#Jobs Model Maker

[maadhucreatives]

Architectural Model Maker Jobs in India

Introduction to Architectural Model Maker Jobs

Architectural model makers play a crucial role in the construction and design industry, bringing architectural visions to life through intricate scale models. In India, the demand for skilled architectural model maker jobs is on the rise, with various architectural firms, real estate developers, and engineering consultancies seeking their expertise.

What Does an Architectural Model Maker Do?

Creating Scale Models

One of the primary responsibilities of an architectural model maker is to create accurate scale models of buildings and structures based on architectural blueprints and designs. These models serve as visual representations, helping architects, designers, and clients better understand the spatial layout and aesthetics of a project.

Using Various Materials

Model makers utilize a wide range of materials such as wood, plastic, foam, and clay to construct detailed models. Each material has its own advantages and is chosen based on the specific requirements of the project. For example, foam is often used for its lightweight properties, while wood provides durability and stability.

Collaborating with Architects and Designers

Architectural model makers work closely with architects, designers, and other professionals throughout the model-making process. They interpret design concepts, provide input on materials and techniques, and ensure that the final model accurately reflects the intended vision of the project.

Skills Required for Architectural Model Maker Jobs

Attention to Detail

Precision and attention to detail are essential qualities for architectural model makers. They must meticulously replicate every aspect of a building, from the facade details to interior furnishings, ensuring that the model is an accurate representation of the final structure.

Creativity and Innovation

While accuracy is important, model makers also need to be creative and innovative in their approach. They may encounter challenges during the construction process and must be able to problem-solve and adapt their techniques to achieve the desired outcome.

Technical Skills

Proficiency in various technical skills such as carpentry, 3D modeling software, and model-making techniques is crucial for success in this profession. Model makers must have a strong understanding of geometry, scale, and spatial relationships to create realistic and visually appealing models.

Education and Training

Architectural Background

Many architectural model makers have a background in architecture or a related field, providing them with a solid understanding of architectural principles and design concepts. However, formal education is not always a requirement, and individuals with a passion for model making can develop their skills through alternative means.

Model Making Courses

There are several specialized courses and workshops available for aspiring model makers, covering topics such as model construction techniques, material selection, and digital modeling software. These programs provide hands-on training and valuable industry insights to help individuals kickstart their careers in model making.

On-the-Job Training

Many architectural firms and model making studios offer on-the-job training programs for entry-level model makers. These opportunities allow individuals to gain practical experience, refine their skills, and learn from experienced professionals in the field.

Job Opportunities in India

Architectural Firms

Architectural firms are among the primary employers of architectural model makers in India. They rely on model makers to create detailed representations of their architectural designs, which are used for presentations, client meetings, and project development.

Real Estate Developers

Real estate developers often require scale models to showcase their proposed developments to potential investors, buyers, and stakeholders. Model makers play a crucial role in helping developers visualize and communicate their project ideas effectively.

Engineering Consultancies

Engineering consultancies involved in infrastructure projects such as bridges, highways, and urban planning also hire architectural model makers. These models help engineers and planners assess design concepts, analyze spatial relationships, and identify potential challenges before construction begins.

Salary Expectations

Entry-level Salaries

Entry-level architectural model makers in India can expect to earn salaries ranging from INR 15,000 to INR 25,000 per month, depending on factors such as education, skills, and location.

Experienced Model Makers

Experienced model makers with several years of experience and a strong portfolio can command higher salaries, ranging from INR 30,000 to INR 50,000 per month or more.

Factors Affecting Salaries

Salaries for architectural model makers may vary based on factors such as the size and reputation of the employer, the complexity of the projects, and the individual’s level of expertise and specialization.

Challenges and Rewards

Precision and Accuracy

One of the biggest challenges faced by architectural model makers is achieving precision and accuracy in their models. They must meticulously measure and cut materials, ensuring that every detail is faithfully replicated according to the design specifications.

Satisfaction of Seeing Projects Come to Life

Despite the challenges, architectural model makers find immense satisfaction in seeing their projects come to life. The ability to transform architectural concepts into tangible models that inspire and impress clients is a rewarding aspect of the job.

Competition in the Industry

The architectural model making industry in India is highly competitive, with many talented professionals vying for opportunities. Model makers must continuously hone their skills, stay updated on industry trends, and differentiate themselves to succeed in this competitive landscape.

Future Prospects

Technological Advancements

Advancements in technology such as 3D printing, laser cutting, and digital modeling software are transforming the field of architectural model making. Model makers who embrace these technologies can enhance their efficiency, accuracy, and creativity in model construction.

Diversification of Projects

As India continues to undergo rapid urbanization and infrastructure development, the demand for architectural model makers is expected to grow. Model makers may have the opportunity to work on diverse projects ranging from commercial complexes and residential towers to public infrastructure and cultural institutions.

Sustainability and Environmental Concerns

With increasing awareness of environmental sustainability, architectural model makers are also embracing eco-friendly practices in their craft. They are exploring renewable materials, recyclable options, and energy-efficient processes to minimize the environmental impact of model making.

Tips for Aspiring Model Makers

Continuous Learning

To excel in the field of architectural model making, aspiring model makers should pursue continuous learning opportunities. They can attend workshops, seminars, and online courses to stay updated on the latest techniques, materials, and technologies.

Networking

Networking is crucial for building connections and expanding opportunities in the architectural industry. Aspiring model makers should actively participate in industry events, join professional associations, and engage with peers and mentors to grow their network.

Building a Strong Portfolio

A strong portfolio is essential for showcasing skills and attracting potential clients or employers. Aspiring model makers should document their projects, highlight their best work, and present it in a visually appealing and professional manner.

Conclusion

Architectural model maker jobs in India offer a unique blend of creativity, technical skill, and innovation. From creating intricate scale models to collaborating with architects and designers, model makers play a vital role in bringing architectural visions to life. With the growing demand for skilled professionals in the construction and design industry, aspiring model makers have ample opportunities to pursue rewarding careers in India.

[charminglyantiquated]

So, I’m seriously looking into getting into tall ship sailing (waiting on follow-up from an interview rn) and I’m wondering for getting into it more long-term -

what do people do after sailing tall ships? Like, it’s a pretty physical job, and I’d assume there’s a point where your joints just can’t keep up with it.

Are there other jobs in the industry that people move to? I’m not really keen on the idea of moving up in the ship’s hierarchy- admin and being someone’s boss both aren’t really my thing. Do people retrain in completely different careers? Go back to whatever they were doing before they started sailing?

Anyway, I know your sample size might not be super large so I’d appreciate anything. Thanks a bunch!

This is hard to answer directly - on the one hand sailing tall ships is such a niche industry that there are limited pathways for straightforward advancement. But on the other hand, it overlaps with such a large number of other industries, and requires such a jack of all trades skillset - tourism, carpentry, history and preservation, hospitality, marine electronics, etc. etc. etc. - that there's a lot of ways forward for what I guess I'd call lateral advancement: moving to another job which uses most of the same skills. So there's no one answer, but if it helps, here's some things my tall ship deckhand friends have ended up doing, after no longer deckhanding tallships:

Get a captain's license and keep sailing. Captains often have it a bit easier physically (balanced out by the mental stress lol), and are paid better. Owning your own boat is optional; plenty of companies hire captains by the season to sail the boat, while the management of the company is dealt with by the actual owners. (This is what I did! I don't have the sail-hauling arms I did as a deckhand, but my knees and bank account are both in better shape).

Bosun, first mate, engineer, some other specialized non-captain crew member, usually involves licensing or other education that's useful down the road if you switch to an adjacent career

Racing yachts

Captain for hire on private vessels

Outward bound guide, other wilderness education programs

Harbor cruises, lobster tour guides, and other motor-powered tourist boats, both as captain and as crew - you have the patter and the safety skills but you don't want to deal with the hassle of sails

Water taxis, ferries and other passenger vessels

Lobstering, fishing, aquaculture, tugboats, other non-tourist waterfront industries

Marine surveyor, marine electrician, other specialized technician

Working in a shipyard - good fit for all the fit-out skills of sanding, painting, varnishing, covering and uncovering the boat

Cruise ship hostess

Train conductor (the passion for the early 1900s carried over well)

Working at a a museum focused on local maritime history

Tour guide for local buses, walking tours, etc

Boatbuilder (IYRS, Wooden Boat School)

Teaching the captain's license courses (nota bene: there were obviously some other steps between deckhand and teacher, notably ten years of being a captain in between. But this is what they settled into when they decided sailing was too physically taxing, so I want to include it).

Carpentry, house painting

Designing and selling custom made van-homes (apart from the technical skills, living on board a ship helps familiarize making use of every square inch of space)

Sailmaker

Of course there's other friends who went on to try something completely new and unrelated - I think because so many of the people who start sailing tall ships are here for something completely new in the first place, that's not an intimidating prospect so much as an exciting one. But many of them did make use of tall ship skills even when moving on from tall ships, so I hope the above list is helpful in giving a broad sense of what can follow!

[idea-explorer]

[lostspacegirl]

SO many problems could be avoided if ppl just Fucking Talked

[mostlysignssomeportents]

A sexy, skinny defeat device for your HP ink cartridge

Animals keep evolving into crabs; it's a process called "carcinisation" and it's pretty weird. Crabs just turn out to be extremely evolutionarily fit for our current environment:

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-do-animals-keep-evolving-into-crabs/

By the same token, all kinds of business keep evolving into something like a printer company. It turns out that in this enshittified, poorly regulated, rentier-friendly world, the parasitic, inkjet business model is extremely adaptive. Printerinisation is everywhere.

All that stuff you hate about your car? Trapping you into using their mechanics, spying on you, planned obsolescence? All lifted from the inkjet printer business model:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/24/rent-to-pwn/#kitt-is-a-demon

That GE fridge that won't make ice or dispense water unless you spend $50 for a proprietary charcoal filter instead of using a $10 generic? Pure printerism:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/06/12/digital-feudalism/#filtergate

The software update to your Sonos speakers that makes them half as useful and takes away your right to play your stored music, forcing you to buy streaming music subscriptions? Straight out of the HP playbook:

https://www.wired.com/story/sonos-admits-its-recent-app-update-was-a-colossal-mistake/

But as printerinized as all these gadgets are, none can quite attain the level of high enshittification that the OG inkjet bastards attain on a daily basis. In the world championships of effortlessly authentic fuckery, no one can lay a glove on the sociopathic monsters of HP.

For example: when HP wanted to soften us all up for a new world of "subscription ink" (where you have to pre-pay every month for a certain number of pages' worth of printing, which your printer enforces by spying on you and ratting you out to HP over the internet), they offered a "lifetime subscription" plan. With this "lifetime" plan, you paid just once and your HP printer would print out 15 pages a month for so long as you owned your printer, with HP shipping you new ink every time you ran low.

Well, eventually, HP got bored of not making you pay rent on your own fucking printer, so they just turned that plan off. Yeah, it was a lifetime plan, but the "lifetime" in question was the lifetime of HP's patience for not fucking you over, and that patience has the longevity of a mayfly:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/11/06/horrible-products/#inkwars

It would take many pages to list all of HP's sins here. This is a company that ships printers with half-full ink cartridges and charges more than the printer cost to buy a replacement set. The company that won't let you print a black-and-white page if you're out of yellow ink. The company that won't let you scan or send a fax if you're out of any of your ink.

They make you "recalibrate" your printer or "clean your heads" by forcing you to print sheets of ink-dense paper. They also refuse to let you use your ink cartridges after they "expire."

HP raised the price of ink to over $10,000 per gallon, then went to war against third-party ink cartridge makers, cartridge remanufacturers, and cartridge refillers. They added "security chips" to their cartridges whose job was to watch the ink levels in your cartridge and, when they dip below a certain level (long before the cartridge is actually empty), declare the cartridge to be dry and permanently out of use.

Even if you refill that cartridge, it will still declare itself to be empty to your printer, which will therefore refuse to print.

Third party ink companies have options here. One thing they could do is reverse-engineer the security chip, and make compatible ones that say, "Actually, I'm full." The problem with this is that laws like Section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) potentially makes this into a felony punishable by a five-year prison sentence and a $500k fine, for a first offense.

DMCA 1201 bans bypassing "an effective means of access control" to a copyrighted work. So if HP writes a copyrighted "I'm empty" program for its security chip and then adds some kind of access restriction to prevent you from dumping and reverse-engineering that program, you can end up a felon, thanks to the DMCA.

Another countermove is to harvest security chips out of dead cartridges that have been sent overseas as e-waste (one consequence of HP's $10,000/gallon ink racket is that it generates mountains of immortal, toxic e-waste that mostly ends up poisoning poor countries in the global south). These can be integrated into new cartridges, or remanufactured ones.

In practice, ink companies do all of this and more, and total normie HP printer owners go to extremely improbable lengths to find third party ink cartridges and figure out how to use them. It turns out that even people who find technology tinkering intimidating or confusing or dull can be motivated to learn and practice a lot of esoteric tech stuff as an alternative to paying $10,000/gallon for colored water.

HP has lots of countermoves for this. One truly unhinged piece of fuckery is to ask Customs and Border Patrol to block third-party ink cartridges with genuine HP security chips that have been pried loose from e-waste shipments. HP claims that these are "counterfeits" (because they were removed and re-used without permission), even though they came out of real HP cartridges, and CBP takes them at their word, seizing shipments.

Even sleazier: HP pushes out fake security updates to its printers. You get a message telling you there's an urgent security update, you click OK, and your printer shows you a downloading/installing progress bar and reboots itself. As far as you can tell, nothing has changed. But these aren't "security" updates, they're updates that block third-party ink, and HP has designed them not to kick in for several months. That way, HP owners who get tricked into installing this downgrade don't raise hell online and warn everyone else until they've installed it too, and it's too late:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/11/ink-stained-wretches-battle-soul-digital-freedom-taking-place-inside-your-printer

This is the infectious pathogen business model: one reason covid spread so quickly was that people were infectious before they developed symptoms. That meant that the virus could spread before the spreader knew they had it. By adding a long fuse to its logic bomb, HP greatly increases the spread of its malware.

But life finds a way. $10,000/gallon ink is an irresistible target for tinkerers, security researchers and competitors. Necessity may be the mother of invention, but the true parent of jaw-dropping ingenuity is callous, sadistic greed. That's why America's army of prisoners are the source of so many of the most beautiful and exciting forms of innovation seen today:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/06/09/king-rat/#mother-of-invention

Despite harsh legal penalties and the vast resources of HP, third-party ink continues to thrive, and every time HP figures out how to block one technique, three even cooler ones pop up.

Last week, Jay Summet published a video tearing down a third-party ink cartridge compatible with an HP 61XL:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0ya184uaTE

The third-party cartridge has what appears to be a genuine HP security chip, but it is overlaid with a paper-thin, flexible, adhesive-backed circuit board that is skinny enough that the cartridge still fits in an HP printer.

This flexible circuit board has its own little microchip. Summet theorizes that it is designed to pass the "are you a real HP cartridge" challenge pass to the security chip, but to block the followup "are you empty or full?" message. When the printer issues that challenge, the "man in the middle" chip answers, "Oh, I'm definitely full."

In their writeup, Hackaday identifies the chip as "a single IC in a QFN package." This is just so clever and delightful:

https://hackaday.com/2024/09/28/man-in-the-middle-pcb-unlocks-hp-ink-cartridges/

Hackaday also notes that HP CEO Enrique J Lores recently threatened to brick any printer discovered to be using third-party ink:

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/01/hp-ceo-blocking-third-party-ink-from-printers-fights-viruses/

As William Gibson famously quipped, "the future is here, it's just not evenly distributed." As our enshittification-rich environment drives more and more companies to evolve into rent-seeking enterprises through printerinisation, HP offers us a glimpse of the horrors of the late enshittocene.

It's just as Orwell prophesied: "If you want a picture of the future, imagine a HP installing malware on your printer to force you to spend $10,000/gallon on ink – forever."

Tor Books as just published two new, free LITTLE BROTHER stories: VIGILANT, about creepy surveillance in distance education; and SPILL, about oil pipelines and indigenous landback.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/09/30/life-finds-a-way/#ink-stained-wretches

Image: Jay Summet https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0ya184uaTE

[dropsnectar]

When a Fox is Bored...

M!Kitsune x gn!reader

NSFW

A Kitsune who recently inherited a new territory, of which your house is smack in the middle of. 

As an easily bored spirit, he finds the thought of pranking you hilarious. He starts out with small things, moving your cereal bowl in the morning, replacing dish washing detergent with dish soap. He laughs quietly to himself as he watches you search for what should have been obviously in front of you, eyebrows furrowed, and confusion fueling his quiet laughter. He watched you run around in horror, trying to scoops bubbles into water buckets. Something about your confusion and panic satisfied him. 

He made a habit of visiting you and making something go wrong. But after the fifth prank, something changed. You laughed at how your water bottle, once filled with water, was now orange juice. Your missing backpack, instead of being on the table, under your bed. You cleaned the place up, reducing clutter. You kept your bags close, and hummed to yourself as you searched about, peaceful. This picked at something in him. Your worried expression had been his after all. He upped the ante.

He messed with your washing machine. That prank took a while, since as a spirit of nature, tech was foreign to him. Filled with pride expecting your eyes to go big and your lips purse for him, all you did was roll your eyes and take your clothes and laundry detergent to the bathroom. You turned on a little play on your little black rock, and filled the tub with water soap and clothes. Then you got to work, stomping like you were pressing grapes for wine. Despite the distraction of the “phone”, your face was still crinkled in effort, sweat drifting down your brow. He liked this expression. Maybe this too was a prank well done.

At some point, you had started making double helpings for dinner. In the past, meals of ramen and grocery potatoes salad had turned into steaks, chicken and pasta. 

You would pour two glasses of wine and put out a plate and a glass on the old stump by the back door. Curious, the kitsune would eat up, soon enamored with your cooking.

About time! It was only right of you to give him offerings. You were in his territory after all. In the mornings you would collect the dishes, and the cycle would continue.

Of course, this didn't mean he would stop his favorite source of entertainment. Far from it. He'd replace your coffee maker with one of a differing model. He'd leave piles of fruit by the door, savoring your surprised reaction as you looked around, not noticing the small form he had taken behind the door. He learned your preferences, your schedule, even your sorrows as you poured over a hastily scrawled budget that just wouldn't add up the way it should. 

He had to admit sometimes his pranks grew even farther then he meant to. You had dressed up to the 9s for a much needed job interview, with a man whose soul was so gray he could see it through the phone. You had gotten in your old, rusty car, only for it to get hit by a huge black Denali, five minutes from your house.

Out stepped a gentle older man in a weathered cardigan. The old man listened to you cry, as you waved about a dead phone, and explained how you couldn't afford this. You had missed the job interview you so desperately needed.

 This was the part that bewildered the kitsune. He wasn't sure if it was his own magic or yours, but the older man offered you a job on the spot, twice the salary you were looking for. The old man's aura was a gentle green. This satisfied the kitsune. This man would take care of his favorite victim.

His heart filled with satisfaction at how you bounced and garbled out thank yous. He didn't fail to notice that dinner that night came with a whole tray of brownies. You made him cupcakes when you got the huge insurance check in the mail. 

After dinner, he was surveying you as you watched “Net-fix”, something about a mute woman rescuing a lake monster, when you turned the TV off and headed upstairs. 

This intrigued the kitsune, as you usually watched television for another hour before passing out. 

You took off your pants and crawled into bed. The room was quiet except for your breathy moans as you pleasured yourself, one hand working yourself up under your underwear.

The smell that filled the room was mouthwatering. And the way you mewled out made the kitsune feral. He was on you in a few minutes, transforming from his invisible form to his most majestic one. He leaned over you, eyes red and hungry, as he pinned your free hand over your head and licked his lips.

“Its you.” You whispered, voice light and merry. It was like it had been a long grey winter and the sun had finally decided to come out. It was an expression he had never collected from you and it made his heart heavy.

“I knew you were here. Thank you. For everything.”

He stared at you, now full of apprehension. But a peice of him was still so full of joy that you recognized him. That you saw him and wanted him with you now.

“You have been my playtoy. I have made your life difficult more times than I have lightened it.”

“You kept me on my toes” you laughed out, tone innocent. “But I know how to deal with boys who tug my pigtails. And you haven't tugged on them in a long time.” You reached your other hand forward and brought it to his cheek. It was a gentle gesture of affection, but it did not have the soothing effect you intended. 

Your hand smelled so full of your core it drove him insane, dick throbing and hard under his robes. He took your hand and brought it to his mouth, swallowing down any residue that had been left on your fingers. The face you made was adorable, how your eyes glowed and the ghost of your tongue peaked out from your lips. He was going to collect so many faces from you tonight, and they would all be his. YOU would be his.

He discarded his robes and your underwear with magic, a tidy pile on the chair next to the bed. Then, he was on you, mouth nibbling your neck, biting you collarbone, before licking at the marks he had made. He rutted his hips against you for relief as he claimed your mouth, your tongue swirling around his. Your hands grasped hard to his back, nails scratching. It was your way of claiming him too, of this he was sure, and it was just too damn cute.

He dragged himself around your entrance, laughing and saying he wouldn't enter you until you begged him for it. You pouted at him and huffed, but eventually gave in, asking him to fill you. He did so with one hard thrust causing you to cry out, your eyes rolling in the back of your head.

He kept a quick pace. Your eyes were glazed, your core molten hot as he hit every little spot inside you that would bring you closer to release. You tried to hide it at first, hands covering your mouth but your eyes gave it away. He let you conceal yourself for all of five minutes before he had both your hands pinned above your head, his thrusts jutting at an unforgiving pace inside you. 

He was feral. THERE it was! That was the face he had wanted, the expression he had wanted to capture from you since the very beginning. Your panting, your eyes glazed over, mouth open in a silent plea, THAT'S what he wanted all along. And it was his! You were his now. The realization, the feeling of you, and the way you cried and clenched around him in release was what finally sent him over the edge. Against all odds you came together, riding out your ecstasy with sighing breaths. 

His mind was hazy with afterglow as he pulled you into his arms, large fluffy tails wrapping around your legs, arms, even one teasing at your face, a tickle. You laughed and kissed the fluff before turning over and kissing his nose, eyes bright. You were sated and happy. 

“Could we maybe, make a habit of this?”

He grinned at you. Every single feature of him was dripping with mischief when he replied.

“You think I'm satisfied with just this? There's so much more I have planned for you, you silly thing. Be prepared, got it?”

Part Two-ish

[weirdmarioenemies]

Today's post is about Brick Block. Ordinary Brick Block.

OR SHOULD I SAY TRICK BLOCK!

Name: Partrick

Debut: Super Mario Maker 2

This post is actually about Partrick! This is no ordinary Brick Block, this one is a guy, with his very own funny name! This is a dream come true for anyone who's ever wanted any part in befriending a Brick Block!

Partrick gets his name because he is the icon representing Course Parts in the Course Maker. It is so fun to have a little guy as an icon, rather than just an inanimate object! It feels like a friend is there to help you! And Partrick is there for you. In real life!

Hello, Partrick! You are partoned, because you are so polite! Partrick is Part of the strange ensemble of Super Mario Maker 2 Story Mode-exclusive characters, all representing aspects of the Course Maker. I guess this is why he and some others are flattish rather than more conventional 3D models? This game very much contains 3D Brick Blocks! These characters end up looking like erasers, but I don't think that was the intention, since Mr. Eraser is one and only one of them. I don't know! I just know Partrick is Part of the gang, and he has something to ask! Let's lend him our full attention- not just Part!

Partrick is offering some jobs! Not full careers, of course, but Part-time opportunities. He wouldn't have it any other way!

Partrick is looking for a new house, and he needs help! He uses "we" a few times in these requests, because clearly he is Part of a group! I really love this framing, it is so cute. You get to survey the area where Partrick is considering living! Get to know the kind of place a Brick Block would live! (Hint: it's a Level) I hope Mario will be attending Partrick's housewarming Part-y!

I adore how Partrick talks. "Parton me". "Particularly good". It's a big Part of his charm! I love being delighted by a square that says "part" a lot. Maybe Partrick dreams of having hair. Not necessarily for beauty reasons, but just because he could Part it!

The final reward for taking Part in Partrick's real-estate journey is this (p)article of clothing! The Partrick Shirt! Can you believe it? His very own merchandise! I have no idea why he would have this shirt made, but it is a nice shirt, because I like Partrick, even if he looks kind of constipated on it. Parton him, indeed! He needs his privacy!

[sizzlingsandwichperfection-blog]

Last week, Johnson & Johnson agreed not to enforce their secondary patents on bedaquiline in most countries after a long public pressure campaign by TB activists around the world.

(A special shoutout to Nandita Venkatesan and Phumeza Tisilethe, the two women who led the charge to prevent the patent evergreening in India, which is the only reason generic bedaquiline is in production.)

But the problem of patent evergreening is everywhere--as this NYT story reports, Gilead intentionally denied people access to a drug they knew to be less toxic than alternatives because it wanted to extend its monopoly on HIV drugs for as long as possible.

Similarly, Johnson & Johnson has been intentionally denying people access to affordable bedaquiline, even though they knew they could make a profit even if they decreased the price by 65%.

What's especially galling is that both these companies benefit tremendously from public investment (bedaquiline research was funded primarily by the public), and so we end up paying for it twice--once to develop it, and once to have it available to the sick.

This is infuriating, and it is resulting in the real impoverishment and death of so many people. How does it end? With better governance and regulation. In this respect, India can be a model for us--their courts have done a much better job than U.S. ones of determining what really deserves to be patented and for how long. I'm hopeful that we can learn from the, but disgusted by this ongoing horror.

[lowkeyrobin]

still so disappointed that mr pennycrumb [fives dog in the comics] didnt rlly appear much in the show </3

ok ok so its the academy's birthday and the reader is insanely good at gift giving and never forgets to give presents if theres smth special happening. they hand out the gifts to everyone except they avoid five and disappear w/o them knowing where they went, only to come back at dusk w/ a larger box. obviously five went insane and rambles on how worried he was before the reader finally shuts him up by plopping the box on him, and boom. theres a puppy.

[loved the last viktor fic btw. literally bawled my eyes out]

- 🦇

OMG YES the only appearance we saw was in s3 when Luther went on a jog before he got napped :( ; and thank you!! I got bored and I couldn't extend it any further so it's kinda dumb but it's alr haha ; thanks for requesting, hope you enjoy! ; also sorry this is so short and dumb idk writers block is so picky

FIVE HARGREEVES ; mr pennycrumb

summary ; when the umbrella academys birthdays roll around, you get five a whole ass dog

warnings ; language

disclaimers ; some of the gifts are related to hobbies/interests that are more of hcs than actual canon

word count ; 738

masterlist

When you walked into Allison's with multiple boxes and bags for the Hargreeves, they all knew you were at it again with your insane yet accurate gift giving. They started with cake, then moved over to presents.

Gift giving in the family was like secret Santa in a way. Everyone would essentially get gifts for all the others, and they'd pass around gifts one by one, usually by number order. Luther was always first, Viktor always last. Lila usually snuck in around Diego, because duh. Viktor had gotten used to being last, the forgotten one. But around his family now, he knew it wasn't like that anymore. He'd rather go last so everyone else could have their special time on their special day.

So, the group sets the gifts tagged for Luther on the table in front of him. The kids halfway watch from afar, paying attention to the TV and their toys more than their celebrating parents, aunts, and uncles.

You were among the minority in the house that didn't share a birthday with them, thank God. You would've gone insane over big birthdays like this.

Five, meanwhile, was going insane over you basically ignoring him all day.

You'd gotten Luther some workout gear, knowing he'd taken up going to the gym within the past couple of years. Among other gifts were little trinkets and other things he wanted. He was a little hard to shop for, never really wanting anything, enjoying the quality time over any gift giving.

Next was Diego, and inside the gift you got for him, was a knife sharpening kit. He'd lost his old one just in time. Lila came up next, receiving a few nice outfits you found for her and a gift card to Cosmoprof, as she'd been thinking about re-dyeing her hair to white again.

Next up was Allison, grateful for the numerous acting job business cards you'd given her on top of a bunch of books that were on her Amazon wishlist. She was a serious reader who wanted to get back into acting, now.

Klaus was after her, ecstatic about a carry-around cleaning kit. You were going to go with a joint maker to make his life easier before he got sober. Now he wouldn't need a full bag of cleaning supplies, he'd have your perfect gift.

Five decided to go last, wanting to watch his family be happy more than open presents himself.

Ben was next, receiving some letters from modeling agencies. As he should.

Viktor was second to last, very appreciative for the new drink recipes you'd made and found for him atop the pile of clothes you'd gotten him.

You disappeared around dusk, leaving Five to open his presents without presence. He was physically eighteen, mentally sixty-two today.

As he looks up, seeing the lack of you around, he hides a soft frown. He noticed how you weren't standing near him all night, how you barely even spoke around him.

"Did you do something to Y/n?" Klaus asks out of the blue. "They just kinda... dissappeared"

Five shrugs. "I don't think I did. Even if I did do something, they'd talk it out with me"

Allison shrugs. "I think that's them" she comments, looking out the screen door to see you pull up in your car again. "Diego, could you get the door?"

Diego turns around, unlocking the door for you, holding it open as he sees you holding a big box.

"Why is that box bigger than you?"

"Also, why is it moving?"

You set the box on the table in front of Five, a wide smile on your face. "Open it"

He slowly sets aside the large box of coffee pods he received from Diego to the side, slowly reaching for the box flaps. As he pulls them to the side, out jumps a little dog.

"Oh my God?"

Five smiles, pulling the puppy into his lap. He looks up at you, a glimmer in his eyes. "Why did you get me a dog?"

You shrug, moving the box off the table. "You're a lonely old man, you need some company"

He chuckles, petting the pug's head.

"What're you gonna name it?" Ben asks, arms crossed.

"Him" You correct

"Mr. Pennycrumb" Five answers.

"Why?" Luther asks.

The physically younger boy shrugs. "Why not?"

"Interesting choice" Klaus mutters with a shrug.

Five smiles up at you, giddy like a little kid. "Thank you"

"I try"

[bones4thecats]

Could I request Vil, Ace, Silver, and Malleus with a perfumer s/o? Every student always goes to her for a new scent they want.

Type of Writing: Request Characters: Vil Schoenheit, Ace Trappola, Silver Vanrouge, and Malleus Draconia Name: {Character} with a Perfume Maker! S/O Requester: Anonymous

A/N: This was something that hit fairly close to home, as one of my friends loves making things that smell from candles to perfumes. You name is, she most likely makes it, though she doesn't sell anything, which I love saying she should. Making her blush is so much fun! Anyways, I do hope you enjoy this!

P.S: I made the reader a part of Pomefiore, since that job kinda fits in there!

✧⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋄✧⋄⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋆⋄✧⋄⋅⋆⋄✧⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋆⋄✧⋄⋅⋆⋄✧⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅

���⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋄✧⋄⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋆⋄✧⋄⋅⋆⋄✧⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋆⋄✧⋄⋅⋆⋄✧⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅

👑 When Vil first heard from Rook that you were making different kinds of perfumes to gift the new students of Pomefiore based on their homelands, he was interested

👑 He normally got his perfumes straight from the seller, since going out in public was a basic death sentence for someone as famous as he was

👑 That same day, he knocked on your dorm room and when you opened it, he asked to speak to you for a bit, causing you to feel quite uncomfortable, even more than you were when you first put on your dorm's uniform

👑 Vil looked around your room and noticed you had a small area on your desk where you had a perfume making kit, along with a few different vials full and ready to be tested

👑 He smiled and pat your head, asking what the vials were filled with, making you chuckle and begin explaining what the scents were either a mix of or what they were supposed to smell like, but don't

👑 Your boyfriend smiled and piked up a vial to smell it, and when the scent of Lavender and Cedarwood hit him, he smiled and nodded

" This is a very good mixture of scents, dear. I must applaud you on your expert ability of smell when it comes to this! Would you mind making me some for my next modeling gig? It'd be nice to have this on hand just in case. "

✧⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋄✧⋄⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋆⋄✧⋄⋅⋆⋄✧⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋆⋄✧⋄⋅⋆⋄✧⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅

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🪅 Ace cannot stand the smell of most perfumes, but, after spending so much time around you and Epel, he got more used to the stench

🪅 When he found out that you could make perfumes, he started asking you to make some so he could spray it on some of his fellow dorm members as pranks

🪅 He gets scared whenever you start messing around with smells, especially when you brought your kit to Heartslabyul to show Riddle the science behind making the perfumes, since he was interested in it

🪅 Ace watches you make the scents from either his or your bed as you make it either on the ground or at your desk in Pomefiore

🪅 If you know him well enough, you can bribe him to test out the perfumes for the day to see how people react to the scents, just make sure he doesn't get a headache when he smells it, it gets rough

🪅 The other first years, especially Grim, love to tease Ace whenever he comes to class smelling like cinnamon and oranges

🪅 Though, whenever he gets back to his dorm, he immediately showers, he doesn't want to go to practice and send the smells flying into the air for his own team to make fun of him

🪅 He loves you, but he has his limits

✧⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋄✧⋄⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋆⋄✧⋄⋅⋆⋄✧⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋆⋄✧⋄⋅⋆⋄✧⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅

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⚔️ Silver doesn't mind that you make perfumes, he just prefers you use the ones that are more nature-centered

⚔️ He loves perfumes that have the scents of lavender, oranges, pine, peppermint, and more. But, he despises, and I say that heavily, he despises ones that smell super strong, it makes it hard for him to sleep with a headache

⚔️ Your boyfriend will allow you to test the different scents on his nose, since yours is so used to each kind you have, while his is not

⚔️ This guy loves it whenever you drag him to Pomefiore and begin to work on your different kinds of scents on him, but, just warning you, don't immediately use lavender

⚔️ You know how people say it makes them sleepy? Yeah that definitely happens with him

⚔️ He would be fully awake and ready to help you out, but, when you pull out the perfume you made mixed with lavender and turned around to pull out another, he was passed out on your bed

⚔️ That was when you decided to leave the lavender ones to Rook and Vil to test out

⚔️ Normally, whenever he comes back from training, he loves to cuddle with you and smell your hair, the light smell of your perfume dancing in his brain

⚔️ Honestly, it calms him down a lot

✧⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋄✧⋄⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋆⋄✧⋄⋅⋆⋄✧⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋆⋄✧⋄⋅⋆⋄✧⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅

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🐉 Oh my sweet sevens, he adores your perfumes

🐉 Dragon's have a strong sense of smell, so whatever perfume you use the most, he views that and your natural scent as what your identity can be

🐉 Malleus does love watching you make your perfumes, he has only ever heard about how they were made from Lilia

🐉 But, whenever you pull out your kit when resting around your dorm room in Pomefiore, he just smiles and sits down crisscross on the ground with you and watches you with the largest and most curious eyes you had ever seen

🐉 Like I said earlier, dragons have a very strong sense of smell, so if you were to ever have a very strong scent of perfume, his head would end up pounding, so, I recommend you not wear strong perfumes

🐉 Whenever you end up wearing it, give him a heads up so he can prepare himself for it, a surprise headache is a sure way to get Sebek yelling at you

🐉 At dorm leader meetings, Malleus on average asks Vil how you are doing if you were working on perfumes and needed some time alone

🐉 Your dorm head just sighs and ends up making you take a break to talk to your boyfriend, we cannot let Vil get wrinkles from agitation, now can we?

🐉 Malleus likes lighter smells like anything floral, mostly roses and anything related to nature. He also dislikes things like peppermint, when it's strong that is

[city-of-ladies]

"Mycenaean women put their own spindles to splendid use, producing luscious cloaks and long, richly patterned or striped skirts. Far from resigning themselves to the weaving rooms, they travelled in chariots, performed songs or poetry to the accompaniment of lyres, and carried wheatsheaves for public ceremonies and rituals, as vibrantly coloured frescoes from the palace at Mycenae reveal. In one of the most enigmatic paintings, one woman holds a sword, another a spear, while two tiny men, one painted red and the other black, float mysteriously between them, like toy models or thought bubbles. Through their contact with the divine, perhaps, the women pictured gain agency over the men’s fate. Hera, Zeus, Poseidon and a female birth and death goddess known as Potnia were among the deities the Mycenaeans are known to have worshipped. While Mycenaean women clearly played an important role in religion, their political position within the palaces was weaker than that of their Minoan counterparts, and secondary to the men’s. Each Mycenaean palace complex was presided over by a male ‘wa-na-ka’ or wanax.

Surviving clay writing tablets provide just as fascinating an insight into the lives of women in the real palaces of the Mycenaean era. The fullest collection of tablets comes from a pair of rooms in the palace complex of Pylos, but Knossos, the former Minoan capital, was also a key repository. A total of 4,476 tablets have been preserved across the two sites. Among these there are references to more than 2,000 different women. Unlike Linear A, the Minoans’ writing system, the Mycenaeans’ similarly syllabic Linear B has been successfully deciphered. Working (as opposed to non-working elite) women were denoted by signs resembling an abstract impression of the female form. ‘Woman’ was conveyed by two dots for breasts, legs joined to suggest a long skirt of the kind Mycenaean women wore, and a curved line where her head would be, suggestive of long or dressed hair (in the sign for a man, by contrast, there is a straight line for the head).

The women referred to in the tablets were employed in a wide range of jobs, many of them familiar from the Homeric epics. In the Odyssey, women grind wheat and barley, ‘the marrow of men’, at mills. There were ‘flour-grinders’ at the palace in Pylos. In both epics, women weave, whether royal or servile. Andromache works in the Trojan palace with a loom and distaff while ordering her servant women about their work. Helen embroiders a purple cloth with scenes from the Trojan War as if she were telling the story of the poem herself. And as we have seen, Penelope weaves and unweaves a funeral shroud for her father-in-law, Laertes. The women who wove at Pylos and Knossos were no less versatile in their handiwork. They managed something like a textile industry, producing goods for export as well as the palace community, and worked in groups according to specialism. There were wool-spinners and carders, linen- and leather-workers, finishers and headband-makers for horses. These women usually worked separately from men, but at Pylos there is evidence that at least two women, Wordieia and Amphehia, formed part of a mixed leather-making group. 

Working groups were the modus operandi at the Mycenaean palaces. Women were usually accompanied by boys and girls, presumably their own children, as they went about their tasks. Many were divided also according to their geographical region. Pylos was split into sixteen districts over two provinces, Nearer and Further, separated by Mount Aigaleo. The palace-workers came from more than 200 named places, some of which may have been local streets, while others, including Lemnos, Miletus and Knidos, lay further afield. It is possible that, like the Sidonian (Phoenician) women carried to Troy by Paris in the Iliad to weave fine robes for the court, some of the women working in the Mycenaean palaces had been enslaved.

Although the women were engaged in hard, practical labour, their work was recognised as highly skilled, and the Mycenaeans took some pride in it. Men were sometimes described on tablets as being the offspring of women of particular crafts, for example, ‘sons of flax-workers’. Female workers were allocated the same amount of food in the regular distributions as their male counterparts, and twice as much as their children, whereas in Babylonia, men typically received three times the female ration.

A mysterious senior class of priestess at Pylos known as ‘keybearers’ (did they open and close shrines within the palace complex?) even owned land. A landowning keybearer named ka-pa-ti-ja (‘Karpathia’) was wealthy enough to donate almost 200 litres of grain to the palace, probably for a religious festival. Given the historical prominence of women at the court of Pylos, it is fitting that a mythical Pylian king should intervene in the dispute over Briseis in the Iliad. Old Nestor urges Agamemnon to return the woman to Achilles and to end their feud."

The Missing Thread: A Women's History of the Ancient World, Daisy Dunn

[skitariiposting]

Skit's Mini Painting Journey Pt. 3

The Admech one.

C'mon, you all saw this one coming.

Back when I was painting my nurgles purple, I wanted to do a similar color scheme for my Admech army. I slowly moved away from it however, as I didn't quite like the way it turned out. The green and purple look took to Nurgle well, but purple Admech on desert planets didn't make a whole lot of sense. Didn't stop me from trying though, and while they certainly didn't look bad, I'm glad I didn't stick with it.

The Mars Pattern Family

This little fella may look familiar! Here was my first attempt at a more traditional mars pattern skit, and a jawa-esque one to boot! This was a kitbash of a proper galvanic rifle and backpack being added to The Makers Cult's Lil' Recruit.

I mean, Jawa admech is so amazing, but I had to have my little guy properly equipped!

Continuing the Mars linage is a technopriest and engiseer, both TMC printed minis. I love the way these two look. The face-shield on the technopriest looks amazing, and I'm incredibly proud of the reflection on it. The OSL on the hand isn't very visible in the picture, but it also looks really good.

This Thallax bot was supposed to be a Kastellan Bot for @elnubnub, however I got the two mixed up and picked the smaller one. I'm going to eventually remedy that, but he still looks good nonetheless.

This is by and large one of my best pieces in my opinion. Back when @cannibalcaprine had a bird face, this model was more applicable. Dominus Hera has so much soul and time put into her I don't know if I'll ever be able to replicate the state of mind I was in that let me get this mini to look this good. The cloth effects are fantastic, the OSL from the gun is fantastic, the molten axe is fantastic, the color choices and layout is fantastic, the cables are fantastic; I don't know who painted this mini, but it certainly wasn't me. It couldn't have been.

And the most important member of the Mars Pattern Family, the fan favorite: Goober. A kitbash gone wrong gone right. A broken mini finally becoming whole. The legend himself. What more is there to say?

Finally: The Submechanicum

Penelope, the Ocean Queen. My first model I painted for the Submechanicus. I'd love to say that this is my magnum opus, considering I made a whole video about her and everything...

However, I must rip the band aid off and say that this is the first version of Penelope...

Because what immediately followed her was this beast. This is the Krabaphron, another contender for one of my best models. This sucker was so genre defining, that it set a new standard for the rest of my Submechanicus army and would cause me to re-do my color-scheme and paint job planning going forward.

I based all of my future Submechanicus models off of it, using it as a template. The Skits and Techpriest both got the same treatment and I've got to say, I'm in love with the way it looks. I've continued using this style so far and I haven't had to make many modifications.

As such, Penelope... didn't quite fit the bill anymore. She stood out from the rest of the models.

So... after a livestream of planning and base layering...

She was finally given the paint job she deserved.

And that's just were our story begins fair traveler... With the rise of the Depth Guard, a proper protector of the Submechanicus will be needed to combat the forces of Nurgle... And coming late April, there will be such a machine surfacing, with a video to present it.

Of course, this is quite an older photo. It's far more painted than that. I've teased photos of it so far, however I'm saving the proper display of it for the video, so be on the look out if you want to see the completed product!

And that's about it! Hope you've enjoyed this little walk down memory lane and gallery of my mini painting endeavors! I'll be making a website for easier viewing once I've gone through and gotten some more professional looking pictures done. Thank you for reading and viewing!

-Jerry

[laurentidal]

Maker, Mover, Model

Sarah drew her lot from the box and read the word on the slip of paper.

"Model."

And as the words left her lips, she felt her mind fading into clay. She was blank. Formless. Maleable.

"Maker," Dora read from her paper. The word filled her with power. Her eyes flashed and her mind burned with confidence. Leadership suddenly felt natural. It was right that the others obeyed her.

"Mover," Laura said. The effect on her was more subtle. She knew her place, and she knew her job. She would obey her Maker and move her Model.

"Model, stand," Maker said and Model obeyed silently and immediately. "Mover, on your knees."

"Yes, Maker."

She knew her place, and she knew her job. She did not need to be commanded to lick at the Model's slit. She simply knew that was her job. Above her, Model stood with vacant eyes.

Maker ran her clay covered hands across Model's skin and whispered in her ears. The clay smeared and the words shaped her mind inside. Molding her. Making her. Turning her into something new. A perfect form in Maker's eyes.

Mover licked and touched. Her tongue probed into Model's slit. A finger slid into Model's ass. She kept Model wet and pliable for Maker's hands and words. It was a wonderful dream for Mover to watch Maker work. To be a part of it.

From her vantage below, Mover saw Model's tits inflate under the streaks of clay. Felt her butt tighten and firm under her hands. Watched her hair move from blonde to brown as the clay soaked in and hardened. Finally, Maker stepped away and snapped her fingers.

The sound thundered through all their minds. The clay hardened and flaked off of Sarah. Her new body made permanent through a snap like fire. Laura stood from her kneeling position and nodded.

"You did well, Dora."

"Oh my gawd!" Sarah shouted in her new squeaky voice. "I'm like. Totally slutty!"

The three put their lots back in the box, content with the way things were. Next week, they'd draw again, and everything would change once more.

Thanks for reading! If you are a fan of my work, consider buying me a coffee. Any contribution is insanely appreciated. 💖

[mcdonaldsnumberone]

GOOD NIGHT KISS!

their bedtime routines with you

gender neutral reader

BACHIRA MEGURU!

midnight snacks!

It becomes a night time ritual of sorts, for you to be all ready to hop into bed and go to sleep, only to hear some kind of odd rustling in the kitchen. And without fail, you always find your boyfriend in there cooking up a storm: drizzling sugar and honey onto whatever concoction he’s created. You know Bachira needs to eat a lot to keep his energy up; not only is he still a growing teenager, he’s also a full-time athlete and someone with a horribly insatiable sweet tooth. But you have to give him credit for his skills—no matter how empty your fridge seems, Bachira finds a way to craft something up without fail. And whenever you come out to investigate his latest masterpiece, he’s eager to share it with you. He claims things taste better when you’re there to indulge in them with him!

A sickeningly sweet scent hits your nose when you shuffle out of your shared bedroom with Bachira, and you can’t help but let out a defeated laugh when you see him cheerfully cooking up a large stack of waffles in the kitchen. In good Bachira-fashion, every inch of those waffles are drenched in sticky syrup and covered all over with a generous helping of whipped cream. 

“This many waffles at this hour?” You slide into a seat, and Bachira glances up from the batch he’s cooking to grin at you. 

“Yup! Got hungry. I saw a box mix in the pantry when I was digging around, and I just knew I needed to have some!” He explains sheepishly. “Do you want a fork? You’re welcome to them, you know.”

“I’ll steal a bite later.” You eye the big stack slightly and glance up at Bachira. “You shouldn’t eat too much before bed though! You’ll get a stomach ache if you eat too many sweets. Or a cavity, even.”

He puffs his cheeks out and shoots his best puppy eyes at you, his plump lips curling into a boyish pout. “But I’m hungry! You wouldn’t want your boyfriend to go to bed with a growling stomach, would you? That’s mean!”

“Hey, I’m only trying to look after you,” you chuckle as you put your hands up in a defensive display. “Although I guess you’ve always been better at digesting sweets than anyone else I know.”

“I deserve a little treat before bed!” He flips over the waffle maker, letting out a dreamy exhale at the scent of dough and vanilla wafting through the kitchen. “It gives me the energy to work hard at playing soccer! And it’s fun to make all these snacks! Especially when you’re here to eat them with me.”

“Well, let’s not take too long,” you murmur. “I’m sleepy, and all I need right now is some cuddles before bed.”

“Aye, aye, cap’n!” Bachira brightens up. “One serving of waffles and cuddles coming up real soon, made specially just for you!”

YUKIMIYA KENYU!

skincare!

Yukimiya’s surprisingly humble about his job as a model, but as quiet as he stays about it, you know he takes his gig seriously. He always takes his time in the shower, making sure his hair curls just right, and the array of lotions and creams he has on his nightstand is always dizzying to count. But if there’s one thing he’s a stickler for, it’s including you in his little routines. He thinks it’s adorable to do his skincare with you, and you can always catch the hint of a smile when he offers to test out a scrub he’s bought on you or to try matching face masks together. Although lately, you’ve noticed that Yukimiya’s been insistent on seeing how much softer your skin’s gotten by kissing you all over—totally to figure out which products work best!

“It tickles, Kenyu!” You can barely keep yourself from wiggling in your seat. Your boyfriend’s face is scrunched up in concentration as he carefully applies an ivory-colored moisturizer to your cheeks and neck. He’s told you to stay still multiple times, but whenever you feel his fingers rubbing slow circles into your skin, you keep getting all giddy and giggly. 

“I’m trying my best to do this quickly,” he protests. His tongue sticks out between his lips slightly, and his forehead is scrunched up in concentration as he swirls another helping of cream to your face. You bite back a loud chuckle, the butterflies in your stomach fluttering around dangerously. He shakes his head endearingly when he sees you choke back a laugh. “But I can only go so fast if you keep squirming!”

“Hey, I can’t help it!” You swing your legs on the little bath stool Yukimiya has you seated on. “You’d get all ticklish too if someone as cute as you was getting all close and handsy!”

The dark-haired boy raises a cheeky eyebrow, and his orange eyes lock onto yours with a playful glint at your words. His fingers trace the delicate outline of your face, and your heart skips a beat when you feel his fingertips ghost over the edge of your lips.

“You think I’m being handsy? I’m barely touching you,” he whispers, the tone of his voice suddenly low and electric. You swallow nervously, the jitters inside your ribcage flaring up even more. 

He grins, setting down the small pot of moisturizer. “I’ll show you what me ‘being handsy’ really is then, love. Maybe that’ll help you with being ticklish… Is that alright?”

SENDOU SHUTO!

kisses before bed!

Sendou has a horribly needy streak. He can’t help it—he’s used to being the ace of the (now former) Japanese U20 team, and he’s always dreamt of having a lover that would fawn and obsess over him as much as he does. He likes it when you indulge his romantic fantasies a little, and he gets awfully clingy whenever he’s sleepy and it’s time for bed. No matter what the mood is, Sendou swears he can’t sleep properly if you aren’t there to give him a kiss before he goes to bed. You two could be in the middle of a heated argument or cracking jokes; he isn’t letting you roll over and snooze until he’s gotten his allotted amount of attention from you. He’ll blush and get all shy asking you for a kiss, but the bashful grin he has afterwards makes it all worth it.

“Hey.” Something pokes at your side, and you grumble, swatting absentmindedly as your mind clings to the strains of sleep threatening to overtake you. You whine loudly, wanting to go back to the comfort of your pillow, but another poke at your ribcage jostles you back awake.

You crack your eyes open, clearly disgruntled. “What do you want, Sendou?”

“A good night kiss,” he sheepishly replies. Your eyes adjust to the lighting as your boyfriend wraps his arms around your waist, slipping under the covers to take his place next to you in bed. “I ask you for one every night. Don’t tell me that you don’t remember our little bedtime ritual?”

You blink at him. Oh. Right. He looks so pathetic, lips pulled into a slight pout as he shoots his best attempt at puppy eyes at you. Could you believe that this man was someone who was on a national Japanese soccer team? The one that believed he had enough charisma to pull a Hollywood actress?

“Sorry,” you reply, reaching over to fluff up his hair. You thought dating a soon-to-be professional soccer player would mean more glam and spotlight, but all you got in return was a wet dog of a boyfriend who followed you around at the heel if you didn’t devote enough time to him. Not that you minded—frankly speaking, you liked knowing that you held so much power over him. “I got sleepy, and I must have dozed off while you were getting ready.”

“Well, now’s the perfect time to give me one,” Sendou sings, and he sticks his face out. You roll your eyes, but you still reach over to press your lips gently against his, savoring the way the boy immediately melts into your touch. You make it quick, and when you pull away, Sendou giggles happily and settles down to spoon you from behind.

“Happy now, Mr. I’m-going-to-marry-a-Hollywood-actress?” You tease gently. You don’t need to be looking at him to know that he’s going to be pouting at you again, and Sendou buries his head into your shoulder.

“I’ll be happier once you let that stupid nickname go,” he murmurs into your skin. His hair brushes against your jawline, and he twists his head to kiss your cheek. “But as long as I’m with you, I’d say I’m pretty happy.”

MICHAEL KAISER!

lets you steal his robe!

Kaiser stands on top of the world. He takes pleasure in destroying and knowing that he’s superior to everyone who dares stand before his path. Despite knowing this and knowing that no one could hold a candle to the man that he is, Kaiser’s rendered completely useless and lovestruck when it comes to his stupid crush on you. You could spit in his face and call him stupid, and he knows he’d go skipping off to Ness twirling his hair and blushing. Luckily for him, you found some part in your heart to love him back, and you take advantage of it every night when you steal his bathrobe and snuggle up in it. It smells like him, and you have no issue dozing off in how big and fluffy it is. 

“Darling.”

You keep to your side in your bed, grinning to yourself as you settle deeper into the fluff of his expensive robe. Was there anything better than this? Being all cozy and ready for bed, buried in a mountain of pillows and blankets, topped off with what you swore was the fuzziest robe known to mankind.

“Darling,” Kaiser whines again, tugging at your blanket burrito. “Darling, I’m freezing out here.”

“That’s what you get for trying to go to bed shirtless.” You don’t even bat an eyelash. Kaiser whimpers like a wounded dog, curling up next to your blanket fort in nothing but his boxers. You knew that he fully intended on having his bathrobe to warm him up, but when he wasn’t paying attention, you had run off with it instead. 

And if you were in any other mood, you would have stroked Kaiser’s ego a bit. You would have coaxed the robe off of him by gushing over his tattoo, getting him all smug and conceited just so you could steal your boyfriend’s pajamas off of his shoulders. Either way, you fully intended on leaving him shivering next to you while you indulged in the warmth.

“I’m going to catch a cold!” Kaiser dramatically bemoans. He flops down next to you, slapping a hand over his forehead and everything. “My own partner doesn’t love me anymore! I’ll die cold and hungry and shivering with illness. No one cares about me anymore-”

“-Oh, shut it,” you cut him off and unravel part of your blanket. Any sign of Kaiser’s “illness” quickly disappears as he leaps into your arms, sticking his body right up against yours as the layers of cloth envelop him in much welcomed warmth.

“Is that better?” You ask, letting him cling to you like a koala. He lays his head on your shoulder, nodding contently. You fight the urge to pinch him for being so clingy and theatrical, but he looks so happy swaddled in your arms that you don’t have it in your heart to be mean.

“Much better,” he purrs. “I’m all ready to go to bed now. If we sleep this close together, do you think we’ll dream of each other? I’d love to think about my sweet darling fast asleep, dreaming about me… How romantic!”

You grit your teeth. “I’ll kick you out back into the cold, you twat.”

“So mean!”

x

[brawlingdiscontent]

On Louis and Armand and photography and portraiture 

I want to take a moment to reflect on Louis and Armand’s chosen art forms and how they relate to their crises of self and inform their relationship. (There’s a much longer post about art and representation as forms of meaning-making in the show, but that’s for later.)

When they meet in Paris, Louis is a photographer and Armand a theatre director. The show uses these occupations figuratively, signifying slippage between each character’s artistic medium and role and their personality/self. For Armand, being a director is a somewhat ill-fitting role. It calls on him to oversee the play, standing outside of it and shouldering sole responsibility for staging decisions without ever taking the stage himself.

The problem with this is that he’s still, at heart, an artist’s model, needing to become the scene and not make decisions about its construction. This is signalled in an early exchange of theirs in 2.2 when Louis tells Armand, “You carry yourself well” (i.e. you’re a good model), and is later confirmed by Armand himself. Despite all the trauma of his past (or more likely because of it), he’s still fixated on the artist-model relationship (and the parallels he sees between it and his worship of his maker Marius). In the museum scene in 2.4 Armand asks:

Armand: Who am I, Louis? Am I my history I have endured? Am I the job I do not want? I do not know anymore. No one has painted me in 400 years.

This line highlights Armand’s deep crisis of self, related to his trauma, and connects it back to modelling/portraiture. Armand only knows who he is and how to define himself when someone paints him—i.e. through the eyes of another. This makes Louis appealing as a photographer, a contemporary portrait-taker. (And that pic he snaps of Armand so symbolically crucial). It also sets the stage for their kink dynamic, where they respectively adopt the roles of the taker and the taken.

However, as the show reveals, Louis is not a good photographer—following the metaphor, because he’s using photography as a tool to remove himself from the frame, i.e. as a distancing strategy in reaction to what being ‘in the picture’ emotionally and personally cost him in his entanglement with Lestat. After losing himself in Lestat, he seeks to withdraw entirely, hiding behind the camera lens, as defence mechanism and distraction both (“I liked taking photographs. It took my mind off things.”) 

In 2.2 when Claudia asks Louis who he is outside of her and Lestat, he dodges the question by framing himself through photography, at one point literally using the camera lens as a shield to avoid her question. (Louis’ photography habit also relates to the notion that he’s ‘mad in love with humanity’: they are both a distraction to avoid engaging fully with his vampiric self.)

Louis doesn’t know his own answer to Armand’s question, ‘Who am I?,’ but it resonates with his own crisis of self. He finds comfort in helping Armand to define himself, but also in having his withholding nature characterized as an alluring trait, as opposed to what it is: a tactical retreat masking his broken sense of self. 

Similarly, Armand fashions himself to please Louis, defining himself through their relationship. In choosing to answer his own question ‘who am I?’ with ‘Louis’,’ he avoids thinking or reflecting on his trauma or coming to terms with himself—leading to concerning statements like, “If I'm not with him, I'm nothing,” and shedding light on why the notion that Louis finds him boring is so devastating.  

There’s a line exchange that highlights this dynamic in 2.3: 

Armand: You are drawn to portraiture. Louis: It hides the cracks in the walls.

The literal action here is Armand inspecting Louis and Claudia’s apartment and observing the many portraits lining the walls. However, this scene also functions on a deeper, metaphorical level. Armand sees Louis as a passionate portrait-taker, someone eager to capture him. However, Louis’ motivation to cover the cracks might be better understood as him fixating on others to obscure the cracks within himself. While he says “I’m out here finding myself,” he’s really hiding from himself. 

We might lastly consider the difference between photography and painting. As a medium, photography engenders less intimacy between photographer and subject than between a painter and theirs. It’s done in a literal flash, compared the hours of sustained contact needed to complete a painted portrait, perhaps signalling Louis’ relative unavailability and the incompatibility of their chosen forms. 

As the show’s framing of photography and painting helps to make clear, Armand and Louis are in a partnership that neither are putting their full self into, hampered by their respective wounds, (and in the infamous 2.5 fight scene they choose to hurt each other by prying open these wounds, rather than addressing them). And that’s the tragedy of their relationship. 

Coda: Revisiting Armand's director persona, there is one way that it suits him. Notwithstanding his aversion to leadership and his desire to form himself around his partner, directing aligns with his need for control. His favoured staging style, projecting conjured images over the bodies of live (I mean, technically, undead) actors, says a lot about him, too, signalling his penchant for manipulation of the real (or the truth) via constructed images and narratives.

(Screencaps from KissThemGoodbye's TV shows gallery)