#They don't sell hats like these in Japan!

[ikiyou]

Happy Birthday Hatrack!!

This year I took him to Australia for his birthday!! (I promise not to jump for a closer look...)

Where we went canyoning!

And we were so busy, I almost missed the big day, but then I remembered, caved, and bought him a hat...

Or two or three!

[sant-riley]

[Task force 141 + others with Gen z!reader] [pt3]

A/N: Some of these you /may/ have seen on tiktok, that is me who posted them on tiktok. I am green haired bitch so no I didn't steal anything LMAO. I hope these live up to yalls expectations.

The last two of these my lovely friend gave me inspiration for <3 @frogchiro

Warnings: She/her pronouns swearing, age gaps, tiktok memes (like always lmk if I miss something!)

~

You steal Prices hat on numerous occasions bc its a fashion abomination and you refuse to let this man wear it around you. You hide around base as frequently as you can.

Jokes on you though bc he will literally wait til it's your birthday and buy you a matching one and will laugh at your scream of disgust.

Gaz one ups him by gifting you a matching hat as well, putting it on your head as he flicks the brim.

"Thanks Gaz! I love it!

"And not mine?"

"You're on thin ice, old man."

Price gets gifted a set from manscaped by the guys as a gag gift. He uses it for his beard bc he never bothered to look into why everyone was laughing around him.

Price takes your phone when you try and show him memes, squinting hard as fuck like a dad 💀

Soap, if yall have the time off takes you to scottish football games and it's a whole thing. You sitting there while he gets drunk out of his fucking mind, hollering and whooping and you're there trying to sink into your seat.

Chances are someone's gonna shove you and you're gonna trip and fall bc everyone's so amped up and Soap threatens to beat the shit out of them. It's a miracle y'all don't get kicked out 💀

If you have tattoos, Soap is the first one to take a marker set and color them in and adding his own additions. If you were ever to get them actually tattooed, he would tear up and pretend he isn't emotional about it.

"You like me that much Bonnie?"

He would get something of you too, so it evens out. This also makes Ghost in turn get a tattoo for you bc he refuses to be out done and he's just as attached

Neither of them get your call sign or your name, but they get something personal to what each of them associate you with.

The first time you meet Alex, you're across the room doing something that has your focus and didn't realize this is actually your first time meeting him. You ask him for a hand only to look up and see him extend his prosthetic at you with a smile and you scream.

"You asked for a hand but best I can do is a Leg." Price comes running and he sees the scene and rolls his eyes.

Everyone single one of them are the definition of "my girl can wear whatever she wants bc I'll break your jaw." meme btw. You can take care of yourself but you never need to bc they will beat a bitch up.

Laswell invites you constantly to come over and meet with her wife, esp if you don't have a mother figure. She always always tries to come on base to see you and always has a birthday and Christmas present on it's way to you wherever you may be. Her wife loves you to death and they've pretty much adopted you and you cannot escape it, oh well.

Gaz buys you whatever your little heart desires, especially if he's deployed away in a country where they sell exclusives of whatever you enjoy. It's a pain in the fucking ass to try and ship a anime figure to your place from Japan but he's gonna try his best.

Ghost doesn't share his food, or at least it was before you came along. He groans and grumbles about having to feed you but he wouldn't do it if he truly didn't want to. Soap asks and Ghost tells him to fuck off.

If you watch anime, please imagine trying to get everyone in the room and trying to explain who Dabi is. They're all so fucking old they keep thinking you're referring to the elf from Harry Potter and it infuriates you to no end.

Soap and Gaz know better but it's funnier to see you mad.

Being the youngest, they absolutely force you to do the jobs they don't want to. Whether it be cleaning the barracks, to cooking dinner when able, it doesn't matter bc they'll all pull rank on you.

"You're the new kid, get to it then."

"Ghosttttt-"

"Don't Ghost me."

Soap is the kind of motherfucker to play the fifa games and doesn't understand that he's stupid for buying it every single year bc there are no changes oncesoever. He will not listen to you about it and you've given up.

Ghost will see you talk about your etsy list and will ask for your phone, you trust him so of course you hand it over. He hands it back to you and it's just, all purchased. He says nothing while he sips on his tea while you scream at him asking why he did it. He won't tell you but it's because he knows it makes you happy and it'll keep your mood up, giving you a reason to be motivated to get through missions. It's also because he knows that retail therapy is a thing for your generation.

Soap, if you do any, is actually really good at doing your makeup! He knows how to do everything and he refuses to elaborate. (As a kid he'd do his mom's makeup when she went out for dates) he's the one who helps you doll up if you're going undercover.

Ghost, Gaz and Price find you unfunny whenever you make a "wow I wish British people were real." You say it so often and it gets annoying but they also just accept it's a part of life.

Soap personally enjoys the "SCOTLAND FOREVERRRRRRR" meme and will scream it with you. Ghost threatens to cut yalls tongue out.

Other parts can be found under #Kayla writes <3

Taglist:

@devilsfoodcake22 @simon-rileys-princess

@stupid-ninja @milkmily

@lune-la-chanson @tamayakii

@teacupcollector @sweet-as-an-angel

@perilous-pasta @ihatethisappsomuchitpains

@marsbar127xx @baddump

@xncasi @king-cookiex

@palomaxaxaxa @amatchasky @wolfyland07 @diejager

@hailstrum18 @pretty-little-bunny382728 @mzfandom

If you'd like to be tagged, go to my pinned post and comment there :)

[thechekhov]

Drinking Anon here.

This is what I was talking about, the Nomiai: https://www.nomunication.jp/japans-business-drinking-culture/

I knew it was more of a Japanese business 'ideal' tradition. I was just wondering if it extended to school teachers. The idea that you "HAVE" to go drinking if invited otherwise its an affront to someone's honor.

....alright, having looked at the website, here is my critical analysis of this:

This guy, Whiskey Richard, who 'has been exploring the Tokyo cocktail scene since 2008' may have a basis for what he's saying but please keep in mind the following:

He's in Tokyo, where the drinking scene AND business is larger comparably, and it's easier to find drinking buddies and older colleagues who may want to pressure you to go

He has clearly made a business of explaining 'Japanese drinking culture'. His main site is about advertising distilleries and reviewing them. He didn't write this article only because he wanted to Share The Deep Japanese Lore with foreigners. He's angling for a specific type of feeling. A feeling that helps buy what he's selling.

With all that in mind and our reasonably angled Skeptic hat cocked (a hat you should always have on, btw, so long as it is not glued to your head) let's review the rest of it.

Does Japan have a culture of drinking with coworkers? Yes.

Are nomikai a unique event that has a specific structure different to a standard 'out with the lads for a few beers' type scenario? Yes, absolutely. It's a more structural event.

Do Japanese businessmen take advantage of a more casual environment like a bar or izakaya to suss out who is a genuine person and who might be a pain to work with?

I believe yes. This is not a far stone to throw.

Are you going to be affronting someone's 'honor' by refusing to go drinking with them?

Absolutely fucking not. And if they think so, they're a shitnugget.

It also should be noted that the author correctly writes that this is specifically a salaryman business thing rather than something that affects all areas of the workplace. He does start with 'If you're in Tokyo on business...' after all.

Sure, your business partner may invite you to go drinking with them to try to get an idea for your non-professional side. That's no different than someone inviting you to a business lunch. I think the business side of things is more important here than the alcohol element, though. The point is that if you're in a foreign country and someone invites you to join them in a social event that takes place in a traditional restaurant, turning down the invite may indicate that you're not really that invested in the relationship.

And most people will reasonably understand if you have a real excuse, or don't really drink. Especially these days. Hell, I work in a Japanese office and I get invited to nomikai and often turn the invitation down because I have an hour drive back home and no way of getting back if I'm drunk. And I've never gotten flack for it, nor has anyone ever suggested I've dishonored them for it. If I was seeking new employment and was invited out for drinks, I might try to make that happen, if only to satisfy the social request to meet up. ...I also enjoy a drink every now and then.

Like I said, the article in question isn't necessarily wrong... but I think it goes a little too hard, digesting every single detail and milking it for all the 'mysticism' it's got instead of presenting it through a reasonably comparable lens of Western drinking culture.

All I'm saying is... look if I had a potluck catering company and I needed to sell my stuff to Japanese people in the US, you bet your ass I'd make a site about how Sacred the potluck is to the Americans and how important it is to bring The Correct Thing. So I respect the hustle. But I think anything about The Complete and Utter Uniqueness of Japan should be taken with a grain of salt.

[jmdbjk]

Bangtan Weekly Report...

So a lot happening in here in the last 24 hours. Joon's appointment took everyone by surprise. Seems legit significant and I wondered if this will affect his military service... not in the fact that he would be exempt because of it... not implying that at all. What I'm wondering is after he completes his basic training, would he just go ahead and shift into some kind of position where he is also associated with this particular activity in the military? Stationed at whichever areas are doing this activity and such...

I think for sure it will definitely add to his future opportunities and influence in the public arena. It’s so exciting for him!

Also: Yoongi headed to Japan. I love that shirt, vacation vibes. I hope he was able to rest a little bit and get something to ease his coughing though. I know he keeps saying don't worry, he's not sick, but something is up because you don't hack up a lung like that after walking a few hundred yards for nothing.

Also today: Tae headed to Japan Spain! He looked dressed for an island party. It's been a while since we've seen him wear earrings. Or, I should say an earring since its only one. AND THE HAIR! I'm not a big fan of the frizzy perm but he is squeezing all he can out of his 20s before enlistment with the ash blonde hair moment again!

How does he even see where he's going? How did anyone recognize him? That hat reminds me of a woven straw basket I used to have in my dining room.

TAKE TWO!!! A new OT7 song coming!!! Soooo excited!!! Maybe we'll get a teaser! Produced by Suga and written by RM and Hobi!!!!!

!!!!!!! NEW GROUP MUSIC!!!!!!!

Also today: someone now pointing out that Kookie discreetly moved a small object out of camera view during his garbage disposer repairman live on Feb. 27 ...

How did I not notice him doing that when I watched the live... so now someone is saying it resembles a car key fob... for a Porsche...hmmm, who do we know that drives a Porsche? ... ummm.... I don't know... it could be, or not? It's got a reflective chrome button looking area on it. It's white and car key fob shaped...

Of course, it could also be a vaper or his own car key fob or something else... a tube of lube (Kookie... please put stuff away after you use it, I know its handy there but still... TMI you know?) ... I need more visual info.

Also today: I see people grumbling (outright bitching) about the commercialization of Festa/BTS... commercialization = selling out...

This is my take on all of that (and probably an unpopular opinion, but anyways...):

People are all for their "sold-out" king when a random t-shirt or shoes they are wearing or an insulated mug sells out, but our guys don't see a penny of that.

And now you're saying official BTS merch would be somehow unsavory... a money grab... even though money from the sale of THAT DOES go into their pockets?... please think through what you are saying...

And commercialization in the form of sponsorships is not good? How is it not good?...Sponsorships are great!

Here's the deal... money makes the world go round... so that exact thing is what will help perpetuate the longevity of BTS, those sponsorships will give BTS a shit ton of money in return for licensing/promotion and underwriting big ticket projects.

It keeps BTS alive in the public eye and keeps the income coming in order for them to do first class work and endeavor to promote themselves and give us great events. Fabulous purple fireworks shows are not free. Sponsors help underwrite the cost of that. And because these events are happening will also indirectly help the many small businesses in those areas because of the influx of visitors to these events.

Turning the city purple creates excitement about BTS and reminds locals that BTS are global cultural ambassadors. Army should be hella proud of that.

What other kpop group is getting news coverage for their 10th anniversary? None.

Deep pockets allow BTS to book stadium tours, so the more chance more of us can see them in-person.

The day the money stops flowing will REALLY be the day BTS retires.

If we are who we say we are and intend to support BTS no matter what happens... IF WE ARE IN THIS BANGTAN SHIT FOR LIFE ... and what we are given right now is merch and purple corndogs, then I will buy a keychain or a book or eat purple tteokbokki, or whatever, along with whatever music is released. If you really are against it, then don't buy anything but don't act like what they are doing is disgusting.

Anyway, its been a full day. We are headed into Festa season for the next two weeks and beyond. The timeline seems focused on positive things. Or maybe that's my imagination. I am going to enjoy it while I can.

[emimayooo]

Emi in Japan (2024) - Day 4

(Link to Day 1 and link to Day 2/3).

Hey guys,

OH MY GOSH I HAD SO MUCH FUN MEETING MY FANDOM FRIEND IRL😍❤️❤️❤️

R was just as easy to talk to IRL as she is over discord! At first we had that moment of "oh my god you're real" weirdness but it melted away like ice cream on a hot summer's day as we explored Shimokitazawa, a boujee district known for its thrift stores and cafés.

First off, we went to Bear Pond Espresso, a super cozy and cute café. Here, I HAD MY FIRST CUP OF COFFEE. Yes, you read that right: the first of my life! Ya'll, I took one whiff of coffee when I was ten and promptly decided "nah not for me". But omg I've been missing out! I had the sweet ice milk latte and I looooved how it tasted. I fear I may have unlocked something new in me lol...

I asked the barista recommendations for lunch, so we followed their rec and ended up at a soba place! It was very yum. Afterwards, we went ✨shopping✨. I bought a cute cat tote bag and some cat earrings hehe.

We still had some time on our hands before I had to go home, so by my recommendation, we went to Jimbocho, the book district of Tokyo😍❤️

Truly, I recommend Jimbocho to any book lover, even if you can’t read Japanese! There’s a lot of secondhand places that sell vintage/classic Western books. I’ve found gorgeous editions here that I treasure to this day.

R and I entered a very stylish bookstore that sold a lot of children’s books. I myself bought the second book in the Kiki’s Delivery Service series (fun fact: it was a book series before it was a movie!).

Then we went to Nyankodo, a cat themed bookshop that is a MUST VISIT for any cat lover😍❤️!!! They only sell cat related goods, whether that be books, tote bags, water bottles, pins, postcards, etc. It’s, like, my personal heaven.

On my recommendation, R bought a graphic novel about an old lady and her cat that made me ugly cry when I read it lol, while I bought a badge and two books. One was a photography collection about an old lady and her cat (I’m seeing a theme here lol). The second was a beautifully illustrated picture book about a teeny tiny black kitty named Toto. I’m so excited to dig into these.

We were feeling pretty tired at this point, because boy, was it humid! So we stopped by a bookstore/café I'd been to before and had a rest. I ordered an ice cream and hot chocolate. Oh my god was the ice cream heavenly. Like. So so good. The hot chocolate too was very yum.

Here, my friend and I talked about what brought us together: Sylvgrid 🤣❤️! We talked about our WIPs, what we love about our ship, and inspired each other to get back into it! After our chat, I felt sooo motivated to get back to my Sylvgrid longfic, Ludus/Eros/Storge. So galeheart folks, if you don't see me around in bg3land, you know what's up…

After our café break, it was time to say our goodbyes. We went to the station together and rode our respective trains, but not before giving each other a big old hug, of course!

During the train ride back, I was soooo giddy, and when I got home, I told my grandpa all about my day! He was very happy for me hehe.

I hope I get to see R again before she leaves Japan...today was the bestest day EVER🥰❤️❤️❤️

Thanks for reading my journal. Tomorrow will be a quiet day, cause I have to study, ugh. But see you next time🤗❤️

With love,

Emi xoxo

P.S mutuals pls come to Japan I wanna hang out so bad

P.P.S pls look at my new favourite hat (yes ofc I bought it🤣❤️)

[arcplaysgames]

P3P is a wrap, lets start P4G

Just to be totally clear, as soon as I started the game, it had some.... weird opening that I did not remember, so I looked into mods because the original P4 OP has lived in my head for, what, 15 years? It's a fucking phenomenal sequence, I'll drop a link in the comments if I remember because its SUPER GOOD. da da da dun na na. da da da dun na na.

So full disclosure, here's my mods:

I basically grabbed all the mods by this one person bc they all seemed like basic UI mods? I am not even sure what the Blue Aeon Arcana one is tho. Who the fuck is Aeon? No idea. Maybe another cool robot who falls in love with me. (No spoilers pls.)

I saw some mods that would retouch some of the Social Links to account for how, uh, odd they are, like Naoto's. I'm resisting the urge. I wanna give this game a fair shot and see how it does, disappointing fumbles and all.

... Is the Velvet Room a limo now? That... would be kind of neat, I'm not going to lie. Before it was an elevator. What is it in P5, I wonder? Another transitory place? Hm hm.

Serious guess: Train car.

Fun Guess: Ice cream truck. Do they have ice cream trucks in Japan? I want one with the fish-shaped red bean ice cream.

This isn't fair, I'm always a slut for neon. Super digging this vibe.

Why not. I have used "Reverie" for most games for years, because calling myself "Arc" in games makes it hard to roleplay, 'cause... that's me? And I still suck at last names, so I shall borrow from a true hottie, a real babe.

Interestingly, he has a full grid there to work from but only gives me the corners. What spread you pulling, bro.

and then uuuuuh sm-smash cut to a teenager selling weight loss soda? Oh boy. Oh god. I wanna go back to Iwatodai.

I guess I'm a boy this time. SIGH.

INTERESTING that P3P's FeMC had XXII prominently on her body and wound up The Universe/The World, the final card of the Majors. This guy has II, which could either be The Magician or more likely The Priestess (since I think Persona counts The Fool as 0).

Or maybe he's a Sollux fan, who could fuckin' say.

I can't begin to speculate on this. Whatever. We're going to stay with our Uncle in Iwatodai Yasoinaba.

Nice voice, slow cadence, sad-looking man. I like you already.

Lmao Nanako gives him a smack on the ass for embarrassing her. She's so tiny!

what the fuck who are you. I don't remember you. She bumped into me and handed me a thing I dropped??? Why do you have a portrait.

ugh i don't think I remember much about this game, oh dear.

.... Why. The fuck does the gas station attendant. Have a voice that is like....... seriously pinging my Wait I Know That Voice Actor radar.

Ah, the era of "there are 20 voice actors in this industry and twelve of them are Steve Blum in various hats."

uh and then they shake my hand and my character-- Reverie-- gets lightheaded. What the hell. Is the gas station attendant important?

who knows. didn't get a character portrait so I'm gonna say not.

also the same girl who handed me the thing i dropped now doesn't remember me sooooooo okay whatever, lets roll.

[aurosoulart]

I feel like you've definitely done this before, but I can't find anything so I thought I'd ask. Do you know any other cool vr artists I can check out? I know it's a rare specialty on Tumblr at least, but I've never seen someone do the kind of stuff you do and I'd love to see some examples in different styles

OH MAN DO I EVER...... hold on to your hats cuz this will get long. none of these people are on tumblr but they're all worth checking out!!

anyways here's the prominent XR artists in the world right now that I know off the top of my head (note: I'm bound to miss some people, also some sell NFTs, some don't, just a PSA):

Rosie Summers - UK VR artist & one of my personal fav inspirations. if you like space and whimsy, you'll like her art!

Giant Swan - Australian VR artist. his work with color & texture is some of the best I've ever seen

Goro Fujita - prominent art director who was born in Japan and who now does VR animations in a VR animation program called Quill! really worth checking out if you are at all interested in learning 3d animation.

Piyo Master - Japanese VR artist who makes some seriously cool mech designs - among other things!!

Emma / The Spatial Canvas - US-based artist with a whole YouTube series on teaching VR art! her environment work is SUPER good.

Minhang - Vietnamese VR artist who makes INCREDIBLY detailed painting worlds

Anna Zhilyaeva / Anna Dream Brush - French VR artist and probably one of the most famous VR artist/performers in the world.

Suk - Korean VR artist with a wonderful traditional ink art style

Kudo Albus - Japanese VR artist with a VERY cute art style

Kevin Ang - US-based artist and MY GOOD FRIEND!! 💖 his work is very storybook-vibes and nature-inspired

Vaidehi / Ozymandias - UK-based artist (and also my friend!) with a crazy abstract, cubist, occasionally even dadaist art style

Yamakeiart - Japanese VR artist - and a tattoo artist as well! her tattoo design work really shines through in her VR art

SaRaN - Japanese VR artist. super detailed and magical worlds

Gaston Carballal - VR artist based in Argentina with a really unique style - his worlds look like they're made entirely of wicker and clay

Julius Kleberski - French VR artist who is very underrated - he makes detailed worlds and these gorgeous filigree-style 3d sculptures

Angeles - Spanish VR artist who is extremely skilled at creating animals and human faces!

Lucy Boyd-Wilson - US VR artist with beautiful abstract & nature-based work.

Sabby Life - US-based VR artist & educator, and a lead of the VR Art Live community! I could list even more artists at this point BUT you could also just find them yourself by joining the VR Art live Discord - it's a main hub for XR art and there's tons of community events and resources available there!! 💖

[ystk-archive]

Do you have any favorite looks for Koshiko and Nakata? Like photos where you particularly liked their fashion or styling?

So many examples that writing a response to this simple question nearly drove me insane for several days lmao. One of capsule's biggest "selling" points for me was that they mostly wore their own clothes for photoshoots, MVs, performances etc and Nakata largely handled styling and whatnot. (Also probably one of the reasons that Metro Pulse landed disastrously with me, I don't want to see polygonal character models fighting to the death, I want you two to serve looks 😭)

Where Toshiko's concerned, I usually loved her outfits at the annual festivals they'd do like Rock in Japan and Countdown:

2010 RIJ FES fit is legendary

I honestly feel like this houndstooth configuration that appeared at CDJ 2012 altered my brain chemistry in some way. I can see it being a bit too "circus" or costume-y for some, the bi-color tights are definitely going a little overboard, but I still think about it all these years later (take a closer look at the heels she wore too).

2014 Summer Sonic, I like to call this the angel look; there's a pattern here with me liking these dresses/skirts with strange construction lol

Big fan of the OTONOKO 2018 sparkly tulle dress (may be a top + skirt combo, either way). It was extremely whimsical, looked beautiful on a stage environment, and I love the idea of Toshiko as a pinch of the night sky placed down on earth. (I like it so much you can have another photo of it here)

At their last Countdown appearance in 2019 she wore this draped dress; the blunt lob haircut really elevated the maturity of the whole look (I think some low denier tights would've made this even crazier).

Thigh-high boots go brrr (starting to wonder if I just really liked this wig a lot)

Special mention to this sequin dress, she is nothing short of a genius for wearing those nylons with it and Nakata was wrong for saying she looked like a fish lmao

I do actually like her simpler stage outfits like this gold babydoll dress. Her headwear is unparalleled, I can't imagine how many hats/hair accessories she owns...

Lastly her WAVE RUNNER tour encore look was just cute and nicely coordinated for being so simple; I also adore the way their shoes matched here but I lose my mind whenever they match their outfits at all…

In general I love how consistent she is in her style, it's very elegant and feminine overall but she likes to do these unusual silhouettes and whimsical accessories that have a lot of drama to them. This is my favorite example of her fashion outside of performances; my list highlighted major appearances where you'd expect her to go full theatrical but even her regular day-to-day outfits are nice, often simple but never boring.

Moving along...

Generally speaking Nakata has a great eye for individual pieces rather than excelling at putting together well-coordinated outfits (on himself at least, I loved the times he styled Toshiko). He's also the living embodiment of the shorts-wearing NPC trainer in Pokemon lmao. Like he's definitely shown the potential to Dress over the years and I'd actually love to see him do styling work on other people again (also would love to see art direction from him again, design, etc etc anyway :^)), he has a very particular aesthetic sense that I always enjoyed, but overall he seems to prize comfort and especially after 2016 you can see his style get increasingly...utilitarian? Unembellished? Honestly there was a video I saw by some YouTuber who attempted to discuss Nakata's style and all they had to go off was his Instagram and their conclusion was "he likes to wear his own logo a lot;" it's an understatement to say that made me die a little inside, lol (not the tuber's fault of course).

I tried to pinpoint specific ~whole outfits but it's kind of difficult, as a result the majority of these are from magazine shoots:

2007 Sugarless GiRL for MARQUEE - I've been obsessed with this since forever but I'm not even sure how to explain it... It's a wintry, boyish sort of look, the overalls were very flattering, the shoes are cute, and that scarf was actually really interesting because it had these weird hand pockets (you can see them in this photo). I'd kill to see more takes from any of their magazine shoots but especially this one.

2005 LDK event covered in CUTiE magazine - I think everyone loves this one lmao, whoever did Nakata's hair is a god. It's a great inbetween style from LDK to FRUITS CLiPPER; it's very interesting the way he sort of found his fashion "voice" the same time he found his musical one for capsule.

Speaking of which, 2006 FRUITS CLiPPER artist profile shoot (well, this is from MARQUEE, but he wore the same thing for their artist pics) - the black-white-gray layered look might be my favorite example of his ~eye for coordinating clothes or whatever you wanna call it lol. Love that C necklace too, he only really wore it during '06 though and was never much for necklaces in general (I think it's funny one of the few remaining pics on his Insta is this one). Blazers are notoriously tricky to wear without seeming like you're stuffy and/or going to the office, he somehow always pulled them off really well...

2007 capsule rmx for MARQUEE - another that seems unanimously loved. I liked that headscarf he's wearing so much that I bought the same one (not a single clue how to style/pull it off though)

2007 FLASH BACK for MARQUEE - love the long zip-up jacket with the fur-trim hood, love those iconic yellow Belly Button boots (yes, that's really the brand name)

Getting away from MARQUEE, I just posted these but his outfit for S&R was actually kinda good? I do wanna beat him over the head for wearing shorts to meet Sakamoto Ryuichi but it's a cute look and I think he was smart to wear the brown frames instead of his black ones as they would've been too harsh. The detailing on the shirt and shorts goes perfectly, while I don't like high-top shoes on him in a broad sense these had cute contrasting laces and I like their suede look. More accessorizing with jewelry would've been great here but at that point (2012) he put away pretty much everything apart from the watches...

self vol. 1 (spring 2009) - this one doesn't go like super crazy or anything but I think it's cute and nicely put-together, here's another picture of it in better/natural lighting. Really like that T-shirt from FRAPBOIS

2013 CAPS LOCK - you could say this is pretty boring compared to the other examples here but I reeeally liked the weird keycap rings(?) and the not-insignificant heels on his oxfords lol. The fact that these are capris and not full-length pants also keeps it from being too stuffy and basic. (And once again wearing the same color for the top + bottom makes this sort of "seamless" look that in turn helps create an illusion of proportionality.)

2015 Downtown appearance - and now I'm going to throw all fashion rules about proportions/looking ~taller out the window because I loved this lmaooo, peak comfy outfit and makes me want to buy an oversized white hoodie so bad (I haven't said it yet but I think white might be his best color). Also I'm pretty sure his hair was professionally done here, it looked great.

Also 2015, the Keith Haring print sweatshirt over a button-up

Since I'm nuts I'm gonna keep blathering but now about specific pieces he's worn that I really liked (not a complete list by any means, just what comes to mind right now):

This baseball cap with the half of a stag rising out of it, he's f*cking crazy I swear to god (naturally he wore this because they shot these pics at Hanjiro which was a clothing store with a particular sense of décor)

Bomber jacket at ageHa last year, I love stuff like this with that sort of mirror-like sheen (it's kind of iridescent but not quite) and the cut/style of it was good

I think way too often about this reversible jacket he wore on a karaoke date with Kyary. Up to that point I'd just seen him wearing logos and boring all-black semi-athleisure stuff for years so this was a pretty crazy statement piece

Speaking of random pieces that live rent-free in my head, I really want to know the brand of this sweatshirt from the 2019 album announcement, it's sooo weird and just, like, interesting

The blazer for WAVE RUNNER was shockingly cute, no comment on the rest of the fit or the wonky Photoshopping though (god their artist photos are so hit-or-miss)

The Jeremy Scott F/W 2007 hoodie of course

Studded bowtie

Uniqlo crossword puzzle shirt

Not the best possible pic of this but I like this shirt with the studded suspenders detail, he wore this to RIJ FES one year

Do headphones count? Headphones count, this is my favorite pair he ever had

This jacket is one of my favorites of his, I wanted the same one so badly for so many years lmao

Honestly there's so much that I'm exhausted writing this list, I'm gonna stop with these pants and leave it at that

His style at its best is just kind of quirky, very very playful, obviously keeps to a grayscale palette but he has some surprisingly colorful pieces. His taste in jewelry was pretty awesome too, he had some interesting rings I was a big fan of but I'm too lazy to go find pics (there was a Hello Kitty one, a giant star, a cow's head...).

In conclusion I think they share a lot of similarities in their style and I would kill for either of them to have ever released a ~style book (sadly the timing for that has long passed and the demand was probably nonexistent in the first place). Some people also may be wondering why I completely ignored their looks from pre-2006/the future pop neo whatever era and the simple answer is...IDK, it's not that I hated their styling back then (well, it was pretty rough sometimes), it was just more costume-y and as a result sort of inauthentic in a sense. They were also frequently styled by other people during that time; their own personal style and/or Nakata's styling had a much greater impact on my teenaged brain as far as influencing my tastes. But Toshiko wore the '60s silhouette and boyish sort of hairstyles extremely well and the contemode hair/makeup girlie Miyagawa Tomoko always did a fantastic job.

Whoever actually read this far is clearly very interested in this topic so if you want to feel free to message me your own favorite capsule outfits and whatnot. I know Toshiko particularly had some crazy colorful/weird dresses she's worn in the past that I didn't mention here lol

[barxlupin]

Ted Geisel

NAME: Ted Geisel

ALIAS: Theodore Geisel (birth name)

GENDER & PRONOUNS: Demiboy (he/they)

ORIENTATION: Pansexual

AGE: 20

BIRTHDAY: March 2 (Pisces)

BIRTHPLACE: San Diego, California, United States

RESIDENCE: Yokohama, Japan

HEIGHT: 169 cm

FACECLAIM: Shin (Amnesia)

AFFILIATION: Bar Lupin

OCCUPATION: Artist, Errand Boy, Barkeep-in-Training

FAMILY: Audrey Geisel (creator mother, deceased), Dr. Seuss (creation pet tuxedo cat)

PERSONALITY: quiet, shy and introverted at first glance, he's a curious soul, always eager to learn new things while having a healthy dose of caution about potential dangers, although he has been known for doing something more reckless from time to time, if it's necessary (or simply for the heck of it). Don't let yourself be fooled by his innocent demeanor, he's quite clever and has a well-hidden mischievous streak.

ABILITY: Cat In The Hat - an Ability which lets Ted bring to life the 'whimsical animals' he's known for drawing in his sketchbook, a prime example being his animal companion Dr. Seuss, a talking tuxedo cat with a top hat and bow tie his Ability seems to be named after; all of his creations act like an extension of him, he's able to see and hear through them and if they get too damaged they'll melt into a puddle of ink and return to his sketchbook. It's actually just a facet of his actual 'Ability', Design of Death, which lets Ted turn into his 'original' form, an ink-like substance that can turn into anything he wants; the reason his 'fake' Ability works is because he draws using his own ink, which he has total control over.

BACKGROUND: Ted wasn't born, so much as he was created by his 'mother', a lonely woman who longed for a child to care for. Ted grew up loved, even spoiled, if a bit sheltered and isolated. He was unaware of his origins until the day his mother told him on her deathbed, begging his forgiveness and wishing for him to go out and explore the world, using the last of her strength to pass her Ability to him so he could keep living even after her death, passing on not long after. Saddened by her death, but grateful for the gift of life she'd given him, Ted set off to explore the world, making money by selling his drawings and working as a book illustrator. His travels eventually brought him to Yokohama, where he decided to settle for the time being, finding a job at a local bar.

[shuaestheist]

a gift from me to you

characters: joshua, mingyu + vocal unit (seventeen) summary: behind the glamor and the fame that comes with being an idol, there are horrors lurking. word count: 1,533 genre: psychological horror content warning: depictions of stalking, creepy behavior, possibly triggering inspiration: the various cases of idol harassments in japan.

I'm Jisoo, one of the members of the vocal-centric band TWENTY, active in Korea and Japan.

Like many idols, we have eyes trained on us on almost every second of the day. We are held under the scrutiny of the public, standing on a pedestal of perfection that we needed to maintain. Korea had exposed me to a bunch of sasaengs that left horrid gifts that they think that me or my members would adore, and the culture that the idols are solely for the fans — hell, even the greatest fell once their jig was up. Like Junhui, an extremely famous idol from a rival company — he was basically a persona-non-grata in Korea, along with his bandmate Myungho, after media revealed that those two were dating. Fans were outraged and demanded for the two to be booted... which they were. Poor guys.

But Japan... Japan is a whole different breed.

Handshake events, closer crowds and more passionate people — Japan was truly an idol's terror. The market was made to sell love and affection to fans, and with Japan's notorious nature of awkward, individualist millennials who reject settling down or are having a hard time finding love. And if you don't provide it... your fans might resort to violence. I mean, it was mostly the female idols that had experienced some form of violence from overzealous, obsessive fans, but we cannot be too sure.

We're in Japan for the entirety of a month, promoting our Japanese single Pinwheel. Like Japanese idols, we held handshake meetings — including the one today. Fans flooded to our event, which warmed my heart. These people with sweet smiles gave me various items such as those cute character fluff hats that are made to make the wearer look cute, fanarts and literature dedicated to make us feel special, little snacks for us to munch on, as well as flash drives that contained special messages or compilations of messages that we can look at during our free time.

Now, usually, Jeonghan or Jihoon gets the majority of these cute gifts. They are the face and visual of our group. But unexpectedly, I got some gifts as well. Dare I say it, I was one of the least famous members of TWENTY, often taking small lines in the background and the occasional lead vocals or low belts. So to be loved and recognized as much as our representative members truly warmed my heart. Person after person, they handed me tiny presents and the flash drives I had said earlier.

Even more unexpected, more male fans came to our event today. Males of various ages came to the handshake event and gave us gifts as well. I could remember the boy with thick rimmed glasses and a gummy smile that gave me a well-preserved, first press copy of a Naruto manga. I loved anime and manga, which he probably learned. I gave him — Seungcheol, was it? — a bright smile and a happy note thanking him for the gift. The other was a tall, handsome lad with sunkissed skin. He wore an awkward smile as he tugged at the sleeves of his sweater while I signed his album. After I signed it, he handed me an inconspicuous black flash drive, his head cast down.

"Please watch this when you’re alone, Jisoo-san," he spoke with a low voice as I held the other end of the flash drive. Immediately after he said those words, he let go of the stick, grabbed the album and sped out of the event. Pretty fucking weird, but I guess he's either late for another meeting or he's just... extremely awkward. Nonetheless, I tossed the item into my pile of fan gifts before tending to another fan.

After the event, my members and I made a beeline for the hotel. We took a quick shower and met up in Jihoon's room. I brought my laptop with me, seeing as we were going to watch some of the contents of those flash drives given to us. I myself had brought some that were given to me, probably a handful? I knocked on his door, placing the laptop down on his bedside table when I was allowed to come in.

We ate a meal, drank a bottle of soju or two before collectively plopping onto Jihoon's bed and opening my laptop to view the files on the flash drives.

Some videos were sweet, with heartfelt messages, while some were amusing as they danced along to our more dance-centric music like Moonwalker where Seungkwan and I rapped. Others read poetry that they made for us, while others were filled with fanedits of every member or their preferred ships. All of these earned a good fill of tears, admiration and laughs from all of us.

As the cherry on top of the files we were showing each other tonight, the guys urged me to play whatever was inside the flash drive that the tall guy gave me. I rolled my eyes at their teasing but relented. I plugged the flash drive into my laptop and only a single file was inside: a video entitled “a gift from me to you”. "Hyungie's got an admirer, it seems," Seokmin jested. I elbowed his stomach and laughed afterwards, clicking on the video to see just what's up.

The video was dark, barely illuminated by the low light landing on a male body — perhaps of the said tall man. The light was probably located below the camera lens, if the angle was anything to go by. "Hi, Jisoo-san. My name is Mingyu," the familiar voice of the boy from earlier flooded through the speakers. "I'm a big, big fan of yours and I wanted to give you a little present — a dance cover of Lucky. I'm sorry if it's sort of dark... I couldn't really adjust the lighting or I'll get caught." he — Mingyu — continued. "Caught by his mommy?" Jihoon, ever snarky, commented with a snort. I merely pinched him and watched the video as the familiar tune of Lucky started.

It feels like I had pinched myself instead.

As Mingyu on screen began to dance, I sobered up. The guys were laughing at the meekness and the sheer awkwardness of the dance, but I was stunned silent. "Ya, Joshuji, what's wrong? Drank too much?" Jeonghan poked my arm. "J-Jeonghan-ah..." I said, my voice trembling as I gripped the sheets.

“He’s in my hotel room,”

The rest of the guys fell into silence as their eyes squinted, trying to peer at the details of the room Mingyu was in. To his left was a replica of Van Gogh's Irises, an observation that Jihoon picked up when he went into my room to borrow headphones a few days ago. Behind him, to his right, was my luggage strewn open on the floor — I had unpacked halfway on the day we arrived before I accidentally fell asleep due to jetlag. And as he moved to the side — a usual position that I take when we dance as a group — I was visible, laying across the foot of the bed, sleeping soundly with my face directly in front of the camera.

The sound of raucous laughter was replaced with that of silence. I was quaking from where I lied, on Jihoon's soft bed. Mingyu was inside my room. My hotel room. That... that truly terrified me. What if he had other plans? What if he wanted to kidnap me, to torture me, to kill me?

Before I knew it, I was being held in Seokmin's arms, trembling and crying while Seungkwan stroked my back, while Jeonghan and Jihoon called our manager to tell him what was up. The guys insisted we sleep in Jihoon's that night, the others opting to take the couch rather than leaving the said room. Seokmin, Jeonghan and I slept in the bed with me in the center, while Seungkwan slept on the couch as Jihoon, the night owl, opted to keep guard and wait for updates from the management.

The very next day, the manager rushed us in packing and we headed back to Korea that very morning. A press statement to the Japanese media was organized by the management, citing that Pinwheel promotions were to be cut short due to the alarming incident that had happened. From then on, digital files were banned from being given as gifts to us — including CDs, DVDs, flash drives and other similar storage units — in any fan-immersive events.

We were beelined back to the dorms, where security was upped. For months after the incident, the guys took turns sleeping in the room that I had previously occupied alone. They were much too scared to leave me alone, which touched me and had proven to be useful. They held me and comforted me as I struggled through months of restless sleep, having either insufferable insomnia or terrible nightmares due to the sheer terror of his presence in my Japan hotel room. It took a good one to two years until I overcame the fear, and I was able to sleep in my room alone again.

Since then, I haven't heard from Mingyu.

And I hope I never would have to.

[dinosourcookie-cliodelon]

That one Loud House April Fools special episode but it's Balan Wonderworld cast instead (Part 1)

Haha yes. (Wait it's not April Fools tho, I just did it for fun) A bus would stop in the middle of the street and our main protagonists; Leo and Emma steps out of the bus. They were both wearing a coat, sunglasses with a mustache and a hat. They then hide behind a dumpster, then in a tree (Which Leo accidentally falls out of it). Emma: (asks in a worry tone) You okay Leo? Leo: (gives a thumbs up to Emma) Yep! I'm okay! Emma: (sighs in relief) Right, anyways... (pulls out a scooter and jumps off from the tree and rides it to a local highway) Leo: (does some athletic moves while following Emma)

The two would then arrive at their location. Emma: (stops the scooter, looks around and turns to Leo) Alright, Leo. This should be the right place. Leo: (nods to Emma and makes a bird call) Ca-ca! Ca-ca! The 12 inhabitants including Lance (except Balan) would appear from their hiding spots while in their disguises as they heard the bird call. Jose would then walk up to the two while holding his shovel to make sure that it isn't Balan. Jose: (asks in a slowly and with an affected deep voice) What animal does Mary have? Emma: (answers with an affected deep voice too) A lamb with the fleece as white as snow. That made Jose realize that it's just only Emma and Leo as he turns to the others signaling it's not Balan as everyone (except for Leo and Emma) sighs in relief and removes their disguises including the main protagonists. Jose: Oh, good. It's really you Leo and Emma. Are you sure Balan didn't follow you two? Emma: Definitely. We took four different buses! Leo: (adds in) Plus, I've got my friends to do some surveillance on him! Meanwhile at the park, the people and Balan were watching Leo's friends dance performance, but little that Balan didn't know that Leo's friends were monitoring on him to make sure he doesn't do anything suspicious while dancing. Now back to our friends, shall we? Lance: Great! Now let's get down to business. April Fools Day is tomorrow, and we still don't have a plan to stop Balan from pranking our butts off! So, who's got an idea? Iben: Oh, my husband said we could hide in the basement of our house, we just have to watch out for the rats...and the dusts. Sana: (unimpressed at this) You're really selling it, Iben. Fiona: There's an island off from Japan. (pulls out a map and shows it) You can only get to it by swimming or a boat! (smiles proudly) Eis: Sorry, Fiona, but I don't think we have enough money to buy a boat or... Haoyu: Pending some grant money, I could build a boat for us to get there but it might take me some days to do it, unfortunately. Attilio: Or we could stay in the amusement park until April 2nd! Bruce: Why don't we all just ask Balan to stop, but like, really nicely. Everyone frowns at their useless ideas. Lance: (puts his hands in his face) Ugh, maybe this is hopeless! We'll never defeat Balan! Then a movie producer would appear. Producer: Excuse me, but do you guys mind? We're trying to shoot a movie here. (shoos them away) Everyone walks away except for Cass. Cass: Yes, everyone! Out of the shot, please! (poses) Okay, I'm ready for my close up! Producer: Sorry, little girl, you need get out of the shot, too. We're filming a dangerous stunt. Cass: (sighs in disbelief) Oh, okay... Cass walks away as well. Director: And...action! Inserts some action filming scenes in here. (I'm too lazy to do this). Director: Cut! The stunt would recover from the crash, and removes his helmet. His appearance is almost similar to Lance. Cal: Oh good heavens, that guy can really take a breathing! Bruce: And would you look at that, youngsters! He looks just like Lance! Lance: (sighs) Too bad I can't just hire him to take all of Balan's pranks for me... Everyone (except Lance) stares at him. Lance: I wasn't being serious! But that gives Leo a plan. Leo: Aha! I got it! But, Lance, maybe that's the perfect plan! We hire a bunch of stunt doubles to take all hits for us, and we get off pain free! Everyone talks it over and agrees to the plan. TBC Alright Ima make part 2 next if everyone loves it!

[takostacos]

About 2 weeks ago or so, my father passed away. Because of this, I began a more than a week long marathon of packing and heading home from Japan and then driving 2000+ miles to Missouri. Oh, I also had covid, which was actually the easy part. (I didn't travel until recovered and not contagious)

Coming back to Missouri has been.. challenging.

This has been a trip of revisiting old trauma, unlocking memories that I had forgotten, learning things about family that I'd probably rather not know, and finding out that at least a couple of family members are much more supportive than I thought.

In a way, it's good that this happened before I'm further in my transition. I can easily guy-mode as I only have small buds and a slight change in curve/muscle.

I learned that one of my brothers is much less supportive of me being trans than I thought. He used some very mean spirited slurs towards me that do not bear repeating. I worry that the bridge has burned, despite me reaching out. I worry for his relationship with his fiancée, as I don't think she agrees with his position.

Returning for the funeral and seeing some aunts and uncles, but not many of my father's old friends really hit home how he was likely faltering in his ability to control the narrative around himself except with those that were long distance.

I had to hold up his lies one last time, despite telling myself in therapy that I would never do that again. It was hard to determine what version of my father people knew. The churchy preacher? The hardline red hat type? Only his younger sister knew the real him, maybe hia brother that didnt come, but sent flowers..

Though, I couldn't keep it up forever, so a few more now know the abusive, lying, mean person he usually was. That everything was transactional. Love, care, everything was a voucher that he would later cash in or use for further gaslighting or abuse.

I also learned that one of the last bad situations he'd been in was likely not a lie, his side of the story was likely the truth, and no one believed him. If I feel bad about anything for my father, it's this specific thing.

On the other hand, I have been playing "find the hidden loaded guns that his grandkids could have found" for a week now. I'm up to 3. I think that's all of them.

He also had 2 cats that were not planned for. His dogs were at other homes to be taken care of when he passed, but no one was caring for the cats.. I made sure they were calmed and fed/watered and eventually got them to the humane society to keep them healthy.

Cleaning up this dirty, awful house after growing up being abused mentally and physically for something as simple as leaving out a couple water cups in the sink as a child has been a major flip for my brain.

There's nearly nothing worth passing on or keeping here. All the furniture was ruined by his dogs, he only ever got cheap junk or whatever the red-hat crowd media told him was "good". There's "survival" gear, but half of it doesn't work or is such bad quality it's just landfill waste at this point.

It's really odd finding some of my own things from middle school and high school still here. Despite this being my first time at this house. Erasers, sketch books with my pages cut out and filled with his or his late wife's notes. Nothing worth keeping, but lots of junk. Boxes and boxes of junk.

The house itself is massively settling. I have no clue how he got a mortgage for this place. We're talking with a lawyer that he was working with to handle that. We'll probably have to sell it at a loss or, hopefully, turn it over to the bank.

We hadn't talked in a few years except for him doubling down on being a prepper/irresponsible with firearms/threatening minorities if they "came for him".

I've had several one-sided conversations with him in this house since he passed. Mostly about all the hidden loaded guns he had around the house and how he had no clue how to take care of a gravity drain septic system.

A few times I have wondered "why did I even come back for this" but I'm glad I'm here to help my brother. Our other brother went home. I don't blame him, I just wish him well and hope he betters himself.

I look forward to going home and putting all of this behind me. Closing this chapter of abuse and putting it away so I can finally heal from it and move on.

[southkoreaandjapan]

Pearls, seafood and more pearls (of wisdom)

July 2, 2023

Well, you don't know what you don't know. Today we spent some time learning about cultured pearls. We visited an oyster farm that was started 70 years ago by our hostesses' father. At one time the family had many farms but now they have only this one and it is much more about tourism that oysters. First of all - the setting..

Two sisters - both in them 80s run - run the place and they explained to us the process of "growing" pearls. Fascinating.

In the early 1900s the biggest place for to find an abundance of pearls was the Persian Gulf. At that time the pearl divers were taking 36,000 oysters a month out of that area and on average they were finding 4 pearls. I know I make a lot of of typos - BUT those numbers are not a typo. Using the techniques we learned about today "seeding," that many oysters would generate about 28,000 pearls.

This "seeding" is unbelievably labor intensive and is a complicated surgery. We were told that they wait until the water temperature is cool and they remove the 2 year old oysters and implant the nucleus (The nucleus is a small ball made from the mother of pearl of a Mississippi oyster. We did not find out WHY they use the Mississippi oyster but to no avail - but who cares.). This operation mimics the action of a "parasite" drilling through the shell, so the oyster is actually fooled into believing an intruder is inside. Thus, the oyster's mantle will cover the implant and then, slowly coat it up with layers of nacre.

After the implant the oysters are returned to the water. Between 20-30% of the oysters die after the implant - FYI. Now that is in the sister's set up using these tools...

Reading a little more about massively large pearl farms that seed in a operating room setting the survival rate is much greater and some oysters are seeded with 2 nuclei.

If you would like to see the process - here is YouTube about the it from Sea of Cortez - not Japan - but the process is the same:

After we learned about the process - we each got to open an oyster and find our pearl. Below is my pearl:

After the oysters are 3 or 4 years they are collected and the pearls are harvested and sorted and sold in bulk.

The colors reflect the color of the mother of pearl of the oyster. Not all are round, some look like tadpoles (3rd section, bottom row) and some have blemishes.

They do not sell the meat of the oyster but use it for fish food or fertilizer. (That is a lot for freaking fish food and/or fertilizer.). We got to feed the fish. Check out the colors of the tiny fish. Pufferfish were eating the bulk of the food.

After we found our pearls we went to their little store and some of us have new jewelry.

For lunch we went to another fabulous bay to talk to some women divers and to eat a lunch they prepared for us.

It was a quite incredible experience. We took this path along the bay until we reached a shack with a charcoal fire awaiting lunch preparation.

The two women - both in the 70s had been divers since they were young girls. This job is for females. They dive every day for scallops, lobsters, octopus, clams, squid, etc. - whatever is in season. They row their boat to their location of the day, throw out and anchor and tie a basket to their waist and dive in. They sell their catch to the locals at the market.

They wear hats and shirts and white pants while diving to make themselves look bigger to any sea creatures that might want to eat them (sharks).

Later that day we saw a demonstration of these baskets and divers. They swim with a piece of metal with a hook at the end and that is how they harvest mollusks they cannot just pick up.

I can't forget to tell you about our meal - AMAZING!

This was quite a meal.

Swimming earlier today and then on the plate. Marvelous!! Mackerel, scallops and clams - just to start.

The diver/chefs were so friendly and funny. One told us she cannot put on weight no matter what she eats and it is a problem. The other told us she would put on weight if her diet were air and water. They were delightful.

From there we headed back to our hotel and went to the Mikimoto Pearl Island Museum. It was there we saw the demonstration and learned a great deal about the "making" of cultured pearls.

Back at the hotel the guys headed to the onsen and I took a nap!

Later we made paper cranes and let me say they are MUCH harder to make than they look. Ken-san was a saint! Everyone left with a paper crane.

Mark looked way better than mine....

Dinner was phenomenal!! In a private room - we had this....

So here is what we had...

And here is what that said...

Ahhhhh - technology! The meal was one of the best we have had - and THAT my friends is saying something!

Stay tuned. Tomorrow we head to Kyoto - by way of Nara.

[cassandraclare]

Hey Cassie, hope you're having a good day

Can you talk a little bit about international publishing? I think it's very interesting and sounds bureaucratically scary

I was wondering about how it would be like to try publishing a book somewhere else without having it already out in your home country (assuming the material is in the language of the target country, so no translation needed, just standard revision & editing)

xxo thanks

Ideally, when you get an agent (and I very much recommend getting an agent), they will work with with either 1) a foreign rights agency or 2) what are known as sub-agents, meaning agents in foreign countries who do the work of both representing authors in those countries, and also foreign authors whose work will be published in translation there.

For instance, I have a foreign rights agency that works with my agent. When I am selling a book, they take that manuscript and bring it to publishers overseas, and to international book fairs, and they sell to publishers in France, Brazil, Japan, Thailand, etc — every country where books are published. You don't really have to do anything, which is pretty nice. I recommend you keep track of who is publishing your books where and have relationships with your foreign publishers, but you don't have to learn thirty-six languages or anything. :)

I would not recommend writing a book in English, or whatever your first language is, and then trying to translate it into another language in order to sell it: publishers like to use their own translators. If, like Nabakov, you are a master in more than one language, you might be able to work something out, but only after they buy the book, not before.

If you want to handle it all yourself I can't advise you but only take my hat off to you because it sounds terrifying. :)

[jerseydeanne]

I always thought she was more of a Fergie and less of a Wallis there’s no way in hell she be a 20 something virgin Diana who had mass attention and love and adoration 😇I will never say a nice thing about this woman not one nice word she’s evil and ugly she doesn’t work as a royal she doesn’t work as a politician she doesn’t work as an actress this woman is so flat she’s selling secrets it’s what they call sellouts leakers no one wants a route to be around this woman who can’t keep shit to her self doesn’t work😂😂 I mean she’s insane like fergie

Love you JD

Max😇😍😘

I agree with you.

Smeg wants to be all of the above and wants everything fast!

However, she won't jump onto the Fergie train that's beneath her.

This is the longest relationship MM has ever had, and I know she is itching to get out of it as soon as she is done beating the dead horse.

Narc never let go of their conquests, She doesn't want him, and nobody can have him.

Whether you believe in children or not, she will use them as weapons.

I do believe there are children; However, they got here.

In the divorce, she really doesn't want kids, but MM will make BRF pay dearly.

I can't wait for the visit to the UK, and then we will judge for ourselves. It will be like Prince Charles and Diana visiting Japan.

Hold on to your hats, and don't forget to laugh hard.

Love you, Max, 💖💋💋🤟🏻🤣