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topknotstrunk · 2 years ago

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Review Everything 24 - Evangelion 3.0+1.01 Thrice Upon A Time:

It’s the little details I love. Mari signing her song for her own entertainment while she waits to be deployed, the Grip Shoes literally having Grip Shoes printed on them, Mari’s blast impact crosses being pink, little things that make the world feel real and lived in. It’s one of my favorite details about eh original show, too.

Kinda cool getting to see everyone in their plug suits, but I do miss when the boys also had boobie armor.

Seeing other locations besides Middle of the Ocean, the whole earth, and Tokyo 3 was pretty cool. I dislike the red wash that literally everything has but that color is from the 3rd impact and hey, Post-Apocalypse gonna Post-Apocalypse. It’s really cool seeing normal color restored when the red gets wiped out, but the red is difficult to look at while it’s there.

I didn’t realize how much I missed the high-octane Eva battling things that weren't other Eva with the pilots all verbally sparring with each other until Mari’s fight at the beginning of this movie. Watching her pilot her injured Eva like a driver in a Fast and the Furious scene was incredibly fun. I really like Mari a lot, and I’m glad we get some screen time where she’s the feature this time.

At the same time I cannot get over how goofy the Wunder and half the enemy robots are. It really lives up to its name of being a Wunderwaffe with how goofy it is and all the shit its expected to do. Wunder being a battleship plus an arc to hold a backup of all the living material is… weird. Why would you bring your arc into battle where it could be easily destroyed? I guess having it be able to protect itself is smart, but its secondary nature, and the thing we see it spend most of its time doing benign fighting feels like bad strategy. At least they launched them into space for the final battle.

Speaking of big, silly robots I wonder if the row of walking robots in the Paris scene were meant to be an on purpose reference to the Can Can or not. Because if it’s not, that’s pretty funny, and if it is that’s hilarious, and either way it makes the enemy a little difficult to take seriously as a threat

I don’t know if this is actually true or if this is a thing I’ve picked up from Japanese media as a trope and am now projecting onto this movie, but my understanding is that Japanese culture has a much stronger “it takes a village” mentality when it comes to kids than the US has. And overall they seem, from an outsider’s perspective, to value the safety and comfort of everyone as a whole as highly or maybe more so than personal safety and comfort. If that is true it really does shine through in the way everyone is treating Rei in this movie. Sure, she’s a fuckin’ weirdo, but who isn’t these days? What’s more important is to answer her questions, teach her some stuff, and get her up and working as a valuable member of society who can take care of herself and contribute what she can rather than mock or shun her. One thing benefits your personal emotions in the short term, and the other has the potential to benefit all of Humankind in the long term, with the guarantee of helping the person directly and those around her in the short term. Like one small example of this attitude is when Rei is helping plant rice seedlings and when she trips and falls backward onto all the hard work they’ve just done the ladies helping her learn to plant rice have a chuckle at her fall and then help her fix the issue. She isn’t scolded, she doesn't get in trouble or get punished, because Rei being comfortable and confident in her rice planting skills and everyone getting along is more important. It was cool to see that element of Japanese culture I’ve come to expect be true.

The depth of Shinji’s grief and trauma really hits in this movie. The joke in the fandom is that he’s a screechey little baby but he’s gone through a lot of shit, and this time it really feels real. Like this is how someone in that situation would actually react. It’s difficult to watch, but that’s part of what makes it work so well.

Most of the rest of the animation was either gorgeous to watch or impressive. A lot of the CG heavy scenes were not to my taste but I could recognize the skill that went into making them.

The one thing I was really hoping for from this final Rebuild movie was some forward movement. I want the story to go on, not loop back in on itself and start over again. Just because Shinji spends a lot of his time navel gazing doesn’t mean that the whole franchise should. I wasn’t looking for a good ending, or a bad ending, or even really an ending at all. I just want the story to start to move on, a hint that there is something more for these characters then to be stuck in a perpetual hell of Eva and Angel battles. And that’s pretty much what I got. Of course, I have been burned before, but until something comes out that argues this isn’t the ending of this version of Eva’s reality, I will believe that the ending we’re presented with is the true one.

I like the return, at the end of the movie, to Shinji talking to his Dad. The flashes of still images and sketches were a cool Homage to the original series that didn’t stick around long enough to become too corny. In this show based on inspiration from Christianity it made sense that Shinj’s Father was like Shinji in many ways, that Shinji had to atone for the sins of his Father, that Shinji had to sacrifice himself to rescue everyone. Being as big a Madoka Magica nerd as I am, it felt a little weird to have Shinji have his Madoka moment, but it worked, so that was all right. Seeing parallels in this version of Eva to two of my other all time favorite media, Madoka Magica and The Dark Tower series, that obviously says more about me and my interests then it does anything about Eva, but still. Indomitable Human spirit rising over and over from the ashes, ready to try anew once more, hoping for each result to be just a bit better than the last time. That’s the good shit. And man was getting to see those blue ocean waves at the end of the movie cathartic.

A criticism that has nothing to do with the movie but I want to complain about it anyway: Amazon’s X-Ray feature needs a retool. At 8:11 into the movie X-Ray is crediting Kaworu as being in the movie which, for me, was spoilers. I want the feature to either only ever show actors that are actively on screen [which I believe was the original intention] or for it to have to wait to show actors until AFTER someone says their name in the movie. I have this same complaint with Closed Captioning. A character should be labeled something like Unknown until the audience actually sees who it is. Don’t tell me the reveal until the audience not using CC would also get it, geeze.

In summary: I think I liked this movie best out of all the Rebuild series. We really needed some time for Shinji and Rei to develop as characters, and Shinji was able to carry that growth forward through the movie. I am sad this is all there is to watch, but happy that I finally sat down and watched the movies, because now I’ve seen all of Eva.

Overall: 8/10

#review everything - anime #review everything - movies #anime #3.0+1.01 thrice upon a time #eva #neon genesis evangelion #evangelion #text #gifs #TK’s content #fandom #spoilers #madoka magica #the dark tower

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whumptober · 4 years ago

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Whumptober 2020 - Updated

Welcome to Whumptober 2020! We’re doing things a little differently this year so please make sure to read the Event Info carefully. We are also excited to announce the addition of an AO3 Collection, which can be found here.

We hope you’re as excited as us to watch the Whump Community come together once again for a month of bone-crunching creativity and collaboration!

(All 31 Themes + Prompts, Event Information, and FAQs are posted below the cut!)

No 1. LET'S HANG OUT SOMETIME Waking Up Restrained | Shackled | Hanging

No 2. IN THE HANDS OF THE ENEMY "Pick Who Dies" | Collars | Kidnapped

No 3. MY WAY OR THE HIGHWAY Manhandled | Forced to their Knees | Held at Gunpoint

No 4. RUNNING OUT OF TIME Caged | Buried Alive | Collapsed Building

No 5. WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING? On the Run | Failed Escape | Rescue

No 6. PLEASE.... "Get it Out" | No More | "Stop, please"

No 7. I'VE GOT YOU Support | Carrying | Enemy to Caretaker

No 8. WHERE DID EVERYBODY GO? "Don't Say Goodbye" | Abandoned | Isolation

No 9. FOR THE GREATER GOOD "Take Me Instead" | "Run!” | Ritual Sacrifice

No 10. THEY LOOK SO PRETTY WHEN THEY BLEED Blood Loss | Internal Bleeding | Trail of Blood

No 11. PSYCH 101 Defiance | Struggling | Crying

No 12. I THINK I'VE BROKEN SOMETHING Broken Down | Broken Bones | Broken Trust

No 13. BREATHE IN BREATHE OUT Delayed Drowning | Chemical Pneumonia | Oxygen Mask

No 14. IS SOMETHING BURNING? Branding | Heat Exhaustion | Fire

No 15. INTO THE UNKNOWN Possession | Magical Healing | Science Gone Wrong

No 16. A TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, NO GOOD, VERY BAD DAY Forced to Beg | Hallucinations | Shoot the Hostage

No 17. I DID NOT SEE THAT COMING Blackmail | Dirty Secret | Wrongfully Accused

No 18. PANIC! AT THE DISCO Panic Attacks | Phobias | Paranoia

No 19. BROKEN HEARTS Grief | Mourning Loved One | Survivor's Guilt

No 20. TOTO, I HAVE A FEELING WE'RE NOT IN KANSAS ANYMORE Lost | Field Medicine | Medieval

No 21. I DON'T FEEL SO WELL Chronic Pain | Hypothermia | Infection

No 22. DO THESE TACOS TASTE FUNNY TO YOU? Poisoned | Drugged | Withdrawal

No 23. WHAT’S A WHUMPEE GOTTA DO TO GET SOME SLEEP AROUND HERE? Exhaustion | Narcolepsy | Sleep Deprivation

No 24. YOU’RE NOT MAKING ANY SENSE Forced Mutism | Blindfolded | Sensory Deprivation

No 25. I THINK I’LL JUST COLLAPSE RIGHT HERE, THANKS Disorientation | Blurred Vision | Ringing Ears

No 26. IF YOU THOUGHT THE HEAD TRAUMA WAS BAD... Migraine | Concussion | Blindness

No 27. OK, WHO HAD NATURAL DISASTERS ON THEIR 2020 BINGO CARD? Earthquake | Extreme Weather | Power Outage

No 28. SUCH WOW. MANY NORMAL. VERY OOPS. Accidents | Hunting Season | Mugged

No 29. I THINK I NEED A DOCTOR Intubation | Emergency Room | Reluctant Bedrest

No 30. NOW WHERE DID THAT COME FROM? Wound Reveal | Ignoring an Injury | Internal Organ Injury

No 31. TODAY’S SPECIAL: TORTURE Experiment | Whipped | Left for Dead

Alternate Prompt List

Alt 1. Punctured

Alt 2. Falling

Alt 3. Comfort

Alt 4. Stitches

Alt 5. Stoic Whumpees

Alt 6. Altered States

Alt 7. Found Family

Alt 8. Adverse Reactions

Alt 9. Memory Loss

Alt 10. Nightmares

Alt 11. Presumed Dead

Alt. 12. Water

Alt. 13 Accidents

Alt. 14 Shot

Alt. 15 Carry/Support

Event Info

WHUMPTOBER is a month-long, prompt-based creation challenge (think: Inktober, but whumpier). There are 31 Official themes this year - one for each day of the month - which can be used, skipped, or combined in any way you’d like. They are meant to serve as inspiration without being taken literally (e.g. you don't have to include the exact wording into your work). Additionally, there are 3 prompts for each theme. These are optional suggestions and can be used in conjunction with the theme, or as options/alternatives. We want to give everyone as much creative freedom as possible, as well as increase event accessibility for folks with triggers and squicks.

Creators can PRODUCE work in any media they choose, including but not limited to: writing, visual artwork, and photo/video/audio edits. Creators can PARTICIPATE as much or as little as they want (i.e. you don’t have to do ALL the prompts if you don’t want to) and prompts can be used in any order. They are also free to use even after the event ends.

When uploading Whumptober content to your blog, be sure to tag the with:

#whumptober2020 …..(the event tag)

#no.1, #no.2, #no.3, …..(theme number)

#bruised, #stabbed, …..(the theme or specific prompt you chose)

#fandom or #OC

#medium …..(gifs, fic, podcast, art, etc.)

#teeth, #etc …..(trigger warnings & any additional tags. Keep in mind not to add “tw” in front but only use the word/trigger itself, because tumblr sucks)

#nsfw, #nsfwhump …..(only for nsfw content)

PLEASE BE DILIGENT WITH YOUR TAGGING. Only properly tagged posts are considered for archiving on the official @whumptober2020 blog. They must be tagged in the order above.

Unfortunately, due to the sheer number of participants in recent years, we cannot guarantee your work will be archived. A random selection of properly tagged posts from all genres will be reblogged each day.

Whumpers who produce content for 31 total theme days are considered event completionists and will be tagged in a masterpost at the end of the month.

Questions not addressed below can be directed to this blog as well.

Thanks for reading, and happy whumping!

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. What kind of content can I make? Can it be NSFW?

This is a MIXED MEDIA event! You can write fic, post meta, doodle or paint, create a gif set or photo edit, link a song, or get crafty with video - anything goes. As for NSFW, make what you like, we just hope that you’ll tag your work accordingly so that others participating in the event can stay safe :)

Q. Do I have to do all 31 Days? Can I post early/late?

Participate as much or little as you like, and post whenever! Just be sure to tag your posts properly (ex. #no.11, #psych101). Combining prompts into one piece of work is okay, and posting late is as well so as long as it’s in October.

Q. What if I don’t understand a theme?

Send us an ask! We’re happy to help clarify. That said, the themes are entirely up for interpretation :)

Q. Can I combine Whumptober with other creation challenges?

Absolutely! That’s like shooting two whumpees with one bullet :)

Q. Can I upload/repost my whumptober content to other social media platforms?

Of course! We’ve created an AO3 Collection to archive any fics posted there. The archive can be accessed here. The blog is the official archive, so please respect the boundaries of any closeted whumpers in your social circle :)

Q. Can I use prompts to write a new chapter for an existing fic?

Yes

Q. An existing fic I am currently writing contains many of the Whumptober prompts, can I use it?

If you are actively writing this fic at the moment with the whumptober prompts in mind, yes. If it just conveniently checks the boxes, then please don’t. You can, however, add new chapters answering one or more of the prompts.

Q. What kind of characters can I write for?

Fandom characters, OC characters, human, furry, alien, cyborg, whoever you like.

Q. Can I use a prompt multiple times?

Yes, but it only counts once

Q. If I’m not comfortable with one day's prompts can I use a prompt of a different day as a substitute and still be a completionist?

Yes, but please do not use a specific prompt twice. We have also created an alternate prompts list that you can draw from [here].

Q. Where can I post my work?

Post where and how you want. You don’t even have to (cross)post it to Tumblr. Just keep in mind if it’s not on Tumblr we will not be able to add it to the blog archive.

Q. Can I start posting early?

You can, but this is an October event and wouldn’t it be more fun with everyone doing it at the same time? That being said, you can post early, but we won’t be reblogging any work predating October 1st.

Q. Do I have to finish a fic I started/can I post WIP’s.?

Yes you can post WIPs. And you’re not obligated to finish it in October for it to count towards being a completionist.

Q. Is co-writing allowed?

Yes, absolutely, and it would count towards being a completionist for both/all of you :)

Q. Do I have to create 31 standalone pieces to be considered a completionist or can I write one continuous story?

One continuous story is fine. The challenge is to write something for 31 prompts. If that’s spread over 31 fics or just one, you are still considered a completionist. (The same goes for every other media you choose.)

Q. Is there a min/max limit on word count?

There is no limit

Q. Can I combine prompts? Is there a limit on how many?

No limit and combine as many as you’d like.

Q. Is a hc/angst focus ok?

Of course!

Q. What’s considered nsfw?

See this post

Q. What's whump?

See this post

Q. My interpretation of the prompt isn't whumpy at all, does that count?

No, sorry, but keep in mind that whump [see definition] is something very nuanced and different for everyone and emotional whump/angst is just as much part of it, as is physical whump and torture. So before you dismiss your idea, think about this.

Q. Can I start working on the prompts before October?

Absolutely! That’s why we posted the prompts a month in advance. We recognise how difficult it can be creating for 31 days in “real time”.

Q. How do I tag triggers?

tw at the end of the word, ex. emeto tw

Q. Do I have to use your tags?

Yes, if you want your work archived on the blog. If not, feel free to use whatever tags you want.

Q. Does combining prompts count towards completion?

Yes

Q. Can we @ you?

Yes but we mostly rely on the whumptober2020 tag

Q. Is there anything we are absolutely not allowed to write?

There are no rules, just be sure to properly tag your trigger warnings. And keep in mind Tumblr’s policies if you are posting it here (or the policies of whatever site you use).

Q. Where can I go for brainstorming help?

Here on Discord

Q. My characters are minors, is that ok?

Yes, but as with everything else, tags are your best friend.

Q. Can I cross post on other blogs?

Yes, multiple platforms and blogs are perfectly acceptable. You can also post different works to different accounts under different names, without posting them everywhere at once.

Note: This is a creation challenge, please don’t repost your old work under our tags (unless it’s been changed or edited for the event).

#eventinfo2020 #whumptober2020 #whumptober #promptlist2020 #prompt list #FAQs #event info

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sugar-petals · 4 years ago

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:: random things about boyfriend yoongi

↳ ♡ NOTE I saw this format floating around the fandom and thought it was cool and sweet (just like our honey boy so here it goes) 😊 includes an sfw and nsfw bit, both can be read independently.

words. 3k

SFW

First off, Yoongi is laid-back and casually sexy the way we know him. But he also has spikes of energy where he actually gets a little clingy. Any opportunity he will use to hold hands or jump around like a madman with his gummy smile because he got excited about something that you never could predict would make him so happy. He truly is an epiphany.

He’s your most eager personal chef but funnily enough a little unsettled by onions so you end up helping him. Yoongi hates to be crying in the kitchen because of some evil little vegetable but hey, perfect time and place to spend half an hour huddled together cooking or baking. And Yoongi is secretly longing for a cheesy scene, he finds it romantic when you wipe the tears from his face.

His way of speaking to you is a mix of mumbly Korean, high-pitched pouty cat speak, and old-school English slang phrases that he learned somewhere on social media or award shows back in 2018. Most of the time he takes things seriously but is up for some joking anyway. He is sure to giggle every now and then which is really adorable of him. Yoongi is also the person who gets every nuance of your humor and reacts to it.

After being single, you really have to get used to someone waddling around the house. Like— oh, he’s there! And it’s none other than him! Since Yoongi isn’t noisy when he concentrates on his laptop, it really stands out when he morphs from his unmovable rock-like being to a slow rolling stone headed towards the kitchen from time to time. You have to blink every time. And how could you not look up, he’s walking by with his cutest oversized sweaters and striped fluffy socks.

He cannot hide things that normal people would try to keep secret — because of their own discomfort, but he is good at blocking out things that serve your comfort. I’ll explain what I mean. If you have been keeping up with Yoongi postponing the reveal of his surgery until it was successful, you know what I mean. In short, Yoongi is pretty much an automatic filter for things that disturb you. Knowing the right time and place to inform you is the key. As is disregarding things that don’t concern you as a couple, unnecessary drama and opinions. He’s really good at that without ever trying to sugar-coat the important things because he remains a frank and honest soul.

Yoongi has an easier time giving random presents for simple occasions rather than making a big deal out of traditional festivities. So, big celebrations are often kept simple — unless the rest of BTS is there advocating their ‘a little party never killed nobody’ motto — while Yoongi focuses on getting you something attentive or useful every other day pretty much. He’s still a frugal type, you know him. It’s more about inexpensive things that catch his eye because he heard you likes this or that type of snack or want this or that sofa cushion.

There’s always something new and surprising in the fridge and it’s hardly ever empty because Yoongs takes care of the groceries, really thinking it through. Just personal chef things. Being Yoongi’s partner must be the most destressing thing. He takes responsibility for the worldly things, the ironing clothes and the trash cans. He himself thinks that’s the easiest shit ever and is ready to put time into it (he sees the merit, it drives him) while thinking your side — the sheer act of being in love with him, being there for him — must be hard. Which it isn’t.

Yoongi thinks emotions and relationships are tough and complicated while daily life runs smoothly at the snap of a finger. You think maintenance is a drudgery while love is not the maze your boyfriend assumes it is. Deep down Yoongi thinks he’s unlovable and a bad person, that’s why he believes he doesn’t have the burden but you have. That your affection then blazes past the barriers in Yoongi’s esteem is something that he finds incredible. It catches him off guard there, you burst the bubbles of the flaws he falsely imagines he has.

You bet your ARMY bomb you’re watching cat videos together.

Guess who’s the first person to hear all of Yoongi’s upcoming hit tracks? Even Namjoon gets the first sample ten minutes later. You gotta be really advanced at keeping secrets and avoiding accidental leaks with your phone or something.

Yoongi hesitates with the analogy because it’s a little funny and you’re evidently not a steaming liquid made of beans, but he claims you really are like his daily americano. Makes his every morning better.

Now, in all seriousness. What means the most to him is that you take him how he is and are stable company. Yoongi is afraid of betrayal and stupid games so he has to be sure to have a safe bet going. I think that’s why he fancies marriage, it’s a sign of commitment and some degree of permanence to him. And yes, he is a bit jealous in nature since he’s easily invested in someone with a purity of feeling, almost in a naive way. Yoongi easily idolizes his partner and puts a lot of energy into a bond. He wants to protect that, take the risk, and he has watched for someone who radiates genuine trust and faith. He is sure to have found it in you without any illusions and he is right. Loyalty, loyalty, loyalty.

Playing the piano for dinner or date night is a must, he practices constantly to advance to a great standard. He secretly finds a lot of satisfaction in you cooing at his skills and melodies. Those ten bony fingers gliding over the keys with such a technicality and focus, and a passion that makes you hold your breath, it’s great to watch.

Did you see that one coming? He will compose and produce a designated mixtape only for you personally. Yes, with a little self-filmed, self-cut music video for the title track.

Now those things never see the light of day, they’re all for you. But what about your couple life once it touches the social realm? As one might expect, Yoongi is very ‘eyes turn narrow’ with people who bring disharmony to your dynamic and the relationship in general. In fact, he is grumpy and disappointed, and should someone give him a reason, distinctly brutal. If someone even attempts to test you or plays manipulative games, Yoongi is relentlessly turning them from the inside out with his words that never miss the mark. They’re efficient. As I said, he hates playing annoying games, he’ll do any shortcut and be Yoongi.

I guarantee you can lean back and will never the fazed by stupid people and time wasters again. No need to lose face. Yoongi does the dirty work and is the best possible defender to have on your side. He handles that. Invasive opinions and useless phrases he will shove right up some trashtalker’s ass and leave. Let’s squarely say he is unafraid to be a armchair critic of your and his haters and doesn’t want any of that nuisance to disturb what you have together. He cuts very quick and makes sure not to get tangled up in trouble.

Yoongi will also debunk a whole bunch of weirdos on weverse asking about your private love while he’s at it. Prepare for some very entertaining snide remarks. Oh my god, so many entitled people will be pissed off. Many will also celebrate him for stepping up. What’s actually important to Yoongi is that nobody taints what is like a treasure to him.

It won’t be hard to overlook that Yoongi is very proud of you as well. He looks confident and revering when he hangs out with the group and you’re somewhere close by, even just doing something trivial.

He’s also pretty touchy, sometimes publically to demonstrate something, but mostly in the relative calm and safety of a hotel room. When the lights are out, all barriers crash, the utter romantic takes over. His favorite types of kisses besides those onto his hands are when you kiss his lashes. And yep. Yoongs is such a cozy little spoon. A very curled up one with cute shooky pajamas on most likely.

Talk about clothes. Believe it or not, Yoongi’s fashion goes through a significant change due to the relationship. He knows that you are touchy and thinks about what kinds of flannels are the biggest cuddle magnet, after all. And oh wonder, he will also show some level of skin when he accidentally hears your praises for his arms and legs and collar bones and glowy skin while talking to a close friend of yours. So, look forward to that in summer (he still dislikes the winter cold and wraps himself into scarves twice his size, mind you) though it’s still for your eyes only, he covers up when going out. Truth be told, he enjoys when you casually touch his skin. Especially the arms. Which hold up the firmament to you, and your world, too, and guard it.

BTS will know about how excited he is about you because he often boasts about for how long you’ve been living together by now. We all know this is Yoongi’s favorite way of bragging and it further shows that loyalty, dedication and longevity is the spice to his every meal.

Yoongi is probably going to quit the bottle because you naturally make him feel at ease and upbeat. In fact, he simply forgets about his wine. I don’t have to convince you that Yoongi will be very immersed in any interaction with you whether that be watching movies or discussing his latest tracks.

Those discussions come with extra back massages for him because he spends a lot of hours in his chair. Especially around the neck, it’s no secret that this is in every cat’s top 3 favorite massaging areas. Yoongi is gonna make some really raspy, sleepy sounds and just melt in your hands. He’s gonna sleep like a baby afterwards every time. Sometimes, he says funny and cute things while he dozes. He looks very content.

Say goodbye to the 21st century adulting annoyances in your life because Yoongi has a grip on those without a word. Those six specific chores that always plague you take him only a dozen minutes and he is eager, the forms to fill out are already sent off, the list of people to e-mail is weeded through. The taxes are paid, the bank account is full, the meals are on the table, garnished to perfection. Roof over the head, and it’s a sturdy one, Yoongi bought a sound haven house to inhabit a lot of happiness for two.

He’s probably the only person who doesn’t see it as a loss of dignity if you want to hold on tight to him during a dentist visit as a grown ass mf. Why all of this? Yoongi cannot not strive to feel needed in his actions. He wouldn’t like himself if he couldn’t contribute something reliable and useful. That you find things worthy of your time is priority. You complement each other, what you think is a waste of energy makes him work and strive and vice versa. That way, in the end all things are taken care of.

Giving is more important than taking in Yoongi’s world. He thinks of everything because he considers it an offense to have you in a pile of duties, that is, if you don’t like ‘em. It’s his form of dedicating his efforts and showing respect. He doesn’t need much in return. The things he expects if at all don’t feel like a duty: Much like he doesn’t consider doing those acts of services for you likewise.

Work horse he is, he needs something on his daily to-do plan. Which includes making you feel unbothered by the occasions of an incoming strict world when it’s getting to you. You’re supposed to do what you feel like doing just like him and not slave away at fifty deeds. That you torture yourself with daily life hassle is the thing he dislikes seeing the most. He enjoys doing these things so he’s happy to get going.

What’s not a daily life hassle: Holly is a big fan of yours. Instant friendship. Just wanted you to know.

He always knows how to preoccupy himself and finds something to improve. Getting on your nerves, and that’s no surprise, is the last thing Yoongi will ever do. In fact, you sometimes have to search for his napping spot because he got lost somewhere in the house.

He either sleeps or works, his philosophy is simple. If you need him, he does appear seemingly out of nowhere. And, he spends as much time with you as you enjoy, not always prioritizing his producing unless it’s urgent or he’s on an inspiration streak. Which is great anyway, you can sit next to him listening. It’s the right balance of work and play.

Yoongi is not above blatantly showing off. Actually, he goes for an act of stunning pretty often. You know how cats parade around whatever they just caught. He wants to impress you with assets and accolades and appraisals, the boy can’t help it. That you only lightly nod at most of it with a little smile will confuse him but he will get the point later on. You wanna signal Yoongi that you anchor your love for him not in shifting numbers and chunky metal pieces.

That you don’t confuse his signs of outward worth and fame with the core of the guy you find the sweetest in the world is very important to him. He will take some time to see through that because he’s used to being loved through status and its symbols by people close and afar.

The way you throw yourself at him to give a big smooch in random situations — especially when he doesn’t feel great about himself— rather than only when he say gets a new car is sending him a message. Again, he has to grow into that. He will retreat at the beginning because he feels worthless of your affection on days where he doesn’t feel big and bold and successful. But since he sees you jumping on him because you need only his kind and squishy presence and see him as no different than usual because he’s always Yoongi underneath, your boyfriend will change his mind about it sooner or later. He learns that your presence makes him feel like a billion dollars yourself.

You don’t wallow in the regrets of other people missing the point of Yoongi and instead focus on always understanding him rather than enabling Yoongi into wrong directions. And there are many of those, his mental health can tell you a thing or two about it. He begins to get that you really know what you’re doing and are in it for the real him which makes him feel really loved far underneath all surfaces and images. You accept his fame and admire his work with music which is what he’s truly doing it for but also don’t forget that the most vulnerable Yoongi is the one that you’re there for and not a facade.

NSFW

I know you’re curious. That Yoongi’s sexual style is more than just interesting goes without saying. To give you an idea. Anything steamy with Yoongi means him taking his time. You know, for making it quality. Yoongi wants to grow into the right balance of activity and staying relaxed. He is good at keeping cool and bringing some focus to the madness. He wants to figure out how to be more casual instead of tense and overly preoccupied which he’ll be at the start of the relationship. But the fast learner he is, his nervousness fades way faster than you think.

Yoongi is extremely afraid that he can’t please you or starts to become awkward slash clueless so he darts to the opposite of the spectrum and overperforms, even plays a character. You have enough cool yourself to tell him what to do in the pace that works best. That he stays centered in his body is important for you to teach him. When he gets grounded and juggling his confidence is out of the equation, he fucks the best.

His favorite position besides giving oral — with you on your back — will be doggy style. Man, we gotta talk about that. Slow to upper moderate pace, nothing too all over the place. Yoongi moans very slowly, too, all drawn out. Get ready for a frequent session of some anal to unwind. You heard that right. First, Yoongi will get the two of you into the right rhythm with his hands at the sides of your waist, then, ride it out in slow mo with his right hand properly stimulating you from the front.

By habit, he will add some lube here and there but not use insanely dripping amounts so everything gets messy or he can’t touch you without sliding off anymore. Just enough to slide well. Yoongi is so good at this I swear, it’ll be your favorite thing to relax. He has the restraint and technique to pull it off rather than pulling out, huh. Yoongi is gonna stay inside you for ages. It feels like he’s massaging every spot for some extra time. It’s amazing to slack off your muscles, cool off, and get many a gentle but fulfilling orgasm.

He’s not gonna put you through the hassle of dealing with an anal creampie cleanup so he keeps it wrapped, and mostly focuses on your movements altogether while keeping his own climax smooth and more relieving rather than something that relentlessly knocks him out in one go. Yoongi is good at observing and doesn’t feel the need to chase a violent high which is why he is so great at sex. Fucking with Yoongi leaves a wholesome feeling and you never feel ashamed or guilty, or a sense of being dirty and ruined.

He enjoys having sex to make you feel really good and works his hands on you very respectfully. His goal is to have you wet and pulsing after a long while of getting you there, and putting you to a good night’s sleep. He’d feel terrible if he left you sore or disturbed. He is really passionate, especially with his kisses or when you ask him to slide into very deeply, but Yoongi being brash and controlling is an image out of sight.

Besides giving you the number one heavenly assfucks, Yoongi also likes to work his tongue as we know, and he’ll work it all over. Few body parts of yours have not made contact with that glorious mouth and I say that in the best of ways. You can instruct him to do whatever, Yoongi obliges with radiant joy. And here again, he takes minutes upon minutes. Kissing and kissing and licking and maybe even teasing once or twice to make you smile. You know, a little signature wink. Honoring your skin and every shape is not something that Yoongi has to talk about, he will physically show it and I swear it’ll finally get into your head with every little move, Yoongi has totally surrendered his tongue to your body and worships it.

#yoongi #yoongi hc #bts smut #yoongi smut #bts #yoongi x reader #boyfriend yoongi #yoongi scenario #yoongi imagine #bts x reader #boyfriend bts #bts bullet points #bangtan

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captainstarkky · 4 years ago

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Doom at Your Service - An Appreciation Post

Before starting this lengthy post about how I love this drama, I would just like to commend the writer - Im Meari. She has done a wonderful job with this series. I am sad that Episode 10, which was supposed to be the most meaningful episode - had the lowest ratings in Korean media. But still the whole drama as a while was a masterpiece. What can I say? It is philosophical and poetic at the same time. It entails too many meanings and it has born too many questions.

For me, the whole series is the journey to acceptance.

And Myeol Mang represents that.

When we are faced with an imminent death or destruction, our first reaction is to get angry, frustrated. That’s a normal emotional response to a bad news for humans. If you are in the right head, you will obviously cry or either space out, unable to talk for a few minutes. That is how we get frustrated, that is how we get angry.

And remember what Myul Mang said?

“No one could love me. Everyone either resent me or wants me. Or some fear me.”

It roughly translates to layterm as: ‘...everyone resents me’ (no one wants to die) “...wants me” (some wants to die)... “or some fear me.” (everyone is afraid to die)

That’s quite familiar, right? Hmmm? Now proceed.

Now there is actually a theory that talks about grief. It is a psychological construct that has been proposed to explain why people react the way they react when posed with an information they can’t accept. It is a theory of Elizabeth Ross. She called it the 5 Stages of Grief.

According to her, whenever people experience a life changing event - either death, divorce, end of relationship - a person experiences grief and to get out of that, one needs to pass through stages. It is personal and does not entail timelines and schedule - which is harder for someone who has a terminal illness.

Now, some of you might ask: Why and how did you correlate both?

Simple. Because Myeol Mang is destruction. And Tak Dongkyung is dying - she has three months to live, to be specific, she has 50 days to live as of the 10th episode. Therefore, we can say that Tak Dongkyung is currently in this five stages that I’m talking about.

The story is all about Tak Dongkyung accepting his faith: which is her inevitable death.

By the way, a bit of a trivia, Doom at Your Service wasn’t the only drama who discussed this theory. If you are familiar with Last Romance, the story centers with the theory as well.

There are five stages of grief as per the theory.

Denial

Denial is the stage where a person still cannot accept the fact that he/she is dying. She may be redirecting her attention elsewhere or she’s just ignoring the fact that she is.

Actually before episode 10, Tak DongKyung is still in the spectrum of denial. She doesn’t accept the fact that she’s dying. Not talking about it is the indication. She prepares to die - writes a bucketlist, clear out whatever is holding her in the world, assures her brother, etc. - but in reality, she doesn’t want to die. She is still in the process of denying the fact that she is dying.

She is basically pushing the idea of Myung Mang to the back of her mind.

That’s why, Myul Mang wants her to speak it out. He wants her to accept it with all her heart; because that’s the only way she could fully love him.

That is also the reason why the Deity told her to LOVE HIM ‘because I created them for you, humans.’

You’re not supposed to hate death and destruction. Because in the end of everything, we are doomed to end anyway. So we got to accept it. We got to love it.

Denial is probably the hardest stage to get over to because you know that there is still a lot you can do before you finally accept it out. That’s probably the reason why she stayed there for the longest time.

Anger

Anger is when you finally considers the idea of dying - but rejects it out. No one wants to die. And if we are faced with the fact, it is only natural to get angry. But to whom?

Tak Dongkyung hated Myul Mang. And she actually makes her point on this fact during the early episodes.

She blames him for everything - for a moment.

She might’ve been thinking: why me? And honestly I don’t blame her. Out of all the 7 billion people, you are chosen to have a hundred days to live. If I was her, I would get angry too.

But a little food for the mind: Tak Dongkyung isn’t really angry at Myul Mang. She just want to blame someone for her misfortunes, for her cancer. I mean, she is still young and has a full life to live, she still has to take care of her brother and marry him off a good woman, then all of a sudden, she got cancer. All those plans ruined just because of a few words. And a cocky guy shows up outside her apartment announcing that he’s doom - etce tera, etce tera. Again, If I was her, I would be angry at Myul Mang myself.

Because anger helps us cope.

Although she’s pass that stage now, she certainly have his fair points when it comes to getting angry at our Doom.

Bargaining

Bargaining is a temporary truce. We want our life back so we tend to do everything to get it back. Even if we have to bargain with a demon or something. Some people goes back to their faith, some people risk all their possessions to their doctors. Bottomline, we want to have a chance. A fighting chance.

The second Tak Dongkyung entered the contract with Myul Mang, she already started bargaining.

She started thinking what could be her wish. Even if she never materialized them, she thought of them. So since we are talking about wishes, here are her possible wishes:

People would forget about her when she die.

Wanting to live

Happy Ending

For Myul Mang not to get hurt when she’s gone.

End of the world.

But isn’t the wish supposed to be directed to self?

No not necessarily. If you’re in the early stages of bargaining, it might be the case. But as you move to the later stages, your perspective changes and your wishes will center more on your loved ones. You will want them not to get sad when you pass; or good health for them; good fortune. And that will eventually lead you to the fourth stage - which is depression. Because you know that your wishes for them could never come true.

Depression

This is the interesting part.

What is depression? It is the feeling of immense hopelessness especially in her case that she is dying. The fact that your short life will not leave a mark and the fact that you won’t be able t see your loved ones again - that sadness - but to the greater length. To the point of you not being able to function properly in the society.

Where did the depression start? It did not even show in the whole series.

Oh no, it did.

This is the reason why this drama is for those people who can understand social cues - therefore, intelligent people. If you haven’t seen it then it’s a good time to rerun the drama on your laptops.

Tak Dongkyung has always been depressed. She wouldn’t wish the end of the world if she is not.

From the death of her parents, from the constant thoughts of being a burden to her aunt, from her missed interviews, from his brother stopping college, from her sexist boss, from her cheating ex, from her cancer. Everything is just depressing.

But why can’t we see it?

Depression is a psychological issue. She might present herself as a happy person but there’s no guarantee that she feels the same inside.

That makes sense.

And do you know what’s the peak of her depression? The moment she knew about her sickness.

The same day she met our handsome Myul Mang.

Acceptance

Acceptance is not necessarily a happy or uplifting stage, for it only means that you are finally in the stage where you have finally made terms with your fate. It is the stage where you’re staring to realize that ‘ah, it’s really here.’

And that, my friends, is the goal of the drama.

Tak Dongkyung who’s always scared, sad, and hated her life must accept it. She must be able to accept her fate and herself. She needs to accept Myul Mang. Her death.

And to be honest, she is making a whole lot of improvement compared to when she was on the previous episodes. She was truthfully falling for Myul Mang and it means that she’s slowly accepting her death.

We can hear her say:

“I’m not scared anymore...”

On the teaser after Episode 10. It can only mean one thing, she is a step closer to acceptance.

Tak Dongkyung’s journey to self-acceptance still is not ending. She still have a few more days.

Technically, she’ll die. But I hope she will not and she will end up with Myul Mang in the end.

With that I would like to make a point: This drama is for philosophical people.

If you cannot understand what is happening, then it’s obvious that you will not be watching it. If you want skinship and lots of cute scenes, then you can watch this - Seo In-guk and Park Bo-young serves us just enough - but you still won’t get it.

You’ll think that it’s going nowhere and eventually drop the drama because all you want is fluff and love story.

I hope it’s not like that.

Just like everyone who shares their thought and theories, breakdowns in here, let us try to read between the lines on what it really wants to tell us.

You will enjoy it, I promise.

#doom at your service #tvn doom at your service #seo in-guk #seo in guk #park bo young #park bo-young #tak dong kyung #tak dong-kyung #myeol mang #kdrama #kdrama conspiracy theories #conspiracy theories #kdrama theories #tvn

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niji-translated · 3 years ago

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“Hold Your Breath” – tst-movie Interview

Translation by me (niji-translated)

[If you wish to use any of my translations, please ask]

Link to original interview:

Hulu Original ‘Hold Your Breath’ Episode 3, Murakami Nijiro Interview

The one thing that cannot be missing when getting married.

Reporter A: Shinpei and yourself seem to be people very different from each other to me, but were you aware of any similarities?

Nijiro: I’ve known Director Nakagawa Ryutarou a long time, so he know a lot about me. I thought “you know me, and you’re making a parody”. Therefore, him and myself are not that different, I feel that just the world changed. Even if it’s like I’m playing myself, if it didn’t look like that, I feel that we succeeded.

Reporter A: Shinpei isn’t accepted by society, but aren’t you accepted by society?

Nijiro: I rarely think I’m accepted by society. I’ve always been a social misfit, everyday I live with this thinking. When I can have a normal conversation with you like this, I think I’m doing well, and yet when I get home I’ll think “I knew it, I'm still not doing this right" And I’ll go right back. (laughs). It’s a fleeting feeling.

Reporter A: That’s unexpected.

Nijiro: Is it really? When I’m home alone, I can’t help thinking ‘where are your social skills?’ I can have a conversation like this, but I’ll keep thinking ‘what was I doing then?’

Myson (main interviewer): I thought it was interesting that it was a short story this time. Do you have a different approach when you play a role that starts off with a lot of information compared to a role where you can let your imagination run wild?

Nijiro: Pain, suffering, crying and so on, of course there is always a lot of space, meaning to them and the amount of time you put in doesn’t change. I think it’s less difficult for me to show bigger emotions, that’s been with me from the start. I don’t think I’m very good at it now, but when I look at my early works, I think I’m more like myself when I say something like “Ahhhh!!”

(laughs). “Good morning” and “by the way”, and so on, those are the most difficult. Since this work is the latter, it was a challenge for me (laughs). Especially from where I was a few years ago, I couldn't have done this, I’m not changing my approach at all, but for me this kind of work has a higher level of difficulty.

Myson: Performing the everyday is more difficult, did you start with the "what is natural?" approach, then?

Nijiro: I think there is also that, because you’re depicting something the norm, I think performing something universal is difficult. Universal, I mean, by majority, which means it’s the majority that will be observing and judging, there’s a feeling that it’s more demanding. (laughs)

Myson: Certainly! (laughs). However, during the quarrel scene, when you’re very angry, it’s like there’s a half smile, I could see the excitement in your eyes. I thought it was very realistic

Nijiro: Is it? But, I also have a huge complex about the universal. I may be completely misunderstanding this, but when I’m talking to people, eating meals, when going out on site with new people, sometimes it’s like there’s some kind of tension and pressure points are very different, mostly they don’t match. This is my own experiences and feelings, I often feel that I enjoy things differently to everyone else, I have a huge complex about others (laughs). I don’t mean that in a bad way, you saying ‘ it was realistic’, that makes me happy.

Myson: This work is about people who live along the Tama-gawa, but if work and corona have nothing to do with it, what city or what kind of place would you want to live in?

Nijiro: I really like the city, but I want to live with animals. I was born in Tokyo, and I believe my roots are in Tokyo, but I grew up in the countryside, I was in the wilderness for a lot of my time, especially during my adolescence. At that time I lived with goats and birds, cats and so on, therefore there’s a feeling that living with animals is natural. It’s not like ‘Princess Mononoke’ but I love big animals, I want to live with something extreme, like bears or something.

Myson & Reporter A: Ehhh!???

Nijiro: Looking at social media, aren’t there a lot of animal videos? Overseas you can see men playing with bears, and I really like when fierce animals like tigers or something are cute when they’re babies. I also like squirrel monkeys and cats, birds and other small animals, they’re cute, I want to live with all of them. But, I love Tokyo and I love the city therefore, seeking the two extremes you’d definitely need a lot of money, right. I’m an actor who films away from home, so I’m not really suited to that kind of life. Desires and work don’t match, what can I do? (laughs). It’s not like I’d have a sitter raise them. If I’m not there, then there’s no point.

Myson: Certainly! (laughs)

Nijiro: Like learning asset management, I think it’s not that easy (laughs). This might be a bad way of putting it but, in my mind, I think of marriage as a contract that the partner will keep animals as well. It’s not a contract with a woman, it’s a ‘contract to raise animals together’.

Myson: Hahahaha!

Nijiro: If not that, then I won’t get married, or at least have a de-facto marriage.

Myson: That’s the most important thing in order to marry!

Nijiro: It is important, isn’t it. How did we get talking about this? (laughs)

Myson: We were talking about where you want to live. (laughs)

Nijiro: Where I want to live, well I'm not wrong then!

Everyone: Hahahaha!

As a child I felt a distance from the entertainment industry

Myson: As a small child I guess the entertainment industry felt close to home, but how did you become interested in actors and the job itself? Did it feel natural that you would become an actor?

Nijiro: Maybe it was the reverse. By my school and my parents I was banned from all media, so my intake of drama and movies, compared to people who grow up in a world with normal TV, it was about a tenth of that. I used to watch “Rookies” in secret, but I knew very little about it, so I couldn’t admire it. I did have manga and games though. So instead this world was rather far away. I have opportunities to meet various people close to my parents, but those kind of people are so over the top, there are a lot of people who look the opposite of celebrity (laughs). In that sense, my generation, and the generation below my parents is still fresh. Because I was born during my parents busiest time, I was raised by my grandmother, and even though I was small, I had a vague thought of “why ain’t ya around?”. In that sense, I vaguely didn’t like it. When I was still a small child I didn’t know how great my dads performance is, but before I realised it, I started to understand. Now that I’m an actor I think I understand it more.

Myson: I don’t know if this is the right way to ask, but, do you enjoy being an actor?

Nijiro: I don’t know anything else, in that way it’s painful because it’s the only thing I know. Makes me wonder if there’s something more fun than this, you know. Because we want what we don’t have. Therefore, I don’t know how fun it is as an average, but I think I’m still continuing because I’m still enjoying it.

Myson: How about acting overseas? Do you have any interest?

Nijiro: Not that it isn’t possible at all, but I don’t think it’s possible to speak slang like a native in a film. I’d be happy to have those kinds of opportunities, like voice acting in Wes Anderson’s films, like Nagase’s role in Jim Jarmunsch’s ‘Patterson’, of course I’m interested. But, if I was going to spend all that time on English, I think I’d sooner be reborn. Of course, I’d study more if I had if i get that kind of opportunity.

Myson: I see. How do you usually choose the films you watch?

Nijiro: What is it, huh, it has a shine, doesn’t it? All the information I want to get now.. That’s a bit of a sparkly statement. (laughs).

Myson: No, no, no, hahaha! Do you watch both Western and Japanese films?

Nijiro: That doesn’t matter at all, I’ll watch anything including dramas and documentaries.

Myson: It’s like buying the jacket visuals and watching it.

Nijiro: In other words, I’m very influenced by the visuals. No matter how good the cast is, if I’m not attracted to the poster I’ll put off watching it. The visuals are the most important. I think this is good and bad though. After I started acting, I always had a natural appetite to watch things, even if it wasn’t something I needed to know or feel right away, if it may or may not be useful right now, lately that’s changed little by little. That’s not a good part of it, since there’s no guarantees, and there’s a feeling that you can’t afford to spend too much time on something that you get nothing from. It’s right to get what you need most, but I haven’t surprised myself much recently, it’s like I’m not surprised at all anymore, I think the reason is because I don’t touch anything I’m not sure of. Right now it’s not easy to go for a drink but, for example, when I go out of a drink and I think ‘I’m 80% likely to not enjoy myself if I go there’, then I won’t go, but the remaining 20% is very important, isn’t it? There’s the possibility of that roughly 20% could make me think ‘that was really fun!” I think I need to do more with that small percent.

Myson: Thank you very much!

#murakami nijiro #Nijiro Murakami #my translation #translation

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lannisterdaddyissues · 3 years ago

Note

top 5 favorite anime?

ANON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THIS ASK IS EVERYTHING THANK YOU!!!! i am going to take this so seriously you will come to regret asking this. i can fit so much infodumping into this ask

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

Ok. This anime literally invented women. I cannot emphasize enough how superior the female characters in FMA:B are to any other female character ever. The worldbuilding is so cool (science magic is so dope ngl) and I love the parallels with real-world history! The character development is on another level and the buildup to the climax in the last arc of the series is so ingenious. I'd say it's the Game of Thrones of anime, but it puts Game of Thrones to shame any day of the week. It's one of the first anime I ever watched and I've been obsessed with it for 8 years straight. Absolutely changed my life.

2. Mob Psycho 100

This show looks so fucking weird. It took me ages to watch it because every time I saw it trending on social media, I thought to myself, "what the fuck? Why does it look like that?" But it's good because of that. Literally everything about this anime is "why does it look like this?" Why doesn't Reigen have any powers when he’s the main character’s sage, wise life coach? Why does Mob want to be normal when he has psychic powers? Why isn't it like other anime? That's exactly the point and it's GREAT. There are so many important themes and messages in this series and it teaches a lot of life lessons. It's also one of those shows where everyone is your blorbo and you will be fed for years by the fandom. God bless.

3. Major

Guys. Guys, guys, guys. This is, in my humble opinion, the greatest anime ever made. It would be #1 on my list if not for the fact that it's obscure as fuck and also a sports anime. Now I am not a sports anime fan by any stretch of the imagination (Haikyuu who? Kuroko no Basuke what?) but it is so much more than a simple sports anime, I just want to emphasize that right now. It's about baseball, yes, and all the characters do in fact play baseball, but there is so much drama and character development in this show it puts Your Lie in April to shame. You see, there's something very special about this show, and that is that it spans through the entire main character's childhood and adolescence from kindergarten age to adulthood. Progressing through each season was like watching my children grow up. The writing is superb, and I should add that the first five episodes are the best of the entire series and will guarantee that you binge all six seasons in record time. It sounds so corny, but I don't lie when I say that every single episode made me laugh and cry and scream and cheer. Additionally, I have never watched a single baseball game in my life--I picked this series up purely by chance because I saw the cover art of the sequel and decided to give it a try--but I have so many regrets about not playing softball in school now. Every episode is so exciting and thrilling and I'm on the edge of my seat the entire time with anticipation of the end result. Lastly, this is another one of those shows where every single character is my blorbo and I simply do not have a favorite because I love them all more than I can ever express. The sheer depth of emotional attachment I have to this series is truly unhealthy, 10/10 would recommend. Anyway, thank you for listening to my TED Talk and please watch Major. Your skin will be clear and your crops will flourish.

4. Death Note

I don't even know where to begin here. This show is something else entirely. It's earned a reputation as that show that everyone and their mom is watching, and true enough, it is that show. The suspense in every episode was almost enough to kill me. The psychological warfare is real. It's so refreshing that, for once, I can watch a show where the main character is undeniably, irredeemably corrupt and evil. Give him a book of death and he says "fuck it," goes off-the-walls unhinged, and immediately throws his morals away to begin a career in serial killing and ascend to godhood. Don't even TRY to excuse what he does because it ruins the experience. Even better is the fact that the guy who's trying to enact justice on him is Even Worse. There's also a good helping of gay subtext thrown in if you're into that.

5. Shadows House

Like Major, this anime is criminally underrated but it's relatively new, so I hope it will get more traction in the future. It has one of the most fresh and intriguing premises I've seen for a long time, with some really unique worldbuilding and lore that blew my mind. I'm not really a slice-of-life person, though I do enjoy mysteries, but this one drew me in from the very first episode and exceeded all my expectations for another average series. I love the character development and writing in this show, the character designs and animation are top-notch, and, again, there is a healthy dose of queer subtext for ALL of the characters (not even just the main characters). Another must-watch for anyone who wants to find that special media that they will become obsessed with on a toxic level and never recover from.

#ask #reply #anon ask #ask meme #fandom ask #anime #THANK YOU ANON THIS ASK MEANT EVERYTHING TO ME

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stuckinapatriarchalbullshitland · 4 years ago

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Award shows - ɟ

Heeeelloo, my fellow CS 👋🏼

The idea for this post came to me because I recently saw again that some fans still can’t explain some things about the awards, therefore, I’m going to briefly explain the things I’ve read on which they’re still confused about so that maybe I’ll automatically answer some questions you guys have too.

First of all, celebrities, whether they’re actors, singers, models, heirs, fashion mavens, aristocrats, etc., are notified months before they’ve been invited. Usually, the reason why they were invited is written along with the invitation. The reasons obviously vary. They may have been invited because they were nominated for an award, or because, and they may accept or decline, they were asked to present a category or a performance, or to interview someone on the red-carpet or backstage, or to perform, etc., etc. They can also be added as I like to say ‘+1’. But be aware, there’s a difference between being invited as a ‘+1’ and as a guest.

‘Are they not the same thing?’ you’re probably wondering. No, they are not. Being invited as a guest is simply that. A celebrity who invites their partner, or their kid, or one of their parents, or a friend, as indeed their guest. The +1, on the other hand, is a term that I’m using because I don’t think there’s one to describe when a person who is also a celebrity is invited by another one. You know the seats they show us with pictures of celebrities and how some seats next to it lack these pictures? Those seats without pictures belong to the celebrity guests or their team members. If a celebrity invites another one, then next to their picture there will also be that of the celebrity they invited. Aka, the term I’m using in this case: the +1.

I’ll give you an example:

I’m a singer and my fake PR boyfriend has to perform that night, but I don’t, and neither have I been nominated for any awards and therefore not even invited. Also to keep up appearances of our relationship, I get invited as his +1. This means that you’re gonna see my picture next to his in the seats and the cameras will film me for literally two seconds counted during his performance. It also means that my fake boyfriend and I will be wearing matching outfits, that we’ll arrive on the red carpet together, that I’ll have to show unnecessary PDA out of the blue while one of our managers films us to make us more believable and real, and that I’ll have to pretend to be happy to be his arm candy. Do I accept or do I not accept the invitation?

Yeah, of course I do. It’s a great idea actually, both to show people my support as a cheerleader for him, and as publicity. Publicity not only for us as a couple, but also for myself. Our management, and yes, we have the same management, has arranged interviews for me too on the red carpet, so why shouldn’t I accept that? Plus, I want to go. Helloo? We’re talking about an important award show. Not to mention that my girlfriend performs too the same night and has also been nominated for several awards, so it’s just an extra incentive to want to go and be able to support her. Oohh, how foolish of me. I apologize for my forgetfulness. My name is Lauren Jauregui and I’m talking about the American Music Awards 2018.

See what I did there? 😏😏😏

These events are very exclusive and have an invitation list. If you’re a celebrity and you’re not on the list, then it’s very hard for you to be able to attend. But there’s a way, and no, I’m not talking about finding a way to sneak in. The only other way to get there is by taking the place of someone who had been invited and couldn’t attend.

Let’s say you’re a celebrity and you want to go there. Let’s say you want to go because you’ve been out of the spotlight for a long time and want to make a big comeback with a beautiful dress to show yourself off. The first thing you do is call your publicist and see if there are still seats available. Not all celebrities can attend those events despite being invited because they may have other commitments, or they’re out of town, or I don’t know, they’re on tour or something like that. So there’s the possibility that you can have their seat. If there aren’t any, then your publicist themselves may be looking for another way to get you in. Again, for an X reason, the celebrity who was supposed to present an award cannot go, and therefore your publicist manages to get you the invitation as one of the presenters. If none of these options are possible, then.. well, I hope you enjoy the show watched in the living room of your home.

You want another practical example? Okay, okay, babies, I’ll content you 😏

Latin Grammy Awards 2019. Still me, Lauren Jauregui, hi 🙋🏻 🙈 I wasn’t invited. I had no reason to actually be there, except for one…

I didn’t even publicize and say on my social media that I’d have been there. It was so unexpected and awesome for you nuggets, wasn’t it? Well, my girlfriend was invited but she unfortunately couldn’t go due to other commitments. You can imagine how sad she was not only to not being able to attend, but also to not being able to perform with Alejandro who is one of the people in the industry that she loves and admires the most, right? You can imagine her pout and her kicked puppy face for not being able to sing the song she wrote and dedicated to her little sister, can’t you? Well, I couldn’t bear to see her that way, so I told her: ‘Don’t worry, babe. I gotcha. I’ll go for you. I’ll go to represent you’. Also because her team didn’t need to be there, not even to collect the award which I later discovered she won the same evening. Awards, my beautiful chickens, are shipped months after the night they are received.

And so it was. I went with Brenda (my manager). I got dolled up. I did my interviews, even teasing my fans about my new project with Tainy. I sat in my baby’s seat in the front row. THE FRONT ROW. Front rows are reserved for the evening’s award winners. They NEVER put the winners in the back rows because it would take them too long to get to the stage when their name is called otherwise. And I was there, for her. And in addition to enjoying the show, I tried to hold back my happiness, especially since there were cameras everywhere, both during Alejandro’s performance as soon as my love appeared on the screens, and when they won the Record of the Year. I swear I had to get a hold of myself. I had to restrain myself and concentrate on clapping my hands like a normal person and not smiling too big.

*end of the sketch*

As you may have noticed so far, these are the only ways to attend award shows if you are a celebrity. But, just because you’re a celebrity, there’s no guarantee that you get invited. And you certainly cannot show up there with the hope that they’ll let you in without being invited, or nominated, or without a ticket just because you’re ‘someone’. Security kicks your ass out no matter who you are.

Every year, hundreds of celebrities don’t make it onto the invitation list. Keep in mind that the ‘exclusivity’ of these events is also due to the seats. Take as an example precisely the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles where the AMAs 2018 took place. It has 7,100 seats. These seats are reserved for people in the show’s broadcast network, the telecast’s sponsors, the production team, the accountants, the legal team, the donors, the representatives, the press and media in general, etc., and THEN for the invited celebrities including singers and their teams, so also their publicists, agents, managers, [and not even all of them have a reserved seat; maybe only one of them has it and the rest are backstage or in the dressing room or not really there], etc., actors, and as with singers, their teams, the team of people who worked on the film with them, etc. See how many people and how few seats?

I’m still not 100% sure about this but, Emmy’s, Oscars, Golden Globes, Tony’s, and Grammy’s are the only award shows where the names of the winners aren’t revealed until the envelope is opened live on stage. All the remaining shows? Pfft, it’s all an organized thing. What you see on TV, the reactions ‘Oh my God, did I win? I can’t believe it!’, ‘I really wasn’t expecting that’, they’re all fake. Yes, the emotion for the win is true, but everything else? It’s all bullshit. Winners are notified long, but very long time before that. Indeed, many award shows only invite winners to attend. Haven’t you ever noticed how in some of them the other artists nominated in that same category aren’t even there? If they happened to be there, it’s because it’s very likely that they had won another category, or were there for other reasons, like presenting a performance or whatever.

Aaaand I’m done 😎😝 I think I’ve answered pretty much all the questions I’ve seen on the subject, even though I haven’t seen them here. If you yourselves have questions about this or anything else (even if you want advice on a personal level), as I’ve already said other times, feel free to ask. I’m at your disposal 😊

And thank you, Mari. It has been a while since I’ve done this, but I hope you know that I’m serious every time I thank you. Therefore, thank you once again for virtually letting me into your world and thank you for letting me continue to have little spaces in your blog 🤗🤗🤗

Thanks also to you babies for reading, liking, and re-blogging my occasional posts. But thanks mostly for her. Thanks to those who follow my friend’s blog with the right intentions. That is, with respect and without attacking her. Thanks to those who follow her because you actually like her and the content she posts, and thanks to those who use their brains before asking or submitting something to her. Thanks for real 🙏🏼

I hope you’re all well and that your holidays are continuing with peace and serenity. Stay safe, please. Stay patient. Keep the boat afloat. As usual, always with love, F ❤️

P.S. since I’m currently on vacation for a few more days before having to go back to work, and since I have a little bit more free time, I’m preparing something else for you based on some information that I was able to found out. Stay tuned for the next post 😉 The initials of the title are U and S, so you’ll know when you see it. Byee 😘

___

I was smiling with every word of this submit. Thanks for this clarification, F. It was awesome as usual

#submission #f anon #awards shows

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jokertrap-ran · 4 years ago

Photo

(最后的厂牌 LAST CREW) His Story: [MAN ONWIRE] 冷任非 Leng Renfei Translation Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

*Spoiler free: Translations will remain under cut *Welcome to another round of Ran’s sinning whims. *Lawyer man’s future tag will be #LAW ONWIRE *THEY RAP WELL!!!

"Before meeting you, he was one who traversed the deep, eternal, and dark night; the Abyss.”

He, who terrorizes sinners with the holiest stance . Deep within the abyss, with feathers as sharp as blades, re-establishing Justice amongst the morass of Sin.

"So what if he's the most reputable Lawyer?"

A MPV was parked at the entrance of Mingfei Law Firm. A man dressed in an impressively pricy-looking suit spoke to his assistant, who stood outside, through the rolled down windows of the car. "Same old, just give him the money. Double, if he scoffs."

"President He, this is just how Lawyer Leng works. He confirms each case he takes face-to-face with the client."

"What else is there to confirm…?"

Despite having said that, Mr. He still lowered his voice as he spoke. "Has that evidence already been dealt cleanly away with? No one else got their hands on it, right?

"Well… There are currently no other Lawyers in 000 City who can provide you with what you require, even without that evidence.” His assistant reminded him again, somewhat helplessly, of the same answer that the previous few Lawyers had all given him. They'd all said without a doubt that his sentence could only be reduced by a mere 3 to 5 years, and that any more would be impossible.

A few minutes later saw them both sitting inside Leng Renfei's Office.

The assistant was almost purring as he handed all the evidence over to Leng Renfei. "Have a look at these, Lawyer Leng…"

Leng Renfei didn't make a move to stand up and accept the proffered documents. Instead, all he did was to signal the assistant to place them down onto the table.

"We’ll give you anything you wish, so long as you're willing to do us this one favour."

Only then, does he speak. "This isn't a favour. It is my job, that's all."

His gaze fell upon Mr. He, who had been sitting to the side. He contemplated the man for a while before speaking.

"Is this all?"

It was obviously merely just a simple enquiry. Yet, being stared down by those eyes brought about an enormous sense of pressure. Mr. He, who had been so ostentatiously manspreading, couldn't refrain from rightening himself up a little, avoiding his piercing gaze.

"That's all."

Leng Renfei loosened his tie as he looked through the papers.

"Judging from these documents here, I'll say that 15 years for you, is but a normal sentence."

He flipped through it, chuckling as he reached the end. He then raised his head and fixated his eyes onto Mr. He.

"You wish to reduce your sentence to nothing more than 3 years? ...Very well, I shall accept your case. However, you must be absolutely truthful with me about everything pertaining to this Court Hearing. And you will also have to provide me with your full cooperation during the period in which I am taking charge of your case. Otherwise, I can't guarantee that you'll get the result you seek.”

⊹ ━━━━━ ∘◦ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ◦∘ ━━━━━ ⊹

9:50 AM, 10 minutes before the hearing begins.

However, at this moment in time, the defendant, Mr. He and Leng Renfei were both stuck at the junction a street away from where the court was located. The luxurious MPV vehicle they were riding in had been blockaded by a group of people; the plaintiff's angry family.

"Professionally speaking, I humbly suggest that you get off the car now and start making your way towards the court." Leng Renfei suggested, pushing up his glasses.

The plaintiff's family members continued pounding on the bulletproof windows with no signs of ceasing anytime soon. They didn't make any move to back down despite the countless times their chauffeur honked the car's horn.

Mr. He looked repulsively at the dirtied windows of the car, seemingly disregarding Leng Renfei's "professional advice".

"Haven't we already contacted court security? I do not wish to affiliate myself with the masses by trying to fight my way through the crowd.

"You will no doubt be late if this continues on." Leng Renfei's hand landed on the handle of the door. "Besides…"

The last of his words had yet to leave his mouth when he vehemently pulled the door open, pushing Mr. He out of the vehicle with a forceful shove—

"...Only the obedient will be granted victory over the lawsuit."

The crowd outside swarmed Mr. He immediately, cornering him off to the curb.

At the same time, the MPV finally regained its movement capabilities. Leng Renfei, who was still currently seated inside, paid no mind to the on-going chaos outside, only lowering his head to review the documents for the hearing once more. He gave a slight frown, clicking his tongue before speaking once more.

"Please wait for him at the carpark's entrance."

⊹ ━━━━━ ∘◦ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ◦∘ ━━━━━ ⊹

9:59, the defendant and his defence attorney arrive at court.

10:00，Court proceeds as scheduled.

Now, the suit adorning the defendant's frame was all crumpled and wrinkly. His hair, mussed up with dirt, and there were even visible red marks on his face. His heaving chest betrayed his obvious fury. Yet, the Lawyer beside him was the same as always. All the way from his neatly ironed outfit to the calm and composed expression he wore, with not a single flaw to be seen.

The duo had presented themselves as such an oddity that it even caught the attention of the judge. After going through the normal proceedings of the court's opening, the judge turned back again to question Leng Renfei.

"Defence Attorney, the court notices that the defendant is dressed in a rather dishevelled manner. Does he require some time to sort himself out before the hearing officially begins?"

Leng Renfei held the defendant back as he shot up from his seat in anger. He stood back up, cleaning his throat before answering the judge.

"Thank you, your honour. My client was actually assaulted on the way here and chose to undertake a huge risk by traversing here whilst under attack by an angry mob; all because he didn't wish to delay the hearing. Although the mob in question has already been detained by the court's security team, I personally think that this attack is intricately, but undoubtedly linked to the plaintiff."

⊹ ━━━━━ ∘◦ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ◦∘ ━━━━━ ⊹

Everything was proceeding as planned. This case was a win. Now all the defendant needed to do was to pay the plaintiff a certain amount of money as monetary compensation.

But of course, the endless stream of questioning and inquiries had to come first before any celebrations could be held.

"The plaintiff accuses you of using underhanded means of winning the judge's sympathy. What do you make of it?"

"Did you and the defendant plan for him to make an appearance to court, as dishevelled as he was?"

"Many people claim that your defence is flimsy and holds no weight. They say that your winning streak in court will soon be broken due to this. How are you prepared to answer these queries?"

Leng Renfei halted in his footsteps upon hearing the last question. He turned around to face the cameras and the millions of faceless civilians who were watching behind the screen.

"All I have to say is that I’m sorry to disappoint you."

"Unfortunately, I've yet to taste defeat even today."

"And as a matter of fact, I have no plans to do so in the foreseeable future either.”

"Lawyer Leng, rumour has it that you'd stop at no end in order to win. May I ask about your opinion on this?"

He smiled. "Doing anything and everything in order to uphold the law? That sounds like a compliment to me."

"But have you ever placed yourself into the shoes of the victim's family? Can that bit of monetary compensation make up for a life? You are deliberately twisting the truth! It’s despicable!"

Those 8 words were spoken with much emphasis, causing Leng Renfei to look towards the reporter who’d directed the question at him with much interest. It was a youngster, teeth bared and eyes glaring daggers at him. The rims of his eyes were even a little red to further add to the effect.

The entire media lapsed into silence. All the mics and cameras turned their focus to the lawyer. Looks like this biting question has aroused the interest of everyone present.

His moved his gaze from the young reporter, whose face was radiating sheer justice from it. He removed his glasses, the side of his mouth curling upwards as he replied to the reporter’s accusation with his usual smile and finesse.

“It’s a given that I have to defend my client’s interests seeing as how I’m a Lawyer. I’ve most certainly received the compliments from the plaintiff’s family.”

“Congratulations on another victory, Lawyer Leng.”

⊹ ━━━━━ ∘◦ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ◦∘ ━━━━━ ⊹

―—Back in his grand residence, Mr. He happily helped himself to another glass of red wine despite already being quite drunk.

Leng Renfei’s lips curled into a smile. “I should really congratulate you for having obtained a fair hearing from the court.”

“But of course.” Mr. He all but patted himself on his back. “How would those cretins ever affect me? The real evidence has already been destroyed and dealt away with, right from the very beginning of everything after all...”

Before he could finish his sentence however, he suddenly remembered the “rules” that the Lawyer beside him had set down at the beginning of it all. He sobered up a little, swallowing before looking towards Leng Renfei.

However, Feng Renfei’s expression didn’t change at all, only raising his glass lightly in question. “Not caring for another glass? Victory brewed by one’s hand will only taste all the sweeter when enjoyed in person.”

“Haha… You’re right, Lawyer Leng. I’m going to sober up.“ Noticing how nothing seemed to be amiss with Leng Renfei, Mr. He breathed a sigh of relief as he quickly removed the cork from the bottle.

Judgement has already been passed, and the results have already been secured. Moreover, all the condemning evidence was already long gone, and even the most powerful Lawyer cannot ask for the case to be opened again. He couldn’t help the smug expression that appeared on his face.

Watching the fresh red wine trickling into the glass as it was poured, the smile on Leng Renfei’s face morphed into one that was a little more sincere.

⊹ ━━━━━ ∘◦ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ◦∘ ━━━━━ ⊹

Stemming from the heart of 000 City, the river expands outwards in an X formation.

Located upstream were those who slumbered self-deceivingly within a beautifully fabricated dream. And located downstream, was where the entire City's waste was endlessly swept under the carpet. There, at the very edge of the City, was a particularly convenient place to carry out certain "things".

During night, at an abandoned warehouse located near the edge of the City— Mr He, who had been celebrating his victory so triumphantly earlier was now pathetically tied up on a chair against the wall.

His face was bruised, and one of the lenses of his glasses had been pierced by something thin and small. It was levelled just a few millimetres away from his eyeball. He sat there, tied and ramrod straight. He didn't even dare breathe, for he was afraid that doing so would cause that sliver to pierce through his eye.

A guy's voice reverberated through the darkness. "Do you still remember what I said?"

Mr. He frantically nodded, his cries coming out as mere whimpers as fearful tears fell from his eyes in an endless stream.

"I hope to hear news of your confession tomorrow at noon."

——The dim lights, along with all the piled up junk and debris, formed a blind spot. White feathers darted out from one of the dark corners, flashing past.

It was as if something pure had just quietly fluttered it's wings amidst the sins that surrounded it. Out of place; yet shining ever so bright.

"Perhaps I shall let you enjoy what remaining freedom you have left. All these incriminating evidences are sufficient to land you in prison for the rest of your life after all."

A small blade flew out from the darkness as the voice faded away, cutting him free of his restrains.

Mr. He tore off the tape that gagged his mouth, breathing a sigh of relief as the spiking anxiety in his heart significantly calmed.

The next second saw a sharper, deadlier, blade brushing past the side of his eye, slicing a thin line across his temple before embedding itself into the wall just a mere hairsbreadth away.

The cold silver of the blade gleamed, reflecting his eyes as he widened them in a moment of panic. His breath came in short intermittent stutters, choking, as if he had his air flow concurrently cut off.

It was then, that Mr. He truly saw what was hiding in the shadows—

Leng Renfei, the Lawyer that had still been under his hire mere hours ago, was now here, skilfully manoeuvring his blade as he played with it.

A pair of pure white wings unfolded, stretching out from behind his back, each feather, as sharp as a blade.

With him, there was no hint of any of the kindness associated with angels. The edges of his feathers were razor sharp, akin to claws straight out of hell.

Stained with blood, they had a metallic tang to them.

"Surprised?" Leng Renfei approached him slowly, one step at a time.

"Funny. I thought I'd already made it clear to you? That you must be absolutely truthful to me about everything that pertains to this Court Hearing. Otherwise, I won't be able to guarantee that you'll get the results you seek. No?"

The horrible pressure Mr. He felt forbade him from making even the slightest movement. His feet, clad in pristine leather shoes, tensed up as he slowly shifted his weight, inching backwards.

"If I fail to see the news tomorrow at noon, then…" A voice, low, yet hard to perceive, sounded beside his ear. Leng Renfei’s angelic wings fluttered a few times, and Mr. He felt the very real threat that they posed inching in closer every time they moved.

Next, a foot slammed itself hard onto his knee, forcing him to revert his focus back in front, to the owner of those deadly wings. From whom, he heard words that angels would never speak of.

"...You shall fall into the depths of hell with me."

He retracted his pure white wings, concealing the holiness once more.

Mr. He’s vision plummeted into darkness once more as Leng Renfei turned his back on him, walking towards the faint light that shone behind the door.

Halfway out the door, Leng Renfei paused. The few rays of light permeating the inky darkness illuminating his features, vaguely showing the way his lips curled into a smile. He placed his hands into his pockets, his words tinged with a bit of child-like “sincerity”.

“Right, I seem to recall that you got a B for your rational adaptation rating. There’s still a way if you wish to live out the rest of your life a little more comfortably.”

Despite how he’d already been driven to the corner, he couldn’t help but to see a new glimmer of hope upon hearing Leng Renfei’s words.

“S-ranked prisoners will receive special preferential treatment. How about you try your hand at it since you’re going to be spending the rest of your life in prison anyway?”

“I’ll always welcome you with open arms as the Adjudicator of 000 City’s Erasure Tests.”

"I promise you that you'll be able to get the fairest trials for your crimes there."

⊹ ━━━━━ ∘◦ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ◦∘ ━━━━━ ⊹

The next day, noon. Mingfei Law Firm was swamped with the endless ringing of phone calls.

The defendant who had won the case yesterday had suddenly confessed and turned himself in to the police. He’d even confessed in front of the media, apologizing to the family of the victim who had died from being unable to shoulder the burden of being cheated out of a large amount of property.

Half-slumped on his chair, Leng Renfei crossed his legs atop the table, off-handedly picking up and answering one of the many media calls.

“Oh? You’re asking me for my thoughts about it?”

“As a Lawyer, I feel sorry for my client; but personally, I’m very happy to see that justice has been served.”

⊹ ━━━━━ ∘◦ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ LAW ONWIRE Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ◦∘ ━━━━━ ✩˚ ⊹

#最后的厂牌 #LAST CREW #Otome #Translations #APG GAMES #冷任非 #Leng Renfei #MAN ONWIRE #LAW ONWIRE #Brave City

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lookbluesoup · 4 years ago

Text

I’ve seen a lot of talk about anti anti culture lately and an emphasis on canceling people who write stories where bad things happen (i.e., rape, molestation, abuse). I’m really interested in facilitating a positive, open space here on my blog. So sharing my personal opinion about this at all is something I thought about for a while, and my hope is that it offers a helpful perspective as well as solidarity to people who use fiction the same way as me.

It’s not directed at anyone in particular or any event in particular. The tl;dr version is – people should always have a choice, they should be allowed to read or choose not to read, they should be allowed to write and share or choose not to write or share. Taking that choice away from people ultimately hurts survivors by making topics taboo and forcing everyone to fit a specific moral narrative for their pain or experiences to be valid.

Trigger Warnings: Rape, abuse, cancel culture, child molestation, depression, suicide, dogmatic religion, homophobia

1. These things DO happen in real life, and yes, they are harmful, and yes, reading about them can be triggering. Fully, completely acknowledge all of these things and have experienced my share of it firsthand.

2. People should be allowed to know before they get invested in a story whether triggers might be present so that they can choose to avoid it if they want to. It is their choice, and responsibility to decide not to read something that is appropriately tagged. (And please, please tag appropriately!)

3. Being interested in reading about dark subjects does not make a person evil. Somewhere between 31-57 percent of women admit to having rape fantasies. (x) That does not mean women want to be raped in real life. It does not mean that half the population of women are perverted degenerates. Reading fiction, like indulging in our fantasies, is a safe place to explore and enjoy sensations, dramas, and experiences we still don’t want in real life.

In less touchy examples - I love reading about gladiator arena battles! I love playing apocalyptic games where monsters jump out of the dark and scare the shit out of me! I do not want gladiator rings or to live in an apocalypse in real life! That doesn’t mean my interest in these stories or games condones them in real life. It doesn’t mean I think it was right that Rome irl forced slaves to fight to the death for entertainment.

4. I grew up in an environment without grey areas. The dogmatic Bible-beating hatemongering kind. Someone was good and did everything right according to my beliefs and worldview, or someone was bad and a direct threat to me. If I did something wrong, I had to punish myself physically and emotionally to make up for not being perfect. I was taught to despise myself. My parents believed there was only one correct way to view any situation - their way. I was petrified of punishment and learned that it wasn’t even worth trying to do better or accommodate someone else’s experiences because I would never measure up and would be condemned for doing something that wasn’t perfect. That is immensely, cripplingly harmful to an individual and to society. Cancel culture does the same thing. It excommunicates people who aren’t pure and allows others to get by with abuse because they are ‘teaching’ or an ‘authority on morality’ – and guess what? Nobody is pure. We are all human, we all make mistakes, and we are all learning. None of us have moral authority.

We cannot build a healthy, inclusive society if we are unsafe. We cannot be safe if we are not allowed to first admit that we ALL make mistakes and have prejudices that we can improve on. So we need to be kind and nonjudgmental whenever we have the chance to be. And we have to accept and respect that what’s fun or helpful or healing for us might be the opposite for someone else, or vice versa. Which is okay if we are respectful of each other’s boundaries and don’t try to force a way of being onto someone else without their consent.

5. With regard to writing, this means that people need to be allowed to explore difficult, even painful topics if they wish to. Even for fun. Even if someone else might not want or need to explore those same topics. That doesn’t make either person inherently evil or wrong. It just means we all have different needs and wants and diversity is normal.

As a serious example, as someone who was molested by a teenage neighbor as a child, I can guarantee you that the fact these topics were considered so disgusting and taboo by society made it very difficult for me to cope. It was not my fault, and I’ve healed from it, but when it happened I didn’t even understand what was going on, and the guilt and self-blame that followed me for years afterward were almost crippling. So yes – what happened to me in real life was wrong, inexcusable behavior. But censorship did not protect me. First it made me ignorant and vulnerable to manipulation, and then it made me feel dirty, disgusting, and isolated.

What I needed was a safe avenue to talk about it and the thoughts and sensations it stirred up, in order to heal. I needed to know it was okay to have automatic thoughts – they were a result of fear and trauma or even just being human, not a moral failing on my part. I needed to actually talk about and explore what I had felt openly, and how that related to the rest of my life, before I could move past it and have a healthy view of intimate acts that weren’t soaked in guilt and self-loathing.

I read a book after that happened, set in ancient Rome, where pederasty took place. And the victim was allowed to admit that he’d enjoyed some of what had happened to him while enslaved, and was then assured that even though he didn’t hate everything that he experienced, it didn’t make him to blame, nor his abuser right, and those thoughts/feelings did not define him or his morality. That has been immensely healing to me – but this ‘grey’ exploration of a topic is not compatible with mainstream cancel culture.

Or alternatively, I watched the series 13 Reasons Why. I hated it. It felt like nothing but shock value entertainment and not a respectful management of topics like suicide that were very, VERY real to me. Except for someone else I knew who had also struggled with suicidal thoughts and impulses, 13 Reasons Why was immensely validating. They were glad that a series showed such graphic representation of these events in a way that couldn’t be ignored or brushed over. What had been hurtful to me, was empowering to them.

I believe it is not mine, or anyone else’s place, to decide that a piece of media should be across the board banned because of what it might do. Because while some of us share traumas, we still each have different experiences, needs, and healing processes.

Such strict censorship allows for only victims who meet a certain “standard” to receive care and healing. The rest are left to suffer or are even punished further.

All of us have gone through life with vastly different levels of privilege, opportunity, expectations, etc, which leads to vastly different interpretations of the world, none of which are 100% correct or true.

6. Cancel culture hurts LGBTQ+ rights. I’m neither straight or cis, and I might never have learned that if I hadn’t been able to build friendships outside of my social circle who allowed me to integrate and ask questions without being obligated to agree with them. Where I grew up, there was immense prejudice against gay people. My cousin was disowned and disinherited for coming out. I was sheltered from anyone who might argue for gay rights, and discouraged from looking at or being curious of the deep south’s version of ‘problematic.’ That’s what I was taught – to be uncomfortable toward, judgmental, and condemning. If I had been on tumblr during those years and gotten ‘cancelled’ I would have been even more suspicious and condemning of Others, and even more determined that my way was the only right one. I specifically avoided tumblr social circles because I ‘knew’ they hated ‘people like me.’ It’s not exclusive. This trend where people become even more convinced to pick an opposing side because the Other person is being hateful is one of the first things they teach you in social psychology.

The kind of intolerance that goes with mobbing people for saying anything they consider problematic at all is the same cruelty that makes me unable to tell my parents I identify as agender or pan. It’s what gets women stoned to death and gays beheaded. It’s not moral.

What changed my point of view was friendships. One of my friends came out as gay and my world turned upside down because here was someone that didn’t match any of the stereotypes I’d been taught to fear. He wasn’t hateful or condemning of me, he was one of the most thoughtful and peaceful people I knew. That is what started to change things for me, and made it safe for me to explore other ways of thinking and interpretations of scripture. Because I cared about him more than I needed to be right.

7. Nobody is obligated to interact with someone who is being violent or hateful to them. You’re not even obligated to interact with someone you disagree with, if the topic is too painful or you simply don’t want to talk about it. Keep yourselves safe. But within the world of writing, live and let live. If someone posts a story you don’t like, and they’ve tagged it appropriately, please, please consider that your experience is not universal. You have the choice not to read that story. Someone else might need to read it. Let them, and don’t shame them for it.

#cancel culture #tw rape #tw abuse #tw child molestation #tw depression #tw suicide #tw religion #tw homophobia #tw cancel culture #wyn gabs #not fallout #text #long post

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karliesbuzzcut · 4 years ago

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i think kaylors fundamentally miss the point when they say, why would “a white hetero couple” or “nobody says a man and a woman can’t be together”. other than this broad ignorant dismissal of how certain relationships wouldnt have any struggles or conflicts, addressing specifically to taylor swift’s life. like i know its hard to understand whats so hard in a live what seems an extravagant, rich celebrity life, and one who is undeniably privileged.

but when taylor says of “deep fear the world would divide us”, she is talking of her career-long record of the public making fun of her dating life, the slutshaming and the sexism of “watch out she’s gonna write a song about you”, paps camping outside her house rudely shouting “did you f***him”, stalking from random strangers deludely thinking she owes them something, media making long lists of “who she dated”, fans theorising “which song is about who”. she herself cannot stand the public scrutiny to her life so she fears no one would stand next to her, be in a relationship under this amount of spotlight. thats what whoever they be, wouldnt stick up with the shit that comes along by entering her life. joe avoids much, respectfully trying to bring focus only to his work. but interviewers still try to dig out stuff by asking “how do you feel about having songs written about you” “how do you feel having a girlfriend wealthier than you”. and then, there are people who just choose to hate him for the very reason he is the one dating taylor. taylor had to purposefully and consciously make decisions to keep her private life including her relationship as private as possible. there were struggles, conflicts to make this all work out and stop taking a toll on her mental health.

and then, specifically to 2016 when she met joe; the very two failed relationships before (and haylor, which did lead her to much consider “who’s gonna stick up for this” after its publicity, biggest to taylor then) calvin was her first long term, that ended real bad with post break up mess publicised (and other than him having too much ego who couldnt stand taylor’s fame higher than him), going very public with tom only accumulated to the hate train at that time. it makes sense why her going into her next relationship, caused much anxiety (is this okay, do you really like me despite how the public paints me, the whole themes of reputation), and desire to keep as private as possible. like, if people had a little empathy to see taylor as only human too, that no single person undergoes the same struggles or seemingly not because they dont belong to a group of minority, that due to the abnormality of a life taylor swift lives, her conflicts in her relationship and self can be very different from any normal person. i think we can try to understand this, and listen to what she had actually said and what we can clearly see, as we are fans

In the old days I used to personally hand the award for ‘The Most On Point 👌🏻 Message’. But since Covid I’m more than happy to mail it to your address of choice and host the ceremony online.

What I’ve been noticing lately (it took me a while, I admit) is that they don’t fully believe Taylor struggles with fame. The closest they get is to say that her coming out would be especially stressful, which fair. But they don’t acknowledge that simply existing under the public eye is hard enough.

Or in other words -and again, from the comments I’ve been reading- they say Taylor is only seen when she wants to be seen, and we only see what she wants to show us. And whilst I don’t deny that she has learned how to have a more private life, I think that expressing it in such a way disregards all the sacrifices she must make. Sure, she can get out of the house without being photographed, but I don’t believe she can do impromptu trips to the store, you know? And knowing that every outing of yours requires an entire entourage that makes sure you won’t be disturbed is going to take a toll on you. Because it’s not only you the one who’s affected by this, but the people around you. You will keep people from going to certain places, going out with you will require serious planning and you can’t guarantee them that their social media won’t get inundated by a bunch of strangers.

But nope. Kaylors talk about it as if all this control comes easy for Taylor.

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neversatisfiedswitch · 4 years ago

Text

Obey Me! Tickle Headcanons

I’m so obsessed with Obey Me! rn, and considering that’s where my brain is, I wrote some headcanons for all the brothers, starting with the oldest and ending with the youngest.

Pls help, I’m blushing now from writing these, especially the teases. Why must these boys destroy me like this. ;0;

Also I almost posted this on my normal RP blog and I had a mini heart attack fkdsjkfl--

Lucifer

Lee, Ler, or Switch?: 110% Ler. He will wreck anyone who attempts to tickle him... except the main character, but only when he’s feeling generous.

As a ler:

This one could go under the lee category BUT I feel it’s necessary to put it at the top: You cannot and should not attempt to tickle him. He will W R E C K you

He probably finds out you’re ticklish while you’re not paying attention in class or something and he pokes you, and you jump, and he just smiles sweetly at you while his eyes say that you’re screwed and he just says gently “Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.”

He’s the second-most powerful demon in the Devildom (second only to Diavolo) and he’ll absolutely use his strength to his advantage. He doesn’t even have to TRY to be able to pin you down, he can do it without any effort

Is the master of gentle, agonizing tickles, but being the oldest of his brothers he can definitely be rougher if he needs to, especially if the gentler touches don’t break you

Knows where and how to dig in with his fingers, and since he always wears silk gloves his fingers tickle even more on bare skin— but if you’re close enough with him he might nuzzle your neck or ear too, maybe even nibble if you’re comfortable with it

I imagine since he doesn’t really know how to be affectionate that he won’t tease you in a normal way, mostly just makes observations and noises like he’s studying you. And tells you that you should be regretting messing with him, which you probably will

“Hmm...” “This seems like a particularly ticklish spot.” “Sensitive there?” “What’s that? You’re sorry? Good. You should be.” “Begging so soon? But we’ve only just begun.”

His expression doesn’t even change either, just the same old concentrated look he gives assignments or problems while he’s tickling you to death

And if you irk him to the point that he goes into his demon form, YOU ARE D E A D because you better believe he’ll use all 4 of his wings to torment you along with his hands, and then you’ll be screwed

Depending on what caused him to tickle you, he may sit with you and hold you to be sure he didn’t accidentally kill you via tickles, or he might just tell you to think more about your actions next time and just walk away

Also just as another note: it is nigh-impossible to startle him. So if you go after him, 99.9% of the time you’re going to be the one laughing and dying, unless you get lucky

As a lee:

As previously stated, Lucifer is EXTREMELY difficult to sneak up on. No one has taken his picture while he’s asleep, and only one person has even seen him shirtless— he’s nigh-impossible to catch off-guard

So if you do, or if he decides to let you tickle him, you’ll have to distract him from holding his laughter back. He can really hold it in for a long time before he breaks

On the home screen he’ll sometimes say “Are you trying to tickle me? You’ll have to do a better job than that.” or the phrase in the picture above. This is what he’ll say if you try without warning. Every. Time.

He’s honestly not very ticklish, probably like a 5/10 on the sensitivity scale

Because no one ever sees him without his clothes, I feel like his torso is the most sensitive area. Mostly his ribs, sides, and back, though his waist is a good spot too

Once you get your fingers on him and he’s either too tired or too distracted to not hold his laughter back, he’s doomed— he can’t even beg for mercy (and won’t bc his pride won’t let him) bc he’s laughing so much

He’ll basically crumple to the floor and be a giggling laughing mess, but you have to follow him down or else he’ll turn on you

If you really want to drive him crazy, spider your fingers over his back. He’ll laugh so hard that his face will turn red immediately, and he’ll just... collapse onto the floor, completely helpless

His genuine laughter is soft and melodic, almost angelic— considering he’s a fallen angel, and considered the most beautiful in all of creation, it makes sense that it would be. It’s softer and lighter than his speaking voice and can certainly be contagious if he’s laughing hard enough

Don’t take pictures of his blush or take any videos of you tickling him. He will immediately gain his strength back and wreck you until you delete them, and probably wreck you further for good measure

As long as you don’t tease him too much, he’ll probably let you go and smile genuinely at you as you leave— but don’t tell anyone bc he WILL find out, and he WILL destroy you

Alternately, if you decide to stay with him, he’ll probably get you back immediately, though it won’t be as bad as if you didn’t manage to catch him off-guard

Mammon

Lee, Ler, or Switch?: Thinks he’s more of a Ler, but in reality he’s 80% Lee and 20% Ler. He’s too ticklish to really get anyone besides you.

As a ler:

He doesn’t ever need a reason to tickle you, he just wants to— maybe he wants a little money, maybe he needs a pencil, or maybe he’s just having a bad day, but he’ll tickle you bc he feels like it

You can also goad him into doing it pretty easily, he’s a hothead (but not a violent one) AND he’s perceptive so if he knows you’re trying to make him tickle you he’ll just do it

Finds out bc as the first demon you make a pact with, he probs sleeps in your room a lot (or you sleep in his room bc he asks you to), so he pokes you to make you wake up one morning and he recognizes that the noise you just made was a squeak, and by that point it’s all over for you

Despite how much more powerful he is than you, he likes to roughhouse— he’ll tackle you (gently and on carpet/a bed/a couch etc) and roll around with you before he pins you, but he’ll always be the one pinning you if he’s decided to tickle you

He’s a master at tickling— whatever gets you hysterical is whatever he does, whether it’s spidering, digging in, light touches, raspberries, biting, or using tools, he’ll drive you crazy

His favorite is definitely nibbling though— he’s a dork who loves being close to you even if you don’t romance him, so you can guarantee he’ll be nibbling somewhere, probably your neck or tummy

Also: TEASY A F BOIII— he will tease you so damn much the entire time and laugh along with you, and probably try to make you praise him

“Why’re you laughin’, eh? Somethin’ funny?” “Tickle tickle tickle, ya little nerd!” “What? You want me t’stop? Hmm, maybe if ya paid me... with giggles.” “You laughin’ at me, punk?! Guess I’ll have t’punish ya.” “Say ‘Mammon’s the greatest’! C’mooon, you can do it!”

He’s always grinning and making faces while he’s tickling you, because he’s a dork like that

His wings in his demon form are bony and batlike, but that won’t stop him from dragging the tips across your skin in an attempt to drive you up the wall

He’ll flop down next to you when he stops tickling you, probably still poking you and teasing you for a bit, but making sure he didn’t go overboard— and he’s always up for cuddles, so unless you ask him to leave he’ll cuddle you afterwards

As a lee:

It’s easy to tickle Mammon, you just poke him anywhere and he’s giggling

On the sensitivity scale he’s the most ticklish out of his brothers, a definite 12/10– he’s just that sensitive

You’re the only person he’ll give in to when it comes to tickles— he’ll give them and receive them from you without any fuss, but with anyone else he’s grouchy about it

If you’ve seen his demon form, and noticed the fact that the top part of his outfit doesn’t cover his torso, and you think he’s not ticklish there? Think again, his tummy, belly button, and hips are his worst spots

If you tell him he should cover up his torso if he doesn’t want anyone to tickle it he’ll just sputter in embarrassment

Once you’re tickling him, even lightly, he can’t take it— he’ll just drop to the floor shrieking and begging you to stop (but don’t bc he kind of likes the attention, though he won’t admit it)

If you get your finger in his belly button his laughter will go completely silent, and squeezing his hips will make him squeal

He cannot take what he dishes out— teasing makes him a blushing, sputtering mess, and all of his own tactics work against him, including (and ESPECIALLY) nibbling

His laughter is adorable and completely contagious, and higher-pitched than his speaking voice— he also snorts when he laughs, and if he realizes he snorted he gets flustered

If you take a picture of him he’ll threaten you to make you delete it, but he doesn’t really mind as long as you don’t show anyone else

Just like when he tickles you, he wants cuddles afterwards— and he might use that as an excuse to get you back when he’s not out of breath, but he’ll also just take cuddles either way

Leviathan

Lee, Ler, or Switch?: Totally a Lee, but if you challenge him on anything he’ll tickle the hell out of you. So like 90% Lee and 10% Ler.

As a ler:

He’ll only tickle you if you ask him to, if you did something to irritate him, or if you’re making him jealous because of something you have that he wants (or if you know more about something than he does)

He’s an otaku, so he’s probably already delved into the world of tickling bc of the tickle scenes you see in media, and he’s probably watched Mammon wreck you a few times so he guessed pretty quickly that you’re ticklish without being so hands-on himself

Not as powerful as Mammon or Lucifer, but still a demon nonetheless— and even tho he’s a shut-in and doesn’t get out much he’s still pretty good at pinning people down, though he might see the position you’re in and think it’s a little suggestive, maybe even blush bc he’s easily embarrassed

He approaches tickling like he approaches his games— dives right in, testing everything out, then goes full-on with whatever works the best, babbling excitedly all the while until you’re a screeching mess of laughter

He mostly just teases you by saying he’s better than you, but he doesn’t really mean it... also he makes video game/media/nerdy references a lot

“You can’t defeat the mighty Levi! Muahahaha!” “Playing games is fun, but it’s more fun to wreck you.~” “This is just like that scene I watched in this anime called—“ “You’re a lot squishier than my keyboard, but at least my fingers don’t hurt now!” “Get wrecked, nerd! Lololol”

He’s basically treating this like a game— that’s what tickling is to him anyway— and while he’ll definitely stop if you’re desperate enough, he’ll always ask if you give up before he quits, and then gloat that he won

And if he gets you in his demon form, there’s no escape— he’ll wrap you up in his tail and get you even worse, now that he has more room to work with

Usually offers you a snack or something when he stops tickling you, maybe suggests you lay on his bed and watch him game, or even lets you beat him in an easy game so you feel better— but he won’t admit he’s being soft toward you

As a lee:

He has a few tickle spots, but he only lets his guard down when he’s at home in his room— and once you get him started laughing, it’s hard for him to stop

He’s a solid 9/10, surpassed only by Mammon, and he’s different from the others in that he very much likes tickling— it just makes him blush a lot

He’s a sensitive baby, his sides, waist, thighs, and armpits are all very sensitive, but his death spot is his tummy

Doesn’t beg for you to stop, but will deny that he enjoys it or that he’s even laughing— the fact that he doesn’t fight back doesn’t help him any... it’s clear he enjoys it bc when you rub his character model during certain interactions in the game, he giggles, and it gives the most amount of intimacy and a large amount of hearts (as seen in the image above)

If you use the “claw” tactic on his tummy he goes ballistic, shrieking like he’s dying, and his face will turn bright red while he tries to cover his cheeks with his hands

He hates being teased, and will always tell you to shut up, and that you’re lying, but if you’re silent he begs you to say something

He has an adorable, sweet little laugh, and his giggles are angelic— it makes anyone feel better to tickle him, but he hates his laugh and will threaten you if you compliment it

He’ll blush himself to death if you try and take a picture of him, he’d really rather you didn’t but as long as you keep it to yourself he’ll let you keep it on your phone

Gets clingy after tickles and will crawl over to put his head in your lap and ask you to pet his hair, then asks if you’d want to watch something or read a manga together

Satan

Lee, Ler, or Switch?: Ler, full stop. Thinks of tickling as bonding and likes doing it more than having it done to him.

As a ler:

As seen when he and his brothers attempt to get Belphegor to crack a smile, he’s very sneaky and knows how to creep up behind someone to grab them

He’s very mischievous when it comes to tickling, he’s the Avatar of Wrath so making someone smile rather than making them mad is new to him and he enjoys it more than anything else

Probably found out bc you offered to help him fix his books, and so you were on a ladder reaching up and your shirt pulled up and he poked at your exposed side, nearly making you drop the book on his head, to which he only said “Oops.” and gave you a grin that said you were done for

Relies on the element of surprise to pin you rather than just strength, though as someone born of Lucifer he’s not weak at all and he can really hold you down if he needs to

He’s slow and methodical, testing out every spot to see what gets you laughing the most, then starts from your least ticklish spot and works his way up to the most ticklish

Being a book lover he has to write occasionally too, so he has all kinds of writing utensils around that he uses to tickle you with— quills, pens, pencils, calligraphy brushes, etc

Mostly just laughs along with you, but if he’s using something to write on you with he’ll tell you to be still and tease you about messing up his writing, though mostly he just teases about your sensitivity— and he may even use you as a book holder, tickling you and scolding you if you move the book too much

“Stop squirming, you’ll mess up the ink.” “This is illegible... Oh, well, looks like I’ll have to start over.” “Your laugh is adorable, you should do it more often.” “Oh, was that a bad spot? I’ll have to file that away for later use.” “Your laughter is distracting me from my book. Tone it down or I’ll really give you something to laugh about.”

He’ll smile fondly while he’s tickling you— he can’t help it, seeing that he makes someone else happy and laugh is so refreshing for him

Two bad things about his demon form: first, his tail is long enough to snake around you and the scaly feeling of it would drive anyone up the wall, and second, he wears a feather boa that he most definitely would use to wreck someone with, or even tie their wrists or ankles together

Will help you sit up, rub your back and run his hand through your hair once he’s stopped tickling you, and will let you lean against him while he reads to you so you can calm down

As a lee:

Satan has to be in the right mood to laugh— trying to tickle him when he’s mad will upset him, but if he’s in a good mood he’ll let you do it

He’s about a 6/10 on the sensitivity scale, since he’s not deathly ticklish it’s more of a bonding experience for him than anything else

His neck, ears, and armpits are his worst spots, which is ironic considering the feather boa he wears has to be sitting a certain way so he won’t tickle himself accidentally

Will squirm minimally, doesn’t want to knock you off and hurt you, and enjoys the contact though he wishes it wasn’t tickling that you chose as your method to get close to him

If you get your fingers in his armpits he’ll cackle himself silly, and brushing feathers against his neck will make him blush so badly that it spreads across his body

Covers his face as much as possible when he’s being teased, scrunches up his shoulders and giggles out half-hearted pleas for you to stop, and sometimes threats that you can’t take seriously due to his laughter

His laugh is deep and soothing, even when he’s hysterical, and it can instantly relieve the stress of whoever’s tickling him

He’ll allow you to take a picture of him blushing, but only if you don’t tell anyone why, and you let him compose himself a little first

Will lean against you like a cat, reading to calm himself down, and tell you exactly when he’s going to get you next— sometimes it’ll be right after you’ve finished tickling the hell out of him

Asmodeus

Lee, Ler, or Switch?: Ler all the way, except for you— because you tickling him means you’ll touch him.

As a ler:

Despite loving to touch you and being the Avatar of Lust, he’s respectful of boundaries, and won’t tickle you the first time until you ask him to or let him know it’s okay

After that it’s clear he loves making you laugh, though he’ll only do it when he knows you need it as opposed to pouncing on you out of nowhere

Found out bc during a cuddle session he stuck his hand slightly up your shirt and you started twitching, and he immediately thought you were uncomfortable— but then he saw the little upturn of your lips and figured it out immediately

Also knows tickling could turn into more, but when he knows you just want it to be fun he refrains from being too terribly suggestive

He’s small and quiet so he can totally sneak up on anyone and jump on their back, or pounce on them when they least expect it, but will always warn you before he does that so you’re not startled

Depending on what mood you’re in he’s either gentle and sweet or rough and merciless, though he can’t resist digging into your worst spots when he finds them

His teases are compliments— he wants you to feel good about yourself, to admit your best qualities, and he takes the opportunity to tickle the positivity out of you

“I’ll stop tickling if you say you’re cute.” “Come on now, say something you’re good at, or I can stay at this spot allll day.” “Stop bringing yourself down or I’ll go for your worst spot.” “You have ten seconds to say you’re beautiful or I’ll tickle you for ten minutes.” “You’re practically glowing today— did you do something different? Don’t lie to me, I’ll knoooow!~”

He’ll giggle and smile brightly while he’s tickling you, and often he’ll hum and make up his own little songs to sing to tease you

He can’t really get you with his wings in his demon form bc they’re too short, but that form does make him a lot more cuddly so he’ll tickle-cuddle the hell out of you if he catches you in that form

Will pull you into his lap and rub your back, ask if you’re okay, and hum softly to calm you down— maybe even give you a massage if you need it

As a lee:

Considering how much Asmo likes it when you touch him, he’s basically down for you to tickle him anytime

He’s about a 4/10 on the sensitivity scale— the least ticklish out of his brothers, but he does have a tickle spot

His palms and knees— front and back— are sensitive, but not enough to make him really laugh, his one bad tickle spot is his feet and they’re sensitive enough to make up for his lack of sensitivity everywhere else

Still tries to seem dainty despite the fact that he’s falling apart while you’re tickling him— he might kick a little and shove at you, but he’s honestly just happy you’re touching him

Going after his toes makes him shriek, and he may start begging for mercy if you go after them too long, though unless he’s crying from laughter he won’t actually want you to stop

He can handle teases better than anyone else, mostly because he’s honestly self-absorbed and anything you say to him comes out as a compliment— so teasing does nothing to him

His laugh is sweet, soft, and rather delicate, like him, and his giggles are extremely contagious— he says he likes his laugh quite a lot

If you want to take a picture, he has to be sure his hair is perfect first— but even if he’s blushing, he never minds when pictures are taken of him, and even if you tell others you were tickling him, he won’t mind

He has to freshen himself up after being tickled, but once he’s done that, he curls up against your side and tells you he loves laughing with you, then goes back to cuddling with you like he was before

Beelzebub

Lee, Ler, or Switch?: Equal switch— he loves tickling, and usually enjoys being tickled, depending on who’s doing it.

As a ler:

Won’t hesitate to just throw you over his shoulder, carry you off to either of your rooms, and absolutely destroy you— if it seems like you need it, or you goad him into doing it

Third only to food and being around Belphegor, your laugh is what brightens his day the most— he likes being able to unwind after a lot of stress by tickling you and letting his worries drift away with your laughter

He found out when you were trying to get some cookies off of a high shelf, because Beel was too weak from hunger to stand on the chair, but when you lost your balance and almost fell, he caught you with one hand on your hip and the other under your arm, and when you spasmed he immediately knew why

He doesn’t sneak up on anyone— if you’re going to be tickled, you’re going to be tickled. You’ll hear him coming and get a chance to hide, but you probably won’t be able to because he’ll find you eventually

Despite his size, he’s gentle when tickling you, at least with his hands— though he enjoys acting like he’ll eat you, due to how many funny noises you make, so he uses his mouth and teeth to tickle more often than not

His teasing is mostly food-related, as are most things with Beel, and he always says he’ll eat you, though it’s clear he’d never dream of actually doing it... he also uses the standard “tickle” tease, drawing it out to fluster you more

“Your ribs look rather tasty... I’m going to nibble them.” “What fruit is that named after again? Raspberries? Fitting, you match one right about now.” “Nom, nom, nom... your belly is tastier than a cheeseburger by far.” “Tickle tickle tickle... what, is that funny?” “If you buy me food, I’ll let you go... nah, never mind, I won’t.”

He’ll chuckle and make funny little faces while he tickles you, and try to make eye contact as much as possible to really make you blush

His wings aren’t that useful in his demon form, but the fact that his teeth sharpen is— he’ll be even more gentle when nibbling you, but you can bet it’ll tickle ten times worse to have demon teeth scraping across your skin

Will pull you into his arms and offer you some food, then rest his chin on top of your head and hug you to calm you down, smiling like a goof the entire time

As a lee:

Generally, the hungrier he is, the less strength he has to fight back— but it’s best to catch him when he’s not so hungry that he might go on a rampage if he doesn’t eat, so there won’t be any danger toward you, but not after he’s just eaten, which makes him less sensitive

A 7/10 on the sensitivity scale, he has quite a few tickle spots and genuinely loves laughing and smiling, especially if it’s with you or Belphie

His tummy and navel are very sensitive, and so are his thighs and the backs of his knees

Knows he could easily hurt you if he struggles too much, so he tries his best not to, holding onto something like pillows or blankets to keep himself from shoving you away, and always tossing his head back and forth to hide his blush and his smile

If you trace a finger down his abs to his belly button and wiggle your finger inside, he’ll wheeze and usually grab a pillow to bring up to cover his face— you’ll know when he wants you to stop, he’ll tap out by weakly smacking your leg with his hand

If you turn the teasing back on him, he becomes more responsive to the tickling, trying to curl in on himself and laughing harder than if you were to just tickle him— the harder he blushes, the more he can’t take the teasing

His laugh is very deep and rumbly like thunder, seeming to shake the whole house the harder it gets— he hates his laughter, but he knows how much you and Belphie like hearing it, so he doesn’t mind that much

He’ll always hide his face if you attempt to take a picture of him while he’s blushy and giggly, but if you manage to get one he’ll just ask you not to share it

He’ll sit up and rest his chin on your shoulder, then ask if you can go get him a snack— tickling tires him out— then he’ll wrap his arms around you and munch on whatever you brought him, content to calm down in your presence

Belphegor

Lee, Ler, or Switch?: Like Beel, equal switch— he doesn’t mind being tickled, and he enjoys doing the tickling just as much.

As a ler:

Usually feigns sleep to get people to drop their guard, then pounces on them when they least expect him to— he’s the Avatar of Sloth, he’s the best at acting like he’s asleep

Like his brother, he sees your laughter as his third thing that makes him happy, with the first two being Beel and naps, and so he always wants to hear your laugh every chance he gets— it also makes him sleepy because he says your laugh is soothing

He found out after he invited you to nap with him one day— you were trying to get comfortable and shifted a little too much, and Belphie prodded his finger into your side and told you to stay still, making you squeak... thankfully he was too tired to act then, but it was already too late

Almost like a cat, he likes to hide behind furniture, under blankets and beds, or even above doorways, and pounce when it’s least expected— and if he’s well-rested, he’ll chase you down if you run from him

Loves building anticipation and being slow and gentle with his tickles, only to dig in unexpectedly— he also likes to nuzzle a lot, mostly because he knows his hair tickles and being that close would make /anyone/ blush

Sings little lullabies and replaces words with “tickle” in order to tease you, but also points out your sensitivity and how much you’re blushing, and asks how tired you are

"Your face is so red right now. It’s so cute.” “Are you getting tired yet? I don’t think you are, you’re still laughing a lot.” “C’mon, this can’t tickle /that/ bad.” “You’re making me sleepy, laughing this much.” “If you’re not sleepy yet, then I don’t know what to tell you. Guess I’ll just have to keep going until you’re out cold.”

His tail in his demon form is a very useful tickle tool, he can swish it anywhere he wants and drive you up the wall with how soft the hair on the tip is

He’ll curl up next to you and pull you close to him, nestling your head under his chin and letting his breathing calm you down— and he’ll probably go to sleep, he can tire himself out no problem

As a lee:

Waking him up from a dead sleep is the best way to catch him off-guard, and ensures he won’t be able to get revenge as quickly as if he were already awake

Only slightly above his twin on the sensitivity scale, he’s an 8/10 as he’s a little more ticklish than Beel— but if you were to ask him, he’d say Beel is more ticklish

Shares his brother’s death spots, aka his tummy and belly button, but his hips, knees, and toes are other bad spots

Is very squirmy, considering he’s the smallest he knows he can’t hurt you if he squirms a little— but if you keep his favorite pillow near him, he’ll smack you with it if the tickles are too much to handle

Even looking at his tummy wrong makes him giggle, and the best tactic is to tickle his tummy and belly button at the same time, rapidly vibrating your fingers— he’ll lose it and screech with laughter, and flail helplessly

He hates being teased, and will attempt to swat at you every time you do it, despite being weak when he’s tickled and not being able to fight back like he normally would

His laugh is the sweetest of all of his brothers, light, gentle, and delicate, and his giggles are adorable— he hates when people tell him his laugh is cute, though, so that’s another way to fluster him

He’ll smack you with his pillow and run away before you ever catch him smiling on-camera— he hates getting pictures taken, they make him feel shy and he doesn’t want anyone to see him so vulnerable

Like when he tickles you, he’ll curl up next to you and yawn, and tell you he’s sleepy, then fall asleep soon after— and he’ll definitely cuddle you, mostly to be sure you can’t get away when he wakes up and wants revenge

#pls help i am dying from this #these boys r too cute #btw the second pic of levi is different bc he doesn't have a cute home screen interaction like the others #but at least he still cute #my fave is Mammon btw #I adore him

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beetlefursuits · 4 years ago

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Why Your First Fursuit Commission Was a Disaster! (or How to Prevent it)

Being approached by a stranger asking you to be THE fursuit artist they have chosen can make you feel AMAZING and eager to say YES!

Out of all the artists out there, they picked you!

The immediate assumption is that you can knock that project out and get some money in your pocket, while filling out your portfolio, gaining some experience, and having some fun!

But pause a moment, step back and think “Am I ready for this? Is this the right client for me? Do I even WANT to do commissions?”

Before you jump into business with someone, consider the following list of reasons that this project (or this client) might not be the correct fit for you.

Six Tips For Success in Choosing Which Fursuit Commissions to Accept (and which to avoid!)

#1. Will I ENJOY Doing This Project?

Is this REALLY something you want to make?

When a new project crosses your eyeballs and you get that excited glow, you can immediately imagine how great it will be to show off the finished product in your portfolio.

But stop and REALLY think about the project you are considering, break it down into every aspect, every small detail that you will have to source and buy materials for, that you will have to construct and sew and cut and sculpt and paint, and then decide how jazzed you really feel about building it.

300 rosettes (you realize only after counting each one) will look amazing but consider sewing each one and how does that make you feel. Sew a test spot just so you can time yourself and feel it out.

Those cool markings? How will you do that? By machine? By hand? Do you have the fur for it in stock? Does it even exist and do you know where to find it?

How will you do the long hair to get that particular shape? Does it have Spikes? Horns? Both? What will they be made from? Have you done it before? Does that prospect of making something new excite you? Or do you feel dread?

If you are not starting it immediately, consider how interested you will still be in a few weeks or months once that initial glow has faded, the deposit has been spent, and what’s left is a pile of materials and the prospect of a lot of hard work.

If there is an aspect of the project that you do not like, consider that future clients will see this work and assume it’s the type of project you wish to do again.

#2. Am I CAPABLE of Completing this Project?

Building a commission is NOT like building a personal fursuit.

With a personal project, you do not need to discuss your ideas with others, you do not need to stick to a reference or plan, you can cut corners with sewing or final finishing, etc.

A commission requires a lot of back-and-forth discussion between the artist and the client. You have to consider the opinion of someone else. You need to accurately size it to a person you have never met and who cannot try it on during the process. Everything has to be finished and durable and clean.

Following are 4 quick tips to consider if you’re ready to accept client work:

Do you know how long it takes (roughly) to build a (non personal) fursuit?

Have you already made and sold artistic liberty/artist-designed/premade projects? When you are starting out, this is how you decide on your pricing and deadlines. It’s not good to enter into an agreement with no idea what to charge or how long it will take you!

Do you have a dedicated work space/guaranteed amount of time available?

Fursuit making takes a lot of space (Huge awkward foam rolls to store and fur to spread out while you pattern/cut. Duct tape dummies awkwardly starfish out their arms and legs all the time and don’t help at all with the sewing) and it’s much easier to work on commissions when you separate life and work areas.

If you currently have other major obligations besides fursuit making (such as work, family, health, and school) which already take (or have the potential of taking) most (or all) of your available time, then it might not be the right time to take full suit commissions. Artist-designed projects and smaller projects will offer more flexibility for unpredictable and limited time—and energy.

Are there a lot of new elements to the project that you have not done before?

Some things may look easy and then when you start building it you realize that it’s much more involved than you expected. This can be a huge drain on your time, your money, and your motivation (which just compounds those first two issues).

An example could be a character with 3 tails. It’s just 1 tail(X3) right? But will they all fit correctly together? Do you make and attach them as one tail or leave them separate? Will they bounce or sit weirdly? Do you now need to make a new ‘side tail’ pattern so they splay out in an appealing manner?

Or say you take on a particularly tall client and you suddenly have to research and develop all new larger hand and foot designs as your current ones do not fit them or the padding you normally make looks too small now and needs to be remade larger.

These are all aspects worth considering. To prevent taking on more than you can handle, my suggestion is to take on no more than one new aspect (that is preferably no more than 10-15% of the project) on each commission that you’ll need to research and develop. You will probably go over time and over budget on these new processes at first (as you gain experience you naturally find ways to craft things quicker and easier) so it’s best to not knowingly take projects that you do not yet have the skills and/or experience to fulfill.

Can you take criticism?

Paid artistic work invites criticism. Sometimes something you make does not work out. You loved it and the client hates it. Or it doesn’t fit. Or it fell apart. That is all part of learning and growing and trying new things. Can you take the corrections, make it right, and move on?

If you feel that you currently cannot emotionally/mentally/physically handle potential setbacks/obstructions/times where things just don’t go your way; stick with non-client projects that are easier to control and fit to your schedule (premade suits. ears and tails. fursuit props.) and revisit commissions further down the road.

#3. Is the Client Displaying Red Flags?

Knowing which clients to turn away is a valuable skill.

As your business grows, it pays in your time, resources, and sanity to know when to refuse a commission (or when to cancel a commission) and to do so as early and gracefully as possible.

If you watch for situations like these, you can focus on cultivating happy, excited, and RESPECTFUL clients who love your work and your preferred artistic style. Not those who try to cut corners or denigrate or manipulate you for their own goals.

Here are 6 ‘red flags’ to consider when picking or accepting client projects.

The client complains (a lot) about their previous artist(s)

Simple, constructive, and legit complaints are one thing (the client says “Artists tend to get this marking wrong so here is how I really want it.” or “My last artist used these materials but it broke so can we try something else.”)

If instead the client immediately gossips about/trash-talks previous artists to you, it shows a lack of social boundaries and the high potential that they will then trash-talk about you/your work in the future.

Poor Quality Reference art.

This one is not a deal-breaker as long as it is not paired with an uncommunicative and/or demanding client.

If the client wants a “sly grey wolf” then we may proceed as long as we both understand that it will be my personal version of that idea and might not match what’s in the clients head.

If the very specifically-desired concept involves complex unclear markings, specific tattoos that are not consistent across the reference, the client’s desired fursuit and the reference do not match, a blurred photograph of a scratchy OC reference, etc; IE ANYTHING you cannot make heads nor tails of.. then ask them to clear this up with a favorite reference artist first and get back to you.

(And If YOU are your favorite reference artist, make sure to charge appropriately for the extra service!)

The client is a child or cannot/will not prove their age.

Children cannot be held to a contract in the USA and most fursuit artists require their clients to be over 18 (many are starting to ask for proof such as a photograph of a legal ID). You may choose to proceed with the project but the contract, payment, and all discussion needs to go through the child’s legal adult caretaker.

A client who micro-manages you and/or your work through constant criticism, proposed changes, or ‘redlines’ of your work.

These clients (though generally well-meaning) are honestly hell on the self-esteem. The occasional suggestion or constructive criticism (as mentioned earlier!) can be very helpful in determining the angle to take on a project or future projects.

But CONSTANT red lines and complaints and ‘suggested changes’ to your work (that they keep suggesting because they don’t even KNOW what they really want from you) means that NEITHER of you is going to come out of it feeling very happy about the art. Cancel and refund them and move on. I promise that it’s worth it.

The client disagrees with the quoted price/requests a discount/attempts to change the commission parameters.

“No” is a complete sentence.

To elaborate on that further; not everyone who asks for a discount is like this but be warned that there ARE potential clients who look for bright new fursuit makers, with the intent to jump on them early and obtain a new commission at a low price by (knowingly or unknowingly) taking advantage of the artist’s inexperience.

I am going to give a fictional example of this situation to show how insidious it can be:

You are still unsure about fullsuit commissions but you say on social media that you’re thinking you could try a head? An acquaintance says yes! Me! PLeeeeese. They seem excited so you agree for an introductory price. This new client chats a lot and seems friendly.

Could they get feet?? Feeling on-the-spot you agree since they’re ‘friends’. You’ve not made feet on commission yet so you underestimate the difficulty and under-charge. The client seems happy tho. They discuss a few changes they want to the head (that they’re sure they mentioned in the initial quote). Maybe you forgot??

This all takes some time and meanwhile they show you some reference art they just got done of a different character and ask to move the commission to this since you don’t have THAT much done yet. Also how much for hands?? They find you at a con and offer to buy you a drink. You restart the work.

A few more rounds of these (or similar) behaviours. The client starts to complain how long it’s taking. Maybe they drive other potential clients away with their actions or threaten an artist beware on you. And eventually you realize you’ve been manipulated and bullied into taking on a complicated fursuit that you had no intentions of making and have very severely undercharged for. Not fun!!

Instead of this situation coming to pass, hold your ground in the beginning and refuse to ‘add’ to a commission or to change a commission after it’s been paid for and/or started. This muddles what you’re working on and allows the client an opportunity to keep changing things forever. (instead treat the add-on as a brand new commission to be started only after the current part is finished and paid for)

Do not entertain those who think you’re not worth the price you’re asking for. Do not give ‘friends discounts’. Friends want to see you succeed!

Other artists warn against working with them.

Get to know other fursuit artists! We are usually happy to vouch for good clients and warn about any particular issues you may experience with others. Sometimes there are issues that prevent one artist-client relationship but can be managed within another and eventually other artists might recognize which clients to refer to you (and you to them).

If you are wondering how to start this type of discourse, there are public groups on Facebook or considering joining a fursuit artist’s Patreon and/or Telegram chat! Many fursuit makers have one (or both) of these with various mentoring tiers.

As an example, all of my patrons are given a link to join my Telegram chat where you can share your work and receive critique from a like-minded audience. At higher tiers you can join my Discord to share and chat in real time.

If there is a fursuit artist that you admire, ask them and see what they offer!

#4. Do I Need The Money?

Fursuits are maybe NOT quite the jackpot they might first appear to be

Fursuits are deceptive. It sounds like a great deal to gain several thousand dollars in one simple cheque, but, if you are not careful with budgeting, if you undercharge, or under-estimate how long it will take; you can find yourself falling into a state of using future projects to pay your current project materials, shipping, taxes, etc; as well as your regular life expenses like rent, car, insurance, utilities, loan repayments, etc.

The simplest practice is to prevent this entirely right from your first commission! My suggestion is to first take on smaller projects with a quick turn-over. This keeps you flexible to increase your prices or change your practices as needed. Then when you have enough savings to keep yourself afloat (so that you will not need to dip into your fursuit deposit money even if things don’t go exactly on schedule), you can take larger projects with longer turn-around times and higher price-points.

If you do find yourself in a situation where you NEED the money immediately; the issue is that you will be much more motivated to take on more difficult clients, less fulfilling projects you don’t really like, and overall accepting a worse deal for you for the reward of immediate payment (which then exacerbates the issues by giving you more work for the future and then pushing you further into the hole). Sadly, getting out of this situation can be very difficult.

Sparkle Kreations writes:

In my earlier business years, I found myself in a deep hole; I struggled financially day to day, I had over 80 clients on my list, and I was overwhelmed by the amount of work to be done. There were solutions, all very challenging decisions laid out before me. One path was the one most recommended, was that I go out and get a full-time job as I slowly refunded everyone on my list (a viable decision, advised to me by furry and non-furry alike) while I continue living and paying my living expenses. Another path was that I completely close off all large commissions, only taking on a few quick/small commissions to keep a bit of income flow, closely budgeting every dollar that I spend as I worked on my queue and knocked out my commissions until they were all complete. So I chose a hard path to regain my business name; I started by being completely honest with all of my customers and offering refunds if they chose. I then worked 6-7 days a week/8-10 hours a day, for about 5 to 6 years. I watched my budget closely, avoided going to conventions so I could instead refund customers. I now run a successful business that is financially stable, with a comfortably-sized queue, where myself and my assistant comfortably work a 5 day/35 hour work-week.

Finally, keep in mind that what really matters is not the $$$$ on the cheque but actually how it distills into $/hour. An artist is limited by the hours they are able to put into the work and a sexy $$$$ fursuit deposit might not actually gain you more in the end than several smaller $$$ projects with quicker overall turn-around times. Track your time and choose the most profitable options to promote and pursue.

(For much more on the physical realities of running a business, read my previous blog article “What I’ve Learned From The Past Decade Working as a Professional Fursuit Artist”)

#5. Can I communicate effectively with others?

Good communications are key with all client-artist interactions.

Can you stay calm, be professional, and set expectations? Poor communication (on either artist or client end) can easily snowball into angry clients and artists, stress and anxiety, emotional withdrawal from your work, misunderstandings, and even artist bewares.

There are several important aspects to communicating effectively:

Can you stay calm and professional even when the client is combative?

At some point, you will have a difficult client. When this happens, you need to stay professional and work through the issues with them. If you cannot agree then you might need to part ways. You must do so with the grace and assurance that you did everything possible to fix the situation. If you think “Taken out of context, will this screenshot look bad?” And the answer is “yes,” then you need to step back, collect yourself, and rewrite your reply.

Can you set expectations?

As the artist, you can choose your commission methods, but you need to be VERY CLEAR to the client what those methods are, what your expectations are (for them and for you), and how the commission process will proceed. Before you take any clients, figure out what you what you want out of the commission process. Do you want to take on clients for money? For the satisfaction of a job well done? For the social challenge of managing an artist-client relationship? Or the artistic drive of working to a specific goal and schedule? Aka WHY do you want to take commissions??

If you have not developed your own drive and are not familiar with your own commission process then you are not ready to move a client through that process

Are you ready to directly and clearly (and repeatedly if needed) communicate your policies to a client through the design, payment, construction, delivery, potential changes or repairs of the commission?

If you need payment by X date or they’ll be dropped from the queue, you need to inform them of this. If they have an issue with the work you did (and you need them to ship the item back asap so you can fix it before their warranty runs out), you need to inform them of this urgency and what failing to act by the deadline will result in.

Don’t leave it up to the client to know your policies. Your policies/procedures should be on your website Terms Of Service (TOS) that you had the client read and agree to, but a little refresher (plus a reasonable and clear deadline, if applicable) allows everyone to move on informed and aware of the consequences.

Do you have a method to communicate with your clients and be available for them to discuss issues with you?

I’m not saying be available 24-7 (an important self-care aspect is having certain hours of the day and/or the week to yourself without any work concerns) but if the client has an issue, how will they communicate that with you so that you can respond in an effective and timely manner? Do you prefer Telegram? Email? Twitter? Decide how you want to conduct business matters and let clients know where/when to contact you.

Do you have a method to update your clients and ask their opinions?

Depending on how you like to work, you do not need to ask a client’s opinion on every aspect of the build. However, showing your work and giving updates on the progress will make the client feel happy and secure in their commission choice.

One easy method for updating that I like is to keep a Trello board of projects where the client can always see the current progress of their commission. Telegram is a popular group chat client. It’s nice for sending pics/videos to clients and the ever classic email is perfect for initial quotes and longer back and forth discussions.

Can you always be honest with your clients?

It’s hard to run an entire business by yourself and you might promise too much or underestimate how long something will take or you life circumstances change and you now have less time to work. When these things happen, you need to be honest and transparent to your client. Explain the issues you are having (in simple, appropriate terms), apologize, and try to work with the client on a solution.

If you are going through some things that might affect work or deadlines, let them know. Keep in mind though, this doesn’t mean you have to share ALL of your struggles if what you are going through will not affect them. Just share what you feel they need or deserve to know.

#6. Do I have other artistic or personal goals right now?

Are commissions even right for you?

If you have other things that are important in your life right now, it’s perfectly acceptable to focus your time on them instead of commissions.

Depending on your stage of life, you might still be in school. Or have a family. You might have another job or a hobby you enjoy. You also might just have other artistic goals that existing commissions do not fit into right now. People love your canines but you want to try cats instead. Or cosplay.

Or you don’t know what you want to do yet but agreeing to a many-month long contract is not that.

The desire for quality fursuit work from reputable artists is high;

if you are active in your community, your peers might try to convince you into taking their project.

It’s great that they love your work! But if the project is not in the direction you wish to go, does not offer enough money in compensation for sacrificing something else you want to do instead, or you do not feel like you can dedicate the time needed, it’s okay (and probably necessary!) to say no!

The ultimate goal in taking client commissions is to have them bring you MORE satisfaction and fulfillment than they take away; Be that in monetary, social or artistic terms.

Figure out your personal drive in being a fursuit artist. Create and run a thoughtful, intentional, and passionate business; whether you decide to take on 30 clients, 1 client, or zero clients.

Above all, have fun with it! Bring those characters to life without losing your own.

#Tips #Health&Wellness

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rndyounghowze · 3 years ago

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How To Get Reviewed by RnD

We're getting more review requests than ever. Here's how to rise to the top of the pile. #rndyounghowze

By RnD

Mays Landing, NJ

We have decided to move to a “monthly edition” model for the blog. In other words any reviews or content you see on the blog on any given month will be about something we saw the month prior. Think that’s taking too long? Well this writing schedule frees us up to do our Monthly “Reviews and Drinks” vlog and to try out new ways to shout out shows on social media. We are two writers with disabilities and the erratic publishing schedule that we had before was a product of us trying to rush and get stuff out. When we were just starting this we were young and foolish and didn’t have that many options. Now we are almost literally drowning in them.

We went from having to beg people to let us review their work to having an inbox full of press releases from all over the world. Apparently being the bloggers who coined the term “post-geography” has turned this little NJ-Based review blog into a worldwide leader of a brand new artform. In the past few months we started asking how we were going to transition from the mass chaos that was our normal posting schedule into something both manageable for us and more beneficial to our readers. Here is how you (yes you) can maximize your chances of getting reviewed by us.

Email Us A Review Request With A Press Release

Update: If your show is in-person on the Eastern Time Zone please give us 3-4 months notice in advance. All other North American Shows need 6-8 months in advance. We cannot commit attend shows outside of the continental US for the 2021 or 2022 seasons.

We are getting to the point that if you don’t send us a review request with a press release we won’t be able to review you. It’s not because we’re snobs but because we won’t be able to remember you asked us at all. We are on a bazillion press lists. So if you want to guarantee that we even put your show on the calendar then you need to send us an email. Pro tip: it helps if you put the words “Review Request”+Name Of Show+Date of Performance. You wouldn’t believe the number of times we’ve lost an email because the subject was “hi” or “NYC premiere of something”

Example: Review Request Romeo+Juliet+Zombies August 15th

Send Production Photos And Tell Us If Screenshots Are Okay.

I understand that we haven’t really finalized what a photo call on Zoom looks like but any photos you can give us would be great. Most of the pictures on our blog right now are screenshots. We totally understand that a lot of producers don’t like screenshots but those are the same producers that don’t give us any photos at all. So send us any photos you have and tell us if it’s okay that we take screenshots.

Give Us Some Ideas About What Makes Your Show Original.

We make a point to only review original work or original interpretations of existing works. We have gotten a little dissent over that statement so let me walk you through it. There are a million productions of published and Broadway shows going on at the same time. We get press releases of different companies doing the same show all of the time and we are probably only going to watch two or three at the most in a year. To thin the press releases down we will give priority to new plays or a play that’s being done in a new way. So if you are doing Grease or Into the Woods be sure to lead with what you’re doing with it that is all original. Pro Tip: Putting this in the first paragraph is a great idea.

Example: Such and Such Theater opens Grease in three weeks with an all transgender cast.

Example: Wibbly Wobbly Stage Streams “Macbeth” Outside Through The Cell Phone Cameras Of Ten Random Audience Members

It doesn’t have to be as original as that but if it is something that singles you out amongst all the other producers who thumbed through the MTI or Samuel French catalogues please LEAD WITH IT!!!

Send Us A Working Link!!!

You wouldn’t believe how many shows we have to miss because the link is dead or we are given a promo code that doesn’t work. We have accounts for every digital theatre streaming app known to man (and some known only to aliens). Yet we still have trouble with promo codes and shopping carts. Make sure you test the links and your promo code spelling before you send them to us. Pro Tip: A Spreadsheet with a list of titles and their links works great for festivals. We also swear by password protected Vimeo links for prerecorded work.

These are just a few ideas to help you and your show get to the top of our pile. We never thought we’d have too much to review but here we are. We appreciate that you all supporting us got us here. Please help us support you to the fullest.

Have a show that you want reviewed? Email us: [email protected]

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himikochan · 5 years ago

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SJW Handbook and Advice - CHICAGO-CENTRIC

Hello everyone I’ve been compiling info for protesters and non-protesters for Chicago and I thought I’d share it here. It’s copy and pasted from a few different posts but it’s somewhat comprehensive and draws on a lot of ideas I’ve seen circulating. Not all of this info is Chicago-specific, but I do talk about local laws in Chicago and bail funds in Chicago.

SAFETY AND GOOD CONDUCT AT A PROTEST

-Tear gas: the agent in tear gas that's painful, lachrymator, binds to water molecules. It's so effective because it gets into your throat/lungs/eyes and also binds to the moisture on your skin. If you suspect tear gas might be used at a protest [which honestly you should just guess now], you should try to make sure as much of your body is covered as possible- wear long sleeves and pants and try to cover your hair. If possible, have gloves and goggles or sunglasses handy. When you are exposed to tear gas, try to get a wet cloth against your face ASAP- the moisture on the cloth will bind to the lachrymator and prevent it from getting inside of you. Pour water on a bandana or mask and try to keep it as close to your body as possible. Walk away from the cloud of gas ASAP- and before you go inside your home, try to stuff your clothes into a bag [wash them in 4-5 days when the lachrymator isn't as reactive anymore]. Take a shower as soon as possible and try to wash your hair 2-3 times- some people have told me that you should take a cold shower. If you are directly exposed to lachrymator and it gets in your eyes/mouth/nose, rinse with milk or a water/baking soda solution ASAP. Lachrymator is a very unstable molecule and either of those is pretty effective at neutralizing it.

-IF you're in a position to try and take care of a tear gas canister [if you've come prepared with a traffic cone, water, a mask, and goggles- or you're reckless as shit] cover it with a traffic cone. That will trap the fumes. Then pour as much water as you can into the traffic cone, hopefully it will put out the fuse inside the canister. PLEASE BE CAREFUL WHEN ATTEMPTING TO DO THIS- and do some more research on how to do it properly. I have not personally had a chance to use this tactic.

-The cops may have vans with IMSI catchers and/or cell phone jammers: IMSI catchers gather information about you and cell phone jammers prevent you from being able to use your phone. Carry a watch, make an exit plan with a vehicle/public transit OUTSIDE of the area where the protest is happening, and sharpie the phone number of an emergency contact on your body. There may come a time where you want to shut off your phone- even if you don't get detained, knowing there is a friendly phone number you can access will make you feel better. Be careful about taking pictures of fellow protesters’ faces- the police are using pictures on social media to target protesters after the fact. UPDATE: I just saw another post about IMSI catchers/stingray stuff. They suggest leaving your phone at home because turning your phone off is a break in your normal patterns and can be used in a prosecution. They suggest using a burner phone- this might be the way to go if you live in a city where IMSI stuff is confirmed. SECOND UPDATE: Imperfect protection measures STILL DO SOME GOOD. There are plenty of reasons you can be in a position where you need your cell phone on you and turning off your location services and/or putting on airplane mode for a time may still do you some good!!! IMSI catchers rely upon being the strongest signal in an area [cells automatically connect to whatever seems to be the strongest signal carrier]. From what I understand IMSI catchers have a limited range and basically a max capacity of how many phones they can support while still being the strongest signal in a given area. So for large protests, they'd need to deploy a lot of trucks with IMSI catchers to collect lots of data about crowds. IN MY PERSONAL PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE, which is not universal and may be out dated information, the Chicago police tend to use cell phone jammers [which prevent you from getting a signal at all]. This way they can try to stop protesters from calling/texting each other- make an out strategy with the people accompanying you about where to rendezvous if you're separated. Here is a little information regarding IMSI catcher use in Illinois."The law permits law enforcement agencies to use CSS devices only to locate, track the location of, or identify a communications device—in other words, they cannot configure them to capture the content of any communications. [...] Is CPD abiding by state law rules? It is impossible to say without any record-keeping or audits. CPD has not responded to our most recent FOIA request for information about any new policies, procedures, or records on its use of this technology, so we can only assume that it has not developed any."

-That being said: many capabilities of your phone rely upon knowing where you are to work. So IMSI catchers aren't the only thing you need to worry about.

-If you're able, bring water and some first aid supplies [such as gauze, tape, antibacterial cream, saline solutions, gloves, wipes etc] for fellow protesters [and maybe snacks]. Even at past tepid protests, I've seen fellow protesters fall into glass or hurt themselves trying to climb into higher ground just to see. If you don't know how to administer first aid for things like lacerations, ASK FOR HELP. Many protests have people trained to help and we're all in this together. You might want to read this thread on gunshot wounds, it's better to loosely know what you're supposed to do, just in case. Learn to apply a tourniquet- hint, it’s not just putting a belt around someone’s leg. The snacks are to keep everyone’s spirits up and remind us that we’re in this TOGETHER.

-Running is easier with a backpack than a messenger bag, wear comfortable shoes, and have something to write with. The mood might strike you to change your sign a bit,

-If you’re protesting in an area that isn’t close to where you live, try and reach out to someone that lives in the area. You may need to get out quickly and no way to get home and need a safe house- in Chicago, the mayor instituted a curfew from 9pm-6am at 9:04 tonight after the city had blocked every bridge and shut down public transit. Protesters are now basically locked into our downtown area with no way to get home and the police are allowed to detain anyone outdoors.

-Check in with other protesters. Do your best to maintain social distancing, but try to make sure that your fellow protesters are not lagging behind due to injury or something else. Solidarity is the goal above all else.

Lori Lightfoot has kept the curfew in place and Chicagoans are expected off the streets between 9pm-6am until further notice unless they have an "essential job". Public transit has been stopped altogether in many areas- so if you have to go out, book enough time for you to walk there and back.

Here are some important reminders of your rights- if your are arrested, stopped in you car, and what to do with your phone. PLEASE READ THEM FOR YOUR SAFETY. KNOW YOUR RIGHTS.

IF YOU ARE STOPPED:

-In Chicago, the police are permitted to ask your name and address and other questions (to determine if you are involved in a past/present crime). I believe you only NEED to give them your name, regardless of how many questions they ask you.

-You should refresh yourself on how to properly invoke your right to remain silent. Remember to ask “Am I under arrest/being detained?” If they say yes, you HAVE to say “I’m invoking my right to a publicly provided lawyer, and my right to remain silent.” SAY EXACTLY THAT- variations of that phrase are NOT always effective and the cops will use any opportunity they can to undermine your rights and not give you a lawyer. YOU MUST STAY SILENT- otherwise you’re technically waiving your right to remain silent and MUST EXPLICITLY re-invoke your right when you’re done talking for it to apply.

IF YOU ARE STOPPED FOR QUESTIONING:

-Police may “pat-down” your clothing if they suspect a concealed weapon. The ACLU says do not physically resist, but make it clear that you don’t consent to any further search.

IF YOU ARE STOPPED IN YOUR CAR:

-Upon request, show them your driver’s license, registration, and proof of insurance. In certain cases, your car can be searched without a warrant as long as the police have probable cause. To protect yourself later, you should make it clear that you do not consent to a search. It is not lawful for police to arrest you simply for refusing to consent to a search.

ON THE TOPIC OF UNLOCKING YOUR PHONE:

I haven't found any hard and fast rules about whether or not you have to unlock your phone if you are held by the police. A Vox article from February 2020 says "If your phone is protected by a passcode or biometric unlocking features, there’s a chance cops can’t gain access to your personal data. But that’s not guaranteed. [...] But if your phone is locked with a passcode and law enforcement can’t hack into it, the Fifth Amendment may be your friend. Essentially, the Fifth Amendment says you can’t be compelled to give self-incriminating testimony. [...] Testimony, in this case, is defined as revealing the contents of your own mind. Therefore, civil rights advocates say, the government can’t force you to tell them your phone’s password." But this is still being played out in the courts- there's tons of pending cases and no real precedence for this on either side.

Freedom.press in an April 2020 article says "If you are arrested or taken into police custody, you should verbally state that you do not consent to a search of your devices. A law enforcement agency is only permitted to conduct a warrantless search of your device if a compelling case for an emergency can be made." There's a lot of potentially useful information in their article, which I will link in the comments.

REMEMBER- cops are easily protected most of the time for infringing on our rights regarding being searched if it could be considered "reasonably" legal for them to do so [even if it isn't]. Saying "I want a lawyer, dog" does not invoke your right to an attorney, being silent does not invoke your right to remain silent, if you do not verbally refuse to be searched your silence is taken as consent to be searched. The limited dissemination of information on the legality of searching a phone could protect them if they coerced/forced you to unlocking your phone.

If you are in Chicago and see a post/event about protesting today or tomorrow [June 1st]. DO RIGHT BY YOURSELF AND MAKE SURE IT'S A REAL PROTEST.

I've heard that some VERY suspicious people are putting together a BLM protest in Chicago tomorrow. These people are NOT experienced organizers, NOT affiliated with BLM Chicago, and NOT known to anyone in the Chicago organizing/protesting communities.

We KNOW that a lot of the rioting and looting in other cities were begun and propagated by the police and white supremacist groups [not by protesters or ordinary citizens]. We do not know if these people are cops, white supremacists, or just irresponsible folx, but it could very well be a trap to escalate violence, incarcerate allies, and justify the Mayor granting more restrictions on the city.

The source I saw was for the purpose of organizing medics to deal with the inevitable fall out, but protect yourself and your fellow protestors by not going to this sham event.

Hello everyone- protesting not your cup of tea? That's okay! Protesting is the showiest part of being an active citizen and activist, but it's by no means the most important part.

Below, I'll be posting links for people that need your money AND non-monetary ways you can help.

-If you know people protesting in your area, offer them a place to clean up afterwards and possibly crash if public transit is closed off. If you can safely offer them a shower and a place to change clothes- that can make a huge difference. It could help them evade being targeted by the police on the way home, buy them time to get home without being part of a crowd, and they may need a place to wash off residual tear gas or pepper spray [or the blood of a comrade]

-If there are protests in your area and you have extra supplies [water, pre-packaged snacks, materials for signs, gloves, first aid kits, masks, etc], you can hand them off to a protester OR leave them in a place they'll find them with a note.

-Be wary showing the faces of protesters on your social media or having them saved online. Be mindful about who you're sharing details of a protest or protesters with and try to do your best about sharing accurate information about donations. One of the bail funds in another city recently had someone set up a fake venmo account under the name of the bail fund and many people donated to it, believing they were helping bail people out.

-Your friends with small businesses may want help or need supplies boarding up their windows- most protesters are avoiding small businesses when things turn sour [and in fact, most looting and rioting appears to trace back to undercover cops and white supremacists right now] but it's still a good idea to close up shop if you can. See if anyone needs help securing their business. .-Make fliers about properly administering first aid, basic rights regarding being detained/questioned/arrested, and phone numbers of local communal bail funds.

-Many people who were on the fence about BLM, police brutality, and protesting are beginning to see the truth of it all now that the pandemic has forced us to confront racial/ethnic and class inequality. We have more allies than we did before- make sure to give them the toolkit necessary to enacting change.

Protesters need funds in so many places right now:

-Chicago Communal Bail https://chicagobond.org/

-ACLU Illinoishttps://www.aclu-il.org/en/donate

-BLM Chicago https://www.blacklivesmatterchicago.com/donate/

-The Family of George Floyd https://www.gofundme.com/f/georgefloyd

-Minnesota Freedom Fund https://minnesotafreedomfund.org/

-ACLU Minnesota https://www.aclu-mn.org/en/donate

-The Bail Project https://bailproject.org/

#BLM #BLM Chicago #Chicago #Protest #Protests #Protesting Advice #advice #just advice from your local Nikkeijin thats been protesting since they could walk

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