting to my fans “These people are my father and mother,” and it also felt like I was showing my parents how I was receiving that many fans’ love and support. I'm thankful that the fans looked at my family happily at that moment.

Have you ever had a slump?

I don't think about something if I think I'm going to fall into something serious, but I'm the type who gets stressed out to do something new.

You are loved not only in Korea but also abroad, have you ever thought about why your fans like you so much?

A lot. I just don't understand. I'm not even popular among my friends... Why on earth?

Think of at least one thing.

Maybe it’s because I worked hard steadily? To be honest, during the past 10 years I have never not tried my best on stage. I can say this with confidence. I’m thankful to be able to do what I like as a job. I have told the members about this previously, I’m sorry for not being affectionate to fans onstage. It’s my nature so I can’t help it. But I have never been indifferent as a singer onstage, that is a fact.

Your bucket list that you surely want to achieve this year?

Being healthy mentally and physically. Since the members have started their solo activities this year, I think I should release an album as well.

Any words for the readers?

Everyone, I’m not saying this as a formal greeting but I really want to say thank you. Hmm… How should I put this? Don’t worry since we are not disbanding. That’s why I tried hard to release the digital single. Continuing on I’m going to try my best to do as much as I can. You might feel disappointed at times along the way, and I apologize in advance for that. But what I can promise is that I’m going to do my best. Thank you so much for supporting me for 10 years. You all know this already, but I’m not so good at things like sending hearts and saying thanks affectionately. I just want to speak sincerely. Thank you so much. I hope everyone will be more happy, not just because you like and support us… I could sound arrogant saying it like this but... I hope our fans are sturdy people who will find their own small sources of happiness in their daily lives even if that isn’t us. And I hope everyone is happy. I’m so thankful and I want to ask you to trust me.

Lastly let us know your future plans.

We will try our best to match our times and do GOT7, JJ Project and Jus2 etc. no matter what. Even if our times don’t match somehow, we’ll try our best to gather even 4 or 5 people and return, so don’t worry. And Dobby is free now. (Laughs). I will do my best in everything. I've made a lot of songs and I'm diligently working on songs right now too, so look forward to it. You’ll be able to listen to it soon. Thank you. This has been GOT7 JAY B. Please give lots of love to The Star’s April issue!

Translated by defdaily.

[inmyarmswrappedin]

Admittedly it’s been awhile since I watched Skam or looked through their instagram posts, but in my memory it always felt like the instas were just used to give another glimpse into the characters, never anything really flashy, and the way each character used their accounts always felt really true to who they were. But I think the remakes use it way more as an extension of the storylines and it feels less realistic? (For lack of a better word) Like a lot of posts just feel like pure

staged fan service (see: Wtf, Skamfr) or they go a little overboard with content (see: Druck) that goes beyond what I’d actually envision the characters “sharing”. I don’t know if that makes sense? And I could be idealizing how Skam used it too, since like I said it’s been awhile since I looked at the og stuff. But yeah, I feel like the remakes have turned the social media aspect of the shows into a bit of a cringefest. 😳 What do you think?

Hi anon 📳 Sorry for the delay, I think this is a very interesting ask, and I wanted to think about it a bit before answering.  

I’ll leave aside the question of realism, which you noted yourself you used for lack of a better word. I think at this point the discussion about the way Skam approaches “realism” is more nuanced than how it was used when there wass only one Skam.   

I guess I would say that Skam used the instagram accounts mainly in two ways: 1) so the characters could all show how they wanted other people to see them, and 2) as the cherry on top to a character arc, when the character would post something more vulnerable on his/her ig account. 

I think in general the remake teams didn’t fully get the point of the ig accounts because these teams weren’t really fans who followed Skam as it dropped. They came to the ig accounts as a finished product. 

Skam France posted a veritable torrent of content for s1 and s2, and I think some of it was really good. I really liked Yann’s ig account, for instance. I thought his posts really leaned on Jonas’ political side, which not all remake Jonases did. I also liked that the girl squad would hang out at random places (like a Sephora and a park iirc) without Manon, in s2, to show how Manon was growing distant from the squad because of her relationship with Charles. 

But one thing that started with Skam France was creating ig content for every clip. So that when a clip dropped, a bunch of pics and stories from every character involved in the scene would also drop. I think this is just not really necessary? Most high school students don’t document every school day like this, or even document every time they go to the movies, meet up to discuss fundraising ideas, go buy some snacks at a convenience store, and so on and so forth. 

On the other hand, we also have to allow for the idea that technology marches on. When Skam was airing, ig stories were still pretty new. Most people posted memes and random shit to their instagram feed, rather than to their stories. Nowadays feeds are more curated, and stories are for shitposting. So one aspect of how Skam used igs, which was to post content that would clearly define a character (such as Paradise Hotel memes for Eva, cheesy inspirational quotes for Vilde, or news clips for Sana) would probably all just go on stories nowadays. Compare the Skam igs with the Skam Austin igs in s1 (or, like, your memory of the Austin igs, since FB deleted them............), which were also created by Julie Andem and Mari Magnus, and we can already see some changes in the way teens used instagram (even allowing for cultural differences between Norway and the US). The pics would look “better” as in more professional, better lit, better angles used. Whereas the Skam characters seemingly would take a pic and then posted it, it was as if the Austin characters had taken a bunch of pics and posted only the really good ones. I also don’t remember the Austin characters posting memes either to their feed or even to their stories. 

When it comes to Druck... I absolutely agree that I don’t really buy high school students would post that much content and so personal, and it also loses the effect when there’s so much content posted. For instance, Nora’s Nov 13 post is the first time Zoe appears in Nora’s ig feed, which was a momentous occasion because Zoe confessed to her sister that she felt judged by Nora. But Nora had previously posted so much Zoe content on her stories, that the milestone of posting Zoe to her feed went unnoticed.

But then on the other hand, Druck has a limited episode runtime (where Skam didn’t) and viewers have consistently responded favorably to the Skams developing storylines on social media away from the main. People ate it up when Isak posted pics of his life with Even in s4. And I don’t necessarily dislike the concept of giving more meaning to certain lines or moments by adding context over social media. E.g.: without social media, we would have little to no idea what Finn and Zoe argued about towards the end of the season. Thanks to the chats we do, and thanks to the ig content, we’re actually invested in Finn and Zoe working out, because we’ve seen them act coupley in so much content. What about Kiki and Carlos’ apartment? Would we care that much about it if there hadn’t been so much content of the gen 1 characters “renovating” it? 

Since we’re talking about different remakes, I admit I’ve never been a huge fan of how much content the Skam España characters posted. Much like with Skam France, I feel like sometimes they just shot content to go with the clip, pretty much to promote the clip in a way, and when I look at their feeds now, I just feel there are so many generic posts that are super cute, yes, but don’t really tell me anything about the characters or what they were going through at the time or what they wanted people to think their lives were like at the time. To be clear, a lot of their posts do tell me stuff about the characters and what they were going through and what they wanted people to think their lives were like. But many of those posts could be gone and I wouldn’t miss them. For me, it’s the difference between having Mari Magnus, who for so long was Julie Andem’s right hand woman and assisted in every step of creating Skam, come up with and post the ig content, and hiring someone like Gominuke, a well-known influencer, who knows how to use ig to promote a product. While we’re talking about the way a social media manager’s background and personality will affect the sm content for the Skam, Druck hired Farid-Philippe Bouatra starting with s2, and he was really good at coming up with reasons why introverted characters such as Matteo would post consistently (#MatteoMonday and #FlorenziFriday). 

Anyway. Obviously Skam France hiring professional photographers for their sm content and posting these photoshoots to the characters’ accounts is cringy as all fuck, and no one beats Wtfock at generic, bland posts that don’t say anything about who a character is, what they’re going through or what they want people to think their lives are like. There was a time where I was slightly salty about Wtfock characters posting more memes and shitposts than the Skam España characters, but that all went away after oh, the 20th generic food post coming out of Antwerp. People come at Nora Grace for her feminist posts, but do we want to talk about Zoë’s abundance of shallow “girl power!” (I will not call those posts feminist) pics? Or what about literally monetizing the social media by having Kato post a legit ad for makeup? 

[illuminatvm]

INTRODUCE YOURSELF

Hello! I’m V, she/her, 25, EST, aquarius sun with an aries moon and rising. dumb as hell, illiterate as fuck. hobbies include buying books and never reading them, crying over the fact that i can't travel right now, and being consistently inconsistent with a hyperfixation.

DESCRIBE YOURSELF AS A WRITING PARTNER

oooh! okay, so i like to think i’m pretty laid back but that’s when i’ve gotten through all the nitty gritty of plotting. I love figuring out details and timelines, trading headcanons back and forth and really digging deep into a character and pushing their morals and beliefs and connections to others. I’m also a hoe for the aesthetique and love sending off musing inspo or instagram posts and quizzes between heart-wrenching angst. My writing style tends to veer towards the introspective prose at its best and at its most direct will focus on actions instead— which makes sense when my favourite threads to write are either emotionally harrowing or big fight scenes.

WHO ARE YOUR CHARACTERS?

𝐀𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐚 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚 𝐀𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞 𝐋𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡

Faded mauve and golden gray // a soft voice in a nearly-gone memory // perfectly made earl gray tea // long-gone chateaus and gilded walls // heavy silk and creamy marble // eyes so blue you’ll drown // the safest you’ve felt in years // curated clutter // chiffon cake and pearls // peony-fragile wings // breathless laughter // subtle power // smiles are merely animals baring their teeth

Species: guardian angel

Age: Appears to be in her early/mid-thirties, dates back to the 1400’s

Occupation: real estate developer. 1% for the planet board member. LVMH shareholder

Spoken languages: The better question is, what language does she not know?

Current place of residence: a penthouse suite in downtown seattle

Time in Seattle: 10 years

𝐅𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐲 𝐀𝐲ş𝐞𝐠ü𝐥 𝐂𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐥

welcome to the club // deep crimson and glittering gold // the overwhelming ache of melancholia // neon lights and leather jackets // a life in the shadows // golden rings twisting with worry // sharp eyeliner or none at all // longing to belong // lithe hands of creation // more blankets than you need // starlight is the best light // half-truths and sharp knives // laughter that shakes your being // not dead yet barely alive

Species: shadow-graced

Age: 28. became shadow-graced at 24.

Occupation: jeweler. small-business owner

Spoken languages: English, Turkish, Italian  

Current place of residence: apartment in capitol hill

Time in Seattle: four years

𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐅𝐢𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐳𝐨 𝐑𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐢

half-finished lattes // black t-shirts // empty mirrors // cracked book bindings // piles of coffee beans // hair pomade // lingering hugs // tired eyes // chocolate fondue // cloud couches // a labyrinth in human-form // a smoke filled chest // mulberry and cedar // old leather // messy hair // a watch glinting in the light // wolfish grins // early mornings and late nights // commanding attention

Species: vampire

Age: appears to be in mid-thirties. At the age of 35. Born in 1820.

Occupation: owner of Regime du Matin, independent bookstore + cafe

Spoken languages: English, Italian, French, German, Russian  

Current place of residence: top floor of Regime du Matin

Time in Seattle: two years

PLOT IDEAS / WANTED CONNECTIONS

Annora’s plot/wanted dynamics page

Feray’s plot/wanted dynamics page (coming tonight, i’m just being finicky)

Carmine’s plot/wanted dynamics page

PRESENT HEADCANONS

𝐀𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐚

To have lived for so long is both a blessing and curse. She remembers when palaces were built and bitterly recalls wars, can never hide the regret upon her features when she thinks of the fall of kingdoms and losses of beauty and majesty and brilliant minds. Devotion, steadfastness has matured, has evolved in the modern world and so too has Annora. Nowadays, you might see her working not merely to protect the people, but the place they inhabit. Technology and the divine have never been meant to mingle, but within her limits she involves herself with innovation— for the good of humanity. Of course, she is careful to remain in certain obscurity. Annora Leigh to mortals is a name forgettable and a face hardly seen. The world can not be saved by a single guardian angel, but she has not lived for so long that she can not try.

She likes to be busy, and she is. It isn’t uncommon for Annora to be in one city one day, then another the next. How she’s in Seattle continues to confuse the many as most of her real estate projects are on the eastern coast of the United States and Europe. But, she is here, and so far there are no signs of her leaving. An angel such as she isn’t so afraid of roaming the streets alone, not when her angelic lineage is so potent. If she isn’t working, she’s often volunteering, or spending time with those she considers her family— mortal or otherwise. If she could split herself into a legion, she could. Unfortunately, however, she is only one. Though that’s never quite stopped her from getting her way.

𝐅𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐲

She’d nearly died at the age of twenty-four while in London. In the years since, she and the entity she is bound to have settled here in Seattle, reverting to her birth-given name as she rediscovers herself in this new life, refining a new hobby of jewelry-making as she continues with a more quiet and subdued existence. Her workshop exists above the place where humans and supernatural-alike mingle, a club known for pleasure and indulgence. Lovers do no exist, friendships are distant if not fleeting. A love like her parents’ seems like an impossibility to her now. Her sins are her own, and watching love be wiped away by rage and betrayal was more than enough to cast herself away from the intimacy of knowing and being known. People couldn’t lose you, nor could you lose people if you weren’t present long enough for it to matter.

Though she lives in Capitol Hill, there are many days (and nights) that she’ll not stumble home until late. Her ties to the being that saved her from the brink of death are strangely pulled taut— so while her jewelry workshop (think brands like Sofia Zakia or Tippy Taste or Borcik Jewelry) and small storefront exists on the street level, an exclusive club of debauchery and sin exists below, its hours running until nearly dawn. Sometimes, you’ll find her posing as a bar girl, rarely will you see her indulging with or without the one who chose her for a life of the shadow-graced. But, she is loyal and indebted to them, and luckily in Seattle, everything is within arms reach.

𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞

Within him lies the great desire of perpetual warmth, and the ability to give that same warmth to others. That is what the cozy walls of his cafes evoke, what seeps from the man that seems wrapped in tarragon and cinnamon. No, he doesn’t have a girlfriend. Not when the last had left him so cold that he’d felt frozen from the inside out. The past few decades have been spent perfecting his craft, doing everything to feel warm and alive — from coffee, to spontaneous relocations, Carmine’s pursuit of never ending fire is never over. Perhaps there will be something, someone that will finally cause him to burn, to smolder brightly even in the light forever, something that’ll bring the restlessness within him to settle into sincere warmth. Or maybe he won’t, and he’ll lose his spark and suffer from an endless cold for the rest of his days.

Business as usual. The cafe caters to both humans and supernatural beings alike. However, humans only know of the main floor and upper two floors of the building. Supernatural creatures are able to access the two lower levels and the second-highest level of the cafe. Carmine lives on the uppermost floor, although all visitors have access to the roof. He’s far more content with his life here in Seattle than he assumed he would be. Although it’s largely in part to the environment he’s created for himself: not a bar, but a place to enjoy drinks and be with friends, curl up by a fire and get lost in a book that either you’d brought yourself or have pulled off of a shelf. He’s been known to be found lazing in the plush couches instead of returning to his own floor, but all staff members suggest you run when he picks up the guitar. The man has absolutely no musical talent. Please don’t ask him to sing.

DO YOU HAVE ANY INSPIRATIONS FOR YOUR MUSES 

𝐀𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐚'𝐬 𝐏𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝

𝐅𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐲'𝐬 𝐏𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝

𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞'𝐬 𝐏𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝

[common-void]

Where do I find new music?

I got to be honest, none of my friends ever asked me about how I find new music to listen to. But, indeed, most of them have told me that I got a good taste in music (excuse me). Sorry for bragging but it’s actually my kind of favorite compliment. Kudos to anyone who (still) thought that way. I would say that I’m lucky enough to experience a lot of genres since my childhood. From Disney bop (was a huge fan of Jonas Brothers when I was 10 years old, but that’s where I discovered Shania Twain), rock, electronic, pop, alternative, even latino. Those things shaped me into a multi-genre music snob. Just to be clear, I’m not an expert but my ears are somehow above average (I really have to stop bragging), and I got 62,160 minutes listened on Spotify. Sounds fair enough to you? Sure, what I mean by “new” music, it’s not always a “recently released” music. It could be songs from the 80s or the 90s that I just discovered. There is still a lot of good music out there that I haven’t discovered yet. But hey, enough for the chit-chat, let’s get down to business.

1. Music Blogs

I would really recommend visiting music blogs like Pitchfork, Stereogum, NPR Music, or anything you find intrigue. They got a lot of different genres of music from a lot of artists, mostly independent. For a first-timer, you could just pick up their monthly chart playlist or start a baby-step by listening to their best music from a particular year. Example: Best Music of 2019. If you thought of Billboard, I don’t think they give a recommendation for a variety of genres as they mainly focus on pop and hip hop. Anyway, sometimes when I feel like it, I do surf on Tumblr just for finding new music. Some of the music blogs on Tumblr are inactive nowadays but it doesn’t matter to me as long as I found some stuffs worth listening to. Of course, of course! Music streaming platform is not limited to this point, try the easiest like Soundcloud or Bandcamp to discover newly born artist.

2. Social Media/Forum/Communities

Whew, a lot of slashes! True, most of my music I discovered are from social media like Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, even TikTok (guilty). When someone uploaded a song that they’ve been listening to on their social media, if it catches my attention, I’d give it a try. Set following on music communities you like on Instagram, they give cool recommendations. On Twitter or Reddit, someone usually just asking people “What was your favorite song this decade?” or “Your favorite album of all time?” something like that. In an instant, it becomes your music recommendation galore. Even on Reddit, the music enthusiasts have their own music chart which by the way, doesn’t suck! Bravo, bravo! For TikTok, some people (well, a few) do use cool songs as their background music. Just don’t forget to take notes or else you lose it.

3. Youtube

Isn’t it Youtube a social media? Yes. But I prefer to break it down since the method I use is pretty different than the one mentioned above. I didn’t really fancy (not never) surfing this site to find any particular song. What I do is to only watch the Full Set of live performances on Youtube. Could be from festivals, talkshows, or sessions. If you’re serious enough, you can subscribe to music critics like The Needle Drop (for album review) or Alfo Media (for songs in particular). Besides, I don’t think Youtube is the perfect platform for discovering new music. From my experience, the music they’re trying to recommend me sucks. In the case of Youtube Music, I haven’t tried it. But for now, I don’t think I might. Another thing to keep in mind, we are all only human, sometimes our ears are tired and sick of listening too much music. How do I overcome it? Give it a break OR you could just binge-watching music videos on Youtube because visually, you’re not tired (yay). Or just give it a break, mate.

4. Soundtrack

Don’t ever think about googling “Best Movie Soundtrack” or “Series Shows With Best Soundtrack”. Trust me, don’t. You will end up not enjoying it. My tip, if you’re watching a movie or series you like, try to pay attention whenever a song plays in the background. On Netflix, sometimes they even put the song title on subtitle (if you do watch your movie with subtitle). Take notes on whatever catches your ears or simply just search the playlist on Spotify.

5. Spotify

Ah, yes, finally! You might be wondering why I didn’t mention Spotify earlier even though Spotify is the one and only music platform I use daily. To be VERY honest, I do get a bunch of music recommendations from Spotify but what can I do if my ears often disagree with their choice. I’m not saying that their curated “My Discover Weekly” sucks, just not really clicked with my preferences. So, what I would do is exploring Spotify users with legit playlists. Whether it’s from music blogs, music critics, or even some random person I found along the way. Hey, if you my friend, found out I’ve been jamming to your playlist, don’t bother, because I think you’re cool.

Those five points only narrowing down my sources on finding new music. In fact, you can find any new music everywhere. At a bar, a bookstore, the mall. Just seize your Shazam app on your phone or if you don’t have one, type the lyrics you heard on google. One last tip, in the journey of discovering music you like, you might find some that didn’t fit your taste or preference. Hell, you might even hate a few. Just remember to give your ears a chance. Don’t judge too quick unless you already try to listen to their stuff (wise, huh?). May you find a gem. Good luck!

Adios, Risdiana Izzaty

[madschoolsg]

Starting Digital Marketing for Small Businesses and Start-ups

Written by: Gwen Teng

The internet plays a significant role in the majority of businesses nowadays. Purchasing a product or engaging service is also easier now than compared to the past as the buying behaviour of many people is shifting towards online rather than offline.

Hence, to get your brand noticed online, to build brand awareness – that’s where digital marketing comes in.

Digital marketing is a way to advertise business, brands, and products via online channels. The role of digital marketing is to bring in new leads and prospects, generate sales for your business by reaching out to the group of a target audience who are interested in your products and services. These groups of people are considered your high-quality leads.

So now you have a rough idea of the role of digital marketing is in your business, the question is how to get started.

Here, we will be sharing with you some tips to start your digital marketing plan for small businesses.

Website

The first impression that your website gives usually establishes the trust people have in your business. First of all, have an outstanding UI then a great UX.

Online businesses will have to really consider the digital experiences of their users and how it makes them feel. Besides the UI/ UX portion, your website is one of the cores of your digital marketing campaigns where you direct the leads to your designated landing pages.

Do they stay or do they go upon clicking on that link you provided – be it through an EDM, or SMS or Social Media. Sometimes you only get as much as 3 seconds to convince and convert these leads to become a paying customer.

Ensure your website loads quickly, make sure it is secured, optimize your website for both PC and mobile phones, ensure the ease of use by carrying out user testing before launch. Ultimately, make sure your customers’ needs are met.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

SEO, in short for Search Engine Optimization, is dependent on your site’s content in order to get it to appear on search engine results when users are searching for a particular keyword.

Most businesses would want their website or landing pages to appear on the top result of Google, and the question is how do you get it to appear on the first page when you have a competitive keyword in mind that you will want to rank for? This is where you need to ensure the content on your website is made relevant to anyone who searches for a particular keyword. The more relevant it is, the higher the chances of it appearing on Google’s top searches.

SEO not only is cost-effective, but it also allows you to increase your website traffic and helps your website to rank higher in search engines (most of the time we are looking at Google).

Pay-Per-Click advertising

Though SEO is great magic to increase website traffics, it may take too much time to happen. This is where you can try-out an alternative strategy.

Pay-Per-Click (PPC)advertising is when the website owner (yourself) pays every time someone clicks on your ad.

Google Ad is a popular PPC advertising where it places your website on the first page of search engine results, and you get qualified leads who are searching for your products and services. However, the downside is that the more competitive your keywords are, the more expensive your PPC is going to be.

Content Marketing

Content marketing is an approach where you story-tell your brand by creating and curating high-quality content that is appealing to your target audience to keep them engaged and interested in your products or services. The content usually contains valuable information, is of relevance to them, and must be ‘fed’ to them on a consistent basis.

Some forms of content marketing include videos, email newsletters, webinars, giveaways, FAQs, and podcasts.

Social Media Marketing

Social Media Marketing refers to using various social media platforms to perform ads in order to drive audience engagement, brand awareness, and traffic to your desired landing page.

As the majority of the people in this digital age are connected through social media, marketing and advertising over these platforms will allow you to access the bulk of the people to promote your business more effectively and eventually to turn them into potential paying customers.

Depending on your industry, you need not be pushing for ads across all the available social media platforms – that would be wasting too much money. Understand your brand, your consumers, and what their buying behaviors are like before selecting which platforms you want to advertise on. The most common social media platforms include Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Pinterest.

Email Marketing

Email marketing is a form of advertising to re-engage your existing leads in your database, or a form of contact to reach out to potential leads. This method is also the most effective way to nurture your leads and convert them into paying customers.

Before you can start on email marketing, where do you get the source of your leads and their contact email? It can be through all the strategies that were mentioned earlier to direct them to fill up a contact form on your landing pages or to send in an inquiry via your Facebook/ Instagram chat and etc.

Usually, these leads that fill up the forms with their contact has already granted you permission to send them emails! From this first point of contact, you will be able to re-engage them and nurture them into paying customers. Those that write in to unsubscribe – that’s where you know these are not your buying customers.

Most companies use branded email to increase their brand awareness. When using an email template, make sure it speaks of your branding and brand identity as it will help your business stand out when your email lands on your leads’ inboxes.

As digital marketing is constantly evolving, you may want to consider taking up a digital marketing course if you are doing your own digital marketing for your business. Find out more about our specially curated project-based programme where all trainers are highly experienced industry practitioners sharing their knowledge with the students with hands-on practices.

[marymccartneyphotos]

The Power of Photography: Time, Mortality and Memory

The Guardian -- May 19, 2013

We take thousands of pictures nowadays, but do we still cherish them? We asked writers and artists, including Mary McCartney, to pick a shot they treasure – and tell us the role photography has played in their lives

Mary McCartney Photographer

I have a vivid early memory of going to a darkroom with my mum. I would see her taking photos a lot, though she didn’t do much printing. But she took me there one day and I remember seeing a blank page put into a chemical bath and becoming a photograph. We didn’t really have any of her pictures around the house, but there was a Jacques-Henri Lartigue, and an Edward S Curtis portait of some native Americans. Mum grew up in New York and she got into photography after seeing the famous Family of Man exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, curated by Edward Steichen. She mentioned it often; my mum and dad discussed photography a lot. Because I grew up around it, I assumed everyone could take pictures. Now, I realise that not everyone has the eye. It’s true that every kid can take pictures that you could use or publish, and there are a lot more being documented. But it’s still hard to do a proper shoot, or go into depth; it takes a lot of time and attention. I still think in film: I always have. If I take an image that I really like, it feels more real if it’s caught on film; if I’ve shot it digitally, I feel it could just disappear. The confusing thing for me is how many different ways there are of taking photos. I take a fair amount on my iPhone, quite a few on my 35mm Leica, plus on my digital camera, and I have a Polaroid, too. When I’m going on an assignment, I never know which cameras to take. I’m embarrassed to say that my main camera is my iPhone. I’m on Instagram so I can follow friends; I like how immediate it is. I upload with filters sometimes; I’m not that purist about it. In the past, you’d pick a certain type of film for a certain look, and today’s filters are a similar concept: the modern version of choosing the right mood. But if there’s absolutely stunning light, and a picture hasn’t needed a filter, I always do. Family pictures are the most precious. I have a set of prints I carry around in my wallet of my kids, my husband and my parents. I look at those rather than writing a diary: they’re very evocative and textural and emotional, and take you back to specific moments. I change them every so often, after they get worn out. The picture I carry of my parents is a little old colour print of them hugging in the 70s, which is sweet. The one of my husband and me was taken in a photobooth a friend rented for a birthday party. I love the old-fashioned booths where you get four different shots; they feel unique because you’ve got the only version that will ever exist. I also have a great photobooth strip of my son when he was really young. He’s crying at the beginning – then in the next photo my hand’s in there, giving him an ice-cream.

[greekstreetart-talks]

For the first time since we started interviews we talk to another blogger and not even a Greek one. A different kind of interview with the super-communicative Ivana who comes from Italy to explore among other European cities the urban culture of Athens. This month we discuss with her about her trips.

When did you come to Athens for the first time to explore the local culture and what led you to this decision? Is there a reputation of Athens abroad in relation to graffiti? My first small “urban art” trip in Athens had been in September 2017 and I chose this destination mainly because I received an invitation by a gallerist. I’d visited the city some years before, during an archeological tour of Greece, so I already had the chance to walk around as a tourist and to appreciate the beauty and the architecture of Athens, as well as a bit of street art. This second trip was mainly an overlook of the local street art and graffiti scene. It was interesting but very confusing at the same time. In Italy we know just a few names of Greek artists and crews so I couldn’t expect such a huge amount of writers and artists and so many different styles in the street, as well as I didn’t know that is a city full of contrasts and so much chaos. As a graffiti and urban art blogger and as a traveller, I immediately felt in love with Athens and people, so friendly and nice that right after I felt the need to go back to investigate and explore more and more, as much as possible. Nine months later I finally took the decision to move there.

Which were the first impressions from Athens and the people here? Since I’m from Rome I wasn’t surprised at all by traffic jams, noises and big distances, but I clearly remember that I was shocked by the amount of tags and graffiti in the streets, literally everywhere. I don’t think that you can find something like this, anywhere else in Europe. I felt like I was addicted by urban art and I used to walk for hours and hours taking photos, especially in Exarchia, Psirri and Metaxourgio, as I also used to spend some time watching graffiti on passing trains in Thissio. This crazy mix of street life, underground culture, decadence, chaos, creativity, freedom of expression and amazing graffiti styles was very exciting for me, and that was exactly what I was looking for in my previous trips. During that holiday, amongst one million graffiti pieces around the city, I was mainly impressed by the crews 420, NR4T, 381, Nda, Ofk and by some big old pieces by Amigos and Lifo. 

Urban landscape, lives in the city. For some people living in the city is very stressful, while for some others it is liberating as the choices are quite many indeed. However, people seem to feel more and more lonely and get more and more isolated. What is your point of view on the way of living in major urban centers? When I moved to Athens I had the chance to fully enjoy the city for some months, I used to feel part of a big and well-connected community and a big cultural scene. I was enjoying hanging around and having fun with friends in parties, free events, underground life, graffiti actions, abandoned places’ explorations. Moreover I love how easy was to get in contact, meet and know artists and people in streets and cafè, especially in summertime. From the very first time this reminded me the typical lifestyle of an Italian city that I love, Palermo (Sicily). Unfortunately, living somewhere for a long time could be also a bit disappointing at some point. It took me months, or better, years to discover that beneath this artistic and social outward appearance there was a hidden reality full of all kind of problems, from isolation and loneliness to stress, unreliability and a general unstable mood and disorganisation. I could never say that the main reason is crisis, as the media would probably assert, but that’s for sure a dark side of the city that you can’t ignore or avoid. 

What effects do you think the Arts have in our everyday life? Is Art in public space a natural aftermath? After two years living as a local in Athens I have to admit that I am used to the endless bombing of art (legal or illegal), vandalism in the street, and I like it. Apart from graffiti writing, I have the feeling that the “street art bubble”, or better, this current public art trend, which includes street art festivals and the business of “open-air street art museums” and street art tours, is about to explode. Honestly, I can’t wait for it. 

What I mean is that both in Athens and in other European countries, there are good quality and well-organized events, but the majority are public initiatives of decoration as a form of urban “revitalization”, as if a mural could substitute for a retraining of an area. Most of these events “are just lark-mirrors and cunning and cheap solutions to limit underground scene and to hide or make inhabitants forget lack of interest and projects that could improve quality of life, in any possible way.

Moreover, nowadays a big street artist’s name or a big colourful mural are considered more important than quality and contents, and every day, everywhere, we have new improvised experts, curators, artists and even “Instagram posers”. Needless to say that this trend is not only used for political purposes but is also often connected with ignorance (just think of tourists and locals taking selfies in front of street art painted by artists who are not even known or mentioned), gentrifications and anti-graffiti campaigns. 

As in every field, we should never forget where the whole street art movement comes from; if it weren’t for “vandalic” graffiti writing we’d never have the so called “urban art”, and would hypocrisy to deny it.

Creator and author of the blog “Urban Lives”. In which order did this happen? Did the book come first and then the blog followed or was it the other way round? What need meant to be covered by a project like that? My blog Urban Lives is online since 2016, while my book “Urban Lives - Discovering street art in Italy” had been published 2 years ago. The book can be considered as an in-depth essay, in fact only half of it includes articles from the blog. Because of this book and for many other reasons, as you also mentioned, I prefer to define Urban Lives an independent project (no sponsorships or business involved), because the term “blog” is quite reductive. Articles on street art and graffiti (Italian/English), travel reports, opinions, interviews with artists, photos of actions on Instagram are just a part of my activities. In these intense 4 years, I’ve also organized art residencies (such as the one in Rome with my friend and Greek artist Iakovos Volkov), travels and independent projects with artists, curator of walls/murals, graffiti jams and I’ve attended talks and conferences on street art in museums, universities and events all over Italy. 

In short, Urban Lives is a big part of my life, it’s a diary, a passion, a lot of job of sacrifices, many trips, meetings with people, articles and stories, networking, new international friends, incredible situations and, here and there, even some dreams that came true. I even started to paint graffiti one year ago… but that’s another story!

You are actually writing stories about different cities, (Athens is one of them too) in which you have travelled and that are all somehow related to graffiti. Tell us a few things about the graffiti culture and the way you are perceiving it and experiencing it. Although I’ve been reading and travelling a lot, I can’t say that I have a good or even decent knowledge about graffiti in Europe and believe me, I am not modest, just objective. My school is mainly the street, that’s why I know a lot of things about Greek graffiti writing and I personally met many graffiti writers, including some old school train bombers and some very active ones. But it takes a lot of time to go deep and to understand a world that is so big, underground and complicated. What I’ve learned is that graffiti culture is another reality, with other rules, attitudes, needs and feelings. I needed a full immersion in this life and to personally experience actions, adrenaline, dangers and even tagging and painting to feel it. To be a writer can totally affects your life, either in a good or in a very bad way, and your perception of space and time. 

Don’t you think that Art in the public space can become very intrusive, even annoying for some people? In my opinion, public art should be somehow connected with the environment, the urban landscape or the social community. But, to be honest, in the last years I am not that interested in public art, I am mainly focused on illegal street art (or street art for social causes) and, most of all, on graffiti writing. As we know, graffiti have to be intrusive, sometimes annoying, either in the street or on trains and metro. That’s part of the graffiti philosophy; it’s a challenge to be visible, it’s a challenge to be everywhere.

I guess we all have heard at some point that Athens is the new Berlin or that Athens is the European metropolis of Graffiti. Is this true ,in your opinion? Since you are travelling a lot and to different destinations each time.. In the last 3 years I’ve been several times in Berlin, spending a lot of time with local artists and graffiti writers, included 1up crew and Berlin Kidz. Both cities have a great graffiti scene and an important graffiti history, as well as a great subculture. Although some similarities are undeniable I wonder why everybody say that Athens is the new Berlin, as it could be its possible future evolution. At first, 3 years ago, I was also fallin in this “trap”. The paradox is that Athens is way behind Berlin and many other European cities, so I think it would be more correct to say that it’s just similar to the old Berlin, but probably with a stronger patriotic attitude and much more vandalism. No surprise that we have so many German writers coming to Athens nowadays, bombing everywhere. Of course, that doesn’t mean that Athens is not picking up, actually I think that the current effort of the city is impressive. But still, the cultural rebirth of the city is important but it’s not the main priority. 

You are now living quite a long time here in Athens. Do you feel strongly connected to this city and its people and why? Definitely yes, here I feel home. I can’t imagine my life without Athens and its aesthetic, good vibes, good people. I’ve been living a lot of adventures, happy moments and amazing discoveries and I feel lucky and grateful for this big change in my life and for the whole experience, something that I’ll never forget. I am quite happy for the moment but I think that, as a thrilling chapter in the book of my life, this Greek experience might come to an end, maybe soon, maybe for a while. 

In 10 years time? I hope that in 10 years I still will be a traveller and a reporter and a positive and energetic person full of curiosity, passion and interests. Of course I also hope that, somehow, I’ll be connected with the underground culture. Who knows, maybe one day I will quit writing on graffiti and I will be a proper graffiti writer ihihih... Life is unpredictable (especially mine), we will see!

Thank you very much for this interview, it’s been a great pleasure for me!

Artworks by: Aner, Chius, Barba Dee, Perk Up, Friend, c0in, Conjoined movement, RTMone, Chus, Kasp (OFK), Mota, MrFijodor, Sora, Pyc, Skirl, Wild Drawing, Weed, 1UP

Follow Urban Lives Blog \ Instagram \ Fb Page \ Twitter

_

Για πρώτη φορά, από την στιγμή που ξεκινήσαμε τις συνεντεύξεις μιλάμε με μία άλλη blogger και μάλιστα όχι Eλληνίδα. Μία διαφορετική συνέντευξη με την σούπερ επικοινωνιακή Ivana η οποία έρχεται από την Ιταλία για να εξερευνήσει μεταξύ άλλων ευρωπαϊκών πόλεων και την αστική κουλτούρα της Αθήνας. Αυτό τον μήνα μιλάμε μαζί της για τις διαδρομές της.

Πότε ήρθες πρώτη φορά στην Αθήνα για να εξερευνήσεις την αστική κουλτούρα και τι σε οδήγησε σε αυτή την απόφαση; Υπάρχει κάποια φήμη για την Αθήνα στο εξωτερικό σε σχέση με το γκράφιτι; Το πρώτο μου μικρό ταξίδι «αστικής τέχνης» στην Αθήνα ήταν τον Σεπτέμβριο 2017 και διάλεξα αυτόν τον προορισμό κυρίως επειδή έλαβα πρόσκληση από έναν γκαλερίστα. Είχα επισκεφτεί την πόλη πριν κάτι χρόνια, κατά τη διάρκεια μιας αρχαιολογικής εκδρομής στην Ελλάδα, οπότε μου είχε δοθεί ήδη η ευκαιρία να τριγυρίσω σαν τουρίστας και να εκτιμήσω την ομορφιά και την αρχιτεκτονική της Αθήνας, όπως επίσης και μέρος της τέχνης του δρόμου. Αυτό το δεύτερο ταξίδι ήταν κυρίως μια παρατήρηση της τοπικής τέχνης του δρόμου και της γκράφιτι σκηνής. Ήταν ενδιαφέρον αλλά συνάμα δημιουργούσε σύγχυση. Στην Ιταλία ξέρουμε μόνο μερικά ονόματα ελλήνων καλλιτεχνών και ομάδων, οπότε δε περίμενα τόσο μεγάλο ποσό από writers και καλλιτέχνες και τόσα διαφορετικά στυλ στους δρόμος, όπως επίσης δεν ήξερα ότι ήταν μία πόλη γεμάτη αντιθέσεις και τόσο πολύ χάος. Ως μία blogger αστικής τέχνης και γκράφιτι όπως επίσης και ταξιδιώτισσα, αμέσως ένιωσα ερωτευμένη με την Αθήνα και τους ανθρώπους, τόσο φιλικοί, τόσο καλοί που κατευθείαν ένιωσα την ανάγκη να γυρίσω πίσω να διερευνήσω και να εξετάσω όλο και περισσότερο, όσα περισσότερα μπορούσα. Εννιά μήνες αργότερα πήρα επιτέλους την απόφαση να μετακινηθώ εκεί.

Ποιες ήταν οι πρώτες σου εντυπώσεις για την Αθήνα και για τους ανθρώπους εκεί; Καθώς είμαι από τη Ρώμη δεν εξεπλάγην από την κυκλοφοριακή κίνηση, τους θορύβους και τις μεγάλες αποστάσεις, αλλά θυμάμαι ξεκάθαρα ότι είχα σοκαριστεί από το ποσοστό των ταγκς και των γκραφιτι στους δρόμους, κυριολεκτικά παντού. Δε νομίζω ότι μπορείς αν βρεις κάτι τέτοιο πουθενά αλλού στην Ευρώπη. Ένιωσα σα να ήμουν εθισμένη στην αστική τέχνη και συνήθιζα να περπατάω για ώρες και ώρες βγάζοντας φωτογραφίες , ειδικά στα Εξάρχεια, Ψυρρή, Μεταξουργείο, ¨όπως επίσης συνήθιζα να περνάω χρόνο βλέποντας τα γκράφιτι στα τραίνα που περνούσαν στο Θησείο. Αυτή η τρελή μείξη της ζωής στον δρόμο, της υπόγειας κουλτούρας, της παρακμής, τους χάους, της δημιουργικότητας, της ελευθερίας της έκφρασης και των τρομερών γκράφιτι στυλ ήταν πολύ συναρπαστική για εμένα και αυτό ακριβώς που αναζητούσα στα προηγούμενα ταξίδια μου. Κατά τη διάρκεια εκείνων των διακοπών μεταξύ εκατομμυρίων γκράφιτι γύρω στην πόλη, ήμουν κυρίως ενθουσιασμένη με τις ομάδες 420, NR4T, 381,Nda, Ofk Και μερικά παλαιότερα μεγάλα κομμάτια από Amigos και Lifo.

Το αστικό τοπίο ζει μέσα στην πόλη. Για κάποιους ανθρώπους που ζουν στην πόλη είναι πολύ αγχωτικό, ενώ για κάποιους άλλους είναι απελευθερωτικό καθώς οι επιλογές είναι πράγματι πάρα πολλές. Παρολαυτά, οι άνθρωποι φαίνεται να νιώθουν πιο μόνοι και να απομονώνονται περισσότερο. Ποιά είναι η γνώμη σου για τον τρόπο ζωής στα μεγάλα αστικά κέντρα; Όταν μετακινήθηκα στην Αθήνα είχα την ευκαιρία να ευχαριστηθώ πλήρως την πόλη για κάποιους μήνες, ένιωθα μέλος μιας μεγάλης και ωραία συνδεδεμένης κοινότητας και μιας μεγάλης πολιτιστικής σκηνής. Διασκέδαζα να κάνω βόλτες και να περνάω όμορφα με ανθρώπους σε πάρτυ, ανοιχτές εκδηλώσεις, υπόγεια ζωή, γκράφιτι δράσεις, εξερευνήσεις εγκαταλελειμμένων χώρων. Επιπλέον πρέπει να προσθέσω πόσο εύκολο ήταν να έρθω σε επαφή, να συναντήσω και να γνωρίσω καλλιτέχνες και ανθρώπους στους δρόμους και στα καφέ, ειδικά την περίοδο του καλοκαιριού. Από την πρώτη στιγμή αυτό μου θύμισε τον τυπικό τρόπο ζωής μιας ιταλικής πόλης που αγαπάω το Παλέρμο (Σικελία). Δυστυχώς το να μένεις κάπου για μεγάλο χρονικό διάστημα μπορεί να γίνει και λίγο απογοητευτικό σε ένα σημείο.

Μου πήρε μήνες ή καλύτερα χρόνια να ανακαλύψω ότι πίσω από την καλλιτεχνική και κοινωνική εξωστρεφή εμφάνιση ήταν κρυμμένη μια πραγματικότητα γεμάτη όλων των ειδών τα προβλήματα, από απομόνωση και μοναξιά, μέχρι άγχος, αναξιοπιστία και μια γενική διάθεση αστάθειας και ανοργανωσιάς. Δε θα μπορούσα να πω ποτέ ότι ο βασικός λόγος είναι η κρίση, όπως θα υποστήριζαν πιθανότατα τα μέσα ενημέρωσης, αλλά είναι σίγουρα μια σκοτεινή πλευρά της πόλης που δε μπορείς να αγνοήσεις ή να αποφύγεις.

Τι συνέπειες πιστεύεις ότι έχουν οι τέχνες στην καθημερινή μας ζωή; Είναι η τέχνη στο δημόσιο χώρο ένα φυσικό επακόλουθο; Μετά από δύο χρόνια που ζω ως ντόπια στην Αθήνα πρέπει να παραδεχτώ ότι είμαι συνηθισμένη σε ατελείωτο bombing τέχνης (νόμιμο ή παράνομο), βανδαλισμό στο δρόμο και μου αρέσει. Εκτός από το γκράφιτι writing, έχω την εντύπωση ότι η «φούσκα της τέχνης του δρόμου» ή καλύτερα η τρέχουσα τάση της δημόσιας τέχνης η οποία περιλαμβάνει φεστιβαλ τέχνης του δρόμου και την υπόθεση των υπαίθριων μουσείων τέχνης του δρόμου και περιηγήσεις της τέχνης του δρόμου είναι έτοιμη να εκραγεί. Ειλικρινά δε μπορώ να περιμένω. Αυτό που εννοώ είναι ότι και στην Αθήνα και σε άλλες ευρωπαϊκές χώρες υπάρχουν καλής ποιότητας και καλά οργανωμένες εκδηλώσεις, αλλά στην πλειοψηφία είναι δημόσιες πρωτοβουλίες διακόσμησης σαν μια μορφή αστικής «αναζωογόνησης», λες μία τοιχογραφία θα μπορούσε να αντικαταστήσει την επανεκπαίδευση μιας περιοχής. Οι περισσότερες από αυτές τις εκδηλώσεις «είναι απλά πονηρές και φθηνές λύσεις για να περιορίσουν την υπόγεια σκηνή και να κρύψουν ή να κάνουν τους  κατοίκους και να ξεχάσουν την έλλειψη ενδιαφέροντός τους  και εκδηλώσεις που θα μπορούσαν να βελτιώσουν την ποιότητα ζωής με κάθε δυνατό τρόπο»

Επιπλέον, αυτές τις μέρες ένα μεγάλο όνομα καλλιτέχνη του δρόμου  ή μια μεγάλη τοιχογραφία θεωρούνται πιο σημαντικά  απ’ ο, τι η ποιότητα και το περιεχόμενο και κάθε μέρα, παντού, έχουμε νέους εξελιγμένους ειδικούς, επιμελητές, καλλιτέχνες, ακόμα και “instagram posers”. Αχρείαστο να πω ότι αυτή η τάση δε χρησιμοποιείται μόνο για πολιτικούς σκοπούς, αλλά επίσης είναι συχνά συνδεδεμένη με την άγνοια ( απλά σκεφτείτε τους τουρίστες και τους ντόπιους που βγάζουν selfies μπροστά από τέχνη του δρόμου ζωγραφισμένη από καλλιτέχνες που δεν γνωρίζουν καν, ούτε αναφέρουν), γενικεύσεις και αντι-γκράφιτι καμπάνιες.

Όπως σε κάθε τομέα, δε πρέπει ποτέ να ξεχνάμε από που προέρχεται όλο το κίνημα της τέχνης του δρόμου, αν δεν ήταν το βανδαλιστικό γκράφιτι writing δε θα είχαμε ποτέ αυτό που ονομάζουμε «αστική τέχνη» και θα ήταν υποκρισία να το αρνηθούμε.

Δημιουργός και συγγραφέας του μπλογκ “Urban Lives”. Με ποια σειρά έγινε αυτό; Ήρθε πρώτα το βιβλίο και μετά ακολούθησε το μπλογκ ή το αντίθετο; Τι ανάγκη χρειαζόταν κάλυψη από ένα πρότζεκτ σαν αυτό; Το blog μου Urban Lives είναι online από το 2016, ενώ το βιβλίο μου "UrbanLives - Ανακαλύπτοντας την τέχνη του δρόμου στην Ιταλία" είχε δημοσιευθεί πριν από 2 χρόνια. Το βιβλίο μπορεί να θεωρηθεί ως ένα σε βάθος δοκίμιο, στην πραγματικότητα μόνο το ήμισυ περιλαμβάνει άρθρα από το blog. Λόγω αυτού του βιβλίου και για πολλούς άλλους λόγους, όπως ανέφερες, προτιμώ να ορίζω το Urban Lives ως ένα ανεξάρτητο project (χωρίς να περιλαμβάνονται χορηγίες ή επιχειρήσεις), επειδή ο όρος "blog" είναι αρκετά απλός. Άρθρα σχετικά με την τέχνη του δρόμου και τα γκράφιτι (ιταλικά / αγγλικά), αναφορές ταξιδιών, απόψεις, συνεντεύξεις με καλλιτέχνες, φωτογραφίες από δράσεις στο Instagram είναι μόνο μέρος των δραστηριοτήτων μου. Σε αυτά τα έντονα 4 χρόνια, διοργάνωσα επίσης χώρους τέχνης (όπως στη Ρώμη με τον φίλο μου και τον Iakovos Volkov), ταξίδια και ανεξάρτητα έργα με καλλιτέχνες, επιμέλειες τοίχων / τοιχογραφιών, γκράφιτι και έχω παρακολουθήσει συζητήσεις και συνέδρια για την τέχνη του δρόμου σε μουσεία, πανεπιστήμια και εκδηλώσεις σε όλη την Ιταλία.Με λίγα λόγια, το Urban Lives είναι ένα μεγάλο μέρος της ζωής μου, είναι ένα ημερολόγιο, πάθος, πολλή δουλειά θυσιών, πολλά ταξίδια, συναντήσεις με ανθρώπους, άρθρα και ιστορίες, δικτύωση, νέοι διεθνείς φίλοι, απίστευτες καταστάσεις εδώ και εκεί , ακόμα και μερικά όνειρα που έγιναν πραγματικότητα. Άρχισα να ζωγραφίζω γκράφιτι πριν από ένα χρόνο ... αλλά αυτή είναι μια άλλη ιστορία! Γράφεις ιστορίες για διαφορετικές πόλεις ( η Αθήνα είναι μία από αυτές επίσης) στις οποίες έχεις ταξιδέψει και που με κάποιο τρόπο σχετίζονται με το γκράφιτι. Πες μας μερικά πράγματα για την γκράφιτι κουλτούρα και τον τρόπο που την προσλαμβάνεις και την βιώνεις. Παρόλο που διαβάζω και ταξιδεύω πολύ, δεν μπορώ να πω ότι έχω καλή ή ακόμη και αξιοπρεπή γνώση σχετικά με το γκράφιτι στην Ευρώπη και πιστέψτε με, δεν το λέω με μετριοφροσύνη, είμαι απλώς αντικειμενική. Το σχολείο μου είναι κυρίως ο δρόμος, γι 'αυτό και γνωρίζω πολλά πράγματα για το γκράφιτι writing στην Ελλάδα και προσωπικά συναντήθηκα με πολλούς γκράφιτι writers, συμπεριλαμβανομένων μερικών old school bombers τρένων και μερικούς πολύ δραστήριους. Χρειάζεται όμως πολύς χρόνος για να πας βαθιά και να κατανοήσεις έναν κόσμο που είναι τόσο μεγάλος, υπόγειος και περίπλοκος. Αυτό που έχω μάθει είναι ότι η γκράφιτι κουλτούρα είναι μια άλλη πραγματικότητα, με άλλους κανόνες, συμπεριφορές, ανάγκες και συναισθήματα. Χρειαζόμουν μια πλήρη βύθιση σε αυτή τη ζωή και προσωπικά να βιώσω δράσεις, αδρεναλίνη, κινδύνους και ακόμη και να κάνω tagging και να ζωγραφίσω για να την νιώσω. Το να είσαι writer μπορεί να επηρεάσει εντελώς τη ζωή σου, είτε με καλό είτε με πολύ κακό τρόπο, και την αντίληψή σου για το χώρο και το χρόνο.

Δεν πιστεύεις ότι η τέχνη στον δημόσιο χώρο μπορεί να γίνει πολύ επεμβατική, ακόμα και ενοχλητική για πολλούς ανθρώπους; Κατά τη γνώμη μου, η δημόσια τέχνη πρέπει να συνδέεται κατά κάποιο τρόπο με το περιβάλλον, το αστικό τοπίο ή την κοινωνία. Αλλά, για να είμαι ειλικρινής, τα τελευταία χρόνια δεν ενδιαφέρομαι τόσο για τη δημόσια τέχνη, εστιάζω κυρίως στην παράνομη τέχνη του δρόμου (ή την τέχνη του δρόμου για κοινωνικούς σκοπούς) και πάνω απ 'όλα, στο graffiti writing. Όπως γνωρίζουμε, τα γκράφιτι πρέπει να είναι επεμβατικά , μερικές φορές ενοχλητικά, είτε στο δρόμο είτε σε τρένα και μετρό. Αυτό είναι μέρος της φιλοσοφίας του γκράφιτι: είναι μια πρόκληση να είναι ορατό, είναι μια πρόκληση να είναι παντού.

Φαντάζομαι όλη έχουμε ακούσει σε κάποια στιγμή ότι η Αθληνα είναι η ευρωπαϊκή μητρόπολη του γκράφιτι. Είναι αυτό αλήθεια κατά τη γνώμη σου; Αφού ταξιδεύεις πολύ και σε διαφορετικούς προορισμούς κάθε φορά… Τα τελευταία 3 χρόνια βρέθηκα αρκετές φορές στο Βερολίνο, περνόντας πολύ χρόνο με τοπικούς καλλιτέχνες και γκράφιτι writers, συμπεριλαμβανομένης της ομάδας 1up και τους Berlin Kidz. Και οι δύο πόλεις έχουν μια μεγάλη σκηνή γκράφιτι και μια σημαντική ιστορία γκράφιτι, καθώς και μια μεγάλη υποκουλτούρα. Αν και κάποιες ομοιότητες είναι αναμφισβήτητες, αναρωτιέμαι γιατί όλοι λένε ότι η Αθήνα είναι το νέο Βερολίνο, σαν να μπορούσε να είναι η πιθανή μελλοντική εξέλιξή του. Στην αρχή, πριν από 3 χρόνια, έπεφτα και σε αυτήν τη "παγίδα". Το παράδοξο είναι ότι η Αθήνα είναι πολύ πιο πίσω από το Βερολίνο και από πολλές άλλες ευρωπαϊκές πόλεις, επομένως νομίζω ότι θα ήταν πιο σωστό να πούμε ότι μοιάζει ακριβώς με το παλιό Βερολίνο, αλλά μάλλον με μια ισχυρότερη πατριωτική στάση και πολύ περισσότερο βανδαλισμό. Δεν προκαλεί έκπληξη ότι έχουμε τόσους πολλούς Γερμανούς writers που έρχονται στην Αθήνα σήμερα, κάνοντας bombing παντού.Φυσικά, αυτό δεν σημαίνει ότι η Αθήνα δεν είναι ενεργή, για την ακρίβεια πιστεύω ότι η σημερινή προσπάθεια της πόλης είναι εντυπωσιακή. Όμως, η πολιτιστική αναγέννηση της πόλης είναι σημαντική αλλά δεν αποτελεί την κύρια προτεραιότητα.

Ζεις τώρα αρκετό καιρό εδώ στην Αθήνα. Νιώθεις στενά συνδεδεμένη με αυτή την πόλη και τους κατοίκους της και γιατί; Σίγουρα ναι, εδώ αισθάνομαι σπίτι μου. Δεν μπορώ να φανταστώ τη ζωή μου χωρίς την Αθήνα και την αισθητική της, ωραία ενέργεια, καλοί άνθρωποι. Έχω ζήσει πολλές περιπέτειες, ευτυχισμένες στιγμές και εκπληκτικές ανακαλύψεις και αισθάνομαι τυχερή και ευγνώμων γι 'αυτή τη μεγάλη αλλαγή στη ζωή μου και για όλη την εμπειρία, κάτι που δεν θα ξεχάσω ποτέ. Είμαι πολύ χαρούμενη αυτή τη στιγμή, αλλά νομίζω ότι, σαν ένα συναρπαστικό κεφάλαιο στο βιβλίο της ζωής μου, αυτή η ελληνική εμπειρία θα μπορούσε να τελειώσει, ίσως σύντομα, ίσως για λίγο.

Σε 10 χρόνια από τώρα; Ελπίζω ότι σε 10 χρόνια θα συνεχίσω να είμαι ταξιδιώτισσα και δημοσιογράφος και θετικός και δραστήριος άνθρωπος γεμάτη περιέργεια, πάθος και ενδιαφέροντα. Φυσικά και ελπίζω ότι με κάποιο τρόπο θα είμαι συνδεδεμένη με την υπόγεια κουλτούρα. Ποιος ξέρει, ίσως μια μέρα να σταματήσω να γράφω για το γκράφιτι writing και να γίνω μία σωστή γκράφιτ writer χιχιχιχι ... Η ζωή είναι απρόβλεπτη (ειδικά η δική μου), θα δούμε!

Σας ευχαριστώ πολύ για αυτή τη συνέντευξη, ήταν μεγάλη χαρά για μένα!