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toko-writing-imagines · 4 years ago

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V3 girls reacting to their s/o giving them a bouquet of flowers

This is more so a random idea that popped up in my head but it's a cute idea so why not write it out

Might do the other female casts from the other games if this one is well received (if not I'll still probably do it cus mm,, cute girls)

SDR2 version | THH version

【Kaede Akamatsu】

• Kaede was backstage after finishing up her amazing piano recital

• Since you were obviously her s/o, you were able to go backstage to see her before she went out or when she finished

• So you had the amazing idea to surprise her with a bouquet of flowers once she finished her recital

• And thats just what you did!

• You bought her a bouquet of her favorite flowers with a cute written notecard that said "Another amazing performance by my amazing Ultimate Pianist!"

• She was so happy when you surprised it to her, you have no idea

• She gave you a lot of kisses and when the two of you got home, cuddles!!

• Now the flowers sit beautifully in a colorful vase on top of the dresser in the bedroom, being taken care of everyday

【Kirumi Tojo】

• You decided to surprise her with flowers since Kirumi is always working so hard

• It's pretty easy to tell that being the Ultimate Maid wasn't easy at all

• It was one of those very rare days where Kirumi was able to take a light break and go over everything to see if she just so happened to forget something (she obviously didn't but an excuse is an excuse)

• You saw it as a perfect opportunity to surprise her with the flowers

• When you did show them to her, telling her that she didn't need to work so hard for everyone else and to just take care of herself once in a while, she smiled

• Success!

• She gives you cute peppered kisses as a thank you

• She waters and takes care of them everyday to make sure they never wilt

• Give her more flowers! She loves them a lot and always loves taking care of them

【Himiko Yumeno】

• She needed flowers for one of her magic shows

• So you got her a bouquet of them!

• A very pleased little mage

• She decided to split them up, using the ones needed for her show, and the rest for her hat

• She somehow gets them to stay on her hat without falling so now her mage hat is cutely decorated with the flowers you got her

• In addition, she puts a spell on them so they never ever wilt and stay in perfect condition

• You were glad the flowers weren't real anyways

【Angie Yonaga】

• Ahah! Her s/o strikes again

• You wanted to surprise her with flowers since Angie somehow hit some sort of creator/art block

• She was painting random things on a canvas when you decided to surpise

• She loved the flowers you got her!

• In reward, she gives you a playful kiss and also does a painting of the flowers

• She needed the inspiration, so she was extra happy that her s/o is her muse

• Will gift you the painting since you gifted her both the inspiration and flowers

• Now the painting is hanged up in the bedroom and the flowers sit in a handmade clay pot in Angie's art lab

【Miu Iruma】

• Honestly you didn't have much of a reason to gift her flowers

• You just wanted to do a cute romantic gesture

• You left the flowers on her desk in her lab, with an added bonus of a small box of chocolates

• When she found it, she freaked

• And I mean it when she freaked

• Miu basically ran over to you with blush across her face and gave you so so so many kisses

• Heck she'll probably end up making you some sort of invention

• She slightly sees this as a competition now

• Will probably brag about her golden brain and how she can always top your gifts with her inventions

• You don't take it personally and let her have her fun in this now made up competition to see who can give the best gift

【Maki Harukawa】

• You'll be lucky if you really even get a reaction from her

• Or at least get to see it upfront

• You know Maki is not exactly one for receiving gifts, so giving her a bouquet of flowers was definitely a surprise

• Her reaction to receiving the flowers can go one of two ways:

• One way would be is that she doesn't exactly give you a reaction, thanking you in her slightly monotonous tone, and taking the flowers away

• She'll be blushing though once she starts walking away with the flowers

• The other way would be that she'll already be blushing by the sudden gesture

• All you can hear is a soft stuttered "Thank you" while you look at your now blushing girlfriend

• Will probably gift you something in return either way despite which reaction you do get so don't worry too much ^^

【Tenko Chabashira】

• A huge sucker for gifts!

• She's always showering you with some kind of affection, so why not do the same to her in return?

• And gifting her flowers was a great choice!

• She was a blushing mess when you held them out to her, giving her all kinds of compliments along with it

• Tenko was so happy she felt her energized than before!

• She gave you so many kisses, and with her being a huge cuddlebug, expect tons of cuddle after her training sessions

• She even puts some of the flowers in her hair!! It's like you are always with her now and she looks even more fabulous than before

• No one gets to touch them! Touch the flowers and you'll be down on the floor in pain in a second

• They are special flowers to her, so no one but you and her get to touch the flowers

【Tsumugi Shirogane】

• A lot of fake flowers

• You often gift Tsumugi fake flowers because she'll usually need them for her cosplays

• But that doesn't mean she doesn't appreciate the gesture!

• In return you'll usually get kisses and get to try on her finished cosplay outfit with the flowers if you want too

• Sometimes she'll steal a few and wear them! Most likely just in her hair or incorporate it on her regular outfit

• But when you surprise her with a bouquet of real flowers, it takes her a minute to collect herself

• She turns into a slightly blushing mess and would try her best to take care of them

• The flowers sit in her lab so she can look at them whenever she's working on her cosplays

• But you'll probably get a bigger bouquet of flowers in return from her since its only fair

• And that's what people do in the animes right?

❀•°•═══ஓ๑♡๑ஓ═══•°•❀

Yayay I got something done! I wonder how many people will bother reading this since this post is longgg-

Also we are slowly on our way to 100 followers! I'm so happy people like my blog enough to follow it ^^

Please send in requests if you have any! If you want to message it to me instead than please do that, but let me know if you want to stay anon or not!

also totally unrelated but what does it mean to kin someone cus i wanna do kin list for danganronpa but the whole kinning thing confuses me-

~ Mod Toko 💜

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littlemixnet · 3 years ago

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Jade Thirlwall on Little Mix babies, learning the art of self-love & her first foray into the world of beauty.

As she releases an astrology-inspired eyeshadow palette with Beauty Bay. “I suppose I've got quite a hectic life – or had quite a hectic life, before lockdown," Jade reflects as we chat on the phone one (surprisingly) chilly end-of-September morning. “But lockdown gave everyone a chance to reflect and think about their priorities – and so I’ve come out of that experience with even more of a drive and more of an ambition to achieve all of the things that I want.” Outside of music? For 28-year-old Jade Thirlwall – one third of record-breaking girl band Little Mix – making moves in the beauty industry sits high on that list of priorities. “Whenever we do videos, I’m always the one that sends mood boards to the makeup artist and I’m like, ‘Ohhh we should try this look and we should do this eye,'" she laughs. So teaming up with Beauty Bay to release a 42-pan eyeshadow palette inspired by her passion for crystals, spirituality and astrology (who knew?) seemed like a natural step. "I knew that together we could create my dream palette, something which my fans can use to create out of this world of lewks.” Speaking from her London apartment, Jade is relaxed, open and oozing with passion – for her life in Little Mix, her personal life and her upcoming beauty ventures alike. And not to mention: very happy the weather is turning, so she can roll-out her autumn-appropriate palette on post-lockdown nights out, pronto. “I’m a Northern winter girl. I like the cold. I like feeling snuggly. Yeah. Summer is not my vibe to be honest.” I love beauty – always have done from a very early age. This is a bit of a throwback, but I did a makeup course at college back in the day, so I’ve always had a love for makeup throughout the years. I think Little Mix have tried every single thing you can think of when it comes to different looks and trends. I think it’s known amongst my fans particularly that I love experimenting with colour. And I love the whole glam of it all and all the different eyeshadows. Every time I do a shoot or a video it’s a chance to do a different look – and I’m very versatile when it comes to that. So yeah, it felt like once me and Beauty Bay started working together, they are known for doing the best palettes, so it seemed right. Over the past couple of years especially, me and the girls have started delving into more of the things that we’re individually passionate about or into whilst working together, and it has been really lovely. We’re obviously really supportive of each other’s ventures, and I suppose it gives the fans more of a chance to see what we’re into ourselves. And it gives people that don’t really know a lot about Little Mix or about us individually, it gives those people a chance to be like oh, actually… so Jade is into this sort of thing and Leigh likes this sort of thing and Perrie is into that and… yeah. It has been lovely, and I suppose the last sort of year and a half has given us all a chance to reflect and think about the things we want to do on our own as well as in a group. I’m at a point now in my life that I’m definitely so comfortable in my own skin. I know exactly what works for me. I’m not afraid to try new things and experiment with colour and stuff like that. I think as someone who loves art and stuff in general as well it just sort of lends itself well. It's an art form to me, makeup, and expressing yourself that way is really amazing. So it felt really right [to collaborate on an eyeshadow palette with Beauty Bay]. I suppose lockdown – it has given everyone a chance to gain a better perspective of all the things that they're into. The best version of myself in terms of makeup is just elevating my natural beauty. I think everyone should do that! I think when I first started out in Little Mix and as a teenager, makeup was worn as a mask to cover who I really was, if that makes sense. And as I’ve got older, I’ve realised that it isn’t a mask; makeup is more of an expression of who you actually are, and it’s not to cover yourself up. It’s to elevate yourself. And so, now, whenever I do a look, I don’t tend to cake it on as much as I used to. I do things that accentuate my features already and don’t try and hide it. I think my go-to makeup on a night out or something is just a classic bronze-y beautiful eye. That’s my go-to because it suits my skin tone and I feel like nobody can go wrong with a lovely golden bronze-y eye. And that’s definitely in the palette. I think this palette was an opportunity to show everyone a bit more about myself that may be they didn’t know – like my love for crystals and healing crystals; my spirituality which is definitely something I’ve become more and more passionate about over the past few years. I needed something that kept me grounded and kept me well, mentally and physically. And so, spirituality became a part of that and I’m obsessed with crystals. My mam is obsessed with crystals and so that was one of the first thoughts when making the palette was incorporating all of that. And so, that’s kind of the original inspiration. I feel like the palette – it was important for me to have something for everyone, because I’m well aware that some people don’t like experimenting too much or some people love having loads of fun. So when I agreed to do this with Beauty Bay, I wanted to make sure it catered to every kind of person and every different skin tone. No matter how much you want to be adventurous or not, it’s all in there. I always have crystals with me wherever I am. Certain ones are catered to certain aspects of your life or what you need in that moment. I’ve labelled a couple of shades in the palette after my favourite ones – tourmaline is my favourite, which wards off any negativity. I think no matter how much people believe in it or not, just from a psychological perspective, for me, it’s all about grounding yourself. I think it’s really important to get rid of any negative energy and constantly keep the positive coming in. I suppose I don’t really have a specific religion so I use that as a means to believe in something greater than me and that works for me. There have definitely been a lot of changes in my life recently. A lot has happened. Obviously me and the girls are a three – two of the girls have just had babies so there's been a lot of change in my life. I’ve met someone, fallen in love, and all of that soppy stuff, so – yeah! It definitely feels like, more than ever, a lot has been happening all at once. But it’s so exciting and as we’ve said before, lockdown gave everyone a chance to reflect and think about their priorities and think about things they really want to focus on. I’ve come out of that experience with even more of a drive and more of an ambition to achieve all of the things that I want to achieve and be there more for my family and friends – and obviously go out more and wear more makeup! 'Cos I’ve spent a year and a half in the flat with nothing on and lounging around so it has been nice to start glamming up again. The other girls are loving being new mums, honestly they’ve taken to it so well. I always knew they’d be great mams, I went to see Leigh last week and met the twins who are so beautiful, they just slept the whole time – but you know what, it was so weird because all I’ve ever known is being round the girls and it being us and just us. And for the first time it's actually dawning on us that they’ve had children – actually seeing them there in front of us, like they’re real; it wasn’t a prop. I feel like because of all the music videos we’ve been doing with them pregnant, I don’t know why but in my head I kind of just didn’t think it was real or like – every time we’d been doing a music video we’d base it around their pregnancies, so every character we’d play in a music video would revolve around them being pregnant as well so it was almost like a fun little act that we were doing. So seeing Leigh and seeing the babies was like, “Oh, they’re here and they’re perfect and you’re a mum now and you’ve got to do this.” But I’m so proud of them and they smashed the pregnancies. They were absolute Queens, working hard – and they had each other which I suppose really helped them. It’s amazing. I am hoping to see Perrie soon and be the best Auntie I can be. I’ve never thought about comparing myself - it’s not me, it’s everybody else. It’s other people around me that try and put that pressure on me, I don’t know if being in a group dynamic has may be meant that I’ve got used to comparison and so it doesn’t effect me as much. Everyone’s in different places in their life and sometimes it’s assumed that I should feel, ‘cos I’m a woman, that I’m behind and I should feel a certain type of way that I’m not at that point in my life yet… But I’m so unbelievably proud of where I am at in my life and what I’ve achieved and my career. I’ve got an amazing boyfriend, I’ve got amazing friends and family, and I’m a businesswoman –why would I feel left out?! But it's interesting… like every interview it gets asked like “Are you feeling broody?”, and I’m like “No, hun! Are you?! Do you want me to ask you if you want to have a child or children?". Like, it’s quite a personal question, isn’t it? So it has felt a bit invasive at times… I think that everyone moves at different paces and I’m happy with mine. If my beauty cabinet was on fire, there are three things I'd save. Obviously I’m going to say the palette because I’ve put far too much work into that to let it burn, so that has got to come with us. I feel so proud looking at it – when I see Jade on top of it and I open it and it’s all shades that I’ve named and it’s all colours that I like – there’s no way I’m letting that go up in flames. So that’s coming with us. Then I’d say maybe just a classic nude lip, I’d have to grab. Because I feel like if you’re having a no makeup day, as long as you’ve got a bit of a nude lip on and nothing else, you’re sorted – do you know what I mean? And then finally… third product… may be a brow brush? Which I never thought I’d say but brows are so big now aren’t they, hun? They’re a priority. As long as they’re brushed up and they’re all in the right place then we’re good. X-Factor Jade would've saved three very different makeup products. A fuchsia pink lip, a massive lash… and, what else… brows just weren’t a thing to me then it’s so wild to me like the change in trends and stuff… maybe a lip gloss or something? But I mean, back then, especially for us girls, I think makeup artists got so excited at the thought of a new girl band that anything went. It was just throw anything on our faces and hope for the best at that point. It was a hot mess. But it was also of that time, like pop stars were really doing the most – like you had Katy Perry… it was all really colourful wasn’t it? Nicki Minaj… all these artists who were doing like really bright bold makeup looks and the eye colour would be very different to the lip… and y’know we’d have feathers on our eyelashes. It really was throwing the kitchen sink in so we’ve definitely learnt to mellow down over the years for sure. In ten years time, I’d like to still be performing with the girls. We’ll be doing something together. I’ll have built more of my empire. Maybe more beauty things and more other things I’m into like art and my businesses up North. As it stands, every year I get older I get more confident in myself so I’d like to imagine in ten years time I’ll be at a place where literally no body is going to affect me when it comes to self-love. And maybe I’d be helping to support another girl band by that point as well. It’s getting a bit lonely out here. We need more. So, yeah – I’ll be helping flying the flag there, I suppose.

#jade thirlwall #jt: beauty bay #article #4oct21

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teruthecreator · 4 years ago

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THS IS A ROBBERY 🔫YOUR ROLESWAP LORE!!! HAND IT OVER 🤲if u want 2 :)

just took my melatonin bc i have to wake up at 4:30 AM to drive 16 hours to my mother’s so i’m sorry if this becomes derailed but uh. here’s the roleswap lore! or, at least, everything i’ve decided (along with matthew and corinne bc the three of us tagteamed on it)

gonna chuck it all under a readmore bc this is going to get long

so first off, just gonna run out in front and say i have no idea how this fits into graduation plot. i haven’t gotten that in plot consideration, given their character differences in comparison to their canonical selves. so, for the most part, it’s a lot of background establishment and character traits. but i do have a few plot bits that i’ve figured out bc i thought it was cool. why such a long preamble? i don’t know. help me

fitzroy maplecourt:

first off, he’s not called sir!!! because he doesn’t go to knight school!

my idea for his backstory is that the way he decides to grapple with his identity crisis/imposter syndrome (which he definitely Still has) is that instead of becoming a grander, larger than life version of himself. he just. goes the opposite.

not necessarily becoming a degenerate (bc he just smokes pot and that’s not bad he’s just vibing)??? but more just like. leaning into the laid-back nature of life that one might pick up from a lifetime in rural country.

he goes to a liberal arts school a ways away and just decides to bum around and take life not seriously. he develops a pretty large group of acquaintances being a hippie stoner; he doesn’t really pursue a degree either. i think if he picked up any major it was probably like. an art major or an english but he basically fails most of his classes bc he doesn’t care!

unlike his canonical counterpart, fitzroy doesn’t mind being called nicknames!! ones i think he has the most are fitz or roy, but basically you could call him anything and he’ll respond. that is because, instead of clinging to the concept of his identity bc it’s the only thing he feels he has, his identity is nebulous!! he doesn’t understand it and it scares him too much to be concrete, so he just lets people decide shit about him for him.

his personal philosophy is more about floating through life and letting people assume shit about him than having a solid personality and backstory that people understand and recognize. it is a more dissociative way of having an identity crisis! how fun! he also barely talks about his past, and what he does talk about are cherrypicked points of his past that fit his narrative of being a casual down-to-earth hippie

the moment that this all changes is when order decides to pop in and grant him powers!!!! wahoo!!!! here’s how that happens:

he’s baked out of his fucking gourd in his dorm room, in the spring semester of his junior year. he’s alone (which is rare) and he’s maybe a little sad, but he decides to just ignore it. he looks at his table and laughs. “hehe, what if this table just. blew up?” he says to himself. it isn’t that funny, but he laughs. then he lays his hand on the table.

the table blows up.

after that, he has magic!!!

i’m going to go into detail a little bit later about how fitzroy’s magic manifests in the roleswap universe, but i wanna get through the backstory first. basically, he gets really freaked out after his magic comes to him because it is So New and Wow What and What The Fuck.

he realizes that this new addition to his character Completely changes how people who know him would perceive him (as a bum stoner chill guy), and he can no longer have control of his narrative with this magic business. so he drops out!

well, he actually just transfers. to a school far, far away where people will never know who he was and he can rebuild his narrative with this magic incorporated into it. he chooses wiggenstaff’s because he figures the school would have more of a knowledge of magic than his libarts school, which would mean he could understand why the fuck weed gave him magic (sidenote: it wasn’t weed, obvs, but he thinks this so for a while he doesn’t smoke!)

he is now the chill hippie of wiggenstaff’s!!! most people like him because his personality is fairly easy to digest; some people think he shouldn’t be there, but he is! he starts out as a sidekick and he would’ve honestly been fine with that forever, but then he’s suddenly thrust into the hero track!!! wow!!!! i will also explain this with the magic.

but yeah!! that’s fitzroy, for the most part. now we’ll move onto the other boy

argonaut keene:

he actually prefers if people call him argonaut, but he’s less likely to correct people than canon fitzroy Or canon argo. he’s a tad bit shyer in this universe!

argo’s backstory pretty much follows the same idea of his canonical background, but with some key differences that shape him into the character he is in the present!

basically he still grows up on shebrie’s ship, surrounded by crewmates and the salty sea air. but his fascination with the sea doesn’t manifest into this swashbuckling lifestyle that he has in canon.

what fascinates him more is the ship itself. how it functions, how water wears down wood, how directional currents can affect navigation. basically, he becomes invested in the sciences part of sealife more than the pirateering. he has special interests in marine biology, but his heart remains in nautical engineering. figuring out ways to make the ship run better, faster, and more efficiently consumes his childhood thoughts!

shebrie encourages her son’s craving for knowledge with tomes and books from all over the world about anything related to engineering and nautical things. he’s homeschooled, basically, but he becomes rather intelligent within a few short years!

and then, well....shebrie dies. yeah we aren’t escaping that finality, sorry folks. that part of canon Still Applies.

after shebrie’s death (coughMURDERcough), argo is. traumatized! and he makes the decision to almost entirely sever himself from his life on the sea. it’s all too painful to look back upon--the times he spent studying with his mother in the captain’s quarters, rattling off dolphin facts as they sailed onward, dreaming of turning gears as the ship gently rocked him to sleep--and so he just decides to throw the whole thing out!

he can’t ignore his lifetime of education, though, so he continues to pursue it. with the remainder of money his mother left behind, he enrolls himself in a boarding school of science and technology, with plans to continue study in Only engineering. no more nautical Anything on his roster.

eventually, when he is old enough and graduates high school, he roams around...trying to figure out what to do. he doesn’t have enough money for college, so he can’t continue his scholarly efforts yet. he works around, job-to-job, city-to-city, and just notices how...delayed everything feels. like society is suffering under this slow pace towards innovation.

and that’s when he decides his next course of action. if he were to discover the root of some problem and engineer a solution, he would be famous! he would gain notoriety and praise and--and all the things his mother had as a captain. but he would have it on his own, separate from his mother, and separate from his past.

he figures out his next course of action: attend a school that will give his prestigious enough marks to be accepted onto a research team, find a problem, solve it, help the world, maybe earn a little bit of that credit and respect that would make him feel like he was doing his mother proud.

the thing i want to emphasize here is that argo’s take on helping the world comes from that morality that canon fitzroy has. canon fitzroy wanted to be a knight because he wanted to fairly and justly instill ideas of “good” and “bad” onto the world. roleswap argo has a similar moral sense, but instead of establishing rules he wants to fix the “bad” and make it “good” in a technological/scientific sense.

the only school argo can think of that can get him that kind of notoriety is wiggenstaff’s. getting onto the HOG board would mean he’d have access to countless resources and be respected by a large audience, which would give him the opportunity to make change happen. even if he’s only a sidekick On Paper, what matters is that the diploma would give him the ability to Apply to the HOG. so he drafts a carefully worded letter for a scholarship and achieves a full-ride!!! epic

like fitzroy’s magic, i’m going to break down argo’s relation to the unbroken chain after i get through backstory stuff. but trust me, I’ve Thought Of It

argo sort of blends into the background at wiggenstaff’s. or, he would, if his roommates/friends weren’t so Fucking Out There. fitzroy is enough to make him always be visible, but even the firbolg’s massive frame means eyes are always on him. which makes him nervous!! he doesn’t like the attention (as opposed to his canonical self, who revels in it for the self-esteem fuel) his insecurities manifest more in what he’s Doing rather than what he Is, mostly because his identity is barricaded by a wall of trauma repression

he’s still plenty funny and witty, just quieter. also he’s a lot Meaner than canon argo, at least to me. because if you irritate him he Will just completely shut you down with words. motherfucker doesn’t bark but he will most DEFINITELY bite

that’s their backstories, for the most part! in terms of how they interact together:

as established, they meet prior to wiggenstaff’s on a tinder date (during the grace period of argo working odd jobs and fitzroy about to be granted immense fucking power) and end up casually dating during the course of their wiggenstaff education. argo is a nervous goober and fitzroy just likes making him blush. it’s very cute.

fitzroy is still less inclined for the romantic than argo, who remains a steadfast absolute romantic internally. fitzroy still holds a lot of the self-doubt and distrust that canon fitzroy has, only it manifests in him not taking anything seriously! which means when he catches Feelings feelings he basically freaks out

argo still falls in love really quickly, only now he’s more conflicted about it because being in love means trusting and trust means communication and communication means Oops Years Of Trauma Are Being Unloaded Uh Oh!

now i’m going to touch on the big points that i find really interesting: fitzroy’s magic and argo’s relation to the unbroken chain

fitzroy’s magic:

chaos is not the being that grants him magic. it’s order!

my take on what this means for what deity is on what plane of reality is that chaos is more Needed so they are the one that is physically On Nua, while Order remains in dreamscapes because they are already a constant amongst the tangible world. yes i know this directly contradicts the reasoning for why theyre Supposed to be where in canon, leave me alone i’m having fun.

my reasoning for this switch is because chaos stands to be a contradiction to everything canon fitzroy has going on. he has a very strict, nailed-down understanding of himself and the world. everything he thinks is in black and white, bold statements, no questions, he follows rules and obeys the law. untiiiiil chaos gives him magic and shocks him out of that complacency. they lean into his inner impulses and that rage he’s kept locked deep inside. they allow for magic to Explode out of him, rather in calculated bursts or with intent.

which is why order is more fitting for roleswap fitzroy!! because fitzroy, in this world, has less of a concrete grasp of himself and the world. he purposely lets himself be nebulous and goes with the flow. thinking of the future in real terms is not something fitzroy Does, he has no plans and that’s Fine. order seeks to give fitzroy a backbone, to put it simply.

his magic doesn’t go impulsively out of him. it is calculated--it comes with thoughts and intentions. the reason it surprises fitzroy when the table blows up is because he didn’t think his thoughts or wants would amount into that, but that’s what order is trying to show him. that his intentions matter. that he matters and he has to Think and Focus and Be Here.

i’m still not sure if his power would manifest as lightning??? because the imagery for the lightning works perfectly for canon fitzroy because of the random power of lightning strikes. but for roleswap fitzroy it’s more like...thunder. like Purpose. thunder happens because of a reaction--it comes with intent. if differing air temperatures collide, it creates thunder. that combination is purpose + intent equating in magic.

i think that part needs word bc like. how would one quantify thunder?? i think fire might also work really well because the idea of a controlled fire. like things have to Happen in order for fire to start, it can’t just appear like lightning can.

order’s manipulation relies more heavily on the concept of boosting him up as a savior/hero, rather than boosting his ego and desire for power. fitzroy Has no desires in roleswap world--he’s just there. but when he gets put on the hero track, now he’s suddenly been given purpose. and order uses that to be like “wow, look at all these people who rely on you! look how important you are! don’t you want to use this magic for good?? to do good?? start a war with a demon come on pussy :-)”

OH YEAH also he becomes a hero in this universe (like in terms of tracks) because of the fact that it directly contradicts how he views himself. for canon fitzroy, it was showing him how much more he is capable of without the restrictions of morals (i.e, king fitzroy). but roleswap fitzroy doesn’t Have an image he wants to bolster! he doesn’t think he needs it and, frankly, he doesn’t care for it. the hero tracks carries with it all these stereotypes and expectations that now directly contradict his personality--thus showing him he is capable of more.

okay now for argo’s business jesus christ this post is so long and im NOT EVEN DONE WITH ALL THE POINTS I WANTED TO MENTION

argo’s relation to the unbroken chain:

so since roleswap argo has less of an association with his past (and, by extension, the memory of his mother), he is less inclined to join the mysterious cult that his mother was a part of.

moreover, he doesn’t necessarily believe the shit he’s told??? he’s way more skeptical of jackal than canon argo is--immediately questioning why and how jackal knew his mother, and constantly trying to poke holes through his narrative.

generally speaking, if you try to talk to roleswap argo about his mother or his past, he Shuts Down. like completely. and that usually results in him snapping at you or just clamming up completely. mostly he just gets really snippy and angry because Hey Shut Up Dickhead I Don’t Want To Talk About It

a part of me still isn’t sure whether or not argo would take the unbroken chain up on their offer. but i also know that, plot wise and character arc wise, it is a necessary part of argo’s story. so i think, at most, he agrees but is extremely hesitant and might even let fitzroy on immediately once he’s given the task of digging into fitzroy’s life

also, they’re boyfriends in this universe, so how could he Really keep it a secret for that long. come on jackal, you idiot, you know they’re kissing.

i think he’d Eventually warm up to jackal as a sort of father figure, but only after many nights of conversation and dancing around the subject of shebrie.

OH YEAH. this argo doesn’t know the commodore murdered his mother! important to note! he just assumes what he was told was true, that she sailed into dangerous territory and was ambushed.

during the tribunal bit If That Even Happens In This World, i think fitzroy actually is the one who figures it out Before argo. and once argo does, well............fuck!

OKAY last little bit, just gonna talk about some random extra parts of the world that i’ve thought of already:

in this universe, grey takes on higglemas’s identity instead of hieronymous’s!!! this is for good reason actually

okay so basically my thought was that, instead of whatever happened in canon yadda yadda dog time, hieronymous and grey are fighting and it’s a pretty evenly matched battle. there’s a cooldown moment where hiero thinks he’s safe but grey uses sneaky backhanded tactics to try and get the drop on him.

only higgs sees it in time and saves his brother, taking the hit himself. he collapses, extremely wounded, and hiero rushes to his aid. he’s cradling his brother’s body, trying to keep him alive, when grey approaches to deliver the final blow.

hiero is completely crushed and defeated and basically will let grey do anything to him by this point. the only thing he begs of is to let him live long enough to save his brother.

now, grey isn’t nice. let me make that clear. grey fucking SUCKS and the reason he agrees is because he wants a Real War with hiero and he can’t get that if hiero is basically like “if you let higgs die then you might as well kill me”.

so, grey agrees, and hiero ends up saving higgs by turning him into a cat. was supposed to be a temporary solution until he could find a better spell, but he wasn’t the magic guy in the duo. eventually, grey gets tired of waiting and decides to do some other shit. like turning the school the brothers have been running into a backalley place for demons!!

he takes the form of higglemas and leaves hieronymous locked in his office as basically a mascot. he’s like the queen and grey is the parliament--grey makes all the rules, but everyone assumes it’s hiero. faux-higgs is more on the ground, changing things and making the school a place more fitting for an eventual war. he builds up the concept of heroes and villains being Real, in the hopes he can sway some mortals to his side when he’s able to open a portal to hell.

hiero still tries to stop this from happening, but his pride and his self-image is wounded by what happened. he feels guilty and puts the blame entirely on him, instead of doing the whole cowardice route like higgs did in canon. he gets people to help him eventually, via mind control and all tht jazz.

also in this universe, buckminster is the one who gets birdified instead of leon!! has to do with my leon/buckminster and higgs/hiero narrative parallels that i’ve thought of for far too long.

firbolg is exactly the same in this universe. it is hard to swap three people and i didn’t want to think about him.

fitzroy doesn’t pick a grab. i think he’d rather a lizard, like a bearded dragon. he names him something stupid. like scaly. or kyle.

uhhh yeah!!! i think that’s....everything i’ve thought of so far!! lemme know if you wanna hear my takes on any other elements in the roleswap world!!!!

#taz graduation #taz sir fitzroy maplecourt #taz argo keene #roleswap maplekeene #ignorance cloud on #thanks em!!!!#sorry this is a mile long i had a lot to say #and now...i sleep!#jesus christ i have to drive 16 hrs tomorrow #help me :-)#ember360

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lveclouds · 5 years ago

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painting and boba (kth x reader)

a/n: hello angels!!!! so this is the first part of the maknae line’s bubble tea date drabbles! thank you all so much for giving this series so much love:((((( your kind comments make my heart warm and happy:(((( again, i am so incredibly sorry for the slow updates! school has been stresssing me out recently, but thankfully, it’s ending soon! i will finally be able to throw myself into writing once again and i am incredibly excited!! i hope all of you are staying safe and healthy during these crazy times and i wish all of you nothing but the best!!! my plan is to finish these drabbles and then work on my untamed au! also, i’m sorry if this is bad klsdjfklsdjf my negative one braincells are really kicking in

genre: fluff, tooth rotting fluff, college au, art major taehyung!, slightly cheesy (again, you’ve been warned)

rating: g (for all audiences)

word count: 100+

*notes: this drabble is dedicated to the chaotic heartsforbts discord gc as well as the hopeworld net gc!! i love all of you so so so so much and i am so glad that i can now call all of you my friends!! (sends a million kisses and hugs) also, there will some cowboy! tae sprinkled in bc why the heck not also he will be saying “yeehaw” bc again, why the heck not??? this is especially for my fellow cowboy tae enthusiasts hehe*

(in which you finally convince taehyung to teach you how to paint, on one condition: he buys you bubble tea. or where you demand bubble tea afterwards, as the process is quite time-consuming and tiring)

after months of practically begging your boyfriend to teach you how to paint, he finally caved, telling you to come to his dorm at exactly six a.m. on a friday morning. at first, you had hesitated at the aspect of waking up that early, on a friday, no less, but taehyung told you that he would only do this once, and so you decided that you couldn’t pass up the opportunity. he’d been hesitant to teach you, “because you’re impatient and art takes time and patience” he’d said, and you had pouted at him until he’d groaned in exasperation and gave in.

so, here you were, in an old shirt and a loose pair of sweatpants, your hair tied back into a messy bun at the top of your head. as soon you as you stepped inside taehyung’s dorm, he’d thrown an apron at you and told you to put it on.

now, a few minutes later, you were watching in awe as taehyung explained the process, gesturing wildly with his hands every few seconds to emphasize his points. you tried your hardest to concentrate on the instructions taehyung was giving you, but it was difficult ,especially when your boyfriend was easily one of the most stunning guys on campus. his wavy black hair was messy and unruly, strands falling into his eyes, and you resisted the urge to brush them away. it was unfair how stunning he looked, at six a.m. no less. his dark brown eyes were alight with happiness as he rambled on about the process of painting. taehyung also happened to be one of the most fashionable guys you’d ever met, and the outfit he was wearing today was no exception. he was wearing a plain white shirt with a tan brown vest thrown over it, complete with black pants that hugged his figure perfectly. needless to say, taehyung was definitely a sight to behold, and you couldn’t believe that he was yours. then, before you knew it, a paintbrush was thrust into your hands, and you were lightly shoved towards the canvas.

“w-what do you want me to do?” you asked dumbly. taehyung sighed. “i knew you weren’t paying attention.” you smiled sheepishly. “sorry, tae. i was distracted.” an amused look crossed over his face, the corner of his perfect lips curling into a slight smirk. “oh? by what, if you don’t mind me asking?” your face flushed scarlet. “n-nothing. just lost in thought, that’s all.” you mumbled.

taehyung chuckled, the sound like music to your ears. “whatever you say, angel.” he teased. “l-let’s just paint, ok?”

after what seemed like hours of painting, you gently placed the paintbrush on the little table beside you, sighing heavily. i didn’t painting could be this exhausting, you thought. “tae?” “hmmm?” he replied, looking up from the sketchpad he’d been doodling in for the past hour or so. “can we get bubble tea? there’s a cafe not too far from here.” he nodded, getting up from the stool he’d been sitting on and placing the sketchpad on top of it. “let’s go.”

a few minutes later, you and tae were tucked into a booth near the back of your favorite bubble tea cafe, sipping happily on your strawberry boba tea.

“so, what’s with the vest?” taehyung laughed. “what do you mean?” “i mean, what inspired you to wear it?” taehyung smiled shyly, his cheeks turning pink. “i’ve been watching old western movies recently. the cowboys look cool.” you giggled, ruffling his messy hair affectionately. “you’re so cute, babe.” taehyung’s blush grew deeper as he buried his face in his hands. “stop, i’m so embarrassed.” “it’s nothing to be ashamed of, tae. i think old movies are interesting. they may not be something i watch everyday, but i do appreciate them.” taehyung slowly removed his hands from his face, taking a long, slow sip of his taro flavored milk tea. “you know, i’ve always wanted to say this.” he trailed off, eyes bright with mischief. “”say what?” taehyung giggled. “yeehaw.” you nearly choked on your boba tea. “sorry, what? yeehaw?” taehyung’s smile widened. “yep.” “i’ve always wanted to say that.” you sighed. “i have the biggest dork of a boyfriend.” “but you love me.” “that i do.” you smiled, leaning over the table to kiss him softly on the cheek. taehyung could be a bit childish and a big dork, but those were just some of the many reasons why you loved him.

a/n: so this was taehyung’s drabble!!! i hope you all liked it!!! and sorry if the cowboy stuff wasn’t incorporated in well sjlkfdjsdkljfklds i tried ok and again, ty to the heartsforbts gc for always supporting me!!! ily all to the moon and back!! and special thanks to the hopeworld net gc, my fellow cowboy tae enthusiasts, i love you all so much!!!!

tagging: @suhdays @joonglows @kimcritique @taehyungsbby @kim-taehyung @sketchguk @yoonsgiggle @hueseok @softguks @kimtaehyunq @taesangels @btsrespect @onherwings @starlightstae @starlightseoks @honeylovecult @take-u-2-an0ther-w0r1d @outroshooky @tataehyungs @floralyibo @koosgrl @sweetheartjeongguk @vminsos @dylanxmin @swanqook @yourdelights @brilliantlybasicb @nahfamily @rcsescentkiss @jungtaeyoongles

#mine #heartsforbts #bangtanhq #networkbangtan #armysource #drabble

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delimeful · 5 years ago

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the shapes in the silence (8)

warnings: deceit (morally ambiguous), lying, arguing, negative thinking(lots)

Chapter 8

Apparently, ‘longest nap of his life’ meant three hours, because that was all he got before Patton came knocking gently on his door, snapping him out of a hazy nightmare in a cold sweat.

“Hey, kiddo!” He greeted, eyes suspiciously bright. Ugh, morning people. “We’re having a house meeting!”

“A what?” Virgil responded automatically. He, of course, knew what a house meeting was, but- “You’ve never invited me to one of these before.”

Patton had the grace to look sheepish. “Well, we don’t have them very often, and you didn’t… really want to talk to us last time we had one!”

Oh yeah. He’d been absolutely certain it had only been an excuse for them to all complain about him suddenly ‘moving in’, so to speak. It’d taken actually eavesdropping before he realized it was actually an argument over who kept stealing Logan’s jam. He was fairly sure Roman had only passed up on accusing the new ‘unfriendly neighborhood Dark Side’ because he was the actual culprit.

“...Sure, okay.”

He followed Patton downstairs, and found the others sitting already in their customary spots on the couch. Out of habit, he stepped towards the spot he normally sat as ‘Puff’, before remembering himself at a slight look of surprise from (still normal-sized) Roman. He propped himself up against the wall closest to Logan’s chair, not in the mood to loom menacingly by anyone who might be perturbed by it.

As expected, Logan ignored him completely. “Good. Now that we are all here, I believe we should address the situation regarding Roman’s recent shrinking episode.”

“Did you figure something out, Microsoft Nerd?” Roman asked, leaning forwards slightly. Virgil wondered how the nicknames had such little bite when they were directed at anyone but him.

Logan glanced at Virgil, but upon seeing no question about the situation in his expression, simply continued. “Currently, my hypothesis is that this size reduction happens to us due to the fact that we are incorporeal manifestations of a personality. For example, things like feeling overwhelmed or vulnerable might cause us to involuntarily shapeshift as a mechanism to protect Thomas or ourselves.”

He flipped a few pages in his notebook. “I believe that is why access to our normal functions is limited whilst in the reduced form, as well, which is highly inconvenient.”

That would really stress Virgil out if he hadn’t already mastered the art of driving himself into the exact mental state needed to trigger his transformation either way.

“As such,” Logan continued, “we need more information in order to find a solution. I believe Roman can help me test this hypothesis by focusing on aforementioned overwhelming thoughts to see if he can activate this reaction at will.”

“What? Why me?” Roman protested immediately. “Why don’t you do it, Specs?”

Logan gave him a condescending look. “Because I have no feelings, obviously. You are the only one we know of showing this symptom, anyhow. Our control group, so to speak.”

Roman groaned, and for a moment, his gaze flicked to where Virgil was standing, wishing he was in bed as they talked about stuff he already knew. He straightened up a bit, narrowing his eyes back at Roman. What?

The creative side pulled his eyes away without giving him any sort of answer, but Logan hadn’t missed the byplay either. He stared between the two of them for a moment. Patton blinked at all of them mutually, lost in the silent stare off. Slowly, Logan leaned back.

“If you’d prefer to do this at a later time-” He started, but Roman cut him off.

“No, it’s fine.” He stared at Virgil like he was trying to convey something meaningful with the words. Virgil stared back, catching exactly none of it.

A moment and a flash later, Roman was sitting on the couch, doll-sized. Patton made the ‘oh no, cute!’ face again, and Virgil couldn’t help but stare. He was so… small. He couldn’t believe Roman had let him pick him up at all, so much could have gone wrong-

“Oh, it worked!” Roman said, surprised. Logan hummed consideringly, already deep in thoughts he didn’t bother to share with the rest of them.

“Can you turn back?” Virgil asked, voice sardonic. Roman scowled imperiously at him, but very noticeably did not get any bigger.

“That part… appears to be more complicated.”

“Maybe try thinking about the opposite of what got you that size!” Patton offered, Logan nodding in agreement.

Roman didn’t seem as easily convinced, but he did close his eyes and make an expression of thinking very hard for a few moments. Virgil took the opportunity to go make himself a bagel. It went perfectly up until the toasted bagel popped up loudly, and Roman groaned, presumably at his concentration being broken.

“Anxiety.”

“What?” He responded through a mouthful of crunchy bread. “I’m hungry, I don’t have to watch you focus. You always figure it out eventually.”

It was definitely meant to be delivered dismissively, but a second later there was a loud clatter from the lounge. Virgil poked his head around the corner. Roman was full-sized again, and had knocked a cup off the table in the process. He squinted at the startled creative side for a second. This was the second time in a row that had happened after he’d spoken.

Was Roman fucking with him?

… No, Princey was too clueless for that. It was probably just coincidence.

Logan had taken it all in stride, turning to Patton and asking him to replicate Roman’s feat. Virgil took the opportunity to steal some of Logan’s Crofters and smear it over the other half of his bagel. Petty crimes.

Once he re-emerged, Patton was still the same size, midway through an apology for not being able to manage it.

“It’s quite alright, I have plenty of new information to look through. Oh, and Anxiety?” Logan called out, making him freeze where he was three steps up the stairs already. Could he seriously smell jam like a hunting dog?

“Have you experienced anything like this before?” Logan asked, and everyone’s gaze turned to him.

Great, it wasn’t about the jam. It was so much worse. There was no getting out of it this time.

“No.” He answered bluntly, and ignored the way the lie tasted sour in his mouth. “I haven’t.”

He looked away before he could see the mistrust form in their eyes, and retreated to his room. He hated lying to them, partially because it felt awful, wondering how and when they’d find out his untruths, but also because the more Virgil lied, the better of a grasp he got on the situation.

As such, it was almost unsurprising when he opened his door and found Deceit, standing in the middle of his room and eyeing his messy floor with distaste. He still felt his heart jump, though, looking over his shoulder as though the others would have trailed after him to witness the impromptu meeting. He slammed his door shut after him, already scowling darkly.

“What are you doing in my room.” He asked, flatly. Deceit gave him a deeply patronizing look.

“Oh, because I can totally just stand around in the plain sight waiting for you to get back from your little get-together. That definitely wouldn’t get me harassed by those naive idiots.”

Virgil gritted his teeth at the insult, voice coming out sharp. “I’m the one being harassed. I told you to leave me alone. Get. Out.”

Deceit raised an eyebrow. “Like you weren’t practically calling my name with all the lying you’ve been doing. Obviously, you know that even just hiding the truth counts as a lie. You’re clearly doing much better than a liar like me.”

“Shut up.” Virgil snarled, the shadows in his room curling around his feet. He clenched his fists, ignoring the feel of nails biting into his palms. “You’re just sour that Thomas still hasn’t noticed you, even after I split off and proved that Dark Sides can appear to him.”

“Oh, you’re so right. It’s not like I want to keep helping him without needing all that attention or anything.” Deceit smiled smugly, as Virgil worked his jaw. “You can’t play the villain forever, Thomas won’t still hate you and get hurt because of it. I’m much worse off, helping keep him safe by keeping him in the dark.”

“I don’t care if he hates me.” Virgil returned, ignoring the way Deceit’s lips thinned knowingly. “Thomas needs his friends, needs people, and if he goes down the road you want him to take, he’ll be alone and hated his whole life, and he won’t even know why.”

“Virgil, you’re the farthest thing from a hypocrite I’ve ever met.” Deceit offered, saccharine-sweet. “After all, you certainly wouldn’t know anything about being alone and hated, now would you?”

“Yeah, it’s my job.” He spat, furious. “I’m supposed to keep Thomas from feeling the way I feel preemptively, genius.”

He took a deep breath, trying to prevent his voice from slipping. “I knew what I was getting into when I revealed myself. Maybe you should focus more on your own role instead of nosing into my business.”

Deceit’s eyes narrowed slightly with irritation. “Yes, I’m definitely the one slinking about where I don’t belong. You’d never take advantage of someone’s trust under false pretenses, after all.”

Virgil bit into his tongue hard enough to make it bleed. Deceit smirked, as though he’d never been irritated at all. After a moment, the look smoothed over into something more contemplative.

“You are so obsessed with Thomas upholding society’s standards, so afraid of him becoming a bad person. But you don’t have anything to worry about. After all, you’re a reflection of him, and you’re so very selfless, aren’t you?”

Virgil recoiled as though struck, but there was no victory in the other side’s expression.

“You made the right choice. The others will accept you when you’re exposed. You won’t regret it.”

With that final condemnation, he sunk away, and Virgil was left alone with the silence ringing in his ears. He hated fighting with Deceit, hated that the man wasn’t above tearing at sensitive spots to get his own point across, hated the raw, cut-open feeling that came with it.

Most of all, he hated that Deceit was right.

He was just using the others, lying to them to assuage his own pathetic loneliness. He’d made his choice, he’d known he’d be surrounded by people who didn’t want him there. He’d known, he’d known, and it still never got easier.

The transformation was at the edge of his senses, only a grasp from shifting him, and for a moment he entertained the thought of letting it happen. Running back to them, curling up in the presence of Thomas’ best attributes until Deceit’s words were barely even whispers in the back of his mind…

Something clicked in the subconscious, and he let the errant dream go, sinking onto his bed. Thomas was making another video, and though it didn’t seem like he was going to be summoned this time, he still had work to do. He pulled up a screen of the scene through Thomas’s eyes, attention catching on every possible minor flaw, predicting the audience’s every possible reaction, determined to make the editing process hell so that only the best of Thomas was shown.

That was his job, after all.

#sanders sides #g/t #giant/tiny #ts virgil #ts roman #ts logan #ts patton #ts deceit #tiny dragon virgil #tsits #writing #my writing #the shapes in the silence #posting this early since ill be gone all weekend #taglist soon to follow!#deceit is both fun and hard to write...

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things2mustdo · 4 years ago

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Last year I gave up my Krav Maga self-defense training when I was in the middle of changing jobs. I never picked it back up.

While I stay quite busy splitting my time between my three main sources of income, last month I began to feel like something was missing. I was getting too comfortable with my daily routine– bored, too.

So I decided to start training in martial arts again, this time signing up for a Muay Thai gym. It’s already reinvigorated my sense of drive across other areas of my life. Here are the top 5 reasons you should start a new hobby today.

1. It breaks up your current routine

As humans we search for a sense of regularity. We often find it in our daily activities.

For example, my days typically consist of working from home in the morning, primarily on my computer, lifting weights, and then training a few clients in the late afternoon and evening. I enjoy this routine, but flying on autopilot has its dangers.

You aren’t as sharp. Everything is too calculated and expected. By training in Muay Thai every other day I have something new to look forward to. It also has changed my lifting routine, to accommodate for the added exercise and fatigue.

2. It pushes you outside of your comfort zone

When I stepped into the Muay Thai gym for the first time I didn’t know what to expect. It was a lot different than the place I used to train Krav Maga at– more serious, less friendly even.

The seasoned fighters looked at me with a sense of superiority. And they were superior. But rather than backing down, being nervous, and quitting after one day– I took this as a challenge.

I was far from comfortable training that day. I wasn’t able to execute crisp Thai kicks or jump rope like a boss. But being too comfortable can be a bad thing. You’ll cease to explore new opportunities and your growth with falter across the board.

By throwing yourself at something new, that you’re inexperienced at, you’ll be pushed outside of your comfort zone. This is a good thing. You must stay accustomed to living at the edge of your comfort zone to ensure steady growth and progress.

3. You’ll learn new skills

This point is obvious. By taking Muay Thai, I’ll learn a host of new fighting skills.

4. It gives you a new area to set goals for

The habit of setting and achieving goals is the most important habit a man can build. By entering into a new hobby, you now have a whole new area of your life that where you can practice setting and accomplishing goals.

For my Muay Thai experience I’ll start small. My first goal is to be able to execute a Thai kick with my left and have it feel as natural as with my right. I’ll work my way up to bigger goals as I improve.

This is the beauty of starting at something from scratch. At first you’ll set one small goal after another. This cycle will build momentum, and before you know it, you’ll no longer be a novice. More importantly, this momentum will carry over to other areas of your life and give you the confidence to crush more and bigger goals.

5. You’ll meet new people

Another obvious point. When you try something new, you’re bound to meet new people. Whether these turn out to be man friends or cute girls depends on the hobby you choose, but either way meeting new people is always a positive thing.

Potential Hobbies

I’ll leave you with a short list of potential hobbies for you to try today:

1. Martial arts/self-defense: Muay Thai, Brazilian Ju-Jitsu, Krav Maga 2. Cooking 3. Salsa Dancing 4. Lifting weights (you should already be doing this) 5. Yoga 6. Writing 7. Mountain Biking

Check out my new #1 Amazon Bestseller, The Book of Alpha. It’s full of direct, actionable advice for the man who wants to better himself.

Read Next: 5 Reasons To Learn Krav Maga

Krav Maga is a self-defense system created based upon the street fighting skills of Hungarian-Israeli martial artist Imi Lichtenfeld. He used it to defend the Jewish quarter where he lived against fascist groups in the 1930s. Later, in the 40s he moved to Israel and began to offer combat training lessons to what later became the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces). The IDF has used, and continued to develop the system to this day.

The basic principle of Krav Maga is inflicting maximum damage to the opponent(s) in order to end the fight as quickly as possible. Brutal counter-attacks using your most effective tool (knees, elbows, weapons, etc.) to target your opponent’s weakest area (neck, throat, eyes, knees, ribs, solar plexus, groin, etc.) are the focus. For this reason, it is not a competitive martial arts, like Brazilian Ju-Jitsu or Muay Thai, because people would die.

When I heard that Jason Bourne uses Krav Maga (which I later found out was, in fact, not true) and that it teach gun defenses (i.e. the most alpha technique ever), I immediately signed up. I just finished 6 months of training. It is indeed awesome. Here are the top 5 reasons you should sign up for classes today:

1. You will become a badass.

Nothing boosts confidence and testosterone levels like knowing you are legitimately prepared for whatever. Very few people have any formal self-defense or fight training. As a result, in tense situations where most people lose it, you will keep your cool. If something ever does go down, you’re ready.

2. It is practical and intuitive.

Most martial arts are strongly based in ritual, and as a result often incorporate different forms or strange techniques. Krav is different. Brutal efficiency is the only concern. For this reason, many of the strikes and defenses utilize the same basic motion (e.g. the straight punch and many of the defenses against punches and knives). Moreover, all of the techniques are built upon the body’s natural instincts (e.g. bringing your hands to your neck during a choke defense).

3. It is great exercise.

Between the drills themselves and the conditioning, you are guaranteed a hell of a workout. Three minutes of throwing punches or knee strikes is exhausting. So is three minutes of burpees. Side note: The level 1 Krav test was the single most intense physical event of my life. Seriously. Three hours straight of punches, kicks, choke defenses, and groundwork is no joke. I consider myself to be is great shape and I almost vomited on multiple occasions.

4. It relieves stress.

Sure, so do most workouts, but pounding a kicking shield, or throwing your partner to the floor is a whole different ball game.

5. It is the perfect hobby.

I came to my first class with no idea how to throw a proper punch. After a couple weeks I thought I was Jason Bourne. After a couple months I realized that I wasn’t. After 6 months I look back and I am amazed at the progress I made. Experiencing this progress is extremely satisfying.

Clearly taking up Krav Maga has many benefits. One word of caution – make sure you train somewhere with certified, experienced instructors. I have seen locations that turn it into a strictly cardio exercise experience, with little focus on technique – not good. So go take advantage of that free first class, now.

Check out my new #1 Amazon Bestseller, The Book of Alpha. It’s full of direct, actionable advice for the man who wants to better himself.

Read More: The Only 2 Things A Man Can Depend On

I was born alone and I will die alone. I’ve got to do what’s right for me and not live my life the way anybody else wants it.

– Curtis Jackson

If life were a board game, you’d be the game piece.

In reality, life isn’t much different from a game. There isn’t a defined end goal, however. You get to choose it. It could be power and respect. It could simply be happiness. Or it could be more specific: money or women, for example. Whatever it is, you choose.

In a board game there are strict limitations. In life, we’re encouraged to follow laws and social norms, but for the most part we’re free to do as we choose. There are infinite paths that will take you to any goal imaginable.

Along the way you’ll deal with many people. Some will help you, others won’t. You can grow to depend on the ones that help you, but that always incurs a risk. A family member can die. A close friend can betray you. Your girl can leave you. How will you react when one of these things happens?

Playing with others is a necessary part of the game. But never depend on them. Doing so will ultimately lead to failure and disappointment.

Accept that the only two things you can ever count on are your body and your mind– your game piece. You must tend to these things like a gardener tends to his plants. Focus on improving them and facilitating their health and growth and you’ll always put yourself in the best position to win.

If some tragedy befalls a dependent man, he may sink into depression. He might feel like he’s lost all hope of accomplishing his mission in life. He might give up.

A truly independant man, however, will not. He’s prepared, on some level, for each of these tragedies. He doesn’t have a specific game plan for when his best friend betrays him, per se. But he’s put himself in a good position, both physically and mentally, that he can weather the storm. Not only can he weather the storm, but he can keep his cool and make the fine adjustments needed to get the ship back on course.

Below I’ll offer the basic tasks one must do to protect his game piece, and see it thrive.

1. Your Body

If you take care of your body, it will be strong and healthy. It will also help foster a potent mind. Yes, there’s always the rare risk of contracting some form of cancer or another deadly disease, but if you follow the steps below, you all but rule these things out.

1. Eat good food

I won’t go into specifics, because everyone’s diet will, and should, be different.

But if you focus your diet around meat, fruits, and vegetables your body will flourish. Meat provides the protein and amino acids your body needs to grow. The fruits and vegetables provide the fiber and vitamins you need to function over the long run. A man with a solid diet will respond better to stress, and therefore be more self reliant.

2. Lift weights

In short, lifting weights develops a strong nervous, muscular, and skeletal system. These are the three main systems that run your body. An efficient body is like a strong ship– it will weather the storm better and be far more dependable in your journey.

The most brutally simple and effective lifting program is StrongLifts 5×5. It focuses on building strength across the five most basic movements humans are meant to do (squat, deadlift, bench press, row, and overhead press).

2. Your Mind

You must also foster a capable mind. One that can stand on it’s own two feet. The strongest body won’t accomplish anything without an equally impressive mind.

1. Read books

Reading a book is like absorbing another man’s lifelong wisdom. The more books you read, the more you’ll know and the wiser you’ll be. Blogs are okay, but the average quality of a blog post is decidedly lower than what you find in a book. People simply put more time, effort, and value into books.

The knowledge you acquire in books also contributes to your self reliance. It offers quality wisdom and advice– that can’t be taken away from you.

2. Meditate

Meditation is the act of being comfortable being alone. When you meditate, you remove all of the outside noise. All of the thoughts, gossip, music, news, women, men, business, sex– everything. You are left with only yourself.

Many men can’t stand meditation because they’ve grown dependant on all of this external stimulation. They aren’t comfortable in their own skin. And thus they’ve lost their edge, their self reliance.

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atlas-of-a-human-soul · 5 years ago

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Love me, love me not ~ pt.1

01: When Grayson meets Y/N

Summary: Y/N meets the twins, leaving a lasting impression on both of them.

Warnings: swearing, fluff, angst

Word count: ~ 2k

Love me, love me not ~ Series Masterlist

Grayson looked himself up and down, one last check up to make sure he was perfect.. as perfect as he could be. After all, he was about to meet a girl, someone who had the power to both make his career and destroy him entirely. To make the matters worse, she looked like an angel who had her wings clipped by the world and she was to be his companion for the next few months, at least.

He couldn't leave a bad impression.

"Ready, bro?" Ethan leaned on the door-frame, pressing his lips together as he gave his brother a pointed look.

"Just opened the gate for her." Ethan added, sighing as his brother kept up the silent treatment. While Ethan understood his brother's predicament and that this situation is far from perfect, especially to a romantic sap like Grayson, he lacked the feeling of guilt for giving him this opportunity. He had opened a door for him, the door he clawed at for a year now and hadn't made a dent, so yes, Ethan didn't feel even the slightest bit of guilt for getting his brother what he wanted, despite it being a less than perfect way. And yes, in this moment, Ethan felt grateful he chose college before acting, unlike Grayson who wouldn't even consider trying the academic way to his dreams.

"And you better get a smile going because she's doing us a bigger favor than we could ever do for her. You're the one benefiting here." Ethan glued himself from his position, walking over to the door he knew would be knocked on any second now, leaving Grayson to deal with his feelings a moment longer.

Ethan wouldn't let him fuck up.

And right on cue, Ethan was there just in time to open the door for her, moments before her fist connected with the wooden door.

"Oh, wow. Hi!" Ethan had seen her photos, many interviews and her previous work, but she never looked as beautiful on the screen as she did right before him. He stumbled over his words, secretly wishing he had gotten himself a sweet PR deal with her instead because he would love nothing more than a taste of her dark, pink lips - her signature lipstick.

"Sorry, I'm excited!" He offered a hand to shake, noticing her cold smile finally reach her eyes as if he had managed to melt a few inches of the iceberg inside her soul, even for a moment.

She gladly accepted his hand, her smile widening as he shook it vigorously.

"It's no problem really. I'm Mercy." She felt herself cringe with the use of the nickname they've pushed on her, trying to claim her as theirs - the public's doll for entertainment. But she figured it would be best if she kept her distance, after all, this was just a business arrangement...nothing more.

"Oh, Gosh, you're so nice." Ethan giggled to himself, certain he's completely red in the face and too eager looking. He had to reel his inner fanboy in and stop overwhelming his guest.

Y/N cocked her head to the left, eyes narrowing ever so slightly as she still held onto his hand, not minding the contact because the one thing you have to get used to in Hollywood is touching strangers, way too long and way past your preferred place. So, with that in mind, a hand-hold lasting a bit long because someone got a little excited didn't seem as bad. She's had worse.

"You're not Grayson." She stated plainly as if it's so obvious and unimaginably unmistakable to her.

It was Ethan's turn to realize he's still holding onto her slightly smaller, much colder hand in his for too long, but also to admire her observation skills. Not many people could tell them apart, much less when they've never met before.

"And you're right. And I'm holding your hand for too long, so I'm just gonna let go and go get my brother." Ethan smiles awkwardly, getting a nod on her behalf before letting her hand go - hers a little warmer than before and his a little colder. He walked backwards, sending her a weird wave, adding:

"Make yourself at home."

So, as Ethan left, nearly hitting a wall, Y/N looked around. First thing she noticed was the large wall painting right across from the door front, finding the blend of a cityscape and colors modern and appealing. That's until she gasped once her eyes found the expensive looking panther in the corner, scaring the life out of her.

In the meantime, Ethan had rushed into Grayson's room, finding him buttoning up a different shirt, a little sweatier than before and quite jittery.

"Bro, she's here! She's pretty and she's nice and her hands are cold!" Ethan listed, making Grayson stop, frowning deeply as he turned to look at his brother and the starstruck look in his eyes.

"Her hands are cold?" Grayson deadpanned, wondering what the hell is he talking about, and if his brother needed a good slap back to reality.

"Yes, Grayson, her hands are cold and you are always running warm, so go and charm her and hold her hands until they're warm." Grayson shook his head, letting out a heavy sigh as he nodded, refusing to keep questioning Ethan's sanity right now when his ticket to success was all alone in their living room. And apparently, her hands are cold.

"Take a chill pill, bro." Grayson whispered as he passed a crazed Ethan, feeling his legs turn to lead closer he got to where Y/N waited for him.

He tiptoed, stopping at the wooden barrier, silently watching her through the cracks. Never before had he seen the use in those wooden stacks between the hall and the living room, other than decorative, that is, but now he understood as it allowed him to take a quick peak and assess the situation without making himself too obvious and her too uncomfortable.

She stood with her back turned to him, her hand running along the shelves he built and always boasted about being earthquake proof. She wasn't overly dressed, not like most celebrities he had met. She looked almost...normal? Human? Something other than a pretty doll or a wicked witch the media painted her as.

"You know, I can tell you're there, right?" Her voice caused his heart to start an unhealthy pace, feeling it skip every few beats as if it's stumbling over itself.

"How did you know?" Grayson breathes out, stepping out and around the wooden mock wall, rubbing the back of his neck, hence showcasing his sweaty pits. She frowned slightly at the boy before her, taking in account that he not only scratched his neck and sweats like crazy, but avoids eye contact and talks like a frail old lady as well. He's nervous and jumpy and that's not what she needs right now. And while most people would tiptoe around the subject or ignore it entirely, Y/N wasn't the type.

"You're a mess and what I need right now is a man who can put on a convincing show and use his acting skills to make the public believe I'm an angel sent from above and that he's madly in love." She stated, her arms crossed over her chest and her eyes unblinking as she waited for Grayson to look at her.

Which he did, right after he tensed up as if she was a cold shower he desperately needed - blunt and unforgiving as the cold.

"Can you be that man or do I need to go somewhere else?" She asked, not blind to the way he had swallowed thickly nor how he gave her an awkward nod.

"Words, Grayson. I need you to say it and I need you to mean it." She insisted, placing her right foot a few inches forward, finding a balance to give him the proper scrutinizing look.

Grayson cleared his throat, forcing himself to keep eye contact with this girl who had an incredible presence, an undeniable charm and very sharp claws. Some women talk a lot and still don't say enough, but Y/N needs only to look you in the eye and you know exactly what's on her mind.

"I can do that. I will do that." He emphasized, making sure there's no mistaking his intent. He isn't the type to back down from a challenge and most certainly not one that would benefit him so greatly. His father always taught him to keep his word and never give empty promises. And he gave her his word already.

She smiled with his underlying promise, clapping her hands together only to clasp them and bring them under her chin as if to support the smile on her lips, as if she's not used to a simple, lighthearted kind - only the heavy, ice dripping smiles that had a particular effect on people. Some were chilled by it, others mesmerized, but Grayson? He saw through it, through her. That wasn't a smile from the heart, but one from her head and people who are ruled by their mind were always much more dangerous and calculating that people like him - people who trusted their heart.

"Great! So, I suppose you're familiar with the terms of our agreement?" She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, stepping closer to him with a raised eyebrow, but Grayson seemed oblivious for that step closer had lead her right into the one spot in the entire room the sun reached, giving her an ethereal glow and he finally understood his brother's erratic behavior - she looked like magic, like art - a true beauty, despite the lack of her usual glam she had in all her photos. She wasn't what he expected - a little colder, brittle like glass and perfection incorporated, just like one of those artifacts with 'Do Not Touch' signs placed in front of them. But glass is only brittle until it breaks, changing itself into something much more dangerous - something sharp and ready to draw blood.

"I'm fucked." Grayson mumbled under his breath, incoherent for her to understand, but clear enough for his heart to feel the pain breaking through time and space - all the way from the future. He knew he'd have a hard time saying goodbye when the contract was up, certain it would be as easy as breathing for her.

"Excuse me?" She interrupted his inner turmoil, stepping out of the sunlight and taking his warm hand into hers.

"Your hands are cold." Grayson stared at their hands, clasped together as if it's the only way it should be. He stared at the way her lips parted with that notion next, only to allow himself the gift of looking into her pretty eyes.

"They always are." She shrugged, trying to pull her hands out of his, awkwardly looking away only to look back with a sharp intake of breath once she found resistance to her attempt to create some distance.

"Think we should practice." Grayson mussed, smirking as her cheeks turned a shade darker, knowing he had made this doll blush.

"For the public? Plus, I promise to keep your hands warm." Grayson winked, carefully studying her face for any signs of discomfort, finding none but a blank canvas with dark pink cheeks matching her lips.

"Sure. I suppose it will do us good considering we need to go on our first date now." She offered him a shy smile, one so out of character in comparison to the woman-in-charge facade she put up at first and Grayson just knew...if he could only melt her heart, nothing - not heaven, nor hell Hollywood is comprised of, would keep them apart.

Tags: @xalayx @dolandolll @godlydolans @dolanstwintuesday @peacedolantwins @maybgrayson @nowheredolan @graydolan12 @beautorigin @justordinaryjen @starrydolan @pitreshawn

#grayson dolan #ethan dolan #dolan twins #grayson dolan x reader #grayson dolan series #grayson dolan fanfic #grayson dolan fluff #grayson dolan fanfiction #grayson dolan fic

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glasspopcorn · 5 years ago

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Choosing a present for any event or festivity is testing enough for many individuals. Baby shower blessing thoughts can be extra dubious in light of the fact that you are basically thinking about a present for two individuals, and need your present to be helpful and significant simultaneously.

There's additionally the ungainliness of giving a blessing that five different visitors choose to give too (baby showers typically end with the opening of endowments). However much as could reasonably be expected, you would need a novel present that the mother would truly have use for.

1. Shop on the Baby Registry

Numerous hopeful moms register at nearby stores before their baby shower. This helps visitors in choosing which presents to give; this additionally limits different blessings of very similar things, as should be obvious which presents have been chosen and which ones are as yet accessible.

A baby shower library is a classy path for the hopeful mother to pass on to loved ones what she would truly require right now. In the event that the baby shower you are going to has this vault, counsel it as you shop.

2. Baby Essentials

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Any mother knows the fundamentals for the initial not many months subsequent to conceiving an offspring: diapers, diaper wipes, covers, baby wash and cleanser, bottles, bottle cleaners, and garments. The mother would likely wouldn't fret getting a great deal of expendable diapers and wipes as this would truly help with the costs.

I know for me by and by, I can never have too many baby covers! It may appear as though you get a ton of them, yet once a baby throws up and it gets hurled in the hamper, that number lessens down quick!

On the off chance that you can't consider what to give the Mama-to-be, a sizable blessing crate of baby basics would consistently be valued.

3. Gift vouchers and Certificates

A few people discover gift vouchers and declarations somewhat crude, yet for hopeful moms, this would be extraordinary baby shower blessings.

You're giving the mother-to-be the opportunity to pick which supplies she despite everything requirements for the baby; indeed, on the off chance that you give a gift voucher for a baby store or other retailer, she can open every one of the blessings after the baby shower, make sense of what else she needs, and utilize the blessing endorsement or store card you gave. Everyone wins.

4. Baby Entertainment

With another baby in the house, Mama is going to require things to engage the little darling! Infant toys or melodic baby toys extraordinary endowments, just as light up toys are constantly welcome! Think "does this occupy a great deal of room? Could this music get irritating after the millionth time?" If the toy breezes through the assessment, at that point Mom will most likely love it!

A library of kids' books, or an assortment of well-adored youngsters' motion pictures and network shows, would be extraordinary baby shower endowments also. Works of art like Winnie the Pooh are constantly a protected decision!

5. Treats For Mom

She's managing such a lot of right now simply being pregnant, and will have much more on her plate once baby shows up, that selecting some uncommon things only for her is surely going to be valued!

Go-to baby shower blessing thoughts for Mama include:

Excessively decent cleanser/conditioner sets (Skip the air pocket shower stuff, she won't possess energy for showers!) Add a bamboo brush in case you're feeling extra liberal

Yummy scented candles

A cushy cover or robe

A container of her preferred wine (for after Baby lands obviously!)

Gourmet desserts (Selma's Cookies are my top pick!)

*Tip: Always Include a Gift Receipt

For showers without a baby library at a nearby store, you can likewise consider incorporating a blessing receipt with your present.

Thusly, the mother can trade your present for something increasingly valuable in the event that notably, what you gave has just been given by another person (or she just lean towards something else).

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comicgeekscomicgeek · 5 years ago

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Their Hero Academia – Chapter 25: Toshi Midoriya—Boyfriend, Student, Personal Trainer, Wingman

Presenting the latest raw and unedited chapter of my ongoing, next gen, My Hero Academia fan fic, Their Hero Academia!

All previous chapters (and an infrequently updated sub-series devoted to the past of the universe) can be found https://archiveofourown.org/users/zylly/works

Toshi’s hair was still slightly damp as he entered the Common Room. He’d started the morning early, as he always did, gone for his morning run with Katsumi and Kana Tetsutetsu, then returned to the dorm for a shower and then breakfast. Tetsutetsu had been asking a lot of questions about Haimawari, which he’d answered as best he could, though he really wasn’t sure what was up with that. Ah well, if it was important, he’d probably figure it out.

The TV was on and he could see that Izumi and Askuka were watching it. He could hear a little of it. “…truck driver found dead this morning, appears to have been murdered sometime last night with no sign of his truck. Local police are being tight lipped and have not yet named any suspects. However, the driver did work for a shipping company with numerous government contracts…”

Well, that was a little weird. But before he could think any more about it, he was interrupted by arms wrapping around him from behind and the feeling of something—no, two somethings—very large, very soft, and very warm pressing into his back. “Good morning, Toshi!”

We’re sorry, Toshi dot exe has failed and cannot respond at this time. Please try again later.

It had only been a week, but he still couldn’t believe that Sora Iida liked him. Liked him liked him. Enough that last Sunday she’d accosted him when he’d gotten back from his morning run to confess. And, well, she was pretty and excitable and all kinds of amazing things and he was pretty sure he liked her too. They were young and figuring this kind of stuff out was what life was all about.

He didn’t know if she was getting advice from Mika Mineta or if this was just her usual lack of regard for personal space amped up now that they were dating, but he was pretty sure only an idiot would complain about it. Even if she seemed to be moving kind of fast. Sora was… really physically demonstrative. And he wasn’t sure he should be complaining about that, but still, fast.

…He really needed relationship advice, but he was also pretty sure, based on the stories of them in school, that Mom and Dad were not the ones to give it, nor Uncle Shoto and Aunt Momo, or Uncles Kacchan and Eijiro.

Aunt Mina had always said that any of them could come to her with relationship advice too, but he was pretty sure that was a really bad idea. Maybe Aunt Tsu? She was definitely the most sensible person in his parents’ class that he knew…

Sora gave him another squeeze. He gave her hand a squeeze, before she relaxed her grip and let him turn around. She was taller than him by several inches, shorter only than Shoji and Koda. It puts him at an… interesting level in comparison to her.

Toshi grined. “Good morning, Sora.” He frowned, though, when he saw the bags under her eyes, in spite of seemingly brimming with energy. “How much coffee have you had?”

“Just three…ish cups?” she tried, hesitating as she sees his eyes narrow. “…From the big mug.”

“Sora,” he said, “we talked about this. Coffee isn’t a substitute for sleep.”

She crossed her arms and huffed. “And I’m just supposed to let all my good ideas go to waste!?”

“If it’s a good idea at 2300, it’ll be a good idea at 0800.”

“Now you sound like Father,” Sora said. “That is not proper boyfriend soundings!”

Toshi held up both hands in a pacifying gesture. “Okay, okay, okay,” he said. “No dad-ing. I promise. Just… maybe ease off the coffee, okay? I can’t boyfriend if you’re so exhausted you can’t think.”

“…Your statement is not without logic,” Sora admitted. “I will have to incorporate these new variables!”

How did Uncle Tenya handle Aunt Mei?! Toshi was in way over his head here!

***

“All right,” Mister Aizawa said, “settle down. Before we begin today’s lessons, we have something important to discuss. The Sports Festival and the work-study week that follows.”

Toshi stole a moment to glance at the back row of the classroom, where Haimawari sat. He’d been talking his friend up to his dad fairly frequently now, telling him about his drive and his amazing Quirk. With no heroic background and so many second (or greater) generation students in this year’s crop of first years, Toshi knew that most eyes would be on people with proven legacies and now newcomers to the field. Haimawari was a good guy and deserved whatever kind of leg up he could get. It didn’t hurt that he was exactly the kind of person Dad almost always picked.

Toshi just hoped the shock didn’t kill him when it happened.

“We’ve had heroic legacies in the Sports Festival before,” Aizawa went on. “But this is the first year where we have classes primarily composed of the children of active Pro-Heroes, including the majority of the Top Ten. Combined with the uncertainty surrounding the Quirk Virus situation… needless to say, the eyes of the world will be on this Sports Festival more than any other.”

He fixed the class with an icy glare. “I am certain your parents are planning something. I’ve already forbidden them from extending offers to their own children, so don’t think you’re going to coast by. But knowing them, they’ve already made arrangements to exploit the loophole in that. However, as your teacher, I have final veto power over whatever offers you may receive.”

His eyes narrowed. “If I catch any of you at the Sports Festival performing at anything less than your best, I will see all offers extended to you declared null and void. Am I understood?”

“Yes, Mister Aizawa,” Toshi mouthed, along with the rest of the class.

Aizawa seemed satisfied with that, nodding slightly. He briefly looked down at the lectern to consult a piece of paper. “Doc Clock has also asked me to pass on the message that if any of you try anything like what Deku or Shoto did at your parents’ first Sports Festival, she will refuse to use her Quirk on you and instead leave you to Recovery Girl’s care.”

A small grin of paternal pride traced its way across his face.

As for the Festival itself, Toshi wasn’t worried. He was good with his Quirk, though he knew he could be better. But that pretty much applied to everybody in the class. Of course, the variable nature of the middle round made things a little more complicated and there was always the possibility of something new… But there was no sense in getting worked up about it.

No, if anything, it was the Tournament Round that concerned him the most. What if he had to fight somebody in from the class? So many of them were his friends, practically his family. He wasn’t sure he could really go all out fighting them.

What if he had to fight Sora?!

***

Two weeks. That’s what they had to get ready for the Sports Festival. And Toshi was bound and determined to make the most of it. With Heroics Class replaced by free-training periods for those two weeks, they had plenty of opportunity. The chance to show his parents, show the world, just how good he could be.

Despite having a dad who was the Number One Hero and a mom who usually ranked somewhere in the low thirties, Toshi did not consider himself having to escape from their shadow. He’d known, almost from the moment he’d decided to be a Hero, that there would be plenty of people who’d think of him as nothing more than Deku’s kid. And Dad, as the Symbol of Hope, was a standard no one could hope to match up to. They could only do like he did, and follow Dad’s example, and give it his best.

Toshi probably wasn’t going to be the next Number One Hero… but he was going to be the best Hero that he could. And he was going to help his friends be the best that they could be too.

Which was why he’d taken some time to help Haimawari and Shota, in one of the dojo-style training gyms. Both of them had great Quirks… but neither was the best physical fighter in the world. Haimawari relied on speed and zooming around, while Shota tended to rely on the raw power of his Quirk when fighting. Nejire had also managed to take Haimawari out rather quickly when she and the Laughing Man had attacked them during training, though that might have been from the speed and surprise as much as anything else.

Toshi got that. He was used to using his Quirk to bounce around, rapidly shifting from low to high gravity to bounce around and then hit like a freight train. But he also knew how to fight without it. Straight up brawling techniques from Dad, Gunhead-Style martial arts moves from Mom.

He brought up a hand, palm up, and moved his fingers in a “come and get me” gesture. “Okay, guys,” he said. “Two of you against one of me. No Quirks. Let’s do this.”

Haimawari rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. “If you say so, Midoriya…”

“Kaaaai-yaah!” Shota let out a non-supersonic scream and rushed him. Toshi easily sidestepped his purple-haired friend and gave him a small shove, knocking him down to the mats.

Haimawari was slightly more cautious, throwing a few careful punches that seemed more designed to test him that to actually connect. With his long arms and legs, Haimawari actually had pretty decent range. If he could get a little power going behind them, he’d be pretty effective.

Toshi tossed off a jab of his own, probing Haimawari’s defenses. He missed and Haimawari actually managed to take him, striking him in the face with a blow.

He instantly pulled back, even as Toshi was seeing stars. “Oh, oh, no, Midoriya, I didn’t mean…”

Toshi just laughed. His opinion of Haimawari as a fighter obviously needed revising. “Why didn’t you tell me you could hit like that?”

“That was awesome!” Shota piped in, none the worse for wear in body or spirit from his tumble. “Only people I’ve seen hit Toshi like that are Kirishima-Bakugo and Tetsutetsu!”

Haimawari looked a bit embarrassed, chuckling nervously. “It’s nothing, just something my dad taught me, that his mentor taught him. From, ah, from when he was doing a neighborhood watch kind of thing.”

Something about the way he said that made Toshi think there was more to the story, but he didn’t really want to press it. It wasn’t like he wasn’t privy to secrets that he wasn’t allowed to share.

“Seriously, though,” Toshi said. “I thought you said you didn’t know how to fight without your Quirk.”

Haimawari laughed nervously again. “More like… I don’t want to? I don’t like the idea of hurting people, especially for something just like showing off like the Sports Festival. Guess what I really need is psyching up.”

Toshi punched the palm of his other hand. “Okay, mental conditioning. We can work on that.”

He looked over at Shota. “You… on the other hand…”

Shota looked a little embarrassed. “Yeah… I might need a little more help. Dad says it wasn’t until Uncle Shota started mentoring him that he really got any kind of good at fighting.”

“Well,” Toshi said, “I’m no Eraserhead, but I’ll do my best…”

***

Fortunately, it got better from there. Haimawari was better than he’d expected going in, even after that first punch. There was a lot of wildness to his punches and kicks, but even without his Quirk, he was fast and had plenty of reach. If he combined that with his Quirk, getting in a few hits and then getting away, and repeating that, he’d do great against anyone with a short range Quirk.

Getting Shota to actually think about his moves before going all in was really the hard part, and once he got past that, it wasn’t too bad. He wasn’t going to be as good a fighter as Uncle Hitoshi was, but at least he wouldn’t be breaking his hand if he punched somebody at the Sports Festival. And they still had two weeks.

Shota was bent over, hands on his legs, struggling to breathe. “I’m okay… I’m okay… I’m pretty sure I’m okay… The room was always spinning, right?”

“Take it easy, dude,” Haimawari said, guiding him over to one of the benches and helping him sit down. He got Shota’s water bottle and handed it to him.

“Small sips, Shota,” Toshi told him. “Don’t overdo it. You’ll just throw up.”

Shota reluctantly complied; Toshi could tell he’d been ready to guzzle it. “This… gets… easier, right?” he gasped.

Toshi nodded. “Eventually. We’ll try and do a little endurance work too.”

“Don’t know if I’ve said it, but I really do appreciate this, Midoriya,” Haimawari said, taking a drink of his water. He was sweating and breathing hard, but not nearly as badly as Shota. He was actually in pretty decent shape, probably because his Quirk was more of a physical one. But he was built like a runner, not a brawler, so what he could do was a little different.

“Happy to help,” Toshi replied. “We’re all in this together, after all.”

“Not worried I’ll take your spot at the Festival? Me and Dad watch it every year… it gets pretty competitive.”

Toshi waved it off. “Nah. I’m gonna do my best, you’re gonna do your best, that’s all that really matters.”

“How do you think it’s gonna go, Toshi?” Shota asked, no longer panting. He looked a healthier color too. “I bet you’re gonna win it! I mean, Uncle Deku did his second year and third year, and he’s your dad, so he probably taught you everything, even if your Quirks are kinda different, and…”

“I really don’t know, Shota,” Toshi said, a little bit quickly. Sometimes, you had to fight to get a word in edgewise with Shota. “Everybody’s got really great Quirks, not just us, but in the other classes too. And there’s always a surprise or two in the General Studies classes. Especially since we don’t know what the first two events will be.”

The first event was usually something that required covering distance and the second was always one that required teams, but that was about the only parameters that could be guessed. Toshi had seen everything from obstacle courses in the first to Quirk-backed games of dodgeball in the second and there wasn’t much predictable pattern to it.

He held out his hand, pam to the ground. “But when it does, we’re gonna be ready for it, right?”

Haimawari put his hand over Toshi’s. “Right.”

Shota did the same. “Right!”

“You three done nerding it up yet?” a voice from behind asked. Toshi turned to see Katsumi and Kana Tetsutetsu.

“I have yet to reach maximum nerd,” Toshi said, smirking. There’d been no malice in what she’d said. Katsumi just had to get everyone a hard time. It was just who she was. “Hey Tetsutetsu.”

“Hey yourself, Midoriya,” Tetsutetsu said.

“Yeah, yeah,” Katsumi said. “Well, make yourself useful and come show me some of those moves Aunt Ochaco taught you. Bring the Loud Kid too.”

“Shota. My name is Shota. You know that, Kirishima-Bakugo!”

“Sure it is,” Katsumi said. “C’mon.”

Okay, something was clearly up. He and Katsumi sparred sometimes, but she never just flat out asked him to show her any moves. Did this have anything to do with what Tetsutetsu been asking about this morning? Was… was Katsumi being her wingwoman? For Haimawari?

This was a day for the record books.

“Yeah, sure, I can do that,” he said. “C’mon, Shota.”

Shota, however, clearly wasn’t picking up on the subtext. “I don’t think I can fight anymore, Toshi,” he said, stifling a yawn.

“Then watch and learn, Loud Kid!” Katsumi shouted.

“Why don’t you come along,” Toshi said. He might as well play along with this. If only to get Katsumi out of having to play wingwoman any further. “Tetsutetsu, don’t think you’ve met Haimawari? You could probably show him some moves I can’t.”

“’Probably’?” Tetsutetsu asked. “You know I can, Midoriya. Nice to meet you, Haimawari.”

“Likewise,” Haimawari said, smiling. He looked like he knew something was up, but couldn’t figure it out. He offered Tetsutetsu a hand and she shook it, leaving him massaging his fingers afterwards.

Just a couple weeks into school and everybody was jumping into relationships. He was hardly one to talk, of course, but it still amazed him. Especially for all of them that had known each other for most of their lives. But here, away from their parents for the first time, maybe they were just figuring out who they wanted to be.

***

“Watch and learn, Loud Kid,” Katsumi said. She bounced lightly on the balls of her feet, hands up in a fighting position, before launching a powerful right hook. It was her signature move and she always telegraphed it. Toshi’d also been on the receiving end of it many times when sparring with her. Even when you could see it coming, Katsumi was fast.

Fortunately, he had time to dodge, and return fire, coming at Katsumi with a few quick jabs. She got her guard up though, deflecting his blows easily. “Gonna have to do better than that, Toshi,” she said, with a wicked grin.

Toshi dropped low, sweeping his leg. He knocked Katsumi down, but she was right back up before he could capitalize on it. He dodged her return strikes, shifting left and right rapidly. “Didn’t take you for the type to play wingwoman,” he said.

He blocked her next strike and even that stung like hell. “All I did was get you two out of the way,” she replied. “I wanted to spar with you anyway. If I can help out a friend, I can put up with a little lovey-dovey nonsense.”

Toshi knew she’d been turned down by Izumi after confessing her long buried feeling. That had to have hurt some, but she seemed to be plowing through it in her usual fashion. Which was not dealing with her more complicated emotions. Which probably wasn’t healthy. But all he could do was be there for his friend.

His friend who’d nearly taken his head off with her follow-up punch! He got his head out of the way, but she connected solidly with his shoulder. He grunted, firing off rapid fire punches in return that she deflected, until he altered his pattern, two right hand blows one after the other instead of a left and a right and felt his fist connect solidly with her chest.

Katsumi winced and backed off, keeping herself light on her feet. Laughing, she said, “Did you just bunch me in the boob, Toshi? What would your girlfriend say?”

Toshi’s eyes went wide for a second, before he recovered. “Very funny,” he said. Typical Katsumi, always trying to get a rise out of him.

They exchanged more blows, hammering away, deflecting, retreating, and coming back at each other. But without Quirks, they were just too evenly matched with each other for there to be a clear victor. Katsumi was probably stronger, but he was just lighter enough on his feet to make up for it. With both of them realizing that, they took a step back and exchanged boys.

Shota broke into applause. “That. Was. AWESOME! You gotta show me how to do that!”

Katsumi just laughed. It wasn’t a cruel laugh, but he could tell she didn’t really believe Shota had much of a chance in a physical contest. “Stick to what you’re good at, Loud Kid. Scream your way through.”

An idea occurred to Toshi and he had to turn away for a moment to hide his grin. “I don’t know, Katsumi, I was going to get Shota up to speed anyway, but if you don’t think you can train him good enough, I guess I’ll have to do it…”

The glare she shot him was worth it. “Oh, hell no. I didn’t say I didn’t think I could.” She snapped her fingers, then pointed at Shota. “I’m gonna train you until your arms fall off, Loud Kid! That’ll show you, Toshi!”

Toshi had to hide his grin again. Shota would get the training he needed and Katsumi would have a goal she could work on to keep from dwelling on things. If you knew what you were doing, helping your friends wasn’t too hard.

And he was going to do his best to make sure every one of his friends had a chance to shine.

#my hero academia #their hero academia #fan fiction #fan fic #my writing #toshi midoriya

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ari-arrivederci · 6 years ago

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Trade I did with @mastergaignun! They gave me permission to share this piece of writing on my blog, and they have shared their part of the trade on their blog and I highly recomend you check that out too! Their art work is beautiful, and if you like what you say, maybe give them a follow and check out their other art!

Here is my part of the trade! It’s about Rohan receiving a Miffy from them in redards to landing the role as the narrator of Miffy (It’s a real thing btw, Sakuri does the voice over for Miffy and it is amazing!)

Rohan is always up for a challenge. He loves to experiment and is always looking for new experiences he could somehow incorporate into his manga. He wouldn’t dare pass up the opportunity presented to him; being the new narrator for Miffy.

He was rather proud of himself too, and somewhat delighted when he told his lover, Maes about his new achievement. They were happy for him of course, and decided how they were going to congratulate him.

With Rohan going back to work on his Manga, he gave Maes a small kiss on their head - a simple, yet loving gesture, one that left Maes feeling giddy and warm.

As soon as Rohan shut his door, Maes put their plan into action, quietly slipping out of the house to a nearby gift shop, hoping it had what they were in search of.

Maes was lucky really. News of Rohan’s new role would soon get out, and it was likely the popularity of Miffy would soon rise, and any merchandise associated with the character would soon be flying off of the shelf.

Maes made sure to snag a plush of the small bunny, and for a moment admired how cute it was with the distinctive, ‘X’ for a mouth. After hunting around for a congratulatory card, it was time to make the purchase.

It was a small and simple gift, after all, the man who can have anything and everything is not so easy to buy for, but this gift was mischievous and meaningful.

Lovingly placed into a small, silver gift bag, and concealed by a layer of silver tissue paper was a plush toy of Rohan’s new friend, Miffy. Maes was rather pleased, and eagerly made their way home to present the gift.

Rohan was still in office when they arrived, but he was taking a quick to look over the script he had been given. With it being aimed at children, the words, and way he was expected to speak was a far cry from how he usually is.

Before Maes had returned home, he had tried a few voices, and read the script aloud to himself - though an audience of some description would be far better, and able to give him the feedback he needs in how to improve.

Maes knocked quietly onto the office door, knowing the sound of the wood echoed throughout Rohan’s office. They didn’t need to knock, and Rohan had told them so, but he still appreciated their politeness.

“How’s work going my darling?” Maes said cheerfully, greeting their lover with a smile, and making sure the gift bag was well hidden behind their back.

Rohan swivelled his chair around to face them, script in one hand, and his hand resting upon the other, “I finished for today, so I’m looking over the script,” he said, fanning himself the booklet he had been sent.

“Well, I got you a little something, to congratulate you on your new role!” Maes could hardly hold in their excitement, as they strutted over to Rohan and thrusting the bag to him.

He was pleasantly surprised, and accepted the bag from them, “You really didn’t have to get me anything, Maes,” he says to them, despite genuinely appreciating their gift.

He slowly pulled back the paper, enjoying every crinkle it makes - setting a more suspenseful atmosphere. He can see Maes is dying for him to open it, but he rather likes to take his time, if only to tease them a little.

The look on his face when he finally saw what Maes got for him is one of pure confusion, followed by irritation and embarrassment. He can see his lover smirking out of the corner of his eye, only making him more humiliated.

Despite outwardly appearing to dislike the gift, he loves the sentiment, and even Maes knows that as soon as their back is turned, Rohan will put it on his desk; with its purpose to be a ornament. Or so Maes thought anyway.

“Well, I suppose I should thank you. Now, I really must get back to work,” he utters to them in his usual dismissive tone. Maes is rather used to Rohan and his seemingly cold nature by now, though even they can clearly see the redness on Rohan’s cheeks, as he places the bag onto his desk.

Maes quietly takes their leave, feeling rather satisfied with how it all went down. They know roughly what time Rohan will be ready to eat, even with his alarming lack of anything resembling a schedule, he seems to have pretty consistent times for eating. Maes knows all too well that he’s simply end up forgetting to eat if not for them, and this goes to prepare dinner.

Rohan listened out for Maes’s footsteps, hearing them become quieter the further away they got from his office. As soon as he deemed it to be safe enough, he quietly reached for the bag again, this time taking out the small Miffy plush.

Her fur was soft and pleasant to touch - almost relaxing in a way. The more he looked at her, the more he fell in love. He felt inspired, and began to start reading his lines again, this time to the plush toy; using her to act out the actions he was narrating.

His voice was softer, and a lot less sarcastic. He sounded loving, and as if he was speaking to his own child. It sounded nothing like his usual tone, but it still sounded natural, and pure.

He played around with Miffy for a while, going over his script and practicing with her until he was confident enough to try without the script. Rohan was confident he’d memorised it enough, and started again from the top.

He introduced Miffy to the audience, which happened to be his Heavens Door, and began to describe what Miffy was doing, along with talking to her and the audience. He smiled and soon enough, he stopped following the script at all, and began doing his own thing.

Miffy and Heavens Door were playing together, with Rohan describing their game of hide-and-seek, occasionally giving a soft laugh whenever Miffy or his stand hid somewhere that was far from practical.

“Miffy, where is Heavens Door?” he as the plush in a soft tone. When it came for Miffy to speak, Rohan put on a voice for her too. It was a higher tone, but sounded soft and sweet. Rohan’s conversation with her lasted a bit until he directed her towards his stand’s hiding place.

While cleaning around at the bottom of the stairs, Maes could hear just about everything Rohan was saying. They’d never imagined Rohan being able to use a voice like that, and with it sounded so natural too.

Maes stood back and listened to their boyfriend goofing off for a while before slowly creeping up the stairs to get a better look. They half expected to be caught almost immediately – it’s not easy to pull the wool over Rohan’s eyes or creep up on him.

He was so engrossed with his little game, he didn’t even notice Maes quietly making their way over to the door of his office, and peering around for a better look. Rohan was waving Miffy’s arms in excitement as she had finally found Heaven’s Door.

It was a side of Rohan not even Maes had seen before, with his almost childlike innocence. He continued to play around with the plush and his stand, before finally going back to his script, and reading over it a few more times. Once without the plush, and once with the plush doing the actions.

He has his stand help him of course, with it being the one to move Miffy around as Rohan narrated her actions in accordance to the script. His run through was perfect, and he was certainly proud of himself.

His pride turned to embarrassment when he heard Maes applauding him. He’d been caught in the act, and was in complete shock. He fumbled to turn to see his lover, and try his best to hide his crimes. It was too late, Maes as already seen what he was up to.

Seeing the smile on their face only made Rohan’s turn a darker shade of red. He considered using his stand ability to erase the memory of what Maes had saw, saving at least some of his dignity; it was tempting, but seeing their face light up, and their bright smile made it impossible. Rohan couldn’t bring himself to do it.

“How much of that did you see?” Rohan inquired, raising his brow at Maes. It was hard to take him seriously in that moment, and Maes couldn’t decide between answering him seriously, or teasing him some more.

“I saw enough,” they replied. Rohan turned to grab the plush from his desk, and began to approached Maes, presenting them with the plush, “I think, Miffy wants to play with you now,” he said to them, reaching to peck their cheek.

#mastergaignun #self insert fic #trade #rohan kishibe #fic

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sharonxzart · 5 years ago

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design nation: making a conference for makers

this past spring, I worked on my last major project with Business Today, the non-profit student-run organization in which I have been heavily involved in since my freshman fall semester. as I retired from my role as director of design for the entire organization, I took on the position as director of design for business today’s annual design nation conference. actually, I had been doubling as director of design for the conference and the entire organization for quite some time, balancing the responsibilities of creating an entirely new visual identity for the conference with the typical role of publishing the biannual issue of Business Today magazine. it was quite the time commitment, but one of my most rewarding college experiences thus far.

so what is design nation? in short, it’s a conference aimed at connecting undergraduate designers with leaders in the design industry. but Business Today takes a very holistic approach to design--the design nation conference was not meant to funnel art students into art careers, but rather to give artists, programmers, business owners, and anyone interested in creating something the opportunity to see how they could make a future in the creative industry. a phrase I came up with during the planning period of the conference was: “every company is a design company. you could be their next designer.” and I truly believe in this notion of a fluid creative identity. what drew me to work on the conference in the first place was the fact that I wouldn’t just be meeting students and professionals working in visual design--I would be meeting as many technologists and entrepreneurs as I would artists.

so what does it take to brand an event like this? there were a lot of moving elements, but there were three main influences on my final designs: the conference theme, bold visual statements, and the element of fun.

theme: the first touch

the 2019 conference theme, “the first touch,” aimed to explore the impact that designers have on a consumer’s first impression of a product, campaign, or movement. this impact could be visual, emotional, experiential, or something subtler. keeping that in mind, I decided to take the non-subtle route and incorporate very literal icons into the designs. in the past, the conference design had relied largely on abstract graphics, with no concrete images. this worked out very well for those iterations of design nation (then known as designation), because it was an extremely new (and successful) event that was still very much under construction. the 2019 conference was the third annual design nation conference, and I wanted it to represent something stronger and more established.

the hand is a quite literal interpretation of the theme. but I think that the hand also represents the power of design at its very core. designers are creators, and for many of us, our hands are our first tools of creation. this theme is not new either; I was very much inspired by the famous gesture between God and Adam in The Creation of Adam, and the lasting symbolic meaning that their hands have created. in modern day, the handshake has also become an indicator of a good first impression for some. clearly, the hand has earned its place as a symbol of creation, and I wanted to pay homage to that.

(above: some visual experiments I did as an exercise to explore graphic themes)

bold visual statements

as I mentioned before, the first two design nation conferences were very much visual entities of the Business Today brand. the original blue and pink were muted versions of their hues, giving the impression of a professional convention for professional creatives. I believe that this greatly helped make the conference a reality--the balance between business and imagination in the visual messages definitely gave the conference a level of legitimacy. I was lucky enough to be able to helm the branding efforts at a time when design nation was established to a degree of granting the organizing team much greater freedom.

(above: banner designs)

the most noticeable difference between the visuals for designation 2018 and those for design nation 2019 is the color palette. for design nation 2019, I turned the contrast and brightness of the signature blue and pink way up, to a point where they might almost clash. I wanted both colors to have strength and power, to make the statement that design is often hidden but beautiful when bold. I wanted speakers and participants to enter a distinct environment when they entered the conference room, and that could be accomplished by marking the space with these bold, contrasted colors.

I also worked on many iterations of the design nation “dn” logo. in the same vein as enhancing the colors, I went with the boldest weight of the original font, which emphasized the hard corners of the slab serifs. the shadow outline also served as a reinforcement to that strength and contrast. paired with the high-contrast colors, the logo aimed to encourage attendees to be loud and unapologetic in their ideas.

(above: gifs I made for the conference website)

having fun!

one of the things I discovered while working for Business Today is that bureaucracy runs deep in business. I savored the moments when I could make things on my own, such as illustrating for online articles or creating a magazine cover. I pushed my creative boundaries as far as I could in my other responsibilities too, such as redesigning the Business Today magazine and creating design guidelines for the weekly email newsletter. but in the end, there were many guidelines and rules of etiquette that I had to adhere to, understandably. and most of these guidelines had been established long before I joined.

design nation was an opportunity for me to break free from those limitations. the goal of design nation had been to serve creatives, and as a result it was much more casual and spontaneous affair than the other conferences that Business Today held. after all, creating is all about breaking from the mold, and I wanted the visuals to reflect that through a quirkiness that would almost disassociate from the larger parent organization. through the use of glitching animations, large crazy posters, and an unorthodox venue setup, I think we achieved that spirit. we also added a polaroid station, dn branded m&ms, and a plethora of stickers and swag to entertain our guests. in essence, it felt more like a tech conference than a wall street one.

(above: logos that never made it)

I faced a lot of creative blocks and struggles throughout the development process. a lot of ideas that I grew very attached to never made it, and one of the most important things I learned was how to scrap something on my own. even when creating, there are logical decisions that need to be made, and going with reason over emotion can be hard when the decision concerns something you made yourself. ultimately, I am glad that I made the choices I made, and although there is always room to improve, I am extremely proud of the work that everyone on the planning team put in. I hope that Business Today continues that tradition of holding a design conference, and I am excited to become involved in more design roles in the future!

below are some additional graphics I made throughout the months leading up to the conference.

(sticker ideas) (facebook profile picture frame)

(initial designs for banners, logos and badges)

(the first banner I ever made for the entire conference)

(pages from the conference booklet)

looking forward

I had a great time at design nation 2019. from seeing all my designs come to life in the physical world to moderating a panel with some of tech's biggest design thinkers, I took chances to do things that I could have never imagined doing two years ago. I met students doing amazing and inspiring projects, and listened to industry professionals tell their unconventional origin stories. most importantly, I learned just how many designers and nondesigners it takes to support a successful creative machine.

I will likely be taking a break from leading design initiatives in the next year, but I am hoping to spend some more time exploring more advanced digital storytelling mediums. I am particularly excited about the potential that ar/vr have in this space, and I know that many studios have already produced immersive animated vr experiences. one thing I will also be more careful to keep in mind in the future is accessibility. as I look for more ways to be creative, I want to make sure that I am also creating for as many people as possible, including those who might need to experience stories in a nontraditional manner. for now, I'm looking forward to the next exciting opportunity I get.

#design nation #conferences #graphic design #branding #creative #marketing #text #x #digital art #digital

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paper-mario-wiki · 7 years ago

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hey yo my interview with that university i was talking about is coming up in 9 hours. im kinda stressing but also kinda confident, which i think is a good combination of things to feel.

idk why but i feel the urge to post the statement of purpose i gave to them in my admission so here it is. i think i did a good job makin myself sound like a smarty who should be given a cool visa

it’s a little late, but lemme know if i sound too up-my-own-ass while also bearing in mind that i had to make myself look like a Good Student To Accept, ya kno

A pursual of higher education has always been something I’ve wanted to steer towards in my life. Although there are plenty of jobs and opportunities that would more likely benefit from experience rather than a degree, I’ve come to find that through plenty of meditation and intrapersonal thinking that spending time at a college would be beneficial for me. When I say this, I mean that I’ve spent the past several years asking myself the question “what would make me happy?” and almost always coming to two things: Learning a new language as well as tightening my grip on my native language. This, combined with a longstanding interest in Japan and its culture, has led me to ILA.

I, personally, am very interested in writing, mainly focusing in the aspects of comedy, as well as short, digestible ideas and thoughts (if given the choice, I’d much sooner pick up a book of trivia than an encyclopedia). For these reasons, my interest in Liberal Arts is mainly invested in that of Literature and English. Allowing someone’s ideas to come to life in the mind of a reader, whether they be short or long, is an incredible and versatile tool. Discovering rules, techniques, and cliches of the language I speak is what I want to give my time up to. The prospect of travelling to a place where people from a variety of unique backgrounds come to study things like this is incredibly exciting to think about. This, of course, leads me to my next point: what about Japan, specifically, is so enticing to me?

For a very long time, likely a decade (if not longer), I’ve been interested in Japan and the aspects of its culture and history. The idea of a society which, at face value, seems to be similar to that of the western society that I have grown up in, yet subverts all expectations with a new set of unspoken rules, is so interesting to me. I hesitate to say “mysterious” when describing it because there is little-to-no mystery about it. I’d like to make it clear that I’m not interested in Japan in the same way that a child would be interested in a carnival sideshow. My interest lies, rather, in the idea of exchanging one culture, with all of its flaws and imperfections, for another culture that comes with its own brew of guidelines and problems, while also gaining or losing each of their respective benefits. I’ve spent time in Japan before, in Higashiyodogawa,Osaka, as well as Nakamura, Nagoya. During my time there I found myself feeling more at ease with a place than I have in a long time, even more so than in my own home. I feel that if I am to truly see if Japan is the kind of place I’d like to spend a lot of my life, I’d need a more full, residential experience, rather than being limited by a 2-week vacation in a space that I couldn’t truly call “my own”.

Additionally, while I am already able to use resources available to me in the US (dictionaries, textbooks, online grammar guides, and everything in-between), I won’t ever truly have a holistic Japanese learning experience unless I’m in an environment that wouldn’t allow me to slip back into the comfort of my native tongue whenever I’m not actively pushing myself. Learning a language is an important part of understanding a society and, more importantly in my case, incorporating yourself into that society. If I am to, as I said, have a full residential experience, I will absolutely have to learn the language in a natural setting. I have the building blocks, as I’ve been studying casually for a little over a year. Now all I need are the blueprints.

Throughout this entire statement I’ve been focusing on why I’d like to study at ILA. Now, however, I would like to take a moment to cover why ILA might be interested in having me in its alumni. For starters, I’m a very motivated person and when I attach myself to something I keep at it until it’s done. If I can do something in fewer sittings, I will. That said, I’m not a sloppy person when it comes to my work. I’ve been told that I’m very articulate and that I have the ability to put across complex concepts in a comprehensive way. Several of my teachers from all across my schooling career have told me that I’m very well suited to discussions, and I have a very solid, and sometimes even elegant way with words.

I also have a knack for coming up with unique ideas and interesting perspectives on things, which I feel could really show well in writing, and it has before. Through a popular blogging website, I’ve accumulated a large quantity of people - a number in the tens of thousands - who follow my blog and enjoy my ideas. This blog, as a matter of fact, actually helped fund my original trip to Japan. Through two months of campaigning, as well as doing voice-over work (a hobby of mine) for commissions, I was able to raise $3,500, which I used to take the aforementioned two-week vacation to Osaka and Nagoya. The platform also creates larger discussions and furthers the fleshing-out of any single kernel of thought that I might plant within it. This is, more than anything else, because I want to make people happy.

While I’m not the kind of person who would likely be seen on the cover of a medical magazine being celebrated as the founder of some super-medicine that could prevent a major disease, nor would I likely be seen as the head of a major rocket science corporation, I’ve found that I can still help bring people joy through my words. On countless occasions people have told me that I help them get through the day with my positive messages and jokes. The messages I’m most proud of, however, come from those who contact me telling me that I’ve convinced them that life is worth living, and that they should keep on trying. In those moments I know that what I’m doing is truly beneficial to the rest of the world, and it makes me incredibly happy.

I have high hopes for a future that might be waiting for me at ILA. Understandably, I already think about what it would be like, and what interactions I might have there. I’ve never felt as excited as I am typing this for what kind of experiences would come to me in this kind of academic setting. I find myself periodically watching the videos on ILA’s YouTube channel and thinking about how wonderful that would be for me. This kind of leap for me is something I’m very passionate about and, through my words, I hope that I’ve been able to convince you that my mind and heart are in the right place. Even more than that, I hope that I’ve been able to competently and understandably explain how and why ILA should consider me for admission this coming fall.

#text #thank u

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theblueroute · 6 years ago

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On March 27, four Widener English majors–all Blue Route staff members–and two faculty members traveled to Portland, Oregon to attend the annual Association of Writers and Writing Programs conference. Along with nearly 12,000 other writers, readers, editors, and publishers, the team enjoyed three amazing days of panels, networking opportunities, enlightening readings and keynotes speeches, and of course, the pacific northwest! Read on for a few words from all four senior English majors about their time in Portland!

Kelly Bachich Carlie and I signed up for an hour of manning the FUSE table in the book fair section of the conference. While we were setting up, Carlie nudged me and said, “Kelly, doesn’t that dog on that poster over there look just like the one you wrote about in Historical Fiction class?” Low and behold, I look over and the juxtaposing booth is sporting a poster of Laika, the space dog from the Sputnik II mission that I had just written about the week before coming to AWP. Naturally, I had to go over and investigate. I asked the woman working the booth why Laika was on the poster and she informed me that their book press had published an author who just wrote a biography on Laika. Not only were they selling copies, but he would be there signing them in an hour!

I purchased the book and stood waiting in line, mustering up the courage to ask the author, Kurt Caswell, if I could send him my short piece to read. I am a pretty confident and outgoing person but, for some reason, the minute I was next in line I almost chickened out. I told him about the poster and why I had to buy his book and meet him to tell him that I had also just written about Laika. He handed my book back to me after a really great conversation about Laika and I knew my window to ask him to read my story had closed. Then, to my complete shock, he asked me to send him my story to read and even gave me his personal email to send it to. I was elated.

Later that night, Rohan met a panelist named Shayla Lawson who wrote a poetry chapbook mixed with Frank Ocean songs and got us invited to a “battle of the bands” where she performed her work with her band. One of the opening acts, however, incorporated the song “Space Oddity” by David Bowie into his piece. The minute I heard the lyrics my head snapped over to look at Carlie who was already staring at me, mouth agape. “Space Oddity” is also an integral part of my short story about Laika. In a three-page story there is not much room and for two major aspects to crop up so blatantly at AWP had to be a sign for me to continue working with that piece. AWP is an invaluable resource for English and creative writing majors, it is a hub for creative minds and a space where we can feel important and bond with other professionals.

Vita Lypyak The first panel I attended at AWP was one of my favorites. It was titled “Translators Are the Unacknowledged Ambassadors of the World,” which is a play on the famous Percy Bysshe Shelley quote, “women are the unacknowledged poets of the world.” I speak two languages besides English, so languages and translation is something that always interested me. The final panelist opened my eyes to the Iranian culture and the struggles associated with translating Iranian literature to English. Unlike the first two panelists, she explained that Iran, as a nation, hinders its own artist by utilizing strict censorship and even executing writers. As a whole, this panel made me understand the crucial role translators have in the dissemination of literature. It helped me understand that translating is also a form of creative writing; a translator has to not only present the same meaning of the original work, but also closely match the same style.

In a sense, translators are poets and makers of things, too; they give readers access to things they could have never reached, due to a language barrier. AWP features a lot of intellectually stimulating and educational panels, which are great, but they can also cause a lot of mental fatigue. By attending poetry readings and readings of other kinds, it really helps your mind slow down and recharge, at least that was my experience. At “A Wild Girls Poetry Reading,” I was particularly moved by one poet, who wrote a collection of poetry where she was attempting to deal with the grief associated with her younger brother’s suicide. The stories she told the audience and the poetry she read were so raw and they made me empathize with her so much. I attended this reading on the first day and I could not stop thinking about her work. Her words impacted me the entire trip to the point that on the last day, I went and bought her book. I had to or I would never forgive myself. After I purchased it, I sat outside and read it from cover to cover, and her words continued to move me.

Rohan Suriyage I decided to go to Page Meets Stage, a reading that is a yearly tradition at AWP. This was the best decision I made throughout the time of the conference. The reading consisted of five poets reading and performing poems after one another, “popcorning” in order and choosing what to perform based on what was read before them. The panel was led by Taylor Mali, four-time poetry slam champion and arguably the most famous American spoken word poet, and consisted of other notable poets like Anis Mojgani, Mark Doty, and Shayla Lawson. For the whole hour I just sat there, mouth agape, at the incomparable stage presence and refined performing art they all shared with the room. When it was time for Shayla Lawson to read, she prefaced her poems in explaining they were all from a book of poems inspired by Frank Ocean, an R&B artist and one of my main artistic inspirations. When Shayla finished performing “Strawberry Swing” from her poetry book I Think I’m Ready to See Frank Ocean I struggled to retrieve my jaw from the floor and knew I had to speak to her after. Upon the panel’s conclusion I was able to do so.

We talked about Frank and our common interests, and after we spoke, she invited me to come to a reading she was orchestrating in downtown Portland. Of course, I obliged and I ended up going after the last of the panels of the day. In the library room of the Heathman Hotel, I heard Shayla and 4 of her colleagues read marvelous poetry. All of them are part of an association of writers called the Affrilacians, about 2,000 southern writers strong (per Facebook). Two of them I met and spoke with, published poet and educator Mitchell L.H. Douglas and former Kentucky poet laureate and educator Frank X Walker. Both were incredibly down to earth men who gave me insight on getting published and furthering my education, and I thank them for that. To whoever made the decision to take me as one of the students to go on AWP this year: thank you. Thank you. What I owe you can never be repaid. This was a span of days I can’t see myself ever forgetting, a span of days I firmly believe will prove to be important as I further my writing career.

Carlie Sisco One of the panels I attended was titled “8 Techniques Guaranteed to Take Your Script to the Next Level.” Using examples of films such as “Juno,” “Star Wars: A New Hope,” “Pulp Fiction,” and “Little Miss Sunshine” among others, this panel offered techniques relative to character, scene structure, descriptions, and dialogue. Though I do not write screenplays myself, I have always loved reading the screenplays to my favorite movies and television shows. It makes a very visual experience feel like reading a book. This panel demonstrated the ways in which some screenwriting techniques have the ability to transcend into fiction writing, because, even if I am not worrying about camera angles, it is still storytelling. Screenwriting can sound like a novel just as a novel can read like a screenplay.

Something that stood out to me in particular had to do with a tip on character development: “we watch movies because we want to connect with our characters.” Is that not the same for fiction writers? Shouldn’t I also be focusing on want versus desire, asking emotional questions in scenes, considering symbolism and foreshadowing, making my language visual or finding imaginative ways to introduce my characters? Isn’t it good advice regardless of the medium to think about increasing tension and suspense by slowing down, using misdirection to reveal information, or revealing my characters through their actions? I chose to go to a variety panels on screenwriting and playwriting not because I want to try my hand at either one, but because I know that the techniques between them and fiction writing are interchangeable. I also know that films and television serve as my influence, the driving force that compels me to provide visual detail and intricate characters. I would not have been able to explore what that means to my writing or how related the two mediums are had I not been given this opportunity. My path may not have been the one most fiction writers would typically take, but I think that is what was so amazing about AWP at the end of the day. I was able to find what interested me and gained insight from an influencing medium all while taking my own unique path.

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by Carlie Sisco

Recently our senior staff members attended the 2019 AWP Conference in Portland. Click the link to read about their experience! #AWP2019 On March 27, four Widener English majors–all Blue Route staff members–and two faculty members traveled to Portland, Oregon to attend the annual…

#AWP #Books #Creative writing #Poetry #short stories #Undergraduate Writing #Widener University #Writing

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mysticsparklewings · 6 years ago

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Commission: Magician Tarot Card

Between school work and other IRL stuff, I have been chipping away at a couple of commissions I got recently; this is one of them! Here, the commissioner wanted to see my take on the "Magician" tarot card for a potential tattoo design. I actually ended up having a lot more fun with this than I thought I would! I've only looked into Tarot Cards before as they relate to the traditional card suits, and otherwise have only really seen them in passing. So going into this, I did at least a little homework to better understand what I was being asked to create. In that vein, this ended up being a sort of chance to experiment for me, as I've always felt that tattoo designs universal have a certain "look" to them, and I wanted to play with accomplishing that, on top of keeping in lime with the themes and ideas of the original card, while, of course, still making it my own. A quick Google of "Magician Tarot Card" turned up a few different variations that all seemed to have a few key similarities; the position of the arms, a red cloak and white clothing, the magician holding a wand, the infinity sign over his head, flowers, and so on. Likewise, I tried to keep most of the prevalent features right off the bat. I also investigated the Wikipedia page for a little more background on the symbolism and discovered that the arm placement did have significance, so I kept it for the most part, but I did my best to add more movement to it, as the original seems uncomfortably stiff to me. And from the very beginning, my take was that he's the magician he should look magical, you know? So I tried to bring that into the mix, too. As it turns out, normally there is a table in front of the magician holding objects that portray the four different tarot card suits. Said suits seem to have a bit of variation, depending on the deck, but I went with the ones I thought I could make work the best: Wands, Sword, Coins, and Cups. I didn't want to just set the things on a table, as that seemed boring, so I tried to incorporate them in other ways. He's already holding the wand (which I based on the design of a baton since that seems to be what it's like in the original), so check that off. I added a sword to his belt, as that seemed like almost a natural/obvious choice and makes visual sense. The coins and cups were a bit trickier, but I had the idea to incorporate the coins into the "magic" flow I had in mind for the pose, which I think worked out quite well. The cup really got me though. After thinking on it, and deciding on the inclusion of the flowers--which are, specifically, roses and lilies as part of the original symbolism--it just kind of clicked that the cup could be holding some flowers, and from there it just kinda worked out as a way to "close" the remaining open corner. And I snuck the infinity sign in as more of a diadem rather than just floating over his head, which I thought was quite clever. I also ended up doing the rose border as a way to give it the "card" feel without specifically tying it down to an actual rectangle or card template. I debated on adding the "The Magician" Signifier somewhere but ultimately decided against it for the same reasons. Also, I tried something different with the shading to make it more dynamic, a bit more realistic, as that was my intention with the art, to begin with. It's kind of similar to what I did on my OOTD: Witch Socks, and I think it ended up really working out. However, I also tried coloring only in Grayscale/Black and White first, then going back in with color. That's something I don't think I've ever really tried before, and it was interesting...I think it also made the process go a bit faster, but that's up for debate since I didn't time myself. The lilies gave me a bit of trouble, as I wasn't sure how to get their shape across properly in this semi-realistic style without going to stylistic or too realistic, but I think what I ended up with turned out okay. On that note, originally all the floating flower petals were going to just be red rose petals, but a few of them really got lost and the lilies looked out of place, so I went back and made a few white to offset the balance and tie the lilies back in, and I'm very glad I did! And when I was adding color I also tried to stick to a limited color palette so I wouldn't spend too long on it or get carried away, so while there are a few pops of different colors here and there, I stuck primarily to red, white, and gold for the majority of the piece. Additionally, from the beginning, I wasn't in on the idea of adding a lot of detail to the face, and that led me to the decision to make the eyes glow, which also ended up being the light source that I based the shading off of. It also kind of ties into the halo-like impression I got from the infinity sign in the original version of the card, I think. Did I mention that I did the whole thing in Photoshop? I spent a painstaking amount of time trying to keep the lines clean/smooth. This was another experiment; one that would not have been possible without the new CC addition of the "smoothing" tool or my drawing tablet. I will say though, it did really make me miss my free trial of Lazy Nezumi, a third-party stabilizer, to the point I think I might try to save up to purchase it going forward. (Or, you know, I'll be less of a lazy potato and go back to using Paint Tool Sai when I want perfectly clean line art). Really though, I thrilled at how the finished piece came out with the shape of the cloak and the visual movement...there are things I'd spend another several hours tweaking if given the opportunity, sure, but overall I'm quite proud of this one. And the commissioner liked it, which is the most important thing. I have a couple of quick/smallish pieces on the back burner, but I wanted to get at least one commission done & posted and the other one started before I posted those, just so my lovely commissioners don't think I'm shirking my responsibilities. But I should be posting at least one in a day or two to keep my art flow up in the meantime. ____ Artwork © me, MysticSparkleWings ____ Where to find me & my artwork: My Website | Commission Info + Prices | Ko-Fi | dA Print Shop | RedBubble | Twitter | Tumblr | Instagram

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