#are d&t classes a thing worldwide

[brassandblue]

the M A N  f r o m  t h e  R A I L R O A D // INTEREST TRACKER

MUSE STATUS: PRIMARY

(By liking this post, you are indicating interest in plotting with this character, and are OK with me sending memes/prompts to your inbox!)

NAME: The Man from the Railroad

ALT NAMES: The Railroad Man

OCCUPATION: ????

SEX/GENDER/PRONOUNS: Male(??), He/him

SEXUALITY: ????

FACECLAIM: Richard Armitage

AGE: Appears as a man in his mid-late 40s

HEIGHT: 6′5″

BUILD/BODY TYPE: Tall, long, solid, elegant, eerily ‘perfect’

HAIR: Black, salt-and-pepper

EYES: Dark charcoal grey

PINTEREST BOARD

ALL ABOUT ̸̧̬̖̼̦̾ ̸̧̳̒͒ ̷̠̑̽̕ ̴̮̗͍͈̈́͊̉͜ ̸̨͙̞̱͙̊̉̈́̈̓ ̷̢͓̤̪̞̋͘͝͠ ̴̢̛̣̭̃̐͘ ̵̦̭̤̰͗̍̂ ̵̻̫̀̄ ̴̯̻͒͝ͅ ̴̨̨̣̼̍͆̾̚ ̷̡̮̱͔̜̒̉ ̸̻͇̟͕̜̂̕͠ ̸̡̥̳̆͐ ̶̠̭͂̒ ̷̯̳̠̈́̍̿̍̔ ̶̛̺̐̉̿͘ ̵̰̉͂̀͂͝ ̸̧̥̭̓̾͗̒͝ ̶̺̤́͒̉ ̶̬͘ ̷̨͂̍ ̵͈̺͇̆̑̐̐ ̸̹̩͈̟̆̏ͅ ̷͉̿̃͒̈ ̴̲̳̂ ̶̧́͊̀̆ ̵̳̜͋̈́͂͛ ̶̡̪̓̒ ̶͙͙̝͈̆̄̚ ̵͈͖̼͚̄̌ ̸̞͆̏ ̶̗͔̳̩̇̿̈́͗ͅ ̴̨̺̯̱̞̊ ̴̣͈̂ ̴̖̜̃̇̓ ̷̦͐́͠ ̶͇̟̥̣̿̓̌͌ ̴̹̼̭̃̌͐͝ ̴̙̀̐ ̵̧̞͆͘͜ ̴̡̳̟͔̳̒̃̍͘ ̸̦̬̪́͊ͅ ̴̭̝͂͒͋ͅ :

Wouldn’t YOU like to know?

The Man-from-the-Railroad is an enigmatic, impeccably tailored, charcoal-suited figure, black hair dusted with salt-and-pepper, and a gleaming white tiger-like smile.

His origins are unknown, his true purpose and motives are unknown.

What is known, however, is that he is charming, cunning, from the Railroad, and while some might consder it up for debate is certainly not the Devil. He is something else; which is to say, worse, and real.

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For RP purposes, here is a rundown of his character and powers so you can know what to expect. All of this applies to his canon (aka DEFAULT) setting, and can/may be tweaked for AUs on a case-by-case basis.

NOTE: Most things I have pulled either from canonical instances or “word of God” per the writer(s) of the podcast. Some things I have extrapolated, due to his brief appearances, and others I have inserted from my own bullshit. I still try to stick to the core aspects of his character as seen in canon; and he is subject to change should more material become available on new episodes of the podcast.

PERSONALITY:

The Railroad Man is, above all, charming, seemingly affable, effortlessly confident, and stopping him from doing what he wants is about as easy as stopping a speeding train. He has the air and appearance of unnerving perfection, as though he was manifested into being clad in his signature pinstripe suit; but it’s every part of his appearance, from his perfectly-coifed hair, to his perfectly cut thin beard, to his unnervingly straight, bright teeth, down to his polished leather shoes--the sort of which you could never afford. Something about him is just... not quite human... it is cold, bright, unbearably real.

He delights in style and class and has a flair for the dramatic. However, he is a stickler for rules--that is, the Old Rules of magic and honor and deals: If you bring harm upon him and his own, you owe him; if he does you a favor, you owe him, and he will come to collect at a time of his choosing. 

He also revels in death and blood as it pertains to the railroad (worldwide), and since at least the 1880s (though very likely earlier than that) he has contributed to pr*son pipelines that provided hard labor to build hundreds of thousands of miles of tracks worldwide (over 100,000 miles in the United States alone). 

They saw the land split by iron tongues. They saw men work to pull up driving spikes and laying rail. they saw the avarice and greed and the ever-growing power of the railroad in this man's eyes.

-- Old Gods of Appalachia, Episode 23 (Season 2), A Bad Night for Hollow Men

Blood, as it turns out, and the lives given in his name and/or the name of the Railroad, allows him to travel as he pleases, and the more bodies worked to death, the better. To say he has a cheerfully callous disregard for human life is a vast understatement. He is decidedly not human, and considers himself better, superior, to them--even to the point that this can become a blind spot where he underestimates human opponents, though fighting against him will always come at a great cost.

His only redeeming qualities are his apparent ambivalence on things when he can get his way, his charm (although smug), and his adherence to rules. He is not unwilling to work out a deal, and in fact, would prefer to do so even if he has the power to get what he wants by sheer force alone. 

He is a man of class and taste, with an airy arrogance that shows itself when his patience wears thin. Just don’t inconvenience him too much--he is not afraid to massacre hundreds to get what he wants, or to shed blood as he turns to smiling anger.

POWERS/ABILITIES/WEAKNESSES:

- Rapid, near instant healing of his body and clothes (blood-based) even from catastrophic injury. He can be killed if cut off from his healing source, provided the blow is a fatal one

- Immense strength/stamina-- can rip out a person’s throat with his bare hand, can also withstand a shotgun blast from close range and remain on his feet

- Teleportation over vast distances, provided he is within a dozen miles of a working railway; he uses working rails as ‘tunnels’ through utter darkness from place to place

- Shapeshifting-- Per Steve, he could be The Railroad Ma’am if he wanted; I have decided he could be pretty much any shape and has such control over his physical form (clothes included)

- Shapeshifting/Illusiory magic-- This passage from episode 25, Siege of Pleasant Evenings, explains it best:

And then as if to answer her unspoken query, the Railroad Man’s body flickered and changed. He seemed to grow taller, and then shorter, he seemed to distort into impossible forms and faces, and collapsed back into the well-dressed fiend in the charcoal suit. In one flickering moment, and dark-skinned, wrought with muscles, his back misshapen by a slab of scars; in his hand hung a heavy hammer. Another shift, and he was a woman cradling her dead husband’s head in her lap, his body crushed by stones. another flicker and he was a burning town, billowing black smoke into the trees, the heat and burning stench of men dying ripe on the air, for but a moment before he flickered again, and he was a salt and pepper playboy in a fine hand-tailored suit. 

Other visions flickered across the eyes of those who saw him there, each one a custom-made image of pain and loss and violation. 

He grinned up at her, stark and feral, like a wolf with a mouth full of your firstborn. “Do not mourn these poor souls, Miss Walker, for they have all fallen short of the glory of their god—be it the one who takes their tithe or the one who signs their paycheck. They look to both for salvation and find naught but throats like sepulchers and feet quick to shed blood.”

- Blood magic-- His blood and blood shed for the railroad are the/a source of his power. However, like other creatures of the Dark, he can be cut off from his exposed healing source (a pool of blood) if he has already been injured and ONLY if he has been sufficiently caught off guard. Blood shed in his name can cover wards, spells, sigils, and the more blood, the more control he will have

- Creation of Hollow thralls-- By getting folks to agree to work for the Railroad, and giving them his black business card, he can call upon them--through some corrupting magic, their minds will empty and he can command them to do as he wishes. Sometimes that will distort their bodies, sometimes not, but it will always lead to their eventual mindless and monstrous death

- Compulsion of obedience/mild hypnosis-- through the sound of his voice, the touch of his hand, through the act of truly looking into his eyes and Seeing who and what he really is

- Heightened senses-- He can smell the air and taste the earth; he is attuned to the ground in which rails have been staked and to the lives affected, changed. He can sense power and life and death and the stories and names of the people there. He can and will kneel and taste dirt, and he can and will sniff the air like a hound to find the threads of the stories he wishes to learn

- Names and Property Lines-- It is important that he is apparently nameless, as names in Alt Appalachia have power; his being without a name means power cannot be claimed over him in this way. Additionally, ownership of property is particularly important in this world-- wards, charms, barriers on a person’s land can be weakened or rendered void if that ownership changes. The more blood shed by TRM on the Walkers’ land, for instance, and spilled over their protective wards, meant the land would slowly but surely become his. It would follow, then, that a stand could be made against him with sufficient magical defense if you had your own little plot and a legal deed with your name on it--as long as you can keep him from sending waves of dying bodies over the property line

MISC:

- When he dies, a bright light bursts through his eyes and mouth and the terrifying sound of a train will rumble past before he and any carnage vanish. Death for him is not at all permanent

- He likes making stupid train pun jokes on occasion but they are subtle... ish

- He is probably around 100 years old or more by the 1930s

- While rather fae-like in the way he operates, he is familiar with human culture and language and all that sort of thing

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(The following images are screenshots from official Old Gods transcripts which you can find on their website. If you want to know a little bit more about him, these snippets are the way to go.)

((WARNING: They contain descriptions of blood, injury, and MINOR, out of context spoilers for the podcast.))

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WARNINGS: RPing with this character will involve sensitive topics from various eras throughout American history, as well as topics on mental illness/depression/PTSD, sexuality/sexual themes, drug addiction/substance abuse, war/violence/gore/injuries, racism/colonialism/imperialism/nationalism, socio-economic issues past & present, homophobia past & present. 

By liking this post and indicating your interest to engage in RP with this character, you are accepting the above warnings and have read the rules posted here on this blog.

[onitekka]

asks be upon ye

What subjects did your OC excel at?

How does your OC react to and handle stress?

What are some things that annoy your OC?

how long has this been here. I'm almost scared to ask

anyway. we're adding a new character to the ask games roster, being Holly, my aasimar monk. There's no yellow, so orange will do.

Hope would've really liked English Lit lessons, though I feel like she'd be getting average grades. Music classes are the obvious pick, too. Moth would be good in biology, and their eagerness to learn shows. Priwyn is currently still trying to get her head round Normal School, but I think he's doing well at algebra. Holly would be on the track team, and Design/Tech classes too.

Hope either gains more of a sarcastic, blunt edge to her, or if it's very stressful she tends to freeze and default to whatever she's told to do in the moment. not the best at comforting other people who are stressed, but she'll try. Moth represses, especially now theyve got the Emotions Axe. They're not very good at this whole..people thing. Priwyn starts shaking at the slightest amount of stress. Holly gets angry and more aggressive until they just find something to hit to blow off steam.

Moth finds whispering annoying. It's harder for them to make out and just kind of sounds like static. Hope hates when people brush against them, even just momentarily, as well as eating noises (just close your mouth it's not hard). Priwyn has a personal vendetta against people who chew pens/ pencils (pumpernickel is also a contender. she's annoying (affectionate)). Holly has a rant locked and loaded about the commercialisation of marriage and weddings at all times.

[hellotherekenobi]

───WISHES TO BE THOUGHT.

Summary: whilst hiding out in Reefer Rick’s boathouse, you visit Eddie to ease his worries, and he soon realizes things might not be so bad as long as you’re by his side.

T/CW: spoilers for Season 4 Volume 1!! It’s literally littered with them. Eddie’s POV. Mentions of death (semi-detailed), and dead animals.

A/N: hi, hey, hello. I cannot apologize for the fact that all my other WIPs are currently neglected just so that I can write for the loml. Brain rot took over, y’all.

Word Count: 4,869

1986 at Hawkins High. It was supposed to be his year, his turn at hauling ass from the restrictions of high school and making his way out in the world, preferably with his band to hit it big time. He felt it in his bones, he knew this year would be different, but how far off the mark Eddie Munson was about just what this year would hold in store for him.

First, there was Chrissy—the happy, beautiful cheerleader who somehow remembered his name enough to schedule a deal out in the woods—who had the life ripped from her, crushed limb by limb, back flat against his trailer’s ceiling. Then there was the Hawkins’ basketball team and terrorizing leader, Jason, who was out for blood, thinking Eddie was the reason Chrissy was dead. Not to mention now, as a cherry on top, that the bright kid in his D&D club somehow knew exactly what was going on and that this was far from anything heard about in news reports, in fact, more so found within the pages of a fantasy book or storyboard related to one of his campaigns.

So, great. Not only does Eddie have to fear certain death from a bunch of air-head jocks, but he also has the impending worldwide doom threatening to target at any minute by a devilish being whom the group refers to as Vecna—and he would be lying if he said the very mention of it didn’t bring a cold, painful shiver down his spine. Hiding out in Reefer Rick’s boathouse was his only refuge at this point, with the comfort of knowing that Dustin and the rest of the group—and amongst them, Steve Harrington of all people—were trying their damnest to clear Eddie’s name and save his ass and the whole of Hawkins from what he could only call the devil.

Amidst the comfort of their aid was also yours, which he sometimes can’t believe is actually real. You and Eddie have been friends for a long time, much longer than anyone he’s known at school—excluding his bandmates, of course. The two of you had classes together until you graduated and Eddie was left behind army-crawling to pass with enough flying colors to get him out of the educated hell hole. A first surprise was that you kept in contact with him, then you rocked up to a few of his shows. As far back as he can remember, he’s seemed to always have your support.

So, really, your support now shouldn’t come as a surprise to him, but he’s been so on edge with everything that’s happened that he could only conclude in his head that you would believe the rumors and leave him for dead. Instead, you found him before the sun had even set on his first night held up in the boathouse, and you offered more than just a friendly shoulder to lean on—you offered food, supplies, reports, and beer, thank goodness.

Eddie was hoping for a miracle, and if he really thought about it then it would be no doubt that it came in the form of you still sticking by his side and believing him no matter what.

That doesn’t mean to say that he feels any less worried about everything, though. Sure you’ve been a big help, and when you stay longer than what he would think then it helps ease his mind a little from focusing too deeply on the bad of the situation, but his nerves were still sky high, and jittering at any and every sound that came from outside the boathouse might as well be second nature to him now.

Hearing the engine of a car was the first thing that startled him, then the sound of footsteps over dry leaves. He was curled up in the old boat situated in the middle of the shed, blanketed by the tarp like a kid hiding underneath bedsheets, so he hadn’t enough time to tumble out quietly enough to race to the window and check to see who it was, until, of course, the shed down swung open harshly, hitting straight into the side to make a loud bang noise, and Eddie jumped with as much might as a startled rabbit would by the abrupt entrance.

Then, light seeps through in the form of your voice. “Geez, Eddie! Put that bottle down, why don’t you?”

With an exasperated sigh, Eddie lowers the hand holding a smashed beer bottle in the form of his only weapon of defense. Hearing your voice and seeing your face was like coming home for Christmas, but did you really have to scare him like that? He would have appreciated a more subtle entrance, seeing as even the sound of a fly around here makes him freak out.

“Why the hell would you barge in like that?” Eddie groans, dragging a hand down his face and digging his fingers into his cheek. “A warning next time!”

“Sorry,” you recoil, shrugging your shoulders up only slightly before pushing the door shut. “It’s windy as anything out there, the door flung open by itself.”

“Right,” he says through clenched teeth, the tension in his body nowhere near gone.

He’s honestly getting used to the weather out here. That, or, he’s just becoming numb to it all because of how caught up in his own mind he seems to be at all times. It’s a dangerous place to be, especially since it likes to torment him with grotesque memories of how Chrissy’s body looked when he couldn’t get through to her, and how even though there seemed to be nothing he could do, he should’ve tried harder. Now the town really does think him a freak, and not in the fun, mockery way he was content with being labeled as. No, now he’s the freak who killed a high school student in his own trailer.

He grumbles to himself, hating how twisted his mind gets and how easy it is to slip back into panic mode, but he shakes his head a little bit, the long strands of his hair whipping from left to right, trying to shake the thoughts out of his ears. Right now he should focus on the fact that you’ve come to see him, even though it felt a little obligatory as the group was apparently busy chasing leads, so really you were the only remaining option. That’s why you still come here, right? Eddie can’t think there could be any other reason other than the fact that you’re a good friend and a good human, too.

A brown paper bag is hooked under your left arm, filled to the brim with more stuff to keep Eddie going while he’s nested up in this place. “It’s freezing out.”

Only now does Eddie notice the way you’re shivering, only slightly but still something he should have picked up on sooner—though he was scared out of his wits so he couldn’t exactly blame himself, nor does he think you would.

“It’s colder by the lake,” he says, stepping toward you and taking the bag from your arms and setting it down on the bench, which you smile gratefully at him. “I can’t exactly feel it right now, not with what’s going on.”

“I guess that’s a good thing,” you look him over, settling at his eyes when it seems you’ve assessed that he happens to be faring fine physically. “Do you want me to bring a blanket next time?”

“That’s okay,” he shakes his head, smiling tiredly as he gestures over to the boat in a frustrated, sluggish manner. “I’ve got a tarp.”

Woo-hoo, right? That’s pretty much the type of excitement he could manage. Sure, his trailer isn’t that fantastic either—it wasn’t exactly a home, just a place he and his uncle could sleep and keep sheltered—but he hasn’t exactly stepped up the ladder much with this place, even though it’s the only place he can think of that will keep him hidden. For how much longer, he doesn’t want to think about. That, at least, is something he fights his mind on dwelling over.

“Right,” you smile at him, more so to offer some friendliness to how pathetic that comment about the tarp really was. “Well, I’ve got food, water, and some books to keep you sane.”

Eddie crosses his arms, leaning back on the side of the boat as your hands dig through the contents of the paper bag beside him. “I don’t think I’m in the mood for reading.”

Give him pizza and D&D any day, just don’t give him a paperback. He’s a little over reading books with how he’s had to retake his senior year twice already now. He should know, though, that you aren’t the kind of person who takes no for an answer.

“It’ll help take your mind off of everything,” you say whilst still rummaging through the bag. At last, you pull out a cassette player triumphantly. “But maybe music will help you feel better.”

He chuckles, taking said cassette player from your hand and flipping it over in his hold. It never ceases to amaze him how all it takes is a few words and a smile from you to make him feel like everything was going to be okay. Before Vecna, Eddie didn’t really believe in magic, though it became his entire personality, and even though it would be cool to cast a few of his own spells if possible. But now knowing the truth, he’s got to believe you’ve got some magic in you too. Hell, your name alone was practically a saving grace.

Nodding at the player in his hand, you continue. “I still had some of your old cassettes in my room, so I thought they’d do the trick.”

Eddie’s brows furrow a fraction, tilting his head at you. “You had my cassettes in your bedroom?”

You raise a hand at him—something to say, stop talking right now—when that look on his face turns teasing, leaning on the bench with one arm. “You gave them to me when we worked on Mr. Cane’s science project together. You said, and I quote, that ‘other music will rot your brain, but this will blow your mind.’”

An airy laugh breaks through his smile, tucking his hands even further under his arms with them crossed over his chest, the cassette player poking at his skin. “I totally forgot about that.”

“Aren’t you glad you have me around to remind you?”

Yes, he wants to say. Yes, I’m more than glad to have you around, and please, oh please, can you stay? As much as he wants to say it, he doesn’t want to feel like a burden. He already had to have some sense knocked into him when you started looking after him here, but he can’t help but feel that you could be spending your time doing other things than buying him supplies while he awaits the fire of an angry mob one of these days.

“The roads are pretty quiet,” you inform him. “There’s not a lot of activity on the school’s end. I think the police are keeping them at bay while they’re investigating.”

“Right,” he nods, thumb spinning one of the many signature rings on his fingers. “That won’t last for long.”

“Hey,” you nudge his arm, gaining his attention on you. Your voice comes through to him a little softer, more sturdy in a soothing way. “You’re going to be fine. Dustin and the others will sort this whole mess out and before you know it you’ll be jamming out with the band again while I sit all pretty and watch you play.”

He offers you a small grin, but it fades pretty quickly. First, he feels like a burden to have you fret over him. Now, he feels guilty that you would waste so much time on him even if things were to go back to normal. There are so many things he’d do differently if he could just rewind time and set things straight. For one, he reasons, he wouldn’t have run. As time ebbs away, he’s starting to fear that running is becoming his most prominent attribute.

It’s the sound of you folding shut the paper bag and shoving it across the bench that wakes Eddie up from his deep thought, watching as you look around the boathouse for something, which he soon realizes is a chair when you opt for sitting on a stack of toolboxes off to the side. It takes what feels like a span of minutes for him to register what you’re doing, and then those minutes turn into stretched-out silence that he couldn’t poke at even if he wanted to.

Scratching the back of his head, he watches you let out a breath and then look at him with eyes that say why the hell are you staring at me? “Uh, are you... staying?”

“Yeah,” you nod at him, your tone of voice emphasizing that it should be obvious. “You think I’m just gonna drop some supplies at your feet and book it back to riot town? No way.”

“Oh,” comes his reply, something edging on boyish. Thank you speaks the voice inside him, the one that prods him to say what he feels instead of bottling it up like he so often does. At least, he does when it comes to pretty people... when it comes to you.

Suddenly the nerves of being found, of getting his ass beat and buried, are replaced with nerves of you sticking around, for staying for whoever knows how long and what the hell he is going to do in the time that you stay here with him. He’s not exactly got a list of things up his sleeve to entertain you with, nor is he sure he’s the best host when said place of residency happens to be a drug dealer’s boathouse because everything on the outside of it was threatening to rip him to shreds. Magic or not, you seem to have taken him up on his wish for you to stay. Now he’s wondering if that was the wisest thing to wish for if he only had three chances.

With a tap, tap, tap to the cassette player still in his hand, thumping with his thumb, he crosses the limited distance from the boat to where you sit on the other side, crouching down beside you and raising a hand at you when you offer the toolboxes you’re currently sat on. Honestly, he’d much rather hover like this than sit on those metal boxes which look oh so comfortable. Not.

Another sigh slips past your lips, this time because even if Eddie was the guy on the run you still would offer up a seat to him. It’s just the kind of person you are. That, together with a long list of other reasons, is why Eddie likes you so much. You gave him more than just a chance when you became friends all those years ago, you saw beyond the stereotypes he was labeled with. You saw him for himself, for all the things underneath the titles and the flamboyance. You’re one of the extremely few who see him like that—his uncle being one of them—and, in all honesty, one of the few that he lets see him like this. Not Eddie ‘the freak’ Munson, just Eddie. Somehow, he really likes being just that around you.

It’s a miracle you don’t catch him staring, but he scares himself a little bit into thinking that when you speak. “It’s quieter without you around, you know.”

He huffs, looking around the boathouse. This place was quiet. He’s sure all of Hawkins is shouting his name in anarchy. “I bet everyone is loving that.”

“I’m not,” you say, eyes meeting his when he turns to look at you, a response simmering in disbelief. “I really hate the quiet.”

“Then you’d love it here,” he jokes, waiting for the smile to grace your lips and lift his spirits.

Instead, it’s short. “They’re all saying such terrible things, and it’s killing me because I know I could shut them up if I just said something but... I know I can’t.”

The strain in your voice is evident, even though your eyes look like they’re glossing over how badly you feel. It hurts him to see you like this, and stings a bit, too, knowing that you feel this way because of him. It shouldn’t be like this. You should be having the year of your life, just like he thought he would have, instead of sitting with him in an old, worn-down boathouse. You deserve better than this, better than him, and far better than being tied to the name of what the town believes to be a killer. What kind of comments must be thrown your way because of your association with him.

Eddie places a hand on your knee, squeezing assuredly. “I don’t need you on the defense. Just keep bringing me Honeycombs and beer and that’s as much fighting as I need you to do.”

Finally, you chuckle. It’s warm, brightening your expression—making you shine, though he sees you like that even when you’re not smiling, but he’s too hesitant to ever say that.

“I see where your heart lies,” you snicker at him, leaning to the side to push onto his shoulder playfully.

No, you really don’t. If you saw where his heart lies, you’d be staring straight into a mirror.

He keeps up the role of jester, just to see you smile. “Hey, I’ll take anything over the expired Spaghetti-O’s in the pantry.”

“Oh, ew,” you grimace, earning a chuckle on his end.

“That’s a smell I’m not going to forget.”

“Even worse than the time there was a dead rat in the ceiling during one of your campaigns?”

He laughs, patting your knee like he’s emphasizing each word that comes out of his mouth. “Even worse than that. Absolutely disgusting.”

You laugh in return, shaking your head. “I’ve missed you. I even miss Hellfire,” when he perks up a centimeter, you show him a youthful smile. “Occasionally.”

“Oh, of course,” he waves you off as if he actually believes a word of it. “I know how much you love those sessions.”

“And how much is that?”

He feigns consideration, pressing a finger against his bottom lip. “About as much as you love Spaghetti-O’s.”

You knock your knee against his and he bubbles over with delight, bitting down on the nail of his finger as he lets your laughter swallow up the dullness of the room. Really, when he thinks about it, this place isn’t too bad when he’s got someone here to make him forget about his problems. Hell, he knows it’s true; this place is the best damn place on earth when you’re by his side.

The wind bellows against the boathouse, making it creak, and it’s as if he’s left the window pried open because you shiver even just by the sound of it. “You still cold?”

“A little bit,” you nod, running your hands up and down your arms.

“Here, this’ll help,” he peels off his jacket and vest combo, shaking them out like they have dust all over them. When you protest, he simply shushes you and all about throws the clothing over your shoulders, tugging the ends of it forward so that it wraps around you completely. “What kind of gracious host would I be if I didn’t offer you my jacket?”

He’s kneeling in front of you now, still moving the material like he could close it up anymore. He feels your breath fan his face before you say anything. “Isn’t that what a gentleman does?”

“I’m a gentleman,”

“Sure you are.”

Eddie opens his mouth, pressing a hand onto his chest with mockery offense. “I can’t believe you think so little of me.”

He laughs it off before you even reply to his comment, already feeling that bubble of friendship surrounding the two of you like a little world tucked away in a snow globe. At least, if anything and after everything, he’s certain he’ll always have you in his life, even if it was just like this. Maybe, when all odds are put against each other, having this with you is enough.

But then you speak, and Eddie convinces himself that he sees that bubble all but pop. “I think the world of you,”

Your eyes meet and, if Eddie is being honest with himself, he’s not exactly prepared for how strong your gaze on him is. It’s not sharp, not at all a stare, but rather the kind of look someone gives a person who remembers something about them, like their birthday or that one random fact they mentioned when they thought no one was really paying any attention. It’s a look that says to Eddie, loud and clear, that he’s your snow globe—the kind of person in your life that you couldn’t imagine it without.

“Yeah?” he whispers, more so because if you said that just to be kind then he wants to be certain, otherwise the fluttering in his chest might all but explode if he lets himself tip into hope.

“Yeah,” you nod, moving your hands up to cover his two still holding onto his jacket. “Your hands are warm.”

“I’m afraid I can only offer you the tarp,” he tilts his head, mind and heart racing. Slow down, damn you.

You shake your head at him like he really had the option up for an offer, then lean forward to kneel down in front of him, completely off of the toolboxes. You’re close, so close to him, and he’s losing all sense of reality because there’s no way in hell that you’d be this close to him unless he’s imagining it. His heart skips a beat in his chest when you don’t stop there but continue to lean forward, and he’s sucking in an inaudible breath before your head slips beside his, your arms wrapping around him.

“You’re warmer than the tarp,” your voice pulses against his skin, writing itself there too when you nuzzle your face into the crook of his neck.

He’s too shocked to process what exactly is going on, his mind still spinning at thinking, for one second, that you were going to close the gap between you both rather than go in for the hug. Though he’s hugged you countless times, and almost each one being the very thing he held onto since it was the closest he’s ever thought he’d get to you, this one is different. It’s not a hug to say hello, or goodbye, or even to support him after a performance with his band, but this hug is comfier like you’re slotting yourself against him as if you were fitting yourself into a home. He’d give you the damn lock and key if that were even remotely possible.

“Hey,” he speaks, masking the shake of his voice by playing it off as a chuckle. “Don’t take me for all I’m worth.”

He feels the curl of your lips against his skin and even that alone has his eyes fluttering shut briefly, almost sending him falling forward. But he holds his position, finally wrapping his arms around you, more so for the support. The very action has you humming contently, taking in a deep breath before you pull back slightly but leave your arms where they are. If he thought you were close before, you all but prove him wrong. Just an inch closer and your noses would be touching. He imagines yours would be cold.

“I can’t leave without a hug first,” you say, and he thinks oh. “I’ve missed those as well.”

“Me too,” he whispers, half because he does and half because he doesn’t want you catching the disappointment on his face. “You better head out before it gets dark.”

“Yeah, that would be a good idea.”

It’s true, so he nods. But you still kneel there and still keep your arms around him, not even so much as shifting to make a move to stand up. It’s silent with the absence of your pleasant goodbye, even though he’s waiting on you to say it. He’s waiting on you to do a lot of things—speak, for one, and move away like he would have thought you would be doing by now. Maybe he’s the one who’s supposed to do something, but he hasn’t a clue what that something is. Did you want him to say something else? Are you waiting for him to take his jacket back? He hasn’t actually forgotten that it is your birthday, right?

It’s drawing out too long now and Eddie has no idea what to do, so he accepts the embarrassment of asking and simply goes for it. “Was there anything you wanted—?”

Before he even finishes his sentence, your lips are on his, completely silencing him, even though the remaining words muffle against both your mouths, and the peak of his voice gets buried there, too. Entirely taken by surprise, Eddie can’t do anything but hold his breath with eyes blown wide, totally frozen on the spot. Before the life can find its way down his arms and to his fingers, you’re pulling away from him, and he’s ready to hear you say that it was a mistake and that you weren’t thinking straight, since he’s hardly thinking in the same manner right now, not with that kind of shock.

You wait there, watching him. Eyebrows upturned in expectancy, holding out for his response. His mind is blank, his thoughts and heart flatlined. He doesn’t move, doesn’t move, and he needs to hurry up and do something otherwise this moment is going to go from amazing to uncomfortable within the next breath. On his own, he’s not sure if he would have reacted, but the feeling of your fingertips against his back, starting to slip away from him, is the very shock he needs to charge straight through his bones and kickstart his heart back to life.

And he caves in, and he kisses you. Both hands on either side of your face, guiding your lips back against his and pressing them fully this time, completely head first into the dizziness just that one kiss had him feeling. This time it’s not one pair of lips but two moving against each other, over and over again, agile and gallant and quickly growing impatient since he’s waited for this moment for what feels like his entire life, and you assure him that you’ve wanted this too with how your fingers curl into his Hellfire Club shirt, pulling him into you like the space between you both is disgraceful.

He parts his lips and you share his breath, and when he tilts his head to kiss you deeper this time, the hum in your throat practically vibrates through him, and he replies likewise with a slight smile on his lips by the way you shiver in reaction, knowing that it wasn’t the cold that did that to you. It was all him, all for you. Dangerously his lips weigh against yours, breathless and sweltering and indecent. He knows he’s too far gone to disguise this moment as anything less but passion and longing, but the way you kiss him back—eager and mercurial—soothes that spike of worry to conclusion.

You’re sucking in a breath by the time he lets you breathe, his nose and forehead against yours, his eyes still shut. He fears that the moment he opens his eyes you’ll be gone and he’ll be left with the slap of the truth that he was just simply lost in his thoughts again. Your breathless chuckle settles that assumption, though, and he slowly looks at you through half-lidded eyes to meet your smile, smitten and bright as he always sees it as. It takes one look and he’s chuckling too, awestruck in the moment.

“I’m not dreaming, right?” he asks genuinely, feeling ridiculous. “That just happened?”

When you nod, your noses brush against each other. “Yeah, that just happened.”

He lets out a breath, not being able to hold back just how wide his smile grows. “Good, because there’s no way I could go back to being friends after that.”

You laugh, wrapping your arms around him once more, tenderly this time. “I don’t want to be anything less.”

That very spoken promise has Eddie lit up, head over heels in bliss. It seems too good to be true, but he knows you mean every word of it, and sitting in wait in this boathouse really isn’t that dull anymore. Come danger, come creature, come magic; Eddie will face it all since you just gave his heart the courage he never knew he could have. He has you and that is far better than anything else on his mental wish list. He’d give them all to you, and he’ll give you all of him too.

1986. Maybe, with you in his arms and your kiss still lingering on his lips, this really will be his year.

Taglist: @eddiemunsons-asiangf @eunoiamaa @3ternalreal1ty @lumenseal @munsonlover @twinerd14 @psychedelephantt @megmeg-chan @dameronology @overly-obsessed-with-you @doublesunsets

[akatsuki-shin]

I... I don’t often call out anyone specifically using social media before, but... I saw this among the reblogs in my first post about MXTX novels English release announcement and I feel that this is just too much...

I’m not going to tag this with the fandom tags because this is literally just my personal rant, and I don’t want unpleasant things to appear when people are happily browsing the tags.

I also censored the person’s blog name. It’s not like I want people to mass attack them.

But I do have some things I want to say about this kind of mindset.

And this is gonna be a long post, so I’ll cut it with "Read More” later below as not to disturb anyone’s browsing experience.

Why do they have to split the books into multiple volumes?

First, you do realize that the original Chinese version and other languages versions are also in multiple volumes that don’t always be published on the same date, right?

SVSSS has 3 volumes, MDZS has 4 volumes, TGCF has 5 volumes.

With the English release, both SVSSS and MDZS get +1 volume while TGCF gets +3 volumes.

Why you ask?

Have you ever considered how long a single Chinese word would be if written in alphabets?

The word “人” in Chinese only needs 1 (one) character, while in English it would translate to “P E O P L E” = 5 (five) characters.

The word “知己” in Chinese only needs 2 (two) characters, while in English it would translate to “C O N F I D A N T E” = 10 characters, or “S O U L M A T E” = 8 characters.

Now apply this to an entire novel. FYI, TGCF has more than 1 million word count in Chinese, so you can do the math by yourself.

I mean, just go watch the donghua or live action in YouTube. One single sentence in the Chinese sub is often translated to two or more lines in the English subtitle.

And have I mentioned that the English release will have:

Glossary

Footnotes

Character Guides

And I’m going to repeat this once again: In China and other countries that already get their official releases, it is also NOT always all released on the same date as a single set/box.

So yes, (not) surprise! For the Chinese release and official releases in other countries, you also often need to purchase multiple times, pay shipping fee multiple times, and wait for certain period of times until all volumes are released.

It doesn’t only happen to MXTX novels, it happens to almost all novels, be it danmei or not.

Why don’t they just wait for translations to finish and release it all at the same time/as a box set? Why the span of two years?

On my part, I already say above that in China and other countries that already get their official release, it’s also not always published all on the same date.

Other than that, I’m not an expert at book publishing, much less when the publisher is not from my own country. But maybe consider the following:

They’re releasing 3 (three) hugely popular IPs all at the same time. Maybe the preparations take more time and effort to ensure everything is flawless?

Since it is very rare (or maybe never, cmiiw) for danmei novels to be published in English, maybe the publisher is testing the market first? Because if they already release them as a huge bundle from the start and it somehow flops, the loss would be very big. If it works well, then good! Maybe for future danmei release, they will consider making a box set or releasing them within shorter timeframe. 

In terms of marketing, if they wait another 2 years to release it all at once, will the momentum still be there? You can say “so in the end it’s all about money”, but if not sales number and money, what else should the publisher expect to receive for their work? They’re already putting a lot of effort buying all three IPs from the Chinese publishers, proofread or even translate some from scratch, pay translators, editors, illustrators, printing companies, etc. If it’s not selling well simply because they release it at the wrong time, aren’t all these efforts going to be wasted? And you can bet there will be no more danmei published in English if their first try already flops merely because of losing the momentum.

Are there any other rules or regulations they need to comply that prevents them from releasing everything in one go? But once again, even in China and other countries, it is also not always all released in one go, so this argument is already invalid from the start.

But they make it so expensive like this!

I’m sorry to break it to you, but I’ve compared the prices to MDZS Japanese release + TGCF Thai release and... The price isn’t really that much different.

Btw, I’m using Google’s currency converter, in case anyone wants to know where does my calculation comes from.

Okay, so here’s MDZS Japanese version from CD Japan:

One volume of MDZS Regular ver. cost 1760 yen. This is 15,96 USD before shipping. There’s only like $4 difference.

There’s also the Exclusive ver. that cost 3660 yen (32,92 USD) but we’re not gonna talk about that because they’re basically making you pay for the bonus, which is some acrylic panels and illustration cards.

Now here’s TGCF Thai version from Sense Book:

Translation using Google Chrome page translate:

One volume of TGCF costs 360 baht. This is 10.77 USD before shipping. So there’s about $9.22 difference.

Again, notice the difference of word/sentence length in the Thai words and English alphabet.

"But there’s still difference in price and other releases usually gets merchandise!” - Correct me if I’m wrong, but the US is probably one of the most expensive countries in the world. Do you think the materials, printings, and manpower cost is the same with other countries? Especially compared to one in Southeast Asia.

“But it’s xxxx times more expensive than the original Chinese version!” - Excuse me, the original Chinese version doesn’t need to pay for translators, proofreaders and editors with multilingual skills, and purchase the IPs? If you think it’s more worth buying the Chinese version, then by all means go ahead.

------------

Some last words...

I’m not looking down on those in difficult financial situation, but hey, I’m not filthy rich either? I come from a third world country and even if I’m a working adult, I’m still in working middle class + I got my parents to take care of. My country’s currency is literally just a tiny 0.000069 USD per 1 Indonesian Rupiah.

Every single fandom merchandise that you see me bought, either I’ve saved up for that or I sacrificed other things to buy that. I just don’t show the struggle to you guys because why should I? I’m just here to have fun about the fandom I love, not to flex my struggling financial condition.

These official English release of MXTX novels? All 17 books are going to cost me almost HALF of my monthly salary. But hey, I think it’s a good thing that they didn’t release it all at once, so that I can save up between months to purchase them all and plan my spending better.

If you feel the price is expensive, especially if you have to ship from outside North America, consider the following:

Book Depository provide free worldwide shipping

The books’ ISBN numbers are all available in the publisher’s website, just show it to you local bookstore and ask if they can order it for you

Plus, there are already hundreds of generous fans doing free giveaways in Twitter, even the publishers are helping to signal boost this. You can go and try your luck if you’re really desperate.

Lastly, I know how much love we all have for our favorite fandoms, but remember that fandom merchandise is NOT your primary needs.

You are NOT obliged to purchase any fandom merchandise if you can’t afford it and you should ALWAYS prioritize your primary needs.

Also, if you still want to read the fan-translations that are still available, alright go ahead. But remember that the translators themselves already said fan translations in English are now illegal. You can read it. We all consume pirated contents at one point. But don’t flex about it and diss the official release just because you can’t afford it.

I don’t know if the person who made that reblog tags are going to come at me or not, but even if they do, I literally don’t care. I’m not gonna waste my time arguing with someone with that kind of mindset and will block them right on the spot.

Also Idgaf if they call me out or talk behind my back, I literally don’t know them, so I don’t care.

End of rant.

[simul16]

Somebody's Guide to Whatever This Place Is

Back in September of 2020, on the final day of the D&D Celebration online event, Ray Winninger, the then-newly-installed Executive Producer of D&D announced that three new campaign settings would be introduced into Fifth Edition D&D in 2021. Speculation over which 'classic' settings would be chosen was rampant, and nearly every old setting had folks who were willing to either predict that setting or at least express a desire for that setting to be one of the settings updated for 2021. (The article linked above suggested that Dark Sun, Spelljammer, and Greyhawk would be good choices, but again, this was more 'these are the settings I'd like to see' then 'these are the settings that are most likely to occur'.)

In the six months that have passed since then, we've gotten confirmation on two of those three settings. The first is Dragonlance, in the aftermath of the lawsuit brought by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman related to a new Dragonlance trilogy that was, in theory, going to be pocket veto-ed by WotC, but is now back on schedule to be published later this year.

The second was revealed in a recent product announcement: in May of 2021, a new setting book, Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft, will be released. Few predicted Ravenloft would be one of the two settings Winninger referred to, as WotC had already released Curse of Strahd, a hard-cover re-imagining of the classic I6 Ravenloft module from AD&D days updated for Fifth Edition, and had at the same time allowed folks to update other parts of the Ravenloft setting to Fifth Edition via the DMs Guild. Now that the announcement is official, I'm filled with trepidation as to what WotC is going to do with the full campaign setting.

There are a number of things WotC could do with the setting that would make me at least appreciate if not love the new version of the setting, but I'm not holding out a great deal of hope that these things will actually happen. Nevertheless, I thought I'd note some of those things here as a preliminary 'wish list' of things that would make me happy about the re-imagined 5E Ravenloft, and more importantly, why.

Break up 'the Core' into Islands of Terror

Curiously, this is something we already know will actually happen in the 5E Ravenloft setting, thanks to information included as part of the announcement. Nevertheless, it's a change that has a number of more traditional Ravenloft fans upset.

"The Core" is a group of domains physically connected into a single giant land mass which can be navigated as any other continent on a campaign world might be, either via road, river, or what-have-you. Those who argue that the Core should remain do so under the presumption that, if you plan to use Ravenloft as a campaign setting, you need a way to migrate from one domain to another. There are some domains that aren't part of the Core, either in 'clusters' (smaller groups of related domains 'clustered' together into geographic units like the Amber Wastes or the Verdurous Lands, or as isolated 'islands of terror'. Since these other domains are separated from the Core by the Mists, they are at least in theory harder to get to; there are a few 'Mistways' which can be used to travel from one domain to a cluster or island or vice versa, but those Mistways are by their nature unreliable, resulting in anything from a small to an almost certain chance of not actually ending up where you intend to go. Meanwhile, simply marching down the Old Svalich Road from Barovia will ultimately and unerringly get you to the next domain along the road, unless Strahd chooses to close the borders of his domain, preventing your escape.

So why am I in favor of this change? Because it makes sense given the existing campaign canon. The last books to be published that actually defined and/or expanded the Ravenloft setting were published under license by Swords and Sorcery Studios back during Third Edition, specifically a series of Gazetteers with the conceit that they were written by a mysterious chronicler called 'S' at the behest of the lord of Darkon, Azalin Rex. Included in that chronicle was evidence that the lord of Falkovnia, one Vlad Drakov, had tired of being continually defeated in his attempts to conquer his domain neighbors (this is, in fact, part of Drakov's punishment as a darklord, that his military, supreme within his own domain, is powerless to project his authority outside it) and allied himself with the new Dukkar and de facto ruler of Invidia, Malocchio Aderre, to invade their mutual neighbor Borca. Whether this is simply accidental genius on Drakov's part, or whether he had puzzled out some aspect of his punishment and decided that an alliance with a power that wasn't subject to his personal curse might serve as a way around that curse wasn't made clear, but the underlying assumption was that given the relative military power of the domains in question, unless Borca's allies in the 'Treaty of Four Towers' came to its defense, Borca would not be able to survive the combined forces of both Falkovnia and Invidia and would fall. More to the point, nothing would prevent Malocchio, who is not a darklord, from entering Borca and removing that domain's darklord (or more accurately, twin darklords). The simplest way for the Dark Powers to enforce Drakov's curse and ensure that his mutual invasion with the Dukkar doesn't succeed, or at least results in such a huge cost that the victory likely won't be worth the price, is for the Dark Powers to close the borders around both Falkovnia and Borca; doing so would turn every passage from Falkovnia or Invidia into Borca into a Mistway, and even such a Mistway with 'excellent reliability' would cause the invading forces to be decimated -- 10% of all the creatures passing through the Misty Border would be re-directed to other locations and would thus be extremely unlikely to be able to contribute to the war effort. For an adventuring party, this is irritating, but for an army, where each different member of a unit is part of a larger structure, randomly removing 1 in 10 members of that army results in organizational chaos and disaster. Add in that communications between the army in Borca and its headquarters in Falkovnia also are now subject to the potential for Mist-led misdirection, and that Drakov, as a darklord himself, is unable to pass over the Misty Border at all, and Drakov's curse seems fairly easily enforced as a result.

But if the Dark Powers are going to isolate Falkovnia and Invidia, why not take the obvious next step and simply isolate every domain in the Core from every other domain? It only makes sense.

There is another reason why such a change makes sense, but it's more properly discussed as part of a larger idea:

Tie the changes to the Time of Unparalleled Darkness

Changes in D&D editions have often resulted in changes to D&D's associated campaign settings. The best example of this is actually the Forgotten Realms. When D&D moved from 1st to 2nd edition, the changes in the rules necessitated by this change were propagated to the Realms as part of a Realms-wide event, known as the Time of Troubles (or the Avatar Crisis), where the deities of the Realms were kicked out of their divine realms by the Overgod Ao and forced to dwell on Faerun in mortal forms. Some deities survived, while others didn't, which helped explain the changes in the world resulting from the changes in the D&D rules (the removal of assassins as a class option was justified by the death of the god of assassins during this time, for example). Similarly, when Third Edition was replaced by Fourth Edition D&D, the Realms was subjected to the Sundering, a worldwide disaster that unravelled the Weave, significantly modified the world's geography, and even posited a land swap between Toril and its twin sister world Abeir to explain the sudden appearance of dragonborn, which went from being an optional splatbook race in Third Edition to a core racial option in Fourth. (Nearly all of these changes were undone as part of the move from Fourth Edition to Fifth, but the Sundering still canonically happened in the Realms, continuing to support the changes in the setting that still needed to be justified by rules changes).

A similar thing occurred in Ravenloft, referred to alternately as the Grand Conjunction or the Great Upheaval (and referred to in even different ways in specific domains, such as in Sri Rajj, where it is called the "Rebirth of Kali"), and resulted in a reshuffling of the Core's domains, with some Islands of Terror becoming parts of the Core (Dominia), some parts of the Core becoming Islands of Terror (Bluetspur, G'Henna), some parts of the core being relocated (such as Markovia moving from a landlocked Core domain to an island in the Nocturnal Sea), and some domains being absorbed into other domains (Arak being absorbed into Darkon, Arkandale being absorbed into Verbrek, Dorvinia being merged into Borca, and Gundarak being split between Invidia and Barovia). PCs had the opportunity to participate in the lead-up to this event through a series of six adventures that represented the six parts of Hyskosa's Hexad, a prophecy from a past Dukkar that presaged massive change and destruction in Ravenloft. So in a sense, simply turning all of the Core's domains into Islands of Terror wouldn't necessarily be the most drastic change that's ever been made to the campaign's setting, but the past changes were at least tied to an in-game event that is both known and is significant to the domain's residents.

The Time of Unparalleled Darkness, another prophecy, though this one not from a Vistani seer but from a priest of the goddess of the Mists, already exists in Ravenloft as a future peril (at least it was in the future as of the current date of the setting while it was in the hands of Swords & Sorcery Studios); tying the 5E campaign changes to the Time of Unparalleled Darkness, and simultaneously advancing the campaign timeline past 775 BC (Barovian Calendar), the predicted year of the Time of Unparalleled Darkness, would further cement the event as part of existing Ravenloft lore, rather than making the changes seem arbitrary. This isn't to say that part 1 above (the breakup of the Core into Islands of Terror) has to be contemporaneous with the Time of Unparalleled Darkness -- in fact, a pretty good series of adventures, not unlike the Hyskosa's Hexad adventures, could likely be written as a prelude to the Time of Unparalleled Darkness, with the rising of the Mists occurring in an early adventure as part of the PCs' investigation into the joint Falkovnian/Invidian invasion of Borca and culminating in the event that results in more signficant changes to the domain.

De-emphasize the role of darklords in the setting

In reading about other folks' opinions on the upcoming Ravenloft book, it's a bit surprising to me how many of them are convinced that the 'point' of Ravenloft as a setting is to throw your PCs against the machinations and the will of the setting's various darklords, and I'll admit that Curse of Strahd, looked at simplistically, doesn't seem to go against this premise. Though much of what the PCs do in Curse of Strahd is only peripherally related to Strahd himself, the PCs can't actually leave Barovia without venturing into Castle Ravenloft and 'defeating' Strahd, which opens the way for them to escape. Because of this, a lot of folks who seem to be opposed to the idea of breaking up the Core seem to be basing their opposition on the idea that it would thus be harder for PCs to 'piss off' a darklord and then escape into a neighboring domain, where that darklord holds no sway. (This seems to ignore that most darklords of the Core have the power to close the borders of their domains, thus forcing irritating PCs to 'stay put' and receive their punishment for defying the darklord's wishes, but whatever.)

I happen to think that this is a fundamental misrepresentation of the role of the darklords in the Ravenloft setting, akin to someone believing that a Call of Cthulhu adventure isn't complete until and unless the characters have come face-to-face with one of the Great Old Ones, from which the adventure takes its flavor and inspiration.

To continue the comparison with Call of Cthulhu, the main conceit of that game is that the Great Old Ones are above humanity; so far so that not only can humanity not deal with the very existence of the Great Old Ones (any human who directly encounters one has their sanity shattered as a result), but that humanity is but a tiny speck against the long-term plans and goals of the Great Old Ones. The Great Old Ones don't hunt down and destroy those who defy them; at best, a Great Old One might wave away such irritations as we would wave at a gnat, but the real 'hunting', if it occurs at all, occurs by the cult (or cults) devoted to the Great Old One who take umbrage at their own part of the grand design being thwarted (even though, again, from the perspective of the Great Old One, it doesn't matter which of their irrelevant minions brings about their will, because they know their designs will ultimately come to fruition regardless). The role of PCs in Call of Cthulhu is not to destroy or even defeat a Great Old One, but to defeat a plan set in motion by the more mundane servants of a Great Old One, thus pushing doomsday off for another time, and for a later group of investigators to discover and (hopefully) thwart again.

This isn't to say that Ravenloft has to become the same game as Call of Cthulhu; most of the darklords in pre-5e Ravenloft were once mortal, so their motivations are not nearly as odd and inscrutable as the alien thought processes of the entities in the worlds of HP Lovecraft: the evils in a Gothic horror story are much more understandable and comprehensible than the evils of a cosmic horror story. I'd even argue that the classics of Gothic horror, on which a number of Ravenloft domains are based, are more akin to classical tragedies -- for example, the hubris of Victor Frankenstein in striving to create life causes him to build a monster and almost create a race of such monsters, and it costs him his own family. Victor Mordenheim's hubris is similar, and creates a similar, though slightly different tragedy. In this sense, one could create a Ravenloft domain based on the story of Oedipus and it would fit right in with the other tragic darklords of the setting. This kind of tragedy has a very different feel than the cosmic horror of Call of Cthulhu, and should feel different, though neither strictly fits within the existing structure of how stories are told in D&D.

The other thing that de-emphasizing darklords allows is for the focus of adventures to be put back onto those who fight the monsters rather than the monsters themselves. It's not coincidental or a surprise that the height of the setting's popularity was coupled with the most popular and well-known character unique to the setting (rather than either of the D&D adventures that preceded it): Dr. Rudolph Van Richten. Van Richten is rightly known for being a monster-hunter, yet never once does Van Richten defeat or even directly oppose a darklord; the only two times Van Richten (in pre-5e material) interacts with a darklord are once very early in his career, when the lich-king Azalin Rex helps Van Richten take his revenge on the Radanovich clan of Vistani for kidnapping his son Erasmus, who is turned into a vampire by Baron Metis, and later when Van Richten's stealthy intrusion into Castle Ravenloft while Strahd "sleeps" serves as the framing device for the self-serving version of Strahd's history related in "I, Strahd" to leak out into the Realms of Dread. Van Richten doesn't even defeat every enemy he comes across: for example, the fiend Drigor, whose serial possession of the Mandrigore family is responsible for the series of books known as The Mandrigorian, notably destroys all of Van Richten's adventuring companions, but leaves the Great Doctor himself alive to pass along the tale (as well as live with the error -- assuming that Drigor, the author of a centuries-long series of texts related to fiends and their relationship with the Lands of Mists, was lawful rather than chaotic -- that directly led to their deaths). Gothic heroes, after all, are frequently just as tragic if not more so than the villains they do battle with, and if they fail, as they sometimes do in such stories, it's that tragic flaw that is frequently the cause of their failure.

And as long as we're discussing Van Richten's tragic flaw...

Bring the setting's treatment of the Vistani more closely in line with their portrayal in Van Richten's Guide to the Vistani

When Chris Perkins set down to write his 'blood-soaked love letter to the Hickmans' that was Curse of Strahd, he largely left the Vistani as depicted by Tracy Hickman in that classic D&D module. This, understandably, was not considered a good move, as Hickman didn't even refer to the Vistani as the Vistani in that classic module -- they were 'gypsies' and served Strahd in an odd and inimical way which left them as representing many long-time stereotypes and prejudices of the actual Romani people. The reaction against that portrayal was one of a number of factors leading to last year's WotC announcement on Diversity and Dungeons & Dragons, and that WotC would be "working with a Romani consultant" to refocus their depiction of the Vistani to avoid these harmful and stereotypical assumptions. While the mention of the Romani consultant certainly helps them make their case that they are taking this task seriously when it comes to the Vistani, WotC already owns a much more nuanced view of the Vistani, if only they choose to make use of it.

To go back a moment to our previous item, Van Richten's tragic flaw is his sense of the rightness of his own actions, a tragic flaw that nevertheless doesn't expose itself until very late in the Great Doctor's career, when he finally comes to understand that his very first act as a monster-hunter, destroying the Radanoviches who were involved in kidnapping his son, caused him to be the target of a deadly Vistani curse. The twist is that the curse is not deadly to Van Richten himself, but to those who stand with him and whom he comes to care about, and it contributes to their destruction while leaving Van Richten himself alive to continue to spread woe just as he also brings hope. (See above for the tale of Van Richten versus Drigor both for another example of Van Richten's flaw as well as the operation of the curse.)

The story of how Van Richten comes to realize he is laboring under a Vistani curse, how he unwittingly cast a curse upon the Radanoviches as well, and how he and a Vistani whom he comes to know and befriend work to overcome their mutual curses forms the framing device for "Van Richten's Guide to the Vistani", written by David Wise, published by TSR in 1995, and inherited by WotC when they purchased TSR in 1998. Van Richten's Guide to the Vistani is one of my favorite game supplements of all time, for any game, and deserves to be remembered as more than just the supplement that provided rules to allow players to make full Vistani characters. The main reason why this supplement works so well (at least for me) is that the supplement humanizes the Vistani by having Van Richten travel with his new Vistani friend and living with different groups of Vistani, learning about them and the strange and wonderful (and terrible) things they can do.

No one doubts that there can be evil Vistani, just as there can be evil orcs, drow, and humans. The issue that some inelegantly fear will happen, though, is that rather than being portrayed as a complex culture of different views and perspectives, the Vistani will be 'Tolkienized' in much the same way as elves were within AD&D, made into a race that is strictly better than human in nearly every way. I don't believe that this is what is going to happen to the Vistani, however; if only because the old-school 'elves are awesome' perspective has already been unwound by the current design team in many ways (for example, by removing the racial-specific requirement to be a bladesinger). My concern is that the Vistani will become just another 'hat' that a PC can put on to look different than the default without actually having to be different from the default.

My biggest piece of evidence in favor of this approach is not the removal of culturally-specific items from each D&D 'race' (like bladesingers, which traditionally were elves, now coming from any race), but an argument made by a former administrator in the D&D Adventurer's League during the season in which Curse of Strahd was the feature hardcover, and in which all the associated AL adventures took place in the domain of Barovia. The first adventure in the series took place in the Forgotten Realms (the default setting for AL at the time), and described a family of wanderers from Barovia who physically resembled Faerun's version of a Romani-type culture: the Gur. It would make sense that typical residents of the Realms, unfamiliar with Ravenloft and their Vistani, would refer to this family as a curious tribe of Gur, since that's the thing they know. But this admin took the comparison a very large step farther, positing that every Romani-like or Traveler-like culture in any D&D campaign world was actually that world's version of the Vistani; in effect, positing the Vistani as a planar culture that simply goes by different names on different worlds. While this might be an interesting idea to posit with a new race of beings in D&D, my problem with this theory is that the Vistani are so closely tied to Ravenloft and iconic to that setting, that simply declaring that the Gur are 'Faerun's Vistani' is just as reductive and stereotypical as saying that the Gur are 'Faerun's Romani'. You're not solving the problem of problematic representation by claiming that every iteration of a real-world culture in fantasy is actually a copy-paste of a single view of that culture; if anything you're reinforcing the idea that any negative view of that culture in any setting is justified in all settings, simply due to the equating of that culture in one D&D world with the same culture on any other D&D world.

So the Vistani should remain unique to Ravenloft, in my view, and while a Romani consultant can certainly help with tweaking the portrayal of Vistani characters and the Vistani culture to be less overtly problematic, I don't see how it helps the Vistani retain their unique character that has helped them become such a well-known part of the Ravenloft campaign setting. More than just about every other work in D&D history, "Van Richten's Guide to the Vistani" actually does this, presenting the Vistani as a unique culture with its own drives, values, and heroes, while showing that the Vistani culture does not always agree with the 'default' cultures presented in other parts of the setting.

Perhaps I'll be pleasantly surprised on this topic, and the same designers who ultimately figured out that the alignment rules as presented in the Fifth Edition Players Handbook suggested that sexism was bad, but racism was surprisingly OK and decided to do something about it will take a similarly nuanced approach toward the Vistani in their new Ravenloft setting book. Unfortunately, I think a much more likely approach will be to do exactly what that AL admin thought was such a great idea; since they'll have gone to all the trouble to finally make 'good gypsies' for Ravenloft, they'll save themselves a lot of potential work by simply declaring that every Vistani-like culture in any other D&D setting is just the Vistani by another name, thus making every Romani-like or Traveler-like culture in D&D into the 'good gypsies' by default, erasing any question of cultural complexity or questionable flavor in the hope of being more palatable to a mainstream audience that wants to believe that their new Vistani character is just as good as the default, but doesn't want to be bothered to learn why.

[theuniverseisforgetting]

Anime Recommendation List

My Little Monster

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Episodes: 13 + OVA

Information: My Little Monster focuses on the relationship between Shizuku Mizutani, who has absolutely no interests except in studying and her plans for the future, and a boy named Haru Yoshida, who sits next to Shizuku in class but rarely attends school.

Devilman Crybaby

Genre: Dark Fantasy

Episodes: 10

Information: Akira's best friend tells him that ancient demons have returned to take back the world from humans and suggests that he unite with a demon. Akira successfully does that, transforming into Devilman, a being with a demon's powers but who retains the soul of a human. This sends Akira into a brutal, degenerate war against evil. With fear of demons gripping the world, humanity devolves into paranoia and violence and Akira sets out to save other demon-human hybrids like himself.

Yano Of The Dawn

Genre: Adventure, Fantasy, Romance

Episodes: 24 + 3 OVA

Information: This story follows the redemption of Yona, the sole princess to the Kingdom of Kouka. Yona lives the carefree life of a princess in Hiryuu Castle, being sheltered by her pacifistic father, King Il, and protected by her bodyguard and childhood friend Hak.

Hyouka

Genre: Mystery, Slice of Life

Episodes: 22 + OVA

Information: At the request of his older sister, student Hotaro Oreki joins Kamiyama High School's Classic Literature Club to stop it from being abolished. They begin to solve various mysteries, both to help with their club and at Eru's requests.

Carole & Tuesday

Genre: Music

Episodes: 24

Information: Tuesday Simmons runs away from her affluent lifestyle as the daughter of a politician and makes her way to Alba City where she crosses paths with Carole Stanley and the two decide to team up as a singer-songwriter duo under the name Carole & Tuesday.

Golden Boy

Genre: Comedy

Episodes: 6

Information: Golden Boy depicts the life of Kintaro Oe, a free spirit, roaming Japan from town to town, job to job. During his travels, Kintaro meets several women whose lives he dramatically changes, despite poor first impressions.

Kill La Kill

Genre: Action, Comedy, Magical Girl

Episodes: 24

Information: follows vagrant schoolgirl Ryuko Matoi on her search for her father's killer, which brings her into violent conflict with Satsuki Kiryuin, the iron-willed student council president of Honnouji Academy, and her mother's fashion empire.

Is It Wrong To Pick Up Girls In A Dungeon

Genre: Fantasy

Episodes: 25 + 2OVA

Information: The story follows the exploits of Bell Cranel, a 14-year-old solo adventurer under the goddess Hestia. As the only member of the Hestia Familia, he works hard every day in the dungeon to make ends meet while seeking to improve himself.

No.6

Genre: Dystopia, Science Fiction

Episodes: 11

Information: Shion, a boy raised in the elite and privileged environment of his home, gives shelter to another boy, who only gives his name as "Nezumi" (or "Rat") on the former's twelfth birthday. What Shion soon discovers is how drastically life will change after meeting with the mysterious Nezumi, with whom he had shared one unforgettable, stormy night.

The Devil Is A Part Timer

Genre: Comedy, Fantasy

Episodes: 13

Information: The story is about a demon king named Sadao Maou seeking to conquer the world of Ente Isla, but when confronted by the Hero Emilia, he is forced to retreat through a gate that transports him to modern day Tokyo, Japan. To survive and find a way to return to Ente Isla, Satan gains part-time employment at a fast food restaurant called MgRonald.

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Genre: Apocalyptic, Mecha, Psychological Drama

Episodes: 26

Information: Evangelion is set fifteen years after a worldwide cataclysm, particularly in the futuristic fortified city of Tokyo-3. The protagonist is Shinji, a teenage boy who was recruited by his father Gendo to the shadowy organization Nerv to pilot a giant bio-machine mecha called an "Evangelion" into combat with alien beings called "Angels".

Fooly Cooly

Genre: Comedy, Science Fiction

Episodes: 6

Information: A boy's humdrum life turns upside-down when he encounters a maniacal girl who causes strange things to grow out of his forehead and draws him into conflict with a mysterious, otherworldly organization.

My Hero Academia

Genre: Adventure, Fantasy, Superhero

Episodes: 88

Information: The story follows Izuku's entrance into U.A. High School, a school for training the next generation of superheroes. Izuku and his new friends try to balance their Hero training with ordinary school duties. However, the League of Villains, an evil organization established by All Might's archenemy All For One, has plans to destroy all Heroes and take control of society.

One Piece

Genre: Adventure, Fantasy

Episodes: 917

Information: The story follows the adventures of Monkey D. Luffy, a boy whose body gained the properties of rubber after unintentionally eating a Devil Fruit. With his crew of pirates, named the Straw Hat Pirates, Luffy explores the Grand Line in search of the world's ultimate treasure known as "One Piece" in order to become the next King of the Pirates.

Snow White With The Red Hair

Genre: Fantasy, Romance

Episodes: 24 + OVA

Information: Shirayuki is a herbalist with red hair. However, her hair gets noticed by Prince Raj, who wishes for her to wed him. Refusing his orders, she escapes to the neighboring kingdom of Clarines, where she meets and befriends Prince Zen and his two aides Mitsuhide and Kiki, who turn her life around. Shirayuki passes an exam for a position to train in the palace as a herbalist.

Relife

Genre: High School Drama, Slice of Life, Romance

Episodes: 13 + 4 OVA

Information: One day, a mysterious man named Ryō Yoake offers 27-year-old Arata Kaizaki, who has been unemployed for several years, a job opportunity; but first, Kaizaki needs to become a tester for ReLife: a scientific experiment to make him appear 10 years younger and send him back to high school as a student.

Seven Deadly Sins

Genre: Adventure, Fantasy

Episodes: 24 + 2 OVA

Information: Follows the adventures of a princess in the Kingdom of Liones as she sets out to find the seven deadly knights to save her empire from their repression.

Terrorist In Resonance

Genre: Psychological, Thriller

Episodes: 11

Information: In an alternative iteration of the present, Tokyo has been hit by a terrorist attack that has devastated the city. The only evidence of the culprits is a cryptic video uploaded to the Internet, which sparks paranoia across Japan.

Parasyte

Genre: Body Horror, Horror, Science Fiction

Episodes: 24

Information: Teenager Shinichi Izumi is a high-school student who lives in a quiet Tokyo neighborhood with his parents. His life changes when wormlike creatures, called Parasites, appear on Earth, bent on taking over the brains of human hosts by entering their ears or noses.

Free!

Genre: Sports, Swimming

Episodes: 37 + 2 OVA

Information: Free is set in the town of Iwatobi, Japan. The story is centered on high school student Haruka Nanase, a gifted swimmer. After encountering his childhood rival, Rin Matsuoka from Samezuka Academy, he and his friends revitalize Iwatobi High School's swim team.

Yuri On Ice!!!

Genre: Sports, Figure Skating

Episodes: 12

Information: Yuri Katsuki makes his way to the Grand Prix ice skating competition as Japan’s top representative with his eyes on the prize. However, instead of celebrating, Yuri walks away defeated and ready to retire for good. But a run-in with champion Viktor Nikiforov and rising star Yuri Plisetsky ignites a new fire within him. With the two of them close by his side, Yuri will take to the ice once more.

Charlotte

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Supernatural

Episodes: 13

Information: In a very small number of young boys and girls, the onset of puberty brings with it special abilities beyond mortal ken. Yu Otosaka has one such ability and he uses his power to live a fairly normal, average school life. Suddenly in front of Yu a girl named Nao Tomori appeared and due to this chance meeting the fate of special power-users will be exposed.

Fruits Basket (2001)

Genre: Comedy, Drama

Episodes: 26

Information: The Sohma family has been cursed for generations. When a member of the clan is embraced by a person of the opposite sex, they transform into an animal from the Chinese Zodiac! After keeping their secret hidden for years, their unusual household is turned upside down when young Tohru stumbles into their life. She must promise to keep their secret as one of her own—or face the consequences!

Assassination Classroom

Genre: Action, Comedy, School, Sci-Fi, Offbeat

Episodes: 47

Information: A powerful creature claims that within a year, Earth will be destroyed by him, but he offers mankind a chance by becoming a homeroom teacher where he teaches his students about how to kill him. An assassination classroom begins!

Attack On Titan

Genre: Action, Drama, Fantasy, Horror

Episodes: 59

Information: After his hometown is destroyed and his mother is killed, young Eren Yeager vows to cleanse the earth of the giant humanoid Titans that have brought humanity to the brink of extinction.

Banana Fish

Genre:  Action, Drama, Mystery

Episodes:

Information: Nature made Ash Lynx beautiful; nurture made him a cold ruthless killer. A runaway brought up as the adopted heir and sex toy of "Papa" Dino Golzine, Ash, now at the rebellious age of seventeen, forsakes the kingdom held out by the devil who raised him. But the hideous secret that drove Ash's older brother mad in Vietnam has suddenly fallen into Papa's insatiably ambitious hands--and it's exactly the wrong time for Eiji Okamura, a pure-hearted young photographer from Japan, to make Ash Lynx's acquaintance

Junji Ito Collection

Genre: Horror

Episodes: 14

Information: A collection of animated horror stories based on the works of Japanese artist Junji Ito.

Bungo Stray Dogs

Genre: Action, Mystery, Supernatural

Episodes: 36 + OVA

Information: After young man Atsushi Nakajima saves a man from his wish of suicide, he and his friends join the "Arms Detective Company," a league of literary figures that also harness special powers.

Kamisama Kiss

Genre: Comedy, Romance, Slice Of Life, Kids

Episodes: 25

Information: Nanami Momozono is alone and homeless after her dad skips town to evade his gambling debts and the debt collectors kick her out of her apartment. So when a man she's just saved from a dog offers her his home, she jumps at the opportunity. But it turns out that his place is a shrine, and Nanami has unwittingly taken over his job as a local deity!

How NOT To Summon A Demon Lord

Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy

Episodes: 12

Information: Takuma Sakamoto is famously known as Diablo throughout the MMORPG Cross Reverie. And although he’s a magical prodigy in-game, in reality, he’s a total social outcast. One day, in his video game body, Takuma is summoned to another world by two girls seeking to control him.

Toilet-Bound Hanako-Kun

Genre: Comedy, Supernatural, Romance

Episodes: 12

Information: It is said that "Hanako-san" lives in the girl's toilet on the 3rd floor in the old school building and will grant anyone a wish for a price. Yashiro Nene goes looking for "Hanako-san" in the hopes for a successful love encounter, but the one that she meets is completely different from what she imagined.

Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Genre: Action, Drama, Magical Girl, School

Episodes: 12

Information: In this world, there exists strange creatures who have the power to grant one wish to a chosen girl. However, in exchange, that girl must then become a magical girl and use her powers to fight against witches, evil creatures born from darkness that are responsible for murders and suicides. Madoka Kaname is one such candidate. Will she choose the path to become a magical girl? This is her story.

Stars Align

Genre: School, Sports

Episodes: 12

Information: The teen adolescence story revolves around the coming-of-age of boys in a junior high school's soft tennis club, which is on the verge of shutting down. Touma Shinjou asks Maki Katsuragi to join the team for his vaunted abilities, and mentions a summer competition. Katsuragi asks for money in return for joining the team.

Case File No 221: Kabukicho

Genre: Action, Mystery

Episodes: 24

Information: Shinjuku ward east side... The center of the street with most chaos, There's a Kabukicho full of neon lights. When the light is stronger, the shadow is deeper. The story begins when certain bizarre murder happens one night!

22/7

Genre: Drama, Slice Of Life

Episodes: 12

Information:

Miu Takigawa is a shy, introverted girl who one day receives an invitation from a talent agency. What doors might this invitation open for Miu?

The Hentai Prince and the Stony Cat

Genre: Comedy, Harem, Romance, Super Power, School

Episodes: 12

Information: It is said that a stony cat standing in a hill can make our dream come true. Asking for their wishes, the protagonists come to a hill and ask for their wishes to the cat. Then, for some reason or other, a high school boy loses the face he wears in public and his nickname becomes a pervert prince. A cute girl is deprived of her true feelings... The cat makes mischief to their relationship better and worse. What will become of them?

Shimoneta: A Boring World Where the Concept of Dirty Jokes Doesn’t Exist

Genre: Comedy, Fan Service, Harem, School, Off Beat

Episodes: 12

Information: It's 16 years since the "Law for Public Order and Morals in Healthy Child-Raising" banned coarse language in the country. When Tanukichi Okuma enrolls in the country's leading elite public morals school he is soon "invited" (see - blackmailed) into the Anti-Societal Organization (SOX) by its founder, Ayame Kajo. As a result Tanukichi is forced into taking part in obscene acts of terrorism against the talented student council president (AKA - the girl he has a major crush on).

Haikyuu!!!

Genre: Sports, Volleyball, School, Comedy

Episodes: 85 + 4 OVA

Information: Inspired by a small-statured pro volleyball player, Hinata creates a volleyball team in his last year of middle school. Unfortunately the team is matched up against the "King of the Court" Tobio Kageyama's team in their first tournament and inevitably lose. After the crushing defeat, Hinata vows to surpass Kageyama after entering high school, Hinata joins the volleyball team only to find that Tobio has also joined.

The Promised Neverland

Genre: Drama, Horror, Mystery

Episodes: 12

Information:  Emma, Norman, and Ray are the three most brilliant children the Grace Field House has produced in decades. Unlike in a typical orphanage, they, and their fellow children, eat well and are given an intensive education. However, despite living in a peaceful environment with fun games and a caring mother, there's something not quite right. When six year old Connie is "adopted" by foster parents, she forgets her favorite stuffed rabbit, and Emma and Norman sneak out to return it to her. When they arrive at the scene, the two realize exactly why they had always been isolated from the outside world.

Gamers!

Genre: Comedy, Romance

Episodes: 12

Information:  Keita Amano is a lonely young man who loves video games; Karen Tendō is the beautiful president of the video game club; Chiaki Hoshinomori constantly fights with Keita; and Tasuku Uehara puts on a facade of being satisfied with his life in the real world, but he in truth loves video games.

Kiznaiver

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Psychological, Romance, Science Fiction

Episodes: 12

Information:  The fictional Japanese city named Sugomori City is built on reclaimed land. But as the years go by, the city's population is decreasing. One day, Sonosaki tells her classmate Katsuhira: "You have been selected to be a Kiznaiver." The Kizuna System, which allows Katsuhira to share his wounds, connects him to the classmates whose lives and personalities completely differ from his. The Kizuna System is an incomplete system for the implementation of world peace that connects people through wounds. All those who are connected to this system are called Kiznaivers. When one Kiznaiver is wounded, the system divides and transmits the wound among the other Kiznaivers.

[taetaesbaebaepsae]

BTS Reaction to Recording a Sex Tape

Idk who requested this but man y’all are trying to kill me, it’s been a while back I’m working on them but I need G A T O R A D E

Ya’ll asked for smut and I hope I delivered

Warnings: hoo boy, obvious smut, sex tapes, it’s a sex tape imagine there’s a lot of sex videos, some degradation, collars, choking, public sex, car sex, elevator blowjob, rough sex

Word Count: 2019 words of absolute sin

Namjoon

He’d be against the idea at first

You’d have to talk him into it, because he’s worried about it getting released, you getting found out as his girlfriend, all the scandal it might cause

But like, it won’t take too long to talk him into it, because he’s hard as a rock the second you suggest it

He will never film you with a phone camera or something like that he wants a real camera on a tripod

He’ll want it somewhere standing up, you bent over a chair, a couch, something, so he can play it back later and see every time your ass jiggles

This will be a LONG video, sis

If you’re down he will deadass film you fucking for two hours

He’d want to film something kinky af after he’d watched the first one 200 times on tour

You come in from work and he’s holding a collar and a leash with a sheepish dimpled smile

He’d be lowkey shy about it and tell you again and again you didn’t have to

He’s so soft to you while putting it on, kissing you all over your face

“I love you so fucking much for doing this stupid shit for me, baby”

The second that camera clicks on though?

Total change, eyes all hard, serious face, barking orders, tugging your leash, gently at first and then harder when you moan and he knows you like it

The only phone camera filming he’ll do is of you on your knees with your mouth full, because he will watch that endless times on tour, the way you wink up at him, smiling around his cock, how he uses the leash to jerk your head up and down

After you’ve sucked the soul out of him and he’s panting on the couch he’ll want you cuddled up next to him, take a break, be soft to you again

And then the camera comes back on and it’s all yes sir, no sir or you’re getting punished

He’ll fuck you so hard over the back of a chair you’re afraid it’ll fall over

He’s all praise, though, even when the camera is on, even when he’s calling you a whore

“You look so fucking beautiful with this collar on, baby. You’re such a dirty girl, my pretty little whore, I love you.”

He will be so grateful and sweet for a full week after you let him film it

“You have no idea how much this will help me get through being without you on tour, baby. Thank you so much.”

He’ll sext you while he watches it on tour, too, and the time difference will make it so you’re getting the dirtiest texts while you’re at work or in class, blushing beet red

Seokjin

Jin doesn’t give a FUCK about the potential scandal we know he does what he wants

You don’t have to talk him into it, he probably asks you

The only thing he’d be worried about is if you’re comfortable with it

He’s not kinky but he IS vain so he’ll wanna be in full display on camera

He’ll want you on full display, too, though, he’ll want a combo of phone POV filming so he can film your tits bouncing when you ride him and a tripod set up, possibly with mirrors so he can get every angle

He’s pretty vanilla, so he wouldn’t get kinky like Namjoon 

But he would fuck you extra hard on camera

You'll roll your eyes at him at first bc he's very concerned about angles and lighting you're like "this is a sex tape, Seokjin, no one else will ever see it"

But when you watch it you're like, "oh, damn, ok" because look he DOES look amazing

All broad shoulders, that juicy mouth open in a moan

You're shook and maybe you watch it just as much as he does while he's away

He absolutely loves to hear that you're getting off to it while he's gone

"See, I told you princess. It's way better than porn, you get to see your worldwide handsome boyfriend fucking you instead of some spray tanned idiot."

He'll wanna make a dozen of them before a world tour

Will want to watch it with you when he gets back

"Look, right there, that's when you came the second time. Look at yourself, princess, you look so beautiful when you come apart."

Hobi

I get a real exhibitionist vibe from my man Hoseok

He's all for this as soon as you suggest it

"Can we do it right now?"

The first one will be something simple like filming you sucking him off

Seeing you through the camera really does something to him he moans so loud, comes so hard

He'll wanna film something wild the second time, so he'll suggest phone filming you in public

You going down on him in an elevator

Propping the phone on the dashboard and fucking you in backseat of a car

He's so bad at being quiet you're worried you'll get arrested

Nothing fancy about these he's no director, shaky cam and blurred images bc he gets more into the sex itself than filming it

You complain about your face being blurry

"I'm sorry! I was too busy making you scream my name to worry about the camera, babygirl."

He'll always call you when he's watching it on tour if he can

"Guess who's face I'm watching get covered in come right now?"

Speaking of, so much dirty talk sprinkled with praise in these videos

"You're so fucking tight. You take my cock so well, you naughty girl."

Yoongi

He'll agree right away because if you want it, he wants it

He's generous like that

But he'll barely be in the videos

It's all you all the time

He'll film you playing with yourself, film his fingers going in and out of you, closeup on your pussy while he's fucking you

That's all you see in the videos but you do hear his low voice, ordering you around, praising you, and honestly that's all you need

"Come for me, angel. Look at you. My good girl."

He won't admit it but he watches them all the time on tour, especially the ones where your face is in it a lot

Most of them are just you falling apart, him making you a keening mess underneath him, his hand around your throat, thumbing your collarbone

He'll let you film your own version from above while you ride him on the couch though, and it's your favorite, his eyes while he's watching you, his tongue flicking at the corner of his mouth as he bucks up into you, his low groans when he comes

He'd love it if you told him you were watching it to get off, if you called him panting, the sound of it in the background

"Aw, angel, you miss me that much, huh? How many fingers can you fit in that tight cunt, huh? Send me a picture."

Taehyung

The absolute best lighting

Perfect scenario, fucking candles lit and rosepetals and shit what a s a p

Tripod while he's slow dicking you, background music, sweet and sexy

He's all low moans and praise

A big fan of phone filming, but unlike Yoongi he'll let you film him just as much

"Jagi, you'll look so beautiful on camera. Let me film your face, yeah?"

Now, that's the first one

I feel a pretty strong exhibitionist vibe from Tae, for some reason

So subsequent videos will get better, hotter, rougher

He gets off on watching you get off, for sure, so he'd love it if you put on a show for him while the camera was on you, a little striptease, a lapdance while he's sitting in a chair, legs spread wide, tongue repeatedly wetting his lips

He'll watch you and pull out his cock, stroking slow, deep guttural moans, praising you in a hoarse voice

"God, I love it when you tease me, Jagi. You make me so fucking hard. Come closer."

He looks like a literal sex god when you play it back it's almost too much but that's when he gets shy

"Oh, God, no, I want the one of you riding me. I wanna see you, not me."

He'll watch them all the time on tour, when he misses you not just when he's horny because sex is love and love is sex in his eyes

Jimin

Blushing, giggly baby when you suggest it

You'll have to praise him to get him to do it

"But Jiminie, I want to have something for while you're away and you look so handsome when you're fucking me..."

Have I mentioned Jimin is a switch? Two thousand times, you say?

Well anyway, he's a switch from video to video it's wild

One of them he's dirty fucking you while you're on all fours, filming your ass jiggling, pulling out to eat you out from behind, he talks so much

"You taste so good, Jagi, you dirty girl, you're all but begging for my cock. You like how I fuck you, yeah?"

Next video you're riding him and filming his face and he's all pouty mouth open, whiny moans

"Aw, Jagi, don't clench around me like that. You'll make me come too fast...ah... please, let me flip you over. I'll fuck you so good, I promise."

You like to smirk and tell him how good his cock feels while you're on top because he'll throw his head back and moan so loud, cry out your name and buck up underneath you

He looks beautiful when he comes, mouth swollen from kisses, panting, and it's your favorite video in all the world

He will absolutely video chat you with his cock out if you tell him you're watching one of them

"I love it when you think only of me while I'm away, Jagi. You're my good girl, yeah?"

S w i t c h

Jungkook

"No. Absolutely not." Blushing, stubborn when you suggest it

"Don't you think it'd be hot to have a video of you fucking me for when you're away, Kookie? I'll let you do anything you want..."

Tease him a little and he's down he's an eager bunny

The first video will be quick and dirty

But he'll get high-key critical of them when you make more, become a director in the sexiest way possible

"Look right at the camera, babe. Ah, that's it, just like that. I wanna be able to see your eyes when you come, yeah?"

The best angles, honestly, close-ups of your pussy swallowing his cock, the line of your throat when you throw your head back and moan

He'll even worry about the acoustics of the room because he loves your moans, wants to be able to hear every caught breath

He'll set up cameras all over the house so if the mood strikes he can flip it on and fuck you on the kitchen counter

Will criticize his own stroke game after watching it several times

Will definitely improve

"I want to make you come at least three times in the next video, it was only twice in this one."

He will want to get a little kinky in a video, eventually, blindfold you, maybe bind your hands behind your back

He will get less and less shy, though, and his direction will be more giving orders and praise than actual direction

The Dom jumps out, is what I'm saying

Would love to film you while he overstimulated you to the point of near tears if you're down

Won't watch them with you unless you beg in person, shy about it

Loves to watch it on tour, every night with his earbuds in, though

Will demand you tell him if you watch it and if you text him he'll call you and talk you through it

Not shy at all over the phone, voice low and commanding

"Tell me where you want my hands, baby. Tell me how much you want my cock right now."

[earthstory]

Does De Beers really control the diamond price?

Every time I post on the gemmy form of carbon, some commentators state that the value of diamonds and the entire distribution market for them is controlled by one company. While the latter might have been true until the late 1980's, this is not the case today, and I feel it's time for a bit of a plunge into the history of the diamond trade. As for the former, it's a pipedream. Like other wonders of nature, gem diamonds are rare, as are rubies and sapphires, even though corundum is fairly plentiful in non gem qualities. Before the discoveries in South Africa late in the 19th century, gem diamonds only came from two main sources (with a third minor one in Borneo): The traditional mines around Golconda in southern India (mined since time immemorial, and found in antique Roman rings and medieval jewellery) and the 'recent' discoveries made by the Portuguese in Brazil in the 1600's. At first the new discoveries were a minor influence, but as more kimberlite pipes and placer deposits (reworked deposits from eroded pipes) were found throughout southern Africa, the supply increased and the quality grading grew ever more fanciful (rising to AAAAAA for diamonds of the 'purest water').

De Beers formed as the various African mines (previously divided into individual claims) were gradually consolidated by a cast of unusual characters, some with insane imperial ambitions (such as Cecil Rhodes...as in Rhodes scholarships and Rhodesia) and others eccentrics who were in it for the game and the money (such as Barney Barnato, who started off in the London East End rag trade and was a born showman).

De Beers developed into the biggest centre of expertise in diamonds, their origins, geology, and mining in the world, with an integrated vertical structure that went from mine to gem cutter. This included prospecting, assessing (with a strict grading system), extracting (in the complex engineering environment of deep carrot shaped pipes), separating the wheat from the chaff and moving the produce down the distribution chain via its sightholders (who were chosen on the basis of being able to come up with enough money 10 times a year to make it worth De Beer's while selling to them). These then passed on down the chain the rough that they didn't cut themselves.

De Beers first made synthetic stones and stand at the forefront of detection methods used in gem labs today. They also pioneered research into treatments, and supported the GIA cut diamond grading system when it was introduced (with the best colour as D rather than AAAAAA). When you buy a certified stone, it is backed up by their technology, and their expertise has helped develop the systems used, giving confidence to buyers wolrdwide.

As further discoveries were made, its expertise allowed it to take a part in or be invited into many concessions worldwide. Everyone thought that they would get best value added that way. Even the Communist Soviets (who had made their own discoveries in Siberia and the far north) joined the De Beers distribution system for most of the cold war. De Beers marketed diamonds worldwide, but not in the sense most people seem to believe. Their supply monopoly was never perfect, many sources remained outside their control, and their buyers were stationed worldwide hoovering up as much production as they could, but never close to all of it.

The new African sources allowed gems to be accessible to the masses in a way never before possible in history. Thus the tradition of the engagement ring spread down through the middle classes along with slogans 'is she worth a month's salary', a social custom that the clever marketing spread worldwide, including new places like China and Japan. In a similar manner, the development of heat treatment for corundums by the Thais in the 1980's made rubies and sapphires accessible outside the circle of the super rich for the first time. So yes, like any good company, they strove to grow demand for their product, with a high degree of commercial success. They based this success on mankind's eternal love of bright shiny crystals, whether coloured or clear, that many of you presumably share, (or the pretty crystals I post wouldn't get any likes).

And then came Argyle in the early 80's, the biggest diamond mine on Earth (in the Kimberleys of West Australia) and the main source of the extremely rare pink, purple and red stones. For several decades its production was the highest in the world by far, at 10 million+ carats yearly. Unfortunately most of their production was yellow or brown, then viewed as industrial quality by the DB system.

After many arguments about how to market them, Rio Tinto pulled out of the system and started its own campaign, revealing their stones to be beautiful (and they are) 'champagne' and 'cognac' diamonds. They built direct links with the growing cutting industry in India, whose low labour costs allowed their small stones to be faceted in bulk, and started their own distribution line. The Russians followed suit, and ALROSA (the state diamond corporation) began their own direct auctions and sales in Ramat Gan (Israel) and Antwerp.

As the system was already beginning to fragment, a maverick Canadian geologist (whose extraordinary story I have told elsewhere at https://tmblr.co/Zyv2Js246Z0Pm) single handedly discovered a game changer that would mostly remain outside the existing system: Ekati, which was followed by many more finds in the Canadian Arctic (that DB and others had explored fruitlessly in the 20th century). The gems here are high quality, and without some of the unfortunate associated politics of African stones. The Canadians have developed a mine to finger tracing system, and marketed their diamonds very well.

Other countries who saw this also wanted to maximise the value received for their stones, and began to demand renegotiations or award concessions to smaller independent companies, where the balance of power in the contract would be more to their favour. DB had mixed stones from all over into boxes of varied qualities, claiming the money they earned was in the tweezer used for sorting, that theoretically allowed the manufacturers to specialise in the goods they could cut for highest profit. Now parcels with distinct provenances are common and each country (with the exception of Namibia and Botswana which remain the linchpins of what remains of the DB system) or mine markets its own goods.

The 'cartel', faced with the loss of its monopoly (always relative remember, Mobutu's fief of Zaire for example sold plenty on the side) and with majority rule in its South African home finally realised, proceeded to restructure both its holdings and its system. They gradually divested the old mines in South Africa to smaller companies, exchanged cross shareholdings with its main sources (Botswana and Namibia), left its London HQ and sorting operation for Gaborone and reinvented itself as a 'supplier of choice' with its sightholders. They also started to market high end cut gems and jewellery in their own chain of stores worldwide.

In further complex manoeuvres, it took itself private as part of a restructuring of the Anglo American gold company, which enjoyed a cross shareholdings with DB and the Oppenheimer family. Tracing what all this manoeuvring means is still tricky, as it is too recent to really evaluate the consequences.

The main current problem in the diamond trade is in part a consequence of this strategy, since the prices of rough are ever increasing and those of polished goods remain more or less level. Many smaller cutters are going out of business, and the number of middlemen in the trade is going down, as both the mining companies and nations work to realise the maximum value possible for their own production ( by for example keeping a share in an important stone when sold to the cutter) and start new cutting centres to maximise locally added value (and jobs). Inevitably this means taking the extra money from elsewhere in the distribution chain, since the price of polished goods remains stable or down.

As for the second allegation, that diamonds are as common as peanuts, I'll ask you all, when did you find one last in your back garden? They may be less rare than top end unheated rubies, tsavorites and red beryl, but mining production still sees a carat per million tons of shlep as pretty good. That's alot of earth to shift for a carat, especially if you bear in mind that most production still falls into the industrial category, champagne and cognac notwithstanding. And as for fancy coloured diamonds like the Hope blue, they are super rare. 

As ever in these matters, things are more complex than anyone attempting a simplification (this post included) can describe for a public. The gem trade has always been secretive, about sources and clients, sales and purchases, prices paid and charged. Add in the need for operational security with small high value goods subject to robbery and the murky end of international politics, then you have a situation in which, as ever in interesting historical matters: those who truly know remain silent, those who speak, speculate.....

Loz

Image credit: De Beers

[tikkisaram]

D. H. Lawrence’s Delights of Being Alone

As strange as it sounds, D. H. Lawrence's Delight of Being Alone is a love poem to loneliness. What's more, it is not a naïve piece of romantic verse — it could easily be classed as erotic poetry. Once we realise this fact, it is with little difficulty that we can appreciate the masturbatory reading of the poem.

Here is the short poem in its entirety:

I know no greater delight than the sheer delight of being alone. It makes me realise the delicious pleasure of the moon that she has in travelling by herself: throughout time, or the splendid growing of an ash-tree alone, on a hillside in the north, humming in the wind.

The title of the poem prominently features the word 'delight', and the word is repeated twice in the first line. It is a word that is rarely associated with solitude, being obviously sexually loaded: it signifies "that which gives great pleasure" and has etymological origin in the Old French delit, meaning "pleasure, delight, sexual desire."1 It is clear that this is also a pun on the French délit, meaning offence or crime, associating delight with something forbidden.2 Such francophone puns are seen elsewhere in Lawrence's work: the title of his poetry collection Pansies puns both on the French verb panser and on Blaise Pascal's Pensées, for instance.

The body of the poem contains more suggestive vocabulary: the "sheer" delight; the "delicious pleasure" of the moon; the "splendid" tree. The repetition of the 'L' sound is especially noticable in the first two lines; it evokes a lush voluptuousness. We might expect to see such language in a censored poem by Baudelaire, not one about sitting by yourself under a tree. Given the circumstances, Lawrence really seems to be enjoying himself a little too much...

Before we examine the imagery in detail, let us address a potential criticism of this reading — someone familiar with D. H. Lawrence's other work may point out that he had a negative view of masturbation in general. He has a number of statements to this effect: in Pornography and Obscenity, he mentions "the vice of self-abuse, onanism, masturbation"; in Fantasia of the Unconscious, he says that masturbation "won't do you any good". Initially, this seems to disqualify such an interpretation of this poem. But if we research the topic, we see that Lawrence's attitude towards masturbation was far from straightforward.

An early poem by Lawrence, Virgin Youth, written around 1906, describes the act of onanism in detail. Despite the seemingly negative ending of the poem, its vivid description of masturbation hints at ambiguous and conflicted feelings towards it. Lawrence considerably revised the poem for its publication in The Collected Poems of D. H. Lawrence in 1928; the revision is much longer and amplifies the importance of the phallus in the poem. Cowan states that "Lawrence's increased focus on the penis in the graphic phenomenology of erection in the 1928 'Virgin Youth' suggests that the experience was of greater significance than he had recognized at the time."3

It also seems that the sexual fantasies that Lawrence masturbated to were sadomasochistic in character. Shakir notes that for Lawrence the imagery of parental violent conflict was a source of erotic stimulation, citing his early poem "Cruelty and Love" as an example.4 This is consistent with Freud's observation that a child sees the sexual intercourse of parents as an act of violence.

Cowan links the phallic elements of Lawrence's poetry with Shakir's observations about his fantasies through Freudian psychoanalysis, noting that "[Lawrence's] lifelong preoccupation with the image of the phallus, however, suggests, in object relational terms, a continued search for the father's penis as a part object that could substitute for the unavailable nurturant whole paternal imago that still could not be reliably established and stabilized in object constancy." He states that "Lawrence's adolescent shame about his sexual fantasies derived from the homoerotic wishes they expressed" and concludes that Lawrence's attitude towards masturbation "derived primarily from the shame he felt about the nature of his own masturbatory fantasies. It derived secondarily from his conscious response to the hypocrisy of official disapproval of masturbation, though hardly the private abstinence from it, in the society in which he matured from childhood through adolescence to young manhood."5

It is obvious, then, that Lawrence's unambiguous statements did not truthfully reflect his supressed feelings and inner turmoil; he seems ashamed to be fascinated by masturbation. In Fantasia of the Unconscious, when arguing against masturbation, he admits: "I know what it is, I tell you. I've been through it myself," acknowledging it as an area of conflict.

Armed with this crucial knowledge, let us return to the imagery employed in Delight of Being Alone. There are two images in the poem — the first, that of the moon, fits in easily with this interpretation. The moon is historically a symbol of fertility; it is important in occult sex magic. For example, U. D. Frater describes the following ritual: "...stand facing the moon and raise your arms with your palms streched toward her. Let yourself be flooded with the rays of the moon. ... When you are fully flooded with the energy, excite yourself sexually by masturbating. ... Little by little you should become the Moon Goddess herself, culminating in the orgasm."6 He also mentions intuition and the subconscious as Lunar "correspondences", which gives us a link between Lawrence's inner, repressed feelings and the image of the moon.

The image of the ash tree, on the other hand, links with one in Lawrence's novel Sons and Lovers, where in a description of domestic violence he mentions "a piercing medley of shrieks and cries from the great, wind-swept ash-tree." Four elements connect the two images: the tree, its species, the wind and the sounds coming from the tree, which in the case of Delight of Being Alone are changed to "humming", shifting the focus to the pleasant — sexual — aspects involved. The sexualisation of parental violent conflict — as per Shakir's findings — is clear in this image.

We cannot know to what extent Lawrence was aware of the masturbatory elements of this poem. It is possible that he remained consciously opposed to the act of onanism while subconsciously inserting his feelings and fantasies into his work. This would explain why such traditional, Victorian ideas were expressed by a writer at the forefront of sexual liberation, seemingly incongruent with the "immersion in the world, sensual and ecstatic"7 and "acute awareness of the rich materialism of things available to our senses"8 that the poet Czesław Miłosz praised him for. The beauty of poetry analysis is that it allows us to discover truths unkown even to the poets themselves.

Online Etymology Dictionary ↩︎

Cambridge French-English Dictionary ↩︎

Cowan, James C, "Lawrence, Freud and masturbation," Mosaic: A Journal for the Interdisciplinary Study of Literature 28:1 (1995). ↩︎

Shakir, Evelyn, "'Secret Sin': Lawrence's Early Verse," The D. H. Lawrence Review 8.2 (1975): 155-75. Cited in "Lawrence, Freud and masturbation." ↩︎

Cowan, James C, "Lawrence, Freud and masturbation." ↩︎

Frater, U. D. (Ralph Tegtmeier), "Secrets of Western Sex Magic: Magical Energy and Gnostic Trance", (Llewellyn Worldwide: 2001), pp. 105 ↩︎

"jego zanurzenie w świecie, zmysłowe i ekstatyczne" [Miłosz, Czesław, "Postscriptum," in Życie na wyspach (Znak: 2014), 123-141, pp. 132.] ↩︎

"Poeta wyjątkowej wrażliwości na bogatą materialność rzeczy dostępnych naszym zmysłom" [Miłosz, Czesław, "Przeciw Poezji Niezrozumiałej," in Życie na wyspach (Znak: 2014), 107-122, pp. 118.] ↩︎

[millennial94meets-world]

A GENERATION: QUARANTINED.

Is it coming to you live if I’m just chilling in my apartment and taking my time blogging about the new way of life many generations are having to endure without a FaceTime selfie update? Maybe not. Who cares. 

You do. That’s why you’re reading this. Because for many of you, this is day 9 or 15 of quarantine depending on where you are in the country, and you are SO bored that you ended up in a rabbit hole that led you here. Welcome. I could use some more followers just like you could use something to do for the next ten minutes. 

For many millennials and introverts alike, nothing has changed. Nada. We are doing the same things we have been doing: avoiding human contact, jumping into rabbit holes out of boredom on social media platforms, eating take out from DoorDash, and binge watching our faves on popular platforms. So to the rest of the world...we send the warmest welcome. 

The difference? Now we are being asked to do it. 

It’s easier to stay home when you WANT to hide, but it’s a little different for some of us to stay home when you’re TOLD to hide, hence why many people are taking those cheap flights to anywhere without caution, putting bar nights on their social media stories without a care to rebel, and trying not to hit their heads against walls as they are stuck indoors with family they would otherwise optionally see occasionally. Praying for you. 

Anyways. While everyone is stuck indoors and sharing their hourly updates of how nothing has changed, or how they are continuing to innovate their new, and hopefully temporary, “norms”, I thought I could also share a few tips on how to stay positive (oh God, no, not for COVID-19), be productive working at home, still be productive if you are temporarily/indefinitely laid off, or have trouble getting through that to-do list you have been making for 5 years (don’t be ashamed, we all have one). 

Tip #1: Stay Positive. 

I know, I know. That looks more like: StAy pOsITivE, but hear me out. Wake up every morning and set one positive intention; whether it’s limiting your social media scrolling, getting a nice long yoga practice in, getting through a few chapters of a good book, turning the garage into a real gym (no, that treadmill being weighted down by your air-drying laundry does NOT count, Becky), getting a good handle on your [new] online classes, or checking up on your grandparents because #quarantinecheck . Keeping a good positive mental attitude is good for the longevity of this quarantine. This isn’t going to last forever, and it helps to make sure that even if the Corona virus doesn’t infect your immune system, that you don’t let it infect your mental health. It’s also going to help you achieve the rest of this list. 

Tip #2: Productively Working From Home.

Say good-bye to cubicles and awkward coffee breaks in the break room with that guy from IT that has a crush on you that you hardly know, and say hello to a much more hostile work environment depending on the adult and child population in your home. You’re about to find out just how much pressure you can take with that deadline. Breathe. I am not an expert on kids because I don’t have any, so I won’t pretend to be. If you’re looking on advice on how to wrangle those little devils, you’re in the wrong place, sis. For everyone else, get up like you would every morning, eh, maybe like an hour more of sleeping in, but get up, get dressed and put some concealer on or whatever. Make some coffee and find the dog/cat/rabbit/hamster leash you threw in the back of the coat closet because you and Fluffy are going for a productive brainstorming walk. Yep. You’re taking the dog, or the cat, or the rabbit, or the hamster (or whatever poor fluffy adorable creature that you never take for some productive exercise) to work from now until this sh*t is over. Make it a 10-15 minute walk (depending the type of pet) and set some productive work intentions. Make a list on your phone. When you come back, set up a creative desk area if you don’t already have one. I use one end of my dining room table by folding one of my favorite patterned scarves in half and laying down as a foundation for mental separation where the cats are NOT allowed to lay. Place some candles from your room or living room on your desk for some “office ambiance”, put up a standing picture frame if you like, notepad and pens, and maybe some cute paper weights? Whatever floats your boat. Start by checking your emails or whatever you would normally do to start the workday at the office, and just keep the ball rolling from there. Set a lunch break, and stay out of the kitchen until then (unless you, like, actually need to get a snack)! We all know what too many snacks lead to....(I’m not saying don’t eat what you want, by all means necessary, snack your PANTS OFF, but save them for after work because we are trying to get sh*t done, okay?)....anyways. If you start feeling overwhelmed by your to-do list, take a break and call your Nana or your mom or dad and chat to check in for like 15 minutes. Talk about your day with them, then get back to it. It helps to get some social interaction, especially because you would be getting that at work with your co-workers. Make sure that you set a solid time to end your “workday” and try to stick to it! You got this!

Tip #3:  Being Productive “Working From Home”.

This one is for everyone who has been told that their places of employment have been shutdown temporarily or indefinitely by the government or city officials due to risk of exposure. Set an alarm for the morning for like 9 am or 10:30 am, and get drink some water (we know you had more than a glass of wine last night, and quite frankly...same). Make some coffee or tea to-go, and strap the pup/kitty/bunny up for a walk! We are all going to get some Vitamin D and fresh air ladies and gents. While on your walk, set some daily intentions to do some school work, start a blog (hehe..), take care of any adult-responsibilities that you have been putting off because you just haven’t had time during the week to do it (your banks are still doing drive-thru extended services, so no excuses), make a chore list, make a plan of invading your local grocery store [during business hours] in hopes of finding [not hoarding] lost treasures like toilet paper, conference calling your project buddies from class so you can knock out that B+ even in quarantine because we all know the policy in the syllabus doesn’t even protect you from a worldwide quarantine, or you can take the time you need to take care of your unemployment status! You can still do so many things under these trying times. Start something new for your self or cross off some serious adulting moves. Take this time to meditate,  learn about the “joy” of meal-prepping (don’t do this one, it’s miserable), finish that weird painting you started with the girls during a poorly timed wine and paint night at your place (remember? There were snacks and more bottles than canvases and you guys got too drunk and a few brush strokes in you stopped and started to Instagram-stalk your exes and their current girlfriends?? Yeah. You remember), YouTube some yoga routines to start flowing for some MUCH needed positive stress-relief, clean the hell out of your kitchen AND closet (you know you need to donate the sh*t you don’t wear anymore. It’s just taking up space, Jen), or start doing some morning or evening runs with your dog. Take this quarantining time to start new and positive habits that you have been thinking about picking up lately but have been too busy to do so. YOU HAVE PLENTY OF TIME NOW. 

Here’s mine, I started a self-care regiment of taking super reds and greens when I get up in morning and go to bed at night, and I started getting up earlier to take my dog out to play fetch while I drink my morning coffee (I don’t run for sh*t, f**k that). Start with something small like I did. If I can do it, you can do it. 

Tip #4: Do Your “To-Dos”.

Seriously. Find that list. Make that list. Slap it on the dining room table and give it a good talking-to. Tell it about how you’re not taking anymore of its bullsh*t, and this ends this week. PROJECT YOUR FEELINGS. Then get to it. Maybe drink some coffee first? Idk. Whatever gets you going. Keep in mind a few things though:

1. It’s okay if you only do one thing today because you can take the rest of the week or the rest of the quarantine to finish it. Nobody is judging you, but you, sis (A good life mantra).

2. You are the boss of the list, not the other way around. Take charge, sis. 

3. You don’t even have to go in order from top to bottom. Maybe start with the easiest and most convenient things to do at home, and then work your way out. Or alternate between easy and more challenging if you want to make it more fun. The point is: go at your own pace, this isn’t a race. You know what they say about things that rhyme *insert enthusiastic smile and eyebrow raise here*.  

4. Do not, and I cannot stress this enough, do NOT judge yourself for how long any item has been on the list. What matters is today, and your motivation to take on these tasks. So pop some headphones in, and go get em’ tiger. 

Remember, 2020 is NOT cancelled. It’s just postponed for some self-healing. I hope this helps, and that everyone who reads it can find something that they will take away and put into motion in the weeks to come. Speaking of weeks to come, I am now out of wine, so I have to add a trip to the store to my to-do list lol.

 Happy Quarantining guys!!

[amora-recs]

pinky promise┊park jimin

des: “let’s make a promise. a pinky promise.”

word count: 3.8k

a/n: listen y’all: this wasn’t supposed to be over 500 words, but i got really invested in it,, so here you go,,, enjoy.

“Would you please stay still?" you whined to Jimin, who couldn't help but laugh even more as he kept twirling around. "I need you to not move for just a few minutes, is that so hard to do?" a groan escaped your lips as you continued to complain to your best friend.

 Jimin didn't answer, instead preferring to hum along with the almost silent melody playing. Although you would have adored seeing Jimin dance, going through endless hours of supplementary classes with Mrs Choi wasn’t on your to-do list. Shivers immediately overtook you just thinking about it.

“Look, we can play ballerinas later,” you tried to explain after gently placing your camera down, standing up more than ready to give Jimin a piece of your mind, “just a few poses and we’re done!”

“What if I want to play ballerinas now?” you would have loved nothing more than to rip that pretty smile of his off his face, but your portfolio was in dire need of him. “Plus, wouldn’t a photo in motion be better?” he asked, walking right behind you as you picked up your beloved camera. His smile died the moment you turned around, a glare plastered on your face. “Y’know, if you keep glaring like that you’ll get wrinkles.”

“Jimin, I swear to God –”

“Fine, fine,” he gave up, finally sitting down on the stool you prepared for him. Things were thankfully pretty silent except for a few giggles here and there. And after fifteen minutes, just like you said, you were done. Despite being tiring, you loved taking photos of Jimin. You loved doing it so much you were sure you would have filled up your portfolio with photos of Jimin alone by now. And who could blame you? From head to toe, he was stunning.

 As much as you loved photography, dealing with deadlines, professors and life in general were more than you could handle. A long sigh could be heard as you slowly packed up the few pieces of equipment you brought, not ready for the upcoming all-nighter. Fortunately, Jimin promised he would keep you company since he was keen on supporting his best friend and had nothing better to do. Just as you were about to pick up your bag, something caught your attention. It was a piece of paper, a letter to be exact. It was just an ordinary letter, you thought before you caught a glimpse at the words “Park Jimin” and “Congratulations” together in the same sentence.

“Have you seen my…” words got caught in his throat as shock took over his features.

“You’re going to AVA?!” a rosy blush painted Jimin’s cheeks, bashfully scratching the back of his head. Despite the jumble of emotions you were going through all at once, you hurriedly hugged him, crumbling the letter you were still holding in the process. You knew you should have felt happy for Jimin, it was one of his biggest dreams after all, but you couldn’t help your poor heart as it slowly broke into pieces. “How did this happen?”

“I have been apparently invited thanks to an old teacher’s recommendation, and I’ll be going as his protégé,” he whispered, hugging you tight against his chest, ”but I wasn’t really planning on going.“ Jimin continued with a sad smile.

 Your eyes became the size of golf balls as you stared at him in disbelief. What was that supposed to mean? In the past four years you’ve known Jimin, going there was his greatest wish. So why wouldn’t he go? “Are you stupid? How can you possibly say that?!” you questioned as you kept hitting his chest. “This is your biggest chance! Don’t throw it away like that!” it was true. The academy was renowned for its worldwide known artists, especially choreographers. If anyone deserved to be known, it was definitely Jimin. You loved teasing him, calling him a ballerina and so on, but all in all, you knew he was talented. And such talents deserved to be known.

“I know, it’s just that I don’t want to go to France –”

“If you’re thinking about not leaving because of me,” you interrupted him, taking hold of one of his hands as you led him out the studio. You knew him all too well. Jimin was a sweetheart through and through. Of course he wouldn’t want to leave you. And judging from the way his expression changed, you were more than sure you were right, “you have nothing to worry about! How long you’ll be staying, anyway?”

“One year.”

 Exhaustion took over your body the moment you touched your bed. Your conversation with Jimin ended shortly after, leaving you puzzled and overwhelmed. The sleepover became long forgotten as you both parted ways the first chance you had. It was an uncomfortable subject for both you and Jimin to talk about. Thousands of thoughts were running through your mind, a small ball of anxiety slowly but surely building up. Jimin was going to leave, there was no denying in that. It was an opportunity he couldn’t just turn down for some flimsy photographer. You knew he’d be amazing. You knew he’d be a star. 

    A sudden need to procrastinate struck you, Mrs Choi being one of your least worries at the time, but knowing you wouldn’t be able to hear the end of it, you stood up, grabbing your laptop from the nightstand and your camera, not ready to dive into the wonderful world of editing. It wasn’t anything too interesting. At first at least.

 As you were selecting the photos, you came across a few oddballs. You smiled, looking through the pictures of your first year in college with Jimin. Not many things have changed since then. You were still you, and Jimin was still Jimin. You were still here, and Jimin was still here. For now, at least. He will be leaving for France who knows when. You were too shocked to even ask. And he’ll be gone a year. A whole year. It was heartbreaking and amazing at the same time. You knew he won’t forget you, he’ll come back and that you’ll finally be able to confess. Or so you’d like to think. Your buzzing phone made you realise you were crying and that you got a new message from Jimin.

jiminnie: are you ok? [10:50 pm]

 As you kept wiping your tears away, you thought about a good way to answer him. You didn’t want to worry him any more.

you: yeah wdym? [10:52 pm]

jiminnie: well, it’s a lot to take in all at once [10:52 pm]

jiminnie: i’m sorry. i was waiting for the right moment to tell you. [10:53 pm]

 Of course, he would. Waiting for the right moment to tell you he wasn’t going.

you: don’t worry, i get it. it’s not something you can just casually drop in a conversation. [10:53 pm]

jiminnie: yeah… [10:53 pm]

jiminnie: anyway, wanna go on a date tomorrow? :D [11:09 pm]

 The moment the word ‘date’ popped up on your screen, you snorted. Park Jimin, your best friend and your secret crush, was asking you on a date? Tomorrow? It wasn’t unusual for Jimin to act like the dearest peach there was, and going on little dates like this was his way of showing how much he loved spending time with you. You couldn’t help but beam at your screen as you typed your answer.

you: that would be lovely. [11:10 pm]

jiminnie: great! pick you up at 4? [11:10 pm]

you: of course!! <3 [11:11 pm]

 Just like he said, he was by your doorstep at four, ready to pick you up and take on your date. Or so-called adventure, as he liked to name it. Jimin made your destination unknown to you, talking about things such as the element of surprise. It was only when your walk came to an end that you realised what Jimin meant when he called it an ‘adventure’. It brought a smile to Jimin’s face to see your hilarious expression.

“We’re going to Lotte World?” you asked, letting out a breathy chuckle. Of course, he would bring you to Lotte World. He loved going to the aquarium, especially with you. Although most of the time crammed, Jimin loved walking around the aquarium, having meaningful conversations along the way. Since going to Busan every time he felt down was too much of a hassle, visiting the pretty sea creatures was the closest thing to home. It was as if the water soothe all his worries. So it came as no surprise that he would bring you here in one of the most stressful times of his life.

 You loved walking around with Jimin. Just like the water soothed Jimin, his presence alone soothed you. Words weren’t needed as you both walked in silence. It always started like this. You would be wandering for a few minutes, without uttering a single word, until you’d find the jellyfish tank and talk there. You found it funny how every time you’d take a different route as if that would change the end result. This time was no exception. In the end, you still found yourself admiring Jimin’s contagious smile as he awed in wonder at the numerous jellyfish in front of him.

“So,” you started, feeling the urge to look down, eyeing your still intertwined hands. Another thing you absolutely adored about him. He loved physical contact. It wasn’t anything perverted, he just enjoyed showing his appreciation through gentle touches such as this one, “is there something you want to talk about?”

“Not really.” he didn’t turn around, still mesmerized by the marine creatures, casting thousands of deep violet and azure shadows across his face.

“That’s a lie and you know it.”

“No…” he turned around to look at you. “Well, maybe. But I have a good reason why I didn’t bring it up.”

“And I would love to hear why.”

 For a moment, he let go of your hand, feeling himself getting nervous. His safe place didn’t seem so safe all of a sudden. “Because I don’t want to upset you.” his answer made you roll your eyes, already able to fathom what he was about to say.

“I’m a big girl, Jimin. I’m sure I can handle it.”

 He took a deep breath as if preparing to go on stage, his smile ready to falter any moment. “You see,” he started, but then stopped, preparing himself for what was about to come, “I don’t really want to leave you –”

“Don’t you dare finish that sentence,” you said, walking towards him as he took a few steps back away from you. The moment you were facing each other you took hold of his shoulders, staring deep into his brown sorry eyes, “I don’t know how many times I’ll have to tell you this, but I’ll say it a million times if I need to. I am going to be fine.”

“I know, it’s just that I can’t help but feel all fidgety about this,” he replied, displaying one of his rare bitter looks. “Can’t you just come with me?” Jimin continued with a mutter, laughing to himself shortly after.

“You know I can’t.” you mimicked the same hurt smile, loosening your grip on his shoulders. “But it shouldn’t matter. Because this is it, Jimin. This is your big chance.” you started whispering, trying your hardest to ignore the few passersby who kept staring at you two.

 Just before Jimin was about to say something, you were so rudely interrupted by his phone. His expression only worsened as he kept staring at his phone screen. “It’s work. I have to go.” he sighed, allowing one of his hands to messily roam through his hair. “I promise we’ll continue talking later,” he said before engulfing you in a bear hug. You used to think Jimin’s hugs were the best. They were so warm, so full of love. But this one was different. It was so sad. It made you want to cry.

 After that day, you never got to talk later. Of course, you saw Jimin almost every day, going on little dates in the park, even at a concert, but as his leave grew closer and closer, he kept trying to avoid the subject, to dodge any questions. And that day, at the dance studio, was no exception. Although a bit childish, Jimin has always been camera-shy. The occasions in which Jimin would ask you to take photos of him were rare. So him asking you to take a video of him out of nowhere surprised you to say the least. It was quiet except for the mellow music playing. It became background noise as your eyes were focused on Jimin. He was really something else while dancing. His every move made you gasp in awe, every little glance he threw your way making your heart flutter in the best way possible. It made you so happy to see him dance again, even if it constantly reminded you that he’d have to leave you soon. It made you feel horrible for even wishing he’d stay here instead.

“I know my dancing is good, but I never knew it is good enough to make you cry.” Jimin panted out, wiping away the few tears from the corner of your eye. “Are you ok?”

“Yes, of course,” you answered letting out a sniff. You felt like a baby for crying in front of him. He didn’t need to deal with any other nuisances. “Just a little tired, I guess.”

“So you start crying whenever you’re tired?” his question made you both laugh, as he took hold of your hands. “How about we take a break?” as if it was already planned, the music was smoother, entrancing you into a gentle atmosphere that surrounded you and Jimin as he dragged you from behind the camera.

“We’ll take a break later.”

“You don’t sound very convincing.”

“Jimin, I need a few more takes.”

“We have enough.” he shushed, twirling you around as you tried to escape his enchanting gaze. “Just five minutes.” he brought you close to his chest, pulling you into his little jig. “Just dance with me for five minutes.”

 Although reluctant, you wordlessly agreed, leaning your head against his chest as you hummed along with Jimin’s heartbeat. It felt warm, leaving you wanting more of these moments. It was easy to tell Jimin was enjoying himself as well.

“Is this why you wanted me to film you?” he chuckled, the vibration resonating through his chest.

“Not really. As shocking as it might sound, I actually need the video.”

“What for?”

“For y’know… AVA.”

“Weren’t you already recognized as eligible for the program?” his words caught your attention, bothering you in the process.

“It’s more of a reference thing, I’m not really sure.” he sighed but spun you around nonetheless. “They suddenly emailed me this morning, telling me I should submit a video before I leave.”

 This rose more than a few burning questions. When was he leaving? Was he actually going to leave? If so, was he ready? It intrigued you to no end. Your face might have made it obvious.

“I’m leaving the day after tomorrow if that’s what you’re wondering.” his answer made you audibly gasp, slightly pushing Jimin away. He was leaving the day after tomorrow?! And he didn’t bother to tell you up until now?!

“I hope you’re not planning on bailing at the last second.”

“Is that how you really think of me? Of course not! This is my big chance, after all.” and with his sigh, your song came to an end, leaving both you in a more than awkward silence.

 It ended just like a month ago. Your discussion with Jimin fell short, leaving you miserable and bothered on your way home. It felt horribly repetitive. Like you were stuck in some soap opera. It became even worse as you looked through the footage of your little break with Jimin. Even though it lasted only a few minutes, it was so pretty and so fun. It was nice. There were so many things to do, to talk about, to sort out, but you couldn’t even get up. All you did was watch the five minutes clip over and over again, wishing it was just a tiny bit longer.

 The next day wasn’t any better. Nostalgia took over your body as you started crying. You’ll miss Jimin so damn much, it wasn’t even funny anymore. You couldn’t bring yourself to wake up, to eat, to answer your phone, to do anything. You felt so disappointed in yourself. Yet you did nothing, looking at the clean white walls of your bedroom for what seemed like endless hours as if your body shut down. And you couldn’t understand why. It was such a useless thing to do. And you hated that. It was around midnight when you started watching the little clip again, more than ready to be you again. You did somehow manage to finish the supposed ‘reference’ video earlier that day and send it to Jimin, meaning you had all the time in the world to finish your little surprise.

 By the time you were done, you collapsed the moment your head made contact with your pillow. Unfortunately, your very few hours of peace were stalled by your alarm. An awfully hoarse groan left your lips the moment you looked at your phone screen, realising after mere seconds that you had only a few hours left before Jimin’s departure. As if your body was on auto-pilot, you stood up, rummaging through your apartment desperate to catch up with Jimin. Your houses were relatively close to one another, taking you around a ten minutes run to finally reach his flat. You could feel your knees buckle as you panted your heart out. You promised yourself you won’t take the stairs for the next few years after the atrocity that just occurred. Weakly, you rang the bell, praying with heavy breaths that Jimin hasn’t left yet. As soon as the door opened, you straightened up, making eye contact with a more than not ready Jimin.

“Why are you shirtless?”

“Because I just woke up.” he murmured in a hoarse voice, supporting his point along with the massive bed head going on at the time.

“Well, what are you doing? Come on, you have to get ready!” you huffed, dragging him inside as Jimin constantly tried to slow you down. “What about your baggage?”

“It’s not done.”

“What do you mean ‘it’s not done’?!”

“It’s not done because I’m obviously not going.” you let go of his hand, turning around to look at him. After all the crying and all those talks, he still wasn’t planning on going? For the second time in your life, you could hear your heart breaking. It felt awful. You felt awful.

 With a long sigh, you took hold of his hand again, this time slowly softening your grip as you guided him towards the living room. You felt the sudden need to sit down with Jimin. “Is there something wrong, Jimin?” you’ve asked him this question many times before, but this time, it felt different. You weren’t angry, your voice was soft as silk, luring him in. It was Jimin who tightened his grip on your hand as he kept looking down, disappointment splattered across all over his face. “Why don’t you want to leave?” he was at a loss of words. He couldn’t answer you. Or at least he didn’t want to. He could tell he hurt you, and so hesitation became a constant sentiment in Jimin’s heart. It struck you as odd to see him this closed off. Usually, he would open up immediately about what’s bothering him, brushing it off with a sweet smile shortly after. It worried you to no end to be face to face with this Jimin. As time continued to go by, Jimin continued to say nothing. It was as if he was collecting his thoughts, thinking about what to say.

“I’m just scared,” Jimin finally whispered, afraid to accept what he felt, “I’m scared I’m gonna mess everything up.” he continued as he kept tracing your knuckles, trying to calm his rapid heartbeat. “Plus you can’t come with me, so I’ll basically be alone. And you know how much my French sucks!”

“You’re such an idiot sometimes, you know that?” you giggled, finally giving him the USB stick you were holding. “We can always video call and text each other! So whenever you’re sad, just know that I’m one call away.”

“It’s not the same thing…” he kept whining, inspecting the little stick you just gave him.

“With that attitude, it sure isn’t.” he laughed at your reply, sitting just the tiniest bit closer to you. “And as I said before, you’ll do great Jimin. And I know how much you’ve wanted this…” you said drowsily, the lack of sleep slowly getting to you. After that, none of you continued your conversation. You tried your hardest to convince Jimin why he should leave. It was up to him whether or not he would go, you just wanted to make sure you weren’t the one holding him back.

 You couldn’t remember when, but Jimin got up. In what seemed like a few minutes because of your nap, he was ready. You didn’t know what to do. Should you cry? Should you laugh? It all felt so surreal! The next you knew, you were at the airport, walking along Jimin, looking for the airline desk. You still couldn’t believe what was about to happen. Jimin was about to be gone. For a whole year. It hurt just to even think about it. But you knew it was the best thing that could happen to Jimin, so you smiled. You smiled as he came back, all ready to go through security and board the plane. All ready to leave you. You smiled as he tightly hugged you, his scent, his presence immediately invading every part of your being.

“I’m gonna miss your hugs so much,” you mumbled, afraid to ruin your moment, feeling tears run down your face.

“I’ll miss you too,” he chuckled, clearing away your tears as always, to which you hugged him tighter, “you really should stop crying. Who knows, I might change my mind.”

“Don’t even joke about that!” you whimpered, pinching his arm.

“Then here,” he said holding out his pinky finger. “Let’s make a promise.” 

“a pinky promise?” you snorted but intertwined your finger nonetheless, feeling your heart flutter at his little grin. 

“Promise me you’ll stop crying.”

“Then you’ll have to promise to come back!” you squealed a little too excitedly, making Jimin’s smile grow.

“I promise,” he said, pecking your lips before going, ready to pass through security, leaving you breathless.

 You’ll really miss Jimin, your soon-to-be boyfriend.

[arbabmediaa1]

CASE STUDY NO 1: HOLLYWOOD BLOCK BUSTER

Film name

Captain America Civil War                                        

Genre

Action, Sci Fi, Comic book

Who produced This Movie?  

Kevin Russo

Directed by

Anthony Russo, Joe Russo

Other Films Directed By the Director

Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

Captain America: Civil War (2016)

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

You, Me and Dupree (2008)

Production companies Involved

Marvel studious

Vita-Ray Dutch Productions (III) (a co-production of)

Studio Babelsberg (a co-production of)

Deluxe Digital Studios (uncredited)

Marvel Entertainment

Walt Disney Pictures

Famous Movies produced by Marvel

Black Panther (2018)

Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

Iron Man (2008)

Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)

Captain Marvel (2019)

Distributed By

Walt Disney Studios, Motion picture

What was the Budget Of The Film?

Budget: $250 Million

Box office

 $1.153 Billion

Stars

Chris Evans

Robert Downey Jr.

Scarlett Johansson

Sebastian Stan

Anthony Mackie

Don Cheadle

Jeremy Renner

Chadwick Boseman

Paul Bettany

Elizabeth Olsen

Paul Rudd

Emily VanCamp

Tom Holland

Frank Grillo

William Hurt

Daniel Brüh

What tech was used to shoot the film ?

IMAX/ARRI 2D digital cameras

shot digitally

Edited by

Jeffery Ford, Matthew Schmidt

Special Effects

Legacy Effects (prosthetics and suit effects)

The Third Floor (visualization) (as The Third Floor Visualization Services)

Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) (visual effects and animation)

Base FX (additional visual effects)

Virtuos (additional visual effects)

Method Studios (visual effects and animation)

Trixter Film (visual effects)

RISE Visual Effects Studios (visual effects)

Double Negative (DNEG) (visual effects)

Luma Pictures (visual effects)

Lola Visual Effects (visual effects) (as Lola VFX)

Cinesite (visual effects)

Cantina Creative (visual effects) (as Cantina)

Sarofsky (visual effects)

Animal Logic (visual effects)

Crafty Apes (visual effects)

Image Engine Design (visual effects)

Technicolor Creative Services VFX (visual effects) (as Technicolor VFX)

Capital T (visual effects)

Stereo D (3D conversion)

How was film marketed

At the 2015 Licensing International Expo, Disney Consumer Products announced that they would partner with licensees including Hasbro, Lego, Funko, Hot Wheels, Rubies, Mad Engine, C-Life, Jay Franco, Global Brand Group, Kellogg’s, Hallmark and American Greetings to sell merchandise related to the film; Coca-Cola, Google, Samsung, Wrigley, Harley Davidson, Audi, Synchrony Financial, Pringles, Keebler, Pizza Hut, Pop Secret, Mouser Electronics, and Vivo, among other brands, were also licensees for the film.

Cross Media Convergence

 The marketing campaign consisted of two trailers, many TV spots, posters and a press tour. Disney’s massive size helped a lot in publicizing the film. The trailers that were released on Marvel’s official YouTube channel generated a lot of views. Trailer one had over 11 million views and trailer two had over 73 million views. Both trailers were very successful in generating excitement towards the film and played a significant role in driving people to go and see the film in cinemas.

CGI (computer-generated imagery)

When it comes to visual effects, the popular refrain over the past few years has been pretty simple: practical effects good, computer-generated effects bad. But the truth is infinitely more interesting, as movies have largely stepped out of the uncanny valley of problematic CG, and entered an era where digital effects are so good, audiences don’t even realize that’s what they’re seeing

Marketing and Distribution, Product Promotions:

Captain America Civil War absolutely crushed the box office over the weekend and, just one weekend into being open in every territory, is already well on its way to a billion dollars. Currently sitting at $675,791,000 for its global box office haul, it should find itself clearing $700 million by the end of the day and hitting the coveted $1 billion mark by the end of its second weekend. Arguably the most notable partnership was the slick Audi commercial that featured footage of the chase scene between Winter Soldier, Black Panther, and Captain America, directed by the Russo brothers themselves. Naturally, this was never a movie that wasn’t going to do well, but the speed with which it’s climbing toward that billion dollar mark is a testament to not only the great product, but the marketing campaign, as well. The tie-in promotions and brand partnerships have amounted to roughly $200 million, with over 100 companies worldwide partnering with the film and offering product tie-ins.The best thing Marvel’s PR and marketing has going for it is the cast members themselves - they’re all great on the publicity tours, comfortable with one another and in front of the camera, and have endeared themselves to fans as much as the characters they play.

Pizza Hut has debuted collectible boxes that allow people to share their allegiance to either Cap or Iron Man with their pizza orders, while cereal and potato chip lovers can look for an exclusive VR experience that will accompany their purchase of participating Kellogg’s, Pringle and Keebler products. Limited-edition Pop Secret popcorn bags feature printed comic panels with Avengers characters. Ahead of the film’s release, there will be a large digital push with campaign told across Google, YouTube and Twitter, which will culminate in a massive online vote: Team Captain America vs. Team Iron Man. The marketing effort has also lined up the smartphone brand Vivo for a blitz across China and Thailand that includes TV, print, digital and out-of-home advertising.

Where and When was it released

USA 12th April 2016 (Los Angeles, California) (premiere)

UK  26th April 2016 (London) (premiere)

USA  6th May 2016      

Germany 21st April 2016 (Berlin) (premiere)

2D ? 3D ? Digital?

(3D Blu-ray + Blu-ray + Digital HD)

What were the Targeted Audiences for this movie?

Captain America: Civil War was given a 12A in the UK which means children under 12 could go and see the film with their parents. The film is classed as a four quadrant film which means it is aimed at everyone. The four quadrants include males under 25, males over 25, females under 25 and females over 25. All of these factors contributed to the films massive success.

[foldernahas]

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[frontproofmedia]

DMITRY BIVOL DEFENDS WBA LIGHT-HEAVYWEIGHT CROWN AGAINST GILBERTO RAMIREZ

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Published: August 30, 2022

Undefeated rivals clash at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on November 5 live worldwide on DAZN

Dmitry Bivol will defend his WBA Light-Heavyweight World Title against Mandatory Challenger Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates on Saturday November 5, live to subscribers worldwide on DAZN (excluding South Korea and MENA). Bivol (20-0, 11 KOs) is coming off a huge upset win over Mexican pound-for-pound superstar Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas in May, where he retained his 175lbs World Title via a unanimous decision to make it 20 wins from 20 fights. The 31-year-old handed Alvarez only the second loss of his career, nine years on from his first at the hands of modern great Floyd Mayweather, and in doing so, further cemented himself as one of the very best Light-Heavyweights on the planet. Ramirez (44-0, 30 KOs) is a former WBO Super-Middleweight World Champion who has won all five of his fights at Light-Heavyweight inside the distance in impressive fashion since moving up in weight in 2019. The heavy-handed Mexican southpaw emerged as the Mandatory Challenger to long-reigning champion Bivol after a fourth-round knockout of Dominic Boesel in their May 14 title eliminator in Ontario, California. “The fight with Zurdo has been brewing for some time, many things have been said,” said Bivol. “Now we have the chance to take care of things with our actions in the ring, and not our words outside of the ring.” “I’m happy that the fight is finally happening despite all the challenges,” said Ramirez. “It’s been a long time coming and I look forward to a great night come November 5. I would fight Bivol anywhere - including Mars, but I know we’ll put on a great show in Abu Dhabi. I’m happy overall and very thankful to the WBA, Mr. Gilberto Mendoza and the Golden Boy family for being on this journey with me.” “Dmitry Bivol has now secured himself with pound-for-pound status after his victory over Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez in May and looks to make a hugely important defence against Mandatory Challenger and former World Champion Gilberto Ramirez. The card will be stacked with World Championship fights and is set to be one of the biggest nights of boxing in 2022,” said Matchroom Sport Chairman Eddie Hearn. “I’m delighted to bring this huge World Title fight to Abu Dhabi and would like to thank Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi for all of their help in making this world-class event become a reality. Roll on November 5 for a huge night of World Championship boxing live on DAZN.” “With this fight finally materialising we look forward to a great night of boxing to remember and another exceptional performance by Dmitry Bivol,” said Bivol’s manager Vadim Kornilov. “We are very excited to be in Abu Dhabi, which is on the way to be the modern top sports attraction of the world." "Dmitry Bivol vs. Gilberto Ramirez will be a great fight, many fans have been waiting for this fight to happen and it will finally materialise," added President of World of Boxing, Andrei Ryabinskiy. “We are headed to Abu Dhabi and Zurdo will prove he is the best Light-Heavyweight when he fights Bivol on November 5,” said Chairman and CEO of Golden Boy Promotions Oscar De La Hoya. “We are thrilled to host this spectacular boxing event in Abu Dhabi - partnering with reputable partner Matchroom Boxing adds yet another dimension to our exciting calendar,” said HE Saleh Mohamed Saleh Al Geziry, Director General for Tourism, at the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi, “Once again, the eyes of the world will be on Abu Dhabi on November 5 as we continue to strengthen our position as a top destination for world-class sport. As the host city, we are eager to share our warm Emirati hospitality to visiting fans and offer them memorable, exciting experiences to enjoy at their own pace.” “Thank you to our brilliant partners Matchroom Boxing and Golden Boy for delivering another blockbuster fight to the platform,” said Joseph Markowski, EVP, DAZN Group. “We can’t wait to see Dmitry Bivol back in the ring after he pulled off the upset of the year against Saul ‘ Canelo ’ Alvarez in May, and in the unbeaten Zurdo Ramirez, he will face one of his toughest opponents yet. We have a potential classic on our hands. Watch it live and worldwide on DAZN.”

[cellarspider]

Substituting /d/ for /ð/ (the voiced TH) is a really common thing, actually! It’s called Th-stopping. That sound, along with the unvoiced TH /θ/ are actually super rare, only showing up in 4% of languages worldwide. If you speak with an accent that’s been strongly influenced by any language that doesn’t include those sounds, you’re likely to use D or T as a common substitution.

Some examples include:

Indian English

Scandinavian influences, ex. the Inland North, Upper Midwest and Mid-Atlantic, also including parts of Canada

Irish and Scottish Galic influence, especially older working class or mid/upper class Irisn English

French influence, ex. Louisiana as mentioned, more Canada

 Multiple sources, ex. New York accents that do Th-stopping are probably influenced by both Italian and Yiddish, Carribean English has both West African and French influences, same with Nigerian and Liberian English.

So yeah! That’s a thing. People from other backgrounds often use other substitutions, like S and Z (French, German, Indonesian), or F and V (Hong Kong).

However! I want to stress that these aren’t mutually exclusive categories, nor does it mean that these dialects are less ‘correct’ than those that use TH sounds, or that being able to pronounce TH is somehow better. In fact, given that human languages tend to trend towards efficiency and economy when speaking casually, one could argue that the rarity of TH sounds indicates that it’s just slightly less efficient than the other options out there.

Don't mind me just learning about AAVE.

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZM819pm4Q/

-fae

[aguirregrau74-blog]

Truths, Statistics & You

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