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tortoisenottortoise · 3 years ago

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Am I the only one who likes seeing muscular women in media more than muscular men?

Alright so, this one will probably end up much shorter and a little more ranty than I'd like, but this is kind of personal so be fairly warned.

Recently I've seen a few complaints about the new He-Man show and honestly, I fully understand and empathize with them. Whilst I haven't fully seen the show, from what I've viewed I can personally speaking agree (or at the very least understand) where most criticisms come from. I think it's incredibly shitty that the writer basically lied to his audience about how the show would run. Now normally I'd be fine with a twist such as He-man dying, but he's an important part of the show and the way the marketing & merchandising for it was running kind of comes across as him basically using He-Man's name to get people into the show. I also feel like it's fine to view Teela as obnoxious and annoying, nothing about her personality-wise seems likable to me. I also heard a few complaints about Orko's (I think that's his name, don't crucify me) backstory and how his character was handled.Yet as the title suggests one that didn't stick with me was the criticism of Teela and a general trend towards the criticism of women in media as being "masculine".

I've heard over and over that Hollywood representing strong women by giving them masculine traits is a bad thing and yet... I kind of don't get it? It feels odd to say, almost like I'm the dumbest man alive for admitting something which most people on the internet seem to be so sure about, yet I just don't understand where this is coming from. I've seen this thrown at She-hulk, Wonder Woman, Abby, and many other characters, yet when inquired it usually loops back around to, "Yeah they have muscles", and that's about it. This type of criticism in specific seems to overly focus on the appearance of said characters. It's the one critique I just can't get behind and it feels like at best it's a shallow criticism that fails to get its point across, and at worst it's actively demeaning to women who desire to or show masculine traits. But first, let me break this down into sections.

Section 1: Muscles =/= Masculinity (In my opinion at least)

Oh boy, I feel like this is a section that might rustle some feathers, but I'm going to try and explain myself best as possible. I simply do not view muscularity as a feature that is inherent to or should be inherent to men. I'm not going to pretend as if muscular men aren't more saturated in media and art, nor as if they're societally treated as masculine, but one of the reasons I fail to understand this criticism is that I see muscles beyond the horizons as being just a masculine trait.

I believe that muscles should instead be seen as a sign of hard work and determination. As someone who's currently trying (and struggling) to stay healthy and fit, it's much harder than a lot of media portrays it to be. It's a test where you push yourself to the limits, not just for the sake of doing it, but so you can improve as a person. Whenever I go to the gym and see a muscular gal or guy walk by, my immediate thought isn't, "how masculine" or anything like that my thought is, "wow! They worked hard to get like that, I should work hard as well!".

This interpretation tends to feel like it's just simply taking a piss on people who actively work hard to achieve higher levels of strength. Especially when society places and enforces these unrealistic standards onto people. If you don't have a six-quintillion pack nor can bench press a fucking house then you're worthless, of course, that is unless you actually attempt to pursue said standards which in that case you're automatically dismissed as cheating your way to gaining your muscles instead of putting any work in. And that's just for men who often don't have to deal with traditional idiots who are stuck in the year 1950 where I can't walk on the same street as them. My skin crawls when reading tweets from older men talking about how weightlifting women are "ruining their fertility" and I absolutely hate it when people in my life treat these women as if they're mythical creatures from a fairy tale, or when females who have trained to such a degree are simply dismissed as being inferior.

Obviously, I don't think the people who say this are like that, but whenever I hear this type of critique I can't help but think of the culmination of all these experiences I've gone through. But then again, this might honestly just be because I'm personally attracted to muscular women.

Section 2: Body type diversity

Another reason that I tend to like muscular women in media over muscular men is simply due to the sheer oversaturation of muscular men. Don't get me wrong, I have no problem if anybody likes muscular men. I totally get wanting to shove your face in between some man titties or get inspired by their physiques. In all honesty, almost everything I said earlier can directly apply to men, but one of the reasons I bring up body type diversity is that there tend to be much less muscular women than men. I

f anything, I'd have to say that muscular men are almost treated as the default when it comes to things like superhero comics, movies, video games, anime, etc. In a similar vein, the default for women tends to be slim and curvaceous, you get the drill. Whenever someone who doesn't fit into either body type shows up and isn't treated like a joke/gag or a character to rip on, I can't help but be happy about it. As much as I have no clue wtf is going on with TLOU2, I can appreciate that Abby's portrayal doesn't seem to exist solely as a joke meant to demean women for working out. I'm excited when an anime protagonist is a fat character who can go beyond just being a "fat guy" and is treated the same way a normal person would be.

Regardless of what you think about whatever trait you're criticizing, there's probably someone out there who fits it. If you're not into it or dislike it, then that's fine, but I'd rather have that expressed than it being actively made out as a harmful trope as opposed to just literally another body type that some women have.

Section 3: Muscular women inspire me more

Ok so, we've now blown into a full-on personal experience, buckle up boys, girls, NBs, anything in between, and I feel like I'm forgetting someone so apologies! But yeah, muscular women in media tend to be a lot more inspiring than people seem to give them credit for. This comes down to a mix of both the qualities I outlined earlier in what makes the characters inspiring but also plays into the idea of body diversity.

One of the traits that make amazons seem more inspiring is their inherent rarity/lack of screentime. As I stated earlier, whilst I do enjoy my fair share of man-titties, it kind of gets to a point where it's more depressing than inspiring when all you see is just super-models shoved in your face whenever you walk into a theater. If for every Goku I could find ten other guys who were on the chubbier side then I'd be able to take more from when I see Goku and other characters with his body type, yet it's so saturated that it no longer becomes something to aspire to, but simply the norm. It's not that you can work to become muscular or skinny with hard work and effort, you have to be muscular or skinny unless you want to be deemed a failure. Being chubby often isn't presented as a starting point but just treated as a defect. As someone who spent years battling with my own self-perception, that's just not a good message to get across.

Now, this obviously isn't to say that people can never make muscular characters. After all, it's their story so they can put whatever they want in it. The aim of the game isn't to stop people from making a specific type of character, but to encourage a diverse set of people to make a diverse set of characters. This is the reason why I view muscular women as so inspiring. Instead of coming across as just "the norm" or "the standard" they stand out from the crowd and despite knowing what they have to deal with, are still ready and willing to work out and improve their bodies. They had a goal in mind and set time aside to achieve said goal, that's something I can get behind.

Conclusion:

This will be another short section, but I just wanted to mention it because it caps off my thoughts on this post in general. What originally started as me just not getting the reason why people disliked Teela's design somehow turned into a passionate rant and I'm A) not sure if it fits on this particular subsection of the community, B) scared I'm going to get ripped to pieces, and C) somewhat unsatisfied with all that I said. At the end of the day, this probably won't be seen by too many people, but to those who do see it, I hope you have a wonderful day. I just wanted to talk about something that was near and dear to my heart and hoped that I made it clear why I view things the way I do.

P.S: Can we stop having this double standard where we act like women whose arms show the slightest hint of definition are "unrealistic" whilst men can look like tree trunks and be considered normal and healthy? please and thank you!

#rant post #character rant #please help I'm new to tumblr and a boomer when it comes to tags #tropes #trope discussion

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kookitykook · 5 years ago

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Koya’s Used Bookstore (Namjoon x Reader)

Listen this is one of my favorite things I’ve ever written.

~genre: fluff, humor, sfw

~word count: 4.8k

~warnings: liberal use of the word ‘weasel,’ reference to a fuckboy named chad

~tags: bookstore owner!joon x angry at the patriarchy!you, featuring annoying employees! vmin lmao

~summary: When you show up to Koya's Used Bookstore for the first time with red eyes, a rant about the patriarchy in hand, and a visceral reaction to Jimin's suggestion of Ernest Hemingway, the store owner, Kim Namjoon, can't help but want to know what details lie in your story ... he’s also a little afraid of you, but that’s expected.

~~~~~~~

“Hyung!”

Namjoon jumped at the sound of Jimin’s voice. He looked up from his paperwork, glasses teetering dangerously at the tip of his nose as he saw his employee looking into the office with oddly wide eyes.

“What is it?” he asked. “Did Tae spill coffee on one of the books again? I swear if that kid—”

“No, no,” Jimin said quickly, glancing quickly behind him before leaning further through the doorframe. “There’s a customer that you really need to come talk to,” he whispered.

Namjoon cocked his head to the side, straightening his glasses as he stood up. He didn’t mind talking with customers, it was actually one of his favorite parts of running his used bookstore. Jimin’s expression was filling him with worry though.

“Why? What’s the problem?” It was odd that Jimin felt compelled to come to his boss over customer service. Jimin was better with customers than him or his other employee Taehyung.

“Uh … well … she’s a bit feisty …”

“Feisty?”

“Yeah, feisty. I don’t know, I can’t put a word to it. I tried to help her but I think I ended up just making her angry.”

Namjoon laughed. “You? You made a customer angry?”

“I don’t know!” Jimin tossed his hands up in the air with exasperation, still whispering as if in fear of the customer overhearing. “She asked for a book recommendation then practically blew her top when I said Hemingway!”

“Jimin,” Namjoon sighed, running a hand through his hair and taking a deep breath. “Why do I have an inkling there’s more to the story?”

“Namjoon I swear, I—”

“Don’t worry about it, I’ll go talk to the customer. Can you point her out to me?”

Jimin hesitated, but nodded all the same and Namjoon followed him out of the office and into the bookstore proper.

Koya’s Used Books was Namjoon’s pride and joy. He had opened it up with his best friend and business partner Seokjin when they were fresh out of college. They had spent the four years of their undergrad pinching every penny they could, working multiple jobs and barely keeping their heads afloat in their classes just so this dream could become a reality. That had been three years ago, and the bookstore had absolutely flourished.

Well, it had flourished at first. Jin had always been the unreasonably beautiful face of the store with a keen eye for marketing, while Namjoon preferred to be behind the scenes focusing on the books and the paperwork. And that business plan had worked for them — perfectly.

But then Jin had to move back to his hometown when his father got sick. That had been just over a year ago, and while Namjoon didn’t blame his friend whatsoever, it was clear that Koya’s Used Books needed real help in Jin’s absence. Namjoon already had to let two employees go just to keep paying the rent on the place, leaving the store with him as manager, Jimin running cashier and stocking, and Taehyung as their only barista for the cafe in the back of the store.

And yet even though the store was on hard times, Namjoon still had love for his job. Even then, walking out to talk to an apparently disgruntled customer, he couldn’t help the swell of fondness in his chest as he smelled the books and coffee, saw a few regulars browsing the fantasy section and a university student on their laptop on one of the beanbags. Koya’s was his pride and joy.

“That’s her.”

Jimin’s whisper cut through Namjoon’s thoughts and he blinked himself back to the task at hand. Following Jimin’s pointer finger, he looked over to see what he assumed was a young woman with her back to the two of them, her shoulders hunched and hands shoved into the pocket of a gray hoodie with the hood drawn up. He could practically feel their tension from across the room.

“That’s the girl that just yelled at Jimin.”

Namjoon yelped and whirled to look at Taehyung, who was staring at the young woman while munching on a piece of banana bread, oblivious to the fact that he’d just scared Namjoon.

“How the hell do you always do that?” Namjoon mumbled under his breath, facing you again.

“She didn’t yell at me,” Jimin hissed. “She was just …”

“Plotting your death?” Taehyung suggested.

“Slightly irritated with my presence.” Jimin said pointedly. “Which I don’t understand because I am very likable.”

Namjoon could tell Jimin was genuinely perturbed by this situation. He’d yet to meet a single person that wasn’t instantly enamored with his young employee, and with good reason, considering Jimin was one of the most polite, well-mannered people he’d ever met.

Taehyung on the other hand …

“She was kind of bitchy about it,” Taehyung mumbled through a mouth full of food. “Not sure why she’s got a stick up her ass, but I’d be careful with that one, hyung.” He took another bite, crumbs littering the corners of his mouth. “If she bites your head off I’m out of a job.”

Namjoon swiped the rest of the banana bread from Taehyung’s hand, ignoring the barista’s whine as he handed off the food to Jimin, who smiled delightedly.

“You’ll be out of a job sooner than that if you keep taking food without logging it in your daily pastry allowance. You two get back to work, I’ll go talk to her.”

“Guard your balls, hyung,” Tae mumbled, which was promptly followed by Jimin smacking him in the back of the head and leading him back to the coffee bar.

Namjoon took a deep breath, drawing up his best smile and channeling his inner Seokjin as he approached you.

“Um, excuse me? Hi, my name is Namjoon, I’m the owner of …”

Namjoon trailed off as you turned to face him. You were … striking. Utterly striking, that was the only way he could describe you. Sharp features, bright eyes, and thick long hair framing your face beneath the hood of your sweatshirt.

And you also looked mad as hell. Your eyes were rimmed with red as though you’d been crying, but your tears were clearly dried up and replaced with an expression that said you were thoroughly pissed off.

Namjoon cleared his throat. “I’m the owner of the store.” He cursed himself for the crack in his voice. “Jimin said you were looking for some recommendations?”

Your cleared your throat and straightened your shoulders, meeting his gaze head on. Namjoon couldn’t help but feel overwhelmingly intimidated.

“Yes,” you said simply. “I know I could just go on Google and search for book recommendations, but quite frankly I think that’s too easy of a route.”

The corner of Namjoon’s mouth quirked up. He felt the same way, books were supposed to be about discussion, and while the internet was useful for sure, there was something beautiful about the community of book sharing and recommending. It was one of his favorite parts of running Koya’s in particular.

“Well you’re in the right place,” Namjoon said with a more genuine smile — one that was definitely not returned. “What are you looking for? A certain author? Genre? Emotion?”

“That one,” you said quickly, pointing right in Namjoon’s face. “That last one. Emotion.”

Namjoon chuckled, but his heart wasn’t really in it. “Okay. Any … particular emotion, ma’am?”

“Anger.” The answer was so blunt that Namjoon could only blink behind his thick framed glasses. “Rage. Think Hulk level pissed off.”

Namjoon swallowed, willing away the urge to pull at the collar of his shirt. “O-Okay … sure thing. Uh, if you don’t mind, who is this book for? W-What I mean to ask is, who’s angry?”

“I am.”

“Oh. Right.” Namjoon did pull at his collar then, but you were unfazed. “Got it. Um … angry at who, if I may ask?”

“The patriarchy.”

“Ah.” Namjoon’s voice had gone up an octave at that and he could practically feel himself withering under your steely gaze. Was he sweating? He felt like he was sweating. “T-The patriarchy?”

“Yepp.” You made a popping noise with your lips on the ‘p’ sound. Your eye contact was intense and Namjoon was genuinely afraid to look away. “Dudes. Men. The male gender. I am seriously pissed at you all as a whole at the moment, but quite frankly I am tiny, and even if I wasn’t tiny, the violence I want to enact would actually be detrimental to my cause. So as you can see, I don’t really have any options for catharsis presently, so I’m hoping to release my frustrations upon this stupid, inane aspect of society by reading a book that hopefully agrees with all of my current anti-men sentiments. Do you have any recommendations for that sort of thing …” You squinted at his name tag. “Namjoon?”

Namjoon couldn’t decide whether he should correct you on the pronunciation of his name or run away with his tail between his legs. You were staring him right in the eyes and he had no shame in admitting he was scared shitless.

“I take it this is the reason you weren’t too happy with Jimin recommending Hemingway?”

He didn’t think it was possible, but somehow your eyes burned with even more rage at the mere mention of the author in question.

“Ernest fucking Hemingway was incapable of portraying women as anything other than nagging, inadequate, and selfish, and that is a sick narrative that I am tired of dumb dudes getting published and I will not stand here and let yet another penis-driven specimen tell me Hemingway was a master of words — not even if he is cute and polite!”

In the back of the store, Namjoon clearly heard Taehyung say, “hey did you hear that? She thinks you’re cute!” followed by a distinct slapping sound.

You took a deep breath, your shoulders rising and falling with the movement as your eyes fluttered shut. Namjoon on the other hand couldn’t quite find his breath. He also couldn’t stop noticing how pretty your were — despite the fact that the rising blush on your cheeks was definitely from rage at his entire gender and ogling your was only going to add to the list of reasons your were mad at at the moment.

“Sorry,” you said through gritted teeth, surprising him. “I’m … a little on edge right now.”

“No shit.”

“Shut up, Tae!”

“Ouch! Stop hitting me!”

Namjoon chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his neck. “Sorry about them,” he mumbled, swallowing thickly. “And sorry about … men?” You just blinked at him. “Uh … I wish I had a female employee I could direct you to for this … n-not that I’m against having a female employee,” he said hurriedly. “I actually did have a female employee up until a few weeks ago, but I had to let her go. But not because she was a female! She was a lazy worker to be honest and — not that I think women are lazy! Women are — they’re hard working and capable and — and she was given the same pay as my male employees. Not that that makes me noble or anything, that should just be standard, you know? I mean I am a proud feminist and — wait, fuck, that’s not something I should be saying right now because then it seems like I’m—”

“Fucking hell Namjoon, stop talking!”

Namjoon flinched almost violently as Tae shouted across the shop. It was only then that he realized the other few customers were all listening and watching in amusement, as were Jimin and Taehyung, the former of which was staring with his mouth open and the latter looking at him like he was the world’s biggest idiot. An accurate assessment, honestly.

With a sigh and what he knew was probably the reddest cheeks on the planet, Namjoon finally looked back at you. He was fully expecting a hand reared back ready to slap him or cut off his dick or something along those lines.

What he didn’t expect though, was an open-mouthed dopey smile and adorably crinkled eyes.

“Oh my gosh,” you murmured. “You’re adorable. It’s like all my rage at men just flew out the window.”

“Really?”

“I mean no, I definitely still hate men and they exhaust me, but you might be an exception!”

“Baby youuuuu areeeee the only exception.”

“Tae nobody listens to Paramore anymore.”

“Fuck you!”

Namjoon laughed in exasperation, taking off his glasses to rub the bridge of his nose. When he looked back up at you, you were still smiling at him.

“You have a really pretty smile,” he found himself saying. His eyes widened a fraction of a second later. “N-Not that I think you should smile! You don’t have to smile for anyone you know, you can smile for who you want a-and when you want, you know?”

“This is painful. I’m in physical pain.”

“Hyung for crying out loud just recommend her the books and walk away!”

With a huff and a whirl, you spun on your heel to stare down Jimin and Tae on the opposite side of the shop behind the cafe counter.

“Would you two weasels shut the fuck up!”

Jimin froze, his hand shaking with the coffee halfway to his lips. Taehyung’s eyes went wide as he sunk behind the counter and out of sight without another word.

Namjoon stared with an appreciative smile on his face as you turned back to him as if nothing of importance had happened.

“Woah,” was all he could say. Eloquent, Namjoon, you truly have a way with words, he thought to himself. “Uh … thanks for that?”

“Anytime,” you remarked offhandedly, pushing her hair over her shoulder. While turning to tell off the boys, your hood had fallen back and now Namjoon could really appreciate your face.

Shit, stop appreciating her face and talk to her, you moron! he thought to himself.

“Um, so about those books,” Namjoon said after clearing his throat and toeing the floor with his shoe to look away from your stunning eyes, “I actually have a section on female empowerment and feminism — w-well I don’t have a section, the store does, but I own the store so—”

“Really?” you cut him off — and thank goodness for that. “That’s perfect. Can you show me? This is my first time here.”

“Y-Yeah of course, follow me. Or just come with me, not follow me, I guess? I mean — ah, fuck it.”

You laughed out loud at that, and it was absolutely adorable and Namjoon was absolutely screwed.

Nonetheless, you did follow his stride to the other side of the store to the ‘on female empowerment and feminism’ section — which just so happened to be right beside the coffee bar where Jimin and Taehyung still were.

“Boys,” Namjoon nodded at them, Jimin wide-eyed and gulping as he promptly looked back into his cup of coffee, and Taehyung literally still crouched behind the counter.

When Tae’s crouched form was in view, you looked over at him and cocked an eyebrow. “Where’s all that bark from earlier?” You asked. “Oh no, did you forget to guard your balls?”

Taehyung chuckled nervously, but his cheeks flamed red as you repeated the words he had said to Namjoon just before he had approached you.

“I just uh, I’ve got to go check on the … the pastries,” he murmured, standing up from his crouch and all but running to the back room.

When it was only Jimin at the counter, he looked over at you and Namjoon and blinked rapidly.

“I should go help him!” And with that, the two boys had scattered.

You chuckled. “Didn’t mean to scare them so bad.” Namjoon looked down at you with a cocked eyebrow. “Okay, maybe I did. Sorry about that, they seem like nice kids. Still stupid boys of course, but nice. Like I said … rough day.”

Namjoon swallowed, gathering his courage to lean his shoulder against the shelf and face tyou head on. “If you don’t mind me asking … what exactly spurred on this extra hatred for the patriarchy today? No judgment, just …”

“For the book recommendation?” you asked, her lips turned upwards slightly in a way that he knew you were teasing. He found himself smiling back.

“Yes. For the recommendation.”

You took a deep breath, focusing on the worn out book spines in front of you, trailing a finger over Virginia Woolf’s name.

“I quit my job today,” you said suddenly. It was as if a weight fell off of your shoulders just at the admission. “I’ve been gearing for a promotion for the past year and a half, I’m insanely qualified for it and honestly a shoo-in for the position. And I’m not just saying that, it’s one-hundred percent true. So when my boss called me in for a special meeting this morning, I’m ready to go, right? All my hard work is finally going to be paid off, I’m going to get the position I’ve been heading towards since I started there. But then …”

You let out a deep breath, laughing humorlessly as you looked down at you shoes. “But then he told me that I was in fact not getting the promotion, but my coworker Chad was. Fucking Chad. The frat boy from hell itself that had been working there for barely even three months and still couldn’t even fill out expense reports for crying out loud! He got the promotion I rightfully deserved because apparently the position requires ‘being able to exude a certain level of authority that the fairer sex simply can’t produce in the necessary fashion.’”

Namjoon sucked in a sharp breath. You looked up at him with wide eyes. “Right?” You shouted in exasperation. “Can you believe that? He literally called me the fairer sex! Like buddy, that’s not a fucking compliment. I don’t how you get off to talking down to me when if it wasn’t for me, your firm would’ve already gone down the drain. Gah, the nerve! I tried to keep my cool, but it was like all of this repressed anger just came surging up and I flipped my lid. I mean I really flew off the handle, I completely lost it. They almost had to call security, all of my coworkers saw it go down, it was … mortifying, but I was so pissed off I didn’t care. I finally yelled out that I quit and stormed out. I started to go to the gym to punch something, but that was definitely only going to make me more angry, and my mom used to say that reading a book always helped with whatever you were feeling so … I saw your place while driving and now I’m here. A crazy, angry lady scaring off you and your employees.”

You trailed off, staring holes into the bookshelf before you. Namjoon didn’t know what to say — he didn’t know what he should say. He wasn’t good with comforting, he didn’t know how to say the right words in the right way to make you feel better.

But he did know books.

“Fed Up.”

You looked up at him. “Pardon?”

“Fed Up,” he repeated, reaching over and pulling the book in question off the shelf. “Fed Up by Gemma Hartley. It’s her first book, and it just came out last November. Really good though.”

He handed the book to you, who accepted it with surprise. “Oh. Th-Thanks.”

“Rage Becomes Her, by Soraya Chemaly — not sure I’m pronouncing that name right, to be honest, and I haven’t read it, but the reviews have been good. The Power, by Naomi Alderman, it’s fiction, and if you like The Handmaid’s Tale you’ll love that one. Oh! Sister Outsider, by Audre Lorde. The essays cover a whole bunch of topics, so it’s super well-rounded.”

With each recommendation, Namjoon handed you the book in question, and soon you had a stack of four in your hands, looking up at him in shock and surprise. The pleasant kind of surprise, he noticed. He hoped.

“And of course,” he continued, reaching over your head (your really were tiny, like you had said earlier in your rant), “you can’t leave here without A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf. I won’t allow it.”

You grinned, absolutely delighted with this turn of events. “Oh you won’t allow it?” you smarted back. “Will you use your big scary man powers and keep me here?”

“No, but I might send Jimin over here to tell you how much he loves Hemingway.”

“Namjoon!” Jimin shrieked from the back room, clearly listening to the conversation.

You burst into laughter, throwing your head back as the sound filled the shop. Namjoon’s cheeks hurt from smiling so much.

“I know you know this, but I feel like I have to say this,” Namjoon said as you tamped down on her laughter. “Your old boss was a cowardly dickwad. And fucking Chad is going to suck at that job, and probably get fired or quit, and then go running back to his old money family and never have any real dreams or passion because at heart he’s a fucking loser. You exude a shit ton of authority and they were idiots not to promote you.”

You sucked in a sharp breath, letting it out slowly with a small, shy smile as you looked down at the books in your hands. Your duality was going to send Namjoon to the grave.

“Namjoon,” you said, finally looking back up at him.

“I … yes, that’s my name,” he said in confusion.

You laughed, shaking your head. “I mispronounced it earlier when I read your name tag. Your weasly employees have said your name a couple times now and I realized I said it wrong. Sorry about that.”

Namjoon only laughed. “It’s fine. You’d be surprised how often that happens.”

“Seriously though, Namjoon … thanks. I was a real bitch before and that was all really nice of you to say. I appreciate it.”

Namjoon’s chest tightened at your words. “You’re welcome. And I meant every word of it. Fuck Chad.”

“Fuck Chad,” you affirmed with a nod.

“Yeah fuck Chad!” Taehyung’s voice echoed from the back room. “Actually don’t fuck Chad, he seems like a real douchebag. Or do fuck him if you want. Your body is your body and you can fuck whoever you want and — ouch! Stop hitting me! I’m being nice now, what the hell?!”

You laughed yet again at that while Namjoon sighed in exasperation.

“I’m so sorry,” he said suddenly. “I haven’t even asked your name.”

“Don’t worry about it,” you chuckled, shifting the books in you arms. “I’m Y/N.”

“Y/N,” Namjoon repeated, smiling to himself. “I’m sorry such a bad day brought you here, but … quite frankly this has been the most entertaining thing to happen at Koya’s for a while.”

“That’s the truth.”

“Shut up!” Namjoon yelled over his shoulder before turning back to you with a sheepish smile.

“Business been a little slow lately?” At the question, Namjoon’s cheeks flushed bright red. “I didn’t mean that as an insult! I just … I remember hearing a lot about this place a couple years ago when it opened, in the papers and stuff. And with what your employee just said and earlier you mentioned you had to let some other workers go and—”

“No, no, it’s fine,” Namjoon reassured you, chuckling and scratching the back of his head — you were beginning to notice that he did that when he was nervous. “Yeah, things have been slow. My business partner had to leave about a year ago and Koya’s has been … on a bit of a decline since then.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.”

Namjoon waved you off. “It’s fine, this stuff happens in business. We’ll get through it. Hey are you satisfied with those book choices? Did you want to look around some more or…?”

“No these are great!” You assured him, smiling widely. How on earth had you been so rude to this guy earlier?

“Okay great, I can check you out over at the cash register.”

“Yeah you can, Joonie — hey, ouch!”

Tell-tale sounds of a scuffle broke out in the back room.

“Uh, should you check that out?” You asked as a loud metal clanging and a few more choice curse words rang out.

Namjoon pondered on it for about two seconds. “No, they’re fine. Come with me.”

Walking to the cash register, you took a closer look at the bookshop. When you first came in you were still simmering with rage over stupid fucking Chad so you hadn’t looked at the place proper.

It was cute, albeit small, in an old building that you were sure had seen better days. It looked like there was an upstairs, but it was closed off. The decorations were pretty sparse (okay there weren’t really any decorations, at least not very good ones), and quite frankly the piano instrumental playlist over the speakers was boring as hell — even for a bookstore.

“She’s not much,” Namjoon commented, watching your gaze. “But this place is my pride and joy.”

“It’s great,” you admitted. And it was, even if your overly critical eye was looking at areas that could use improvement. “Really. And you didn’t even kick out the psycho woman who came in shouting about the patriarchy. You actually managed to calm me down and honestly that’s a feat in and of itself.”

Namjoon laughed at that, looking up at your from underneath his long eyelashes with a dopey grin. Damn he was adorable.

“My business partner Seokjin, the one who left a year ago, he would have handled it better than me. He was always better with customers.”

“I don’t know,” you shrugged, leaning over the counter and grinning up at him, “I think you did pretty good, Namjoon.”

It gave you quite the ego boost to see the shy smile and the heat in Namjoon’s cheeks at your words. Doesn’t exude authority my ass, you thought to yourself.

“Seokjin he was uh, he—” Namjoon cleared his throat, working to focus on his task at hand as you flirted. You decided to show him mercy and stand back up to your full height, leaning away from the counter. “He was great at customer service and the marketing side of everything. Don’t get me wrong, I like working with customers, but honestly I … I’m here for the books more than the people sometimes. I think that’s one of the reasons business has declined since he left.”

You were quiet at that, and Namjoon looked up to see you staring at a spot on the counter in what appeared to be deep thought. He cleared his throat and finished bagging your books, reading off the total. Honestly he didn’t want to charge you for the books because of the crap day you’d had, but he also needed to pay Jimin and Taehyung that month.

“Oh, right,” you said, pulling your phone out of your pocket and opening up Apple pay. As the transaction processed, you suddenly took a deep breath and looked up at Namjoon. “Did I happen to mention what kind of a company I was working for before I, you know, became a public nuisance and flipped a table in rage before quitting my job?”

“You flipped a table?” Namjoon asked incredulously.

“Not important,” you said with a wave of your hand. “But really, did I mention where I worked?”

“No, no you didn’t.”

You smiled, wide and unrestrained and Namjoon felt like you had punched him in the gut.

“I worked for Atlas Marketing.” At the name of one of the biggest companies in the city, Namjoon’s eyes almost bugged out. “As of yesterday I was the youngest and most promising marketer in our branch. But as of today,” you dragged out the word and smiled even bigger, “I am currently unemployed, with plenty of money in my savings account to work for a few months on a meager salary, and ready to start a new project … if you get what I’m saying.”

Namjoon stared at you slack-jawed. Your old boss actually had the nerve to say that you didn’t exude authority? He’d known your for maybe fifteen minutes and you’d exuded more confidence and authority than anyone he’d ever met.

And he wasn’t ashamed to say he liked it.

He really liked it.

He also was fully aware that you were exactly what Koya’s Used Books needed.

“Y/N,” he said, “how would you like a job?”

“Sweet, we’ve got a pretty girl working with us now.”

“Tae, you can’t just say things like that!”

“What! I’m showing equaility! Isn’t that what — ouch!”

#bts fanfiction #namjoon x reader #namjoon x you #namjoon scenario #vmin #my writing

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lordgeebsdom · 5 years ago

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2019, a year in review: Superlative Edition

-Gareth Bill

Athlete of the year: Lamar Jackson - QB Baltimore Ravens. HM: Kawhi Leonard - SF Toronto/LA

Lamar Jackson came out of nowhere to light the league on fire in 2019 breaking Michael Vick’s all-time record for rushing yards by a Quarterback and redefining the position in the process. From his five touchdown performance in Miami to being the assumed MVP, there wasn’t a week where Lamar Jackson didn’t dominate headlines and he continues to show superiority as Baltimore has secured the Number 1 seed in the AFC. Honorable mention goes to Kawhi Leonard for producing the first ever buzzer beater in a game 7 in NBA history and for also bringing Canada their first NBA title. Even against a Kevin Durant-less Golden State Warriors team, Leonard stepped up and delivered when it counted most.

Song of the year: Lost Lately- San Holo. HM: Daemon Veil - EPROM & G Jones

Sander van Dijck, better known by his stage name “San Holo” surprised us with “Lost Lately” in June of this year. A melancholic and melodic ballad of discovery and feeling “lost in aftermath of a breakup” spoke to feelings of insecurity and extends a friendly hand to those in need. From an endearing marketing campaign featuring “lost” posters where fans could call a “helpline” to hear an exclusive sample of the song, to a music video taken straight from EDC: Bitbird executed an almost perfect build and drop for “Lost Lately.” Great followup work to last years “Album1” and I definitely am excited about his future projects for 2020. Honorable mention goes to the IDM monster “Daemon Veil” by EPROM and G Jones. Plain and simple, I loved this ear worm. There’s so much going on from the initial baseline drop to the stuttering minefield of drops and turns that follows before a calming conclusion. Every time I hear this track, I see it too: the flying snares, the zips, zooms and wubs, the story it tells me….its captivating and satisfying. While it isn’t as friendly for casual listening like my 2018 song of the year “Time” (also by G Jones), Daemon Veil is an IDM banger that I’ll continue to blast well into 2020 and beyond.

Album of the year: Good Faith- Madeon. HM: Hollywood’s Bleeding - Post Malone

This was a tough call for me, there was a lot of great albums that came to us in 2019 but Madeon’s “Good Faith” stands tall above the rest. From the initial singles of “All My Friends,” and “Dream, Dream, Dream,” to the unexpected bangers of “Miracle,” and “No Fear, No More,”: “Good Faith” makes a solid argument not just for album of the year but possibly even for the decade and I simply cannot recommend it enough. Honorable Mention goes to “Hollywood’s Bleeding” by Post Malone. Like many, I have thoroughly enjoyed the evolution of Post Malone from SoundCloud sensation to certified super-star, and “Hollywood’s Bleeding” continues to show us that this artist is just getting started. I loved “Goodbyes,” “Circles,” “Sunflower,” and many other tracks on that album, and I’m confident many others did as well. Rapper, Rockstar, Soul-singer and bro: best of luck in 2020 and beyond Post, we’re all eagerly watching.

Movie of the year: Its a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. HM: Avengers: Endgame

Easily the most contested category of the year and the hardest decision made in these superlatives. 2019 produced some awesome films but Tom Hanks’s take on Fred Rogers gave me chills that I hadn’t felt since seeing Christopher Reeve’s Superman as a child. Like Superman, his presence among adults and children alike would universally cause awe and calm, almost god-like tranquility through security. In a year that was defined by division, unrest, cruelty, and anger: Fred Rogers reminds us that there’s still a great deal of hope for humanity, and it all starts with being a good neighbor. Young, old and everyone in between can learn something from this deeply affecting story about humanity and connection. Honorable mention goes to Avengers: Endgame for managing to be the only major franchise ending this year (Game of Thrones, Avengers, Star Wars) that managed to do it with a consensus BANG! It was a 3 hour film that somehow felt like an hour and half, and when Captain America held Mjornir with every Avenger ever at his back and said “Avengers, Assemble!”, I couldn’t help but fist pump with a grin from ear to ear. Tony Stark’s dying words of “I am Iron-Man,” gave me goosebumps and Black Widow’s death made me feel genuine loss: The Marvel Cinematic Universe managed to execute a singular plan and vision over 23 films and that is truly exceptional.

Actor/Actress of the year: Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur/Joker. HM: Florence Pugh - Midsommar

Joaquin Phoenix’s long anticipated and controversial performance as Joker was the best singular work I saw this year. Authentic, gut-wrenching, thought-provoking, and anything but boring: Joker gave us the next step in comic book cinema and a new cultural icon in the process. Arthur Fleck is a poster child for mental illness, something that currently is at the forefront of our society and gave the general public a poster child for such conditions. Phoenix’s Joker will one day be recognized in the same light as we currently see Che: an underdog figure of resistance and revolution standing against a seemingly unstoppable status quo and inspiring the unseen masses in the process. Honorable mention has to go to one of my new favorites in Florence Pugh and her performance as Dani in “Midsommar”. Her pain, confusion, and ultimate triumph that unravels throughout a trip to a small village in Europe during their mid-summer festival is the stuff of “slow-burn horror” wet-dreams. There’s a scene early on where her character has to convey immense grief after suffering a personal tragedy and I can still hear that crying in the most haunting way. Pugh’s performance stuck with me in a year full of great ones, and I’m very excited to see her future work including “Black Widow” in May.

Television show of the year: Watchmen- HBO. HM: Good Omens - Amazon Prime

Watchmen blew my mind, and I the less I say about it, the better. A continuation of the story told in my favorite book of all-time, “Watchmen” managed to tie together many loose plot threads from that story while also moving the universe forward in new and exciting ways that matched the tone of the graphic novel. Regina King’s “Sister Night” was a complex, likable, and tragic protagonist uniquely qualified to walk us through this new chapter, and without spoiling things anymore than I already may have: YOU NEED TO WATCH THIS. Honorable Mention goes to Good Omens on Amazon Prime. To any familiar with the story or Neil Gaiman’s work in general, you know what to expect: deep stories, complex and likable characters, and witty dialogue that will make you pause and think or laugh feverishly in equal measure. Its only 5 episodes, so there’s really no excuse to not dive into this one and see how the world ends…..or rather was supposed to…

Game of the year: Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice - PS4/XboxOne/PC. HM: Apex Legends - PS4/PC/XboxOne

From Softwares’ “Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice” stands tall in a year that finally saw long awaited projects like Obsidian’s “Outer Worlds” and Kojima’s “Death Stranding” get long-awaited releases. An exciting and more stealthy evolution of the Dark Souls combat system made me feel like a real Ninja for the first time since Ninja Gaiden Black on my original Xbox. The demanding, but fair gameplay combined with a variation of environments including haunted Japanese forests, Sengoku Temples, Palaces and gory battlefields came together to give the most complete package I played in 2019. Just don’t be too surprised if the final boss gives you problems because that f***er can almost made me break a controller. Honorable mention goes to the game that managed to dethrone “Fortnite” as the most popular game for like a whole two months. Respawn entertainment developed the awesome Titanfall series that I personally enjoyed and rumors had been circulating for quite awhile that they were looking to expand Titanfall into the booming genre of BR or Battle Royale. Apex Legends is the answer to those prayers and still continues to push out new skins, content and weapons at a regular rate. Did I mention it is also completely free to play?

Story of the year: President Trump becomes the third President to ever be impeached 12/19

HM: Henry Nobrega wins the fucking BVN Football Fantasy Football title. 11/19

To be perfectly honest, this is the first category that really could have gone either way for me. President Trump becoming the third President in US history to be impeached for abuse of power and obstruction of congress was massive; regardless of how you feel about President Orangutan. His tenure as President has produced a number of newsworthy moments but this story stood out among the others for sheer importance and international embarrassment. Speaking of embarrassment, that’s essentially what my good friend Henry’s fantasy football team has managed to be every year that I’ve played with him. A perennial basement dweller that typically auto drafts due to some BS excuse, and a resident near the bottom of our power rankings but this year he flipped that script on its head. He managed to draft my Athlete of the year, Lamar Jackson, and the last great white running back in Christian McCaffrey. Not only did Henry surpass his preseason ranking of bottom, he managed to win both regular season and postseason titles and beat a solid team by Graham Heck in the process. I got love for you bro, but I’m still perplexed on how your season managed to be as dominant as it was. Sorry Greta Thunberg, but these stories had my jaw on the floor, maybe next year lil’ Queen.

Meme of the year: Baby Yoda of the Disney+ show “The Mandolorian”

Was there every really a doubt here? Baby Yoda or “The Child” as he’s known on the show is the biggest pop culture icon born on the internet in 2019. The gap between Baby Yoda and what I considered to be an honorable mention was so wide that he will officially stand alone in this category. Baby Yoda’s cuteness managed to melt even my stone cold heart this year and that is absolutely an achievement. What made this creature so endearing was the universal applicability though music, sports, culture, and food: Baby Yoda was everywhere and the internet found common ground and shared meaning through sharing little graphics everywhere prominently featuring him as the centerpiece. Well played Jon Favreau, we love this little guy and everyone thanks you for creating him.

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aamilkeeyankhan · 7 years ago

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STORY STRUCTURE: The 5 Key Turning Points of All Successful Screenplays

Hollywood movies are simple.

Though writing a successful Hollywood movie is certainly not easy, the stories for mainstream Hollywood films are all built on only three basic components: character, desire and conflict.

Film stories portray heroes who face seemingly insurmountable obstacles as they pursue compelling objectives. Whether it’s Clarice Starling trying to stop Hannibal, Captain Miller Saving Private Ryan, or Billy Elliott trying to gain admission to a ballet school, all these protagonists confront overwhelming conflict in their pursuit of some visible goal.

Plot structure simply determines the sequence of events that lead the hero toward this objective. And here’s the good news: whether you’re writing romantic comedies, suspense thrillers, historical dramas or big budget science fiction, all successful Hollywood movies follow the same basic structure.

Even if you are a novelist, speaker, marketer or attorney, understanding these turning points, and incorporating them into your stories, will strengthen your ability to enthrall your reader or audience.

In a properly structured movie, the story consists of six basic stages, which are defined by five key turning points in the plot. Not only are these turning points always the same; they always occupy the same positions in the story. So what happens at the 25% point of a 90-minute comedy will be identical to what happens at the same percentage of a three-hour epic. (These percentages apply both to the running time of the film and the pages of your screenplay.)

In the explanation that follows, I want to take two recent blockbusters through this entire structural process: Susannah Grant’s screenplay for Erin Brockovich; and Gladiator, written by David H. Franzoni, John Logan and William Nicholson. As different as these two films are in style, genre, length and subject matter, both have made more than a hundred million dollars at the box office, both were among the most critically acclaimed films of 2000, and both employ the same basic plot structure.

STAGE I: The Setup

Erin Brockovich: Erin is a broke, unemployed single mother who can’t find a job, gets hit by a car, and loses her lawsuit.

Gladiator: Maximus, Rome’s most powerful, and most popular, general, leads his troops to victory in their final battle.

The opening 10% of your screenplay must draw the reader, and the audience, into the initial setting of the story, must reveal the everyday life your hero has been living, and must establish identification with your hero by making her sympathetic, threatened, likable, funny and/or powerful.

Cast Away transports us into the world of a FedEx executive, shows him as likable and good at his job, and creates sympathy and worry when he must leave the woman he loves at Christmas to fly off in dangerous weather. Or think of Lowell Bergman’s mysterious, threatening pursuit of a story at the beginning of The Insider. These setups pull us out of our own existence and into the captivating world the screenwriter has created.

TURNING POINT #1: The Opportunity (10%)

Erin Brockovich: Erin forces Ed Masry to give her a job.  

Gladiator: Maximus is offered a reward by Emperor Marcus Aurelius, and he says he wants to go home.

Ten percent of the way into your screenplay, your hero must be presented with an opportunity, which will create a new, visible desire, and will start the character on her journey. This is the point where Neo is taken to meet Morpheus and wants to learn about The Matrix, or where Ike gets fired and wants to go meet the Runaway Bride.

Notice that the desire created by the opportunity is not the specific goal that defines your story concept, but rather a desire to move into…

STAGE 2: The New Situation

Erin Brockovich: Erin begins working for Ed Masry’s law firm, meets her neighbor George, and starts investigating a case in Hinkley, California, but then gets fired

Gladiator: Maximus is asked by the dying Emperor to take control of Rome and give it back to the people, in spite of the ambition of his son Commodus.

For the next 15% of the story, your hero will react to the new situation that resulted from the opportunity. He gets acclimated to the new surroundings, tries to figure out what’s going on, or formulates a specific plan for accomplishing his overall goal: Fletcher has to figure out that he’s been cursed to tell the truth in Liar, Liar; and Mrs. Doubtfire devises a plan for seeing (his) children.

Very often story structure follows geography, as the opportunity takes your hero to a new location: boarding the cruise ships in Titanic and The Talented Mr. Ripley; going to Cincinnati to bury his father in Rain Man; the President taking off on Air Force One.

In most movies, the hero enters this new situation willingly, often with a feeling of excitement and anticipation, or at least believing that the new problem he faces can be easily solved. But as the conflict starts to build, he begins to realize he’s up against far greater obstacles than he realized, until finally he comes to…

TURNING POINT #2: The Change of Plans (25%)

Erin Brockovich: Erin gets rehired to help win a suit against PG&E.

Gladiator: Maximus, after learning that Commodus has murdered his father, vows to stop the new emperor and carry out Marcus Aurelius’ wishes.

Something must happen to your hero one-fourth of the way through your screenplay that will transform the original desire into a specific, visible goal with a clearly defined end point. This is the scene where your story concept is defined, and your hero’s outer motivation is revealed.

Outer motivation is my term for the visible finish line the audience is rooting for your hero to achieve by the end of the film. It is here that Tess discovers that Katherine has stolen her idea in Working Girl, and now wants to close the deal herself by posing as a broker. This is what we’re rooting for Tess to do, and we know that when she’s accomplished this goal (or failed to), the movie will be over.

Please don’t confuse outer motivation with the inner journey your hero takes. Because much of what we respond to emotionally grows out of the hero’s longings, wounds, fears, courage and growth, we often focus on these elements as we develop our stories. But these invisible character components can emerge effectively only if they grow out of a simple, visible desire.

STAGE III: Progress

Erin Brockovich: Erin gets some Hinkley residents to hire Ed to represent them, and gets romantically involved with George.

Gladiator: Maximus is taken to be killed, escapes to find his family murdered, and is captured and sold to Proximo, who makes him a powerful gladiator.

For the next 25% of your story, your hero’s plan seems to be working as he takes action to achieve his goal: Ethan Hunt begins closing in on the villain in Mission: Impossible 2; Pat gets involved with the woman of his dreams in There’s Something About Mary.

This is not to say that this stage is without conflict. But whatever obstacles your hero faces, he is able to avoid or overcome them as he approaches…

TURNING POINT #3: The Point of No Return (50%)

Erin Brockovich: Erin and Ed file the lawsuit, risking dismissal by the judge, which would destroy any hope of a settlement.

Gladiator: Maximus arrives in Rome, determined to win the crowd as a Gladiator so he can destroy Commodus.

At the exact midpoint of your screenplay, your hero must fully commit to her goal. Up to this point, she had the option of turning back, giving up on her plan, and returning to the life she was living at the beginning of the film. But now your hero must burn her bridges behind her and put both feet in. (And never let it be said that I can’t work two hackneyed metaphors into the same sentence).

It is at precisely this moment that Truman crosses the bridge in The Truman Show, and that Rose makes love with Jack in Titanic. They are taking a much bigger risk than at any previous time in these films. And as a result of passing this point of no return, they must now face…

STAGE IV: Complications and Higher Stakes

Erin Brockovich: Erin sees less of George and her kids, while Ed brings in a big firm that alienates the Hinkley plaintiffs.

Gladiator: Maximus becomes a hero to the Roman people and reveals his true identity to Commodus.

For the next 25% of your story, achieving the visible goal becomes far more difficult, and your hero has much more to lose if he fails. After Mitch McDeere begins collecting evidence against The Firm at that movie’s midpoint, he now must hide what he’s doing from both the mob and the FBI (complications), and failure will result in either prison or death (higher stakes).

This conflict continues to build until, just as it seems that success is within your hero’s grasp, he suffers…

TURNING POINT #4: The Major Setback (75%)

Erin Brockovich: Most of the plaintiffs withdraw due to the bungled efforts of the new lawyers, and George leaves Erin.

Gladiator: Maximus refuses to help the leader of the Senate, and Commodus plots to destroy both Maximus and the Senate.

Around page 90 of your screenplay, something must happen to your hero that makes it seem to the audience that all is lost: Carol dumps Melvin in As Good As It Gets; Morpheus is captured in The Matrix. If you’re writing a romantic comedy like Working Girl or What Women Want, this is the point where your hero’s deception is revealed and the lovers break up.

These disastrous events leave your hero with only one option: he must make one, last, all-or-nothing, do-or-die effort as he enters…

STAGE V: The Final Push

Erin Brockovich: Erin must rally the Hinkley families to agree to binding arbitration, and find evidence incriminating the PG&E corporate office.

Gladiator: Maximus conspires to escape from Proximo and lead his former troops against Commodus.

Beaten and battered, your hero must now risk everything she has, and give every ounce of strength and courage she possesses, to achieve her ultimate goal: Thelma & Louise must outrun the FBI to reach the border; and the Kennedy’s must attempt one final negotiation with the Soviets in 13 Days.

During this stage of your script, the conflict is overwhelming, the pace has accelerated, and everything works against your hero, until she reaches…

TURNING POINT #5: The Climax (90-99%)

Erin Brockovich: Erin and Ed win a $330 million dollar settlement, and George returns.

Gladiator: Maximus has his final battle with Commodus in the arena.

Several things must occur at the climax of the film: the hero must face the biggest obstacle of the entire story; she must determine her own fate; and the outer motivation must be resolved once and for all. This is the big moment where our heroes go into the Twister and the Jewish factory workers make their escape in Schindler’s List.

Notice that the climax can occur anywhere from the 90% point to the last couple minutes of the movie. The exact placement will be determined by the amount of time you need for…

STAGE VI: The Aftermath

Erin Brockovich: Erin gets a $2 million bonus, and continues working with Ed.

Gladiator: Maximus is united with his family in death, and his body carried away in honor by the new leaders of the Roman republic.

No movie ends precisely with the resolution of the hero’s objective. You have to reveal the new life your hero is living now that he’s completed his journey.

In movies like Rocky, Thelma & Louise and The Truman Show, there is little to show or explain, and the writer’s goal is to leave the audience stunned or elated. So the climax occurs near the very end of the film. But in most romantic comedies, mysteries and dramas, the aftermath will include the final five or ten pages of the script.

Understanding these stages and turning points provides you with a powerful tool for developing and writing your screenplay. Is your story concept defined at the one-quarter mark? Is your hero’s goal truly visible, with a clearly implied outcome and not just an inner desire for success, acceptance or self worth? Have you fully introduced your hero before presenting her with an opportunity around page 10? Does she suffer a major setback 75% of the way into your script?

But a word of caution: don’t let all these percentages block your creativity. Structure is an effective template for rewriting and strengthening the emotional impact of your story. But you don’t want to be imprisoned by it. Come up with characters you love and a story that ignites your passion. Then apply these structural principles, to ensure that your screenplay will powerfully touch the widest possible audience.

#writing #michael hauge #scriptwriting

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i-just-like-commenting · 8 years ago

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Star Wars rewatch,part 1: Episode IV, A New Hope

I’d planned to write this last week, but life got busy, so instead it’s my last little May the Fourth celebration! I’m also updating my project from my initial plan; I’ve heard the animated series The Clone Wars praised so much as connective tissue between episodes II and III that I’m going to try to watch as much of it as keeps my interest (it’s available on Netflix). My schedule is thus now:

IV (May) V (May) II (June) Clone Wars (June-September) III (October) VI (October) VII (November)

General Impressions, or the Movie on Its Own

Well, Star Wars: A New Hope holds up pretty well after all these years. I was first exposed to the franchise through Muppet Babies (no, really) and I can’t remember how old I was exactly when I saw all the movies; maybe 7 or 8? It’s an engaging and exciting adventure story with likable characters and a lot of world-building that manages to be immersive without being overwhelming.

That said, the technology hasn’t aged well – by which I mean the depiction of computers, not the special effects. They have big keys spaced far apart, with tiny screens. Oh, and at some point in the future we decided the best way to transmit files was manually? And copying files erases them? I suppose perhaps they were being jammed for the former, and trying to keep up the flimsy pretense of being neutral for the latter. Still, it’s all very seventies in terms of its computer technology.

There’s also no way this movie would be rated PG today, not with the charred corpses of Owen and Beru, or that severed arm in a pool of blood in the cantina.

The Special Edition Stuff

I definitely remember seeing the Special Editions when they came out in 1997 (I was 13 at the time). Seeing the films on the big screen, especially that opening as the Star Destroyer first appears, was amazing. But even then, I knew there were changes that did not work.

Twenty years later, it’s easy to see how much Lucas overestimated the quality of CGI at the time. Machines and things left blurry in the background tend to look pretty good, but living organisms, especially if they are close to the camera, do not blend well with the background at all and look horribly out of place. Comparing it to, say, Maz Kanata in Force Awakens and you can see how technology has come a long way. Besides, a lot of the additions are completely unnecessary. A few droids floating around with the Stormtroopers? A few aliens in the background? They work. But having things walk between the characters and the camera is disorienting and serves no purpose. Mos Eisley doesn’t look bustling, it looks like they set the shot up poorly.

Nothing is worse than the Jabba the Hutt scene, which left the audience I was back then completely cold. It is truly terrible, and you can tell that Jabba wasn’t initially supposed to look like what he did. (Side note: has anyone confirmed if the design of Hutts was completely ripped off from the Regul? Because I think they were.) It breaks up the flow of Luke and Ben’s transition to the Falcon, and having Han make a deal with Jabba rather than being on the run after murdering one of his minions (“We’re a little rushed”) meshes better with him being on bounty hunters’ hit lists in the sequel.

That said, I do like Biggs having a short scene with Luke to give a little more impact to his death, though I wish there was even more.

Continuity, Part 1: Relation to the Original Trilogy

I know Lucas made a lot of changes as the trilogy went on, but I can easily believe that he had two things planned from the start. The first is that Han and Leia were going to end up together. While Luke has an obvious crush on Leia, and she’s fond of him, the banter between her and Han is more typical “romantic interest” writing. It’s also obvious that, for all of their hostility (he resents her class status, she resents his feigned mercenary attitude) they take a liking to each other pretty quickly. Han’s “Either I'm going to kill her or I'm beginning to like her” is absolutely real, as is Leia’s admiration of his courage (as he leads what could be a suicide charge, something he mocked Luke for earlier). Given that she isn’t as despondent over Han leaving as Luke is, and her remark that ��I knew there was more to you than money,” it’s safe to say that her “I wonder if he really cares about anything. Or anybody,” was more an attempt at goading him into action than sincere dismissal of his character. Plus that wink. 😘

I played a little game of adding “married in the future” to a lot of their snarky lines, including Han telling Leia to “Get on top of it!” in the garbage chute. It made me giggle. I am so immature.

The other plot development that complements this film nicely is Darth Vader being Luke’s father. Alec Guinness’ acting, the way he won’t meet Luke’s eyes, gives a strong impression that he’s hiding details from him – which it turns out he was. And of course the conversation between Beru and Owen becomes all that more sinister in retrospect:

Aunt Beru: Luke's just not a farmer, Owen. He has too much of his father in him. Uncle Owen: That's what I'm afraid of.

The first time through, Owen comes across as simply a worrywart, concerned that Luke will die the way his father did if he ever sets foot off the farm. But if he knew that Anakin Skywalker had gone to the Dark Side, was one of the worst villains the galaxy, well yeah, he’d be very afraid that Luke resembled his father and want to shelter him from any chance of learning of the Force.

Continuity, Part 2: Relation to the Prequel Trilogy

That said, the relationship between Owen, Beru, Anakin, and Obi-Wan would make a lot more sense if Owen wasn’t Anakin’s step-sibling who he met only once. The convoluted connection between Luke and his aunt and uncle in the prequel undercuts everything in this film. How can Beru be an expert on Anakin’s character? Why is Owen resentful of Obi-Wan taking Anakin away if he only met him long after he became a Jedi?

If I’d been writing the prequels, I’d have made Beru be Anakin’s decade-older sister (allowing them to preserve his miraculous birth if they really wanted to go that way) and Owen her boyfriend who wants to buy her freedom and treats Ani like his little brother. Beru would be close to Anakin and Owen would have been around when Anakin left. It would raise the emotional stakes of them losing Anakin to the Dark Side a lot, too. Though maybe this is something Clone Wars tried to fix? I guess I’ll see.

After rewatching this film, I do actually buy that R2D2 secretly knew everything that was going on, while C3PO had his memory wiped. There are gaps in C3PO’s memories (he’s been in “several” battles, “I think”) and R2 obviously knows who Ben is, and again there’s a bit of an exchange between them like Obi-Wan suspects something is up.

There is one thing that the prequels do explain – why is Vader so hesitant when fighting Ben if he’s such a powerful Jedi? Well, he knows how it ended last time (with him having severed limbs at the edge of a pool of lava) and he’s being cautious.

Continuity, Part 3: Relation to the New Films

“If the Rebels have obtained a complete technical reading of this station, it is possible, however unlikely, they might find a weakness and exploit it.” And thus an entire movie was born. I don’t think I needed to have this “plot hole” filled in, but it worked out into a pretty good story, even if I desperately wanted more time to get to know the characters (who are pretty flat).

Obviously there are parallels between A New Hope and The Force Awakens, though not as much as people like to claim. TFA borrows from all the original films, and it’s impossible to draw direct parallels between the characters. Sure, Rey is an obvious fill-in for Luke, and Kylo Ren for Darth Vader, but Vader never captured and tortured Luke; they don’t even meet in this movie, which was probably according to Ben’s plan, separating himself from the group and luring Vader away from encountering his son. Beyond that, parallels start to break down. Person who sends off plans and gets caught by the villains? Leia and Poe. Only Leia wasn’t the one to destroy the Death Star…Duo who wind up stumbling on to the hero after being separated wandering in the desert? R2D2/C3PO and BB8/Finn, but C3PO didn’t defect from the enemy forces and free Leia at the start of the film, nor was he Luke’s love interest. Han is Han I suppose and Leia is General Dordana, and maybe Maz is Ben…? There’s a lot more originality to TFA than people want to give it credit for.

Conclusion: Bring on the Droid Revolution

DROIDS ARE SLAVES. That was the big gut-punch of watching it this time around. Like, how did I not see how horribly mistreated they are? They’re sold on market, wear restraining bolts, can have their memories wiped at their owner’s whim, or even “deactivated,” a fate C3PO clearly fears as much as a human would death. The cantina owner is bigoted against them, declaring that “We don’t serve their kind” and throwing them out of his establishment. Even C3PO’s attitude reflects a life of slavery: “We seem to be made to suffer, it’s our lot in life.”

Everything about droids is coded for them being an oppressed underclass, yet this has never come up in the films, ever. Are we supposed to be cool with it because they’re machines? They’re obviously sentient, though, and meant to be sympathetic. We spend a lot of time with R2 and C3PO before we even meet Luke, and them splitting up accomplished nothing other than character development.

They’re also obviously capable of emotion as well as intellect. I wasn’t joking when I said R2 and C3PO are the purest ship, they really are. C3PO is a classic tsundere character, claiming he doesn’t care about R2 right up until his counterpart is injured in battle, when he offers to sacrifice his own parts to save him. Seriously, I suspect “counterpart” is just droid for “life partner.” It may not be sexual (they’re gonadless robots for crying out loud) but it is true love, and I now ship it.

#star wars #spoilers for whole franchise #r2d2 and c3po

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un-enfant-immature · 6 years ago

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Peter Thiel’s argument that Silicon Valley has been ‘brainwashed’ by higher education is tired

Billionaire VC Peter Thiel has largely flown under the radar since raising his hand to support Donald Trump’s presidential bid, then working with Trump’s administration to fill some of its many vacant positions. The association made him deeply unpopular in Silicon Valley, though he says says people have not shown a “great deal of hostility to me personally . . . it manifests itself in all sorts of other ways.”

Perhaps ahead of the midterm elections, perhaps because he has more recently moved to L.A., or perhaps because he’s simply feeling more talkative, Thiel is starting to open up again about his often contrarian views to particular outlets. Earlier this year, he sat down with Fox Business to discuss his continuing support of Trump. Thiel talked again last week with commentator and comedian Dave Rubin, whose YouTube show, Rubin says, is focused on free speech. (The interview format is for people with “political PTSD,” suggests its trailer.)

This newest chat, which goes on for more than two hours, touches on a wide number of things, but watching it last night, what we found most striking was Thiel’s continued disdain for academia despite his own background as both a Stanford undergraduate and law school graduate. Thiel has plainly been successful. He also formed the kind of meaningful, lifelong friendships that one hopes to find at college. Indeed, in a separate, rare public appearance this year, Thiel debated Reid Hoffman, a former Stanford classmate and longtime friend of Thiel, at a public policy think tank on Stanford’s campus.

Nevertheless, in his conversation with Rubin, Thiel’s answer to why Silicon Valley has become so “left wing” is higher education. Not instability in the White House or tariffs or immigration or tax cuts or disagreements over foreign policy. Thiel, the free market thinker, thinks schools are to blame for Silicon Valley “groupthink.”

If you want to assume for a minute that he is right, then this is a new problem for the region. Thiel volunteered during the interview that Silicon Valley has “shifted a lot over the years.” Namely, he said, when he was a college student in the late ’80s, Stanford was “sort of a very liberal, politically correct place” but Silicon Valley more broadly “was not. It was vaguely libertarian,” he said. “It was a moderate Republican congressional district.” By the late ’90s, he continued, it had sort of shifted to [moderately Democrat] and, fast forward 20 years, it shifted pretty hard left.”

Investors and founders and employees in Silicon Valley had undergraduate and advanced degrees 20 years ago, as they do now. But that doesn’t factor into Thiel’s explanation of Silicon Valley’s newer leanings. Said Thiel to Rubin of the evolution, “Part of it is it’s probably the most educated part of the country, in terms of how much time people spend in college. And I think one of the downsides of too much education is that you get the most brainwashed. And so it is the most educated can also mean that it is the most brainwashed.”

He doesn’t think the problem extends so much to founders but to the “rank and file.” Said Thiel, “If you’re a really good engineer or if you’re really good at a specific thing, your education doesn’t involve you thinking that much about politics. So it’s not necessarily from deep ideological conviction; it’s often more as a fashion statement than as a question of power.” (Oof.)

Thiel, who is likable in person, has been talking for nearly a decade about the fact that he thinks higher education is overvalued and may actually be a hindrance to innovation. It’s largely why he created a fellowship program in 2010 that encourages young people with big ideas to drop out of college and take a shot at realizing their dreams. And his point that more highly educated people are leaning “left” is correct. According to data released this spring by the Pew Research Center, “In 1994, 39 percent of those with a four-year college degree (no postgraduate experience) identified with or leaned toward the Democratic Party and 54 percent associated with the Republican Party. In 2017, those figures were exactly reversed.”

Still, it’s disappointing to see Thiel embrace anti-intellectualism, because it’s blatantly divisive (which is maybe his point), because it’s ridiculous coming from Thiel (who isn’t exactly part of the proletariat), and because the argument doesn’t hold up, particularly given that Silicon Valley has long been home to a highly educated workforce, one that used to vote more commonly along Republican lines.

Did college degrees suddenly drive a broader shift in the other direction? No. But moneyed, educated people feigning a reflexive aversion to “elites” may have, and Americans in Silicon Valley and well beyond are catching onto the act.

If you missed the interview last week, you can catch it right here.

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#TechCrunch

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theinvinciblenoob · 6 years ago

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Billionaire VC Peter Thiel has largely flown under the radar since raising his hand to support Donald Trump’s presidential bid, then working with Trump’s administration to fill some of its many vacant positions. The association made him deeply unpopular in Silicon Valley, though he says people have not shown a “great deal of hostility to me personally . . . it manifests itself in all sorts of other ways.”

If you want to assume for a minute that he is right, then this is a new problem for the region. Thiel volunteered during the interview that Silicon Valley has “shifted a lot over the years.” Namely, he said, when he was a college student in the late ’80s, Stanford was “sort of a very liberal, politically correct place” but Silicon Valley more broadly “was not. It was vaguely libertarian,” he said. “It was a moderate Republican congressional district.” By the late ’90s, he continued, “it had sort of shifted to [moderately Democrat] and, fast forward 20 years, it shifted pretty hard left.”

If you missed the interview last week, you can catch it right here.

via TechCrunch

#IFTTT #TechCrunch

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trendingnewsb · 7 years ago

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4 Lazy Character Shortcuts Hollywood Can’t Stop Using

The best movie characters are usually the ones whom we sort of identify with. Whether they’re a simple middle-class teenager or a grizzled Matthew McConaughy playing a nihilistic detective trying to find aliens from the future inside a black hole, they work because when they make decisions, we get it. We learn who they are and understand them. Sometimes, though, writers don’t really have time for that shit. Instead, they use some kind of shorthand which (they hope) will have the same profound effect with far less effort. This usually doesn’t work at all. Particularly when …

Sudden Sacrifices Are A Substitute For Heroism

What is more powerful than one human being sacrificing their own life to save others, usually to the accompaniment of an orchestra that sounds like it’s about to parade through the screen? You could probably base a whole religion around it. In the world of Hollywood screenwriting, sacrifices can also be written in not to provide a satisfying end to a character’s arc, but to add instant heroism to a character we barely know.

Read Next

Why We Can't Take Our Eyes Off The Things We Hate

Kong: Skull Island (which I think is a great movie) includes a bunch of dispensable soldier characters who are tailor-made to be ape food. There’s nothing wrong with that. I’m a fan of slasher films, so I have an appreciation for characters who only exist to say “Hey, guys, what was that noise?” But then, while under an assault from mutant reptiles, one of the soldiers, Captain Cole, pulls out two grenades and stares down one of the beasts. The rest of the cast does the typical “NO! DON’T DO THIS!” thing, like the audience is expected to. No, don’t do it, guy with literally two personality traits.

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The guy��s plan goes awry and he ends up being a bloodstain on the side of a cliff, but that’s beside the point. The point is … well, what is the point? The sacrifice doesn’t add a dimension to his character, nor does it say anything poignant about him. Instead, it just makes him look like he’s very bad at thinking through decisions. You’re stranded on an island with a monster ape and ubiquitous leviathans, and your plan is to waste yourself and two precious grenades with your patented “Stand there and hope” maneuver?

Of course, they also did this with Superman at the end of Batman v Superman, in a Hail Mary effort to give us some reason to care. They did the same in I Am Legend, in which Will Smith sacrifices himself to maybe blow up some of the zombies, which is such a pointless act that the director’s cut has Will Smith not do that.

And remember Chappie, that Black Mirror episode, but with more decapitations? At the end of that, Ninja — played by Ninja of the rap group Die Antwoord — tries to sacrifice himself in dramatic slow motion, as if the movie is under the impression that we liked his character. He just spent two hours cursing and emotionally abusing a childlike robot. Sacrifice away, idiot.

If they want us to care, they need to scroll backward a few dozen pages in the script and write the character as someone we’ll either be sad to see go or happy to see redeemed. Oh, and the character needs to stay dead.

Making A Character Suddenly Badass (In A Way That Makes No Sense)

There’s nothing better than when a badass character gets a badass payoff. My boys in the Dragon Ball franchise are constantly training so that when the time comes, they can triumphantly punch holes through people. This is immensely satisfying because you, the viewer, get to anticipate seeing them use their skills. There is build-up. So it’s baffling whenever “badass” characters either get that way out of nowhere, or are assigned badass traits that don’t fit their progression at all, like if The Karate Kid ended with Daniel challenging Johnny to a snowmobile race.

Take Arya Stark in Game Of Thrones. A big point is made that she’s not built for swordplay. Her cranky travel companion Sandor Clegane points out that her tiny frame and flimsy sword is useless in a gritty fantasy universe full of giant men in armor. Thus, she learns how to work with poisons and magic disguises, leading us to believe that she’ll be pulling off some rad espionage tactics to fool bad guys who could crush her skull like an egg. Instead, within a couple of seasons, Arya becomes Jason Bourne Lite, shrugging off stabbings and doing sweet parkour. Later, she faces off in a practice duel with giant sword master Brienne and outmaneuvers her easily, smirking the whole time.

Regardless of the fact that she is never shown acquiring that level of skill, the problem is that this character is now superhuman and is in no way someone you can identify with.

Writers can’t resist this, even when a lack of combat training is the entire point of a character. This happens in the recent Death Wish remake, in which Bruce Willis, a surgeon, suddenly becomes a mix of Jigsaw and Rambo, all because he lost his family … and he’s a surgeon? This movie had a lot of problems, but at the very least, it could’ve made sense. I can’t claim to know what they teach you at medical school, but I sincerely doubt it involves target practice. I mean, not yet, anyway. But they couldn’t think of any other way to have him beat the bad guys.

And look, I love Harry Potter‘s Neville Longbottom, but the whole point of him is that he’s a clumsy, nerdy boob. He continues to be that for the first seven and a half movies, until his arc completes with him … cutting a giant snake’s head off in slow motion with a sword? Why? At no point in the series are we clamoring for Neville to be the guy who decapitates magic serpents. He’s shown as having talents — specifically, using magical plants — but all of that goes out the window because in the end, being a hero only means being great with traditional fighting techniques.

I’m not saying that Neville should’ve been watering the shrubs while Voldemort was attacking, but maybe give us something more in line with his character. He can be cool without being Conan. Hell, Breaking Bad spent its whole run inventing ways for a sickly chemistry teacher to defeat drug lords who are stronger and more well-armed than he is. They didn’t simply make him suddenly good at ninjutsu.

Gritty “Realism” Is Conveyed Through Ceaseless Cursing

People curse in real life. They do it in the car, they do it in the bedroom, they do it when they’re in line at Gamestop and GODDAMN, RICHARD, THE TRADE-IN VALUES ARE NOT GONNA BE THAT GOOD NO MATTER HOW MANY “PRO” POINTS YOU HAVE, SO GET THE FUCK ON WITH IT, SHITLIZARD. But since lots of movies are shooting for PG-13 and network TV shows usually try to be family friendly, they have to keep it clean. When creators find themselves without those restrictions, they tend to go hog-wild.

So I get it, prestige TV dramas. You get to put on your HBO/Showtime Big Boy Pants, and you naturally want to curse a lot because Mom and Dad aren’t around to tell you no. But do so many characters absolutely need to do it like they’re auditioning for a Rob Zombie film? For example, the sister character Debra is the heart and soul of Dexter, considering the show reminds you at all times that the titular character lacks a heart and soul. But there are ways to illustrate that she’s deep and troubled other than peppering all of her dialogue with curses that make her sound as if she’s just discovered Urban Dictionary. You know, like actually giving her an important role on the show? That’s just my two cents.

It comes up in Game Of Thrones, which desperately wants to be Definitely Not Lord Of The Rings, and Boardwalk Empire, which desperately wanted to be Definitely Not The Godfather, or Deadwood, which desperately wanted to be Definitely Not Renewed For A Fourth Season. I love you, Deadwood. I live and breathe you, Deadwood. But holy shit, it’s hard to market a cowboy show, much less a cowboy show that constantly plays like a Greek tragedy and includes an errant dropping of “fuck” every six seconds.

Compare that (again) to a show like Breaking Bad, which was only allowed one or two F-words per season. When they come, they actually have impact. When Skyler reveals to Walter that she’s sleeping with her boss, it’s “I fucked Ted.” Not “I’ve been messing around with Ted,” or “I let Ted play on my slippery dulcimer, if ya’ know what I mean.” It’s a gut punch. The fact that, realistically, she’d probably say it that way is just icing on the cake.

Some of you might say that these shows use gratuitous nudity in exactly the same way (that is, because they can), but at least beautiful naked people is a selling point. Who’s out there saying, “Man, I’m not crazy about the plot of that show, but some of the cursing is amazing. It gave me a full erection.”

Geeky Characters Are Defined Only By Their Ability To Spout Pop Culture References

A lot of people in the world are geeks. Not me. I only talk about Digimon when I’m drunk. But a lot of people are. And you’d think that since “geeky” interests are so commonplace, we’d get more great geeky characters in pop culture. Characters that we see aspects of ourselves in. Sadly, what we do get are shows like Big Bang Theory, or characters like Steve Urkel from Family Matters, Ross Gellar from Friends, Morgan from Chuck, Noah from the Scream TV show, and about 75 percent of the denizens of Kevin Smith movies. These are characters who don’t make geekiness look fun. Instead, they drag it around like a cross, burdened by their own existence.

I would probably relate to more “geeky” film characters if the writers knew how to identify them as geeks without having them bleat like farm animals about Star Wars or Dungeons & Dragons. Either that or they’re like Spencer from Criminal Minds, who refuses to shut up about how his special, powerful, super computer brain works differently from the average brain. He’s supposed to be likable, but I’ve never met a single likable person who went into detail about how much smarter he or she is than most of the population.

It’s like they’re so afraid that we won’t get it unless they crank it up to cartoonish levels. The “funny” control room employee in Jurassic World wears a Jurassic Park shirt with the original movie’s logo on it. That’s great! It builds his character and it adds to the theme of the movie that you probably shouldn’t recklessly commodify prehistoric beasts. But he then explains why he wears that shirt and how much it costs and how much he loved the first Jurassic Park, and any chance we had of identifying with him goes out the window. If I buy a Spider-Man shirt, I don’t go around the mall asking people about their favorite Doctor Octopus moments; I just wear the shirt.

It’s so strange because you’d assume that most writers are themselves geeks, the ones who have to borrow clothes to attend a red carpet premiere and then are kept far away from the cameras. You have to imagine them toiling away on their sitcom pilot thinking, “Hmmm … what would a geek say in this situation? It’s so hard for a cool, sexy beast like me to put myself in their mindset. I know, I’ll have them suddenly speak Klingon.”

Daniel has a Twitter, which he uses as a platform to yell about Pokemon.

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usman2480-blog · 7 years ago

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Individuality

“…And stand together, yet not too near together:

For the pillars of the temple stand apart,

And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other’s shadow.”

Khalil Gibran

Tale of two brothers: A passage to self-awareness and individuality

What actually makes a human person an individual? That’s a scary question! But the answer is simple. What makes a human person an individual are the changes that one goes through and the effects it has on one’s life.

What shape your beliefs or perhaps your whole identity are the experiences you have and your ability to recall these experiences. Continuing along this thread, I am here today to talk to you about the importance and relevance of preserving your individual life experiences, events, beliefs, ideas, and family influences. It is directly because of these attributes that I am an individual today! But it wasn’t always true…

So, let me tell you, if I could have known perfection, it was my brother! No, really, It was almost as if God said let there be perfection and POOF, there was my brother. Now for those anxious girls…and/or boys in the audience who are dying to know what my brother could possibly look like, I brought a picture for you all…

…And God said, let there be perfection, and there was my brother!

I was born at the start of the 80s to my parents, joining my brother a year after his birth. Many people thought we were twins and as twins or any close-knit siblings growing up, we did everything together. We bathe together, we ate together, we played together, we wore matching clothes, and we slept on the same bed. I recall my early childhood years, with my brother, as being full of wonderment, curiosity, and admiration.

My brother and I would play for hours by building forts using pillows and curtains. We would protect our kingdom against imaginary foreign intruders and would often intensify our battles by agreeing to be slayed at the hands of our imaginary enemy, just to add more tragedy and glory to our act. Needless to say, my brother was very good at these activities and it was a lot of fun following his lead. It was also during these early years of cognitive development that my brother really flourished. He happily volunteered to be in the front lines, always. He would accept and often assume responsibility in managing little chores and assignments around the house. And he would deliver with one hundred percent excellence every time. As a result, he became a natural leader within our family.

Now, this would have been a perfect opportunity for me to go the other way. I mean, if he was responsible, independent, thoughtful, and a leader then I could have been irresponsible, totally dependent, and careless. But no, I wanted to be just like him and I didn’t just want to copy him in assuming responsibility for chores but I wanted to be like him in sports, studies, and style.

Through the years, he became an individual, a leader, and a trendsetter and I became his clone, and if there is one thing you don’t do if you want to be an individual it is to not become a clone.

Nevertheless and to my credit, I did try my best through the years to avoid becoming my brother’s clone but I could not help it. In fact, I couldn’t resist it. He was everything I wanted to be. He was a great athlete, a scholarly student, and debonair dresser. He had more friends. He was popular in school and the ladies also liked him. I knew that accepting his greater sense of exposure and experience would guide me through tough and challenging decisions with ease but I began to rely on him to lead me through the simpler tasks in life too. I never thought or even cared to think of developing my own personality and a separate set of rules of engagement with the world because I had my older brother. He was sufficient and simply better at handling any unpredictability.

My brother’s distinct personality traits combined with his confidence in being responsive to changeability made him the natural choice for everyone.

…But with time, comes change and it pays a visit to everyone.

Force Majeure

1997! A year in which, I officially met the world. My family decided to move from Massachusetts to Connecticut in hopes of finding better economic opportunities. I was in 11th grade and had one full year ahead of me before I would graduate from high school. My brother was in 12th grade, his last year of high school and a captain of our school’s wrestling team. He also had scholarship prospects because of wrestling; I had none. So it was decreed that he would be allowed to stay behind and finish his education in one piece.

Now, I was on my own for the very first time in my life. I was in a completely new environment, new school, and new everything. I had no idea what I was going to do but I knew that I would have to do it on my own and free of my brother’s supervision. This separation and time away from one and another led me to become aware of myself and to essentially carve out a new “Magna Carta.” It was a daunting step forward and outward.

I could have never imagined that being me would turn out to be so challenging? I didn’t know where to start or what to do? I mean the natural choice for me was to just continue to be my brother’s clone but I knew that I had to stop trying to be him and start wanting to be me. I recall that I would be hesitant in sharing my ideas and goals with my peers because I believed that my plans, hopes, and aspirations to be something my peers would ridicule. This of course stemmed from never having found the initial need to be myself. Later, when the need to have an identity and be my own person was thrust upon me I found it to be difficult to be myself and it was because I didn’t know who I was.

I, now, regularly work with young professionals and university level students in developing their communication skills, guiding and coaching them through job interviews, and in assisting them in preparing to become competitive candidates in the market. And one of the most important human characteristics, which I try and highlight in all of them, is their individuality and a sense of belief in their existence. I didn’t believe in myself and I didn’t believe in my individuality. I felt that my personality wasn’t good enough and that my likes/dislikes weren’t valid enough.

So, going back to finding myself in this world…

I chose to make small changes that eventually had a huge impact on my life; I began taking my first baby steps toward individuality.

Baby Steps to individuality

One of the first things I consciously made an effort to control was my habit of liking stuff that I had no interest in. I became honest with my feelings. If I didn’t like some activity while I was growing up but faked it then to show that I did then I immediately stopped it now. This helped me eliminate all the clutter I pretended I enjoyed and replace with the things I knew I cared for and appreciated. This helped me understand myself emotionally.

I had to make new friends after the move. I decided to stop being a clone and this time I found people who shared similar interests and because I was beginning to learn a lot of new things about myself, I made friends who liked me for who I was and valued my personality. This helped in gaining confidence in my ideas, my thoughts, and myself.

I also began assuming responsibility in managing external household related chores, which improved my exposure to the outside world and facilitated the development of my own rules of engagement with society. This helped me in honoring the individual differences in people and better understanding my strengths and weaknesses.

These were just some of the observable changes but I made countless additional changes to strengthen and enhance my individuality; by avoiding attempts to becoming my a clone, to acquiring a sense of belief, to honoring individual differences in others. I began to sense a likable me. It took years to reach this state of unyielding self-awareness and comfort and a few more to be present among you all today but I assure you that it has been a journey of immense reward and personal growth.

Ladies and Gentleman, I believe in serendipity. I believe that whatever that happens in this world happens for a reason. It’s not an accident. Every single person in this room tonight is here for a reason and you are here because you either know an individual, who inspires you almost on a daily basis or are yourself a source of inspiration for someone, who considers you an individual. Therefore, if you are or you aren’t, I welcome you all to take this journey and I wish the ones much luck who have found a path often less traveled. I bet that you will surprise yourself along the way if you allow yourself the opportunity.

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topicprinter · 8 years ago

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My co-founder wrote a really great post on the telltale signs of someone who's great at sales. A lot has already been written here, but he takes his personal experience as a sales leader in the trenches and spins out some unique insights.Some of the quotes are hard learned lessons that come straight from customers mouths, such as this one:Respond to my questions with certainty in-the-moment and you’re 10x more likely to earn my business. Let those concerns go unanswered by an hour and you can cut that probability in half… by two hours half it again… by one day half it again…and so on. It shows me that you don’t know the answers, which challenges your believability… or shows me that you don’t care enough to address them.I think Reddit might enjoy this. You can read the post on medium here: https://medium.com/@dooly/selling-trust-6b2c712cde8d , or if you'd like, enjoy it just below the break.Let me know what you think!Selling TRUSTDreamforce — Marc Benioff’s crown jewel in his ever growing SaaS empire and the epicentre of all things related to Salesforce. 140,000+ people looking for the next big thing, the deal(s) that will make their year, or, let’s face it, a chance to get your company to pay for you to go see a “free” Green Day/Red Hot Chilli Peppers/U2 concert! Dreamforce also happens to be an epicentre for all things connected to sales. I was at Dreamforce a couple of years ago as a guest speaker on a panel where the discussion quickly pivoted down a very interesting path.The original topic was relationship selling and how to leverage the network of your peers during the sales process. The plethora of platforms out there right now that help you figure out who you’re talking to, how to get to them, who in your company can point you there, etc. made this a pretty obvious conversation. It’s clearly far easier to talk to a prospect that you’ve been given a warm introduction to or at least a prospect that you know a thing or two about from their Twitter history. In today’s selling arena, let’s call this table stakes (or steaks as I used to think it was spelled — a far more delicious connotation).Back to the pivot in the conversation… Once we established that you can leverage your network to find out pretty much anything about anyone, right down to their opinions on politics and their favourite soup, we got into something more to the point.We can give them all the tools in the world, but what are the telltale signs that a salesperson is simply ‘good’ at what they do? How do I identify the rock stars and how do I best support them?Now, for a bit of colour on this, I’ve hired a fair few sales people over the years…fired a few too. You get to know what to look for and, if you’re reasonably adept (or honest) at introspection, you can probably figure out what makes you decent at what you do as well. For myself, I used to think that I was lucky — that luck literally followed me around from deal to deal. To an extent, that’s true, but it doesn’t explain repeated success. Luck may get you your start, or the occasional “bluebird” deal, but it doesn’t allow your sales trajectory to ascend to great heights.The reality is that there isn’t one right answer to what makes someone great at sales, but you will always find a few common threads between them. We’ve all heard the expression, “people buy from people they like.” To an extent, that’s correct. But the core compound to likability that catalyzes every good relationship is TRUST.Aside…my eldest son is in Grade 7 right now and my school days are a few years back in the rearview mirror, so I’m being re-educated on everything from Algebra to Science right now. The genesis for this post is actually much to his credit as he asked me to help him understand the distinction between an element and a compound. After explaining the difference between salt (NaCl) and sodium (Na), he was well on his way to figuring it out!Inspiration!In the context of selling, T-R-U-S-T is a compound made up of 5 key elements, talent, resilience, understanding, stories, and timing. You build TRUST with your prospects and clients by possessing parts of each.TalentThrough my years in selling I have become more and more convinced that the best sales people simply cannot be manufactured without having certain raw skills, talent being the foremost on the list. Now, talent is a pretty vague descriptor, so let’s break it down a bit further. Talent goes beyond the ability to craft a beautiful powerpoint deck or a proposal that sells itself. What talent really implies (at least in this instance) is an aptitude for being relatable to your prospect. I once explained it as “being a better chameleon.” My hope isn’t to encourage sales people to become fake or untrue to their own values — it doesn’t quite work like that. As sales people, though, you do need to be adaptable to the person that’s in front of you. After all, you’re not asking them to change who they are in order to do business with you, you’re asking them to have faith in you as a person. Personability, ‘the gift of the gab��, being able to read the room, the ability to connect with another person and making it seem easy — talent in this context is the first stage of building TRUST. My wife often says that this is how I duped her into marriage — proof that it works!Resilience…and while your job is to make it feel easy for your customer, know that it isn’t always going to be the case. Nobody on this planet is universally liked (cute babies excluded) and connecting with some people can take time. A brow-beaten, over-solicited buyer likely has a lot more on their mind than whether or not your solution is going to solve their problems. The best sales people are also the ones that can handle rejection delivered a million different ways. We’ve all heard the expression, “thick skinned,” and the best sales people personify this.Of course, resilience and preparation go hand-in-hand. Think about what you can do to handle the barrage of objections a customer might put before you. How can you minimize the time between a knock-down punch and your ability to get right back up and keep throwing? Tenacious resolve — that unfettered desire to win — isn’t genetic, but we all know people that are better at it than others. If you’ve ever done any work in New York, you’ll have a far greater appreciation than most on the impact of resilience in creating TRUST!UnderstandingWhile this somewhat ties in to the idea of being relatable, understanding is unique enough to stand on its own. Relatability is how you convey your understanding of a prospect, but the art of understanding requires something different, “empathy.” A huge part of sales is human psychology — which really boils down to the ability to put yourself in the shoes of the person across from you, process what they’re going through and then go about helping them navigate their way to a better place.When you show deep empathy toward others, their defensive energy goes down, and positive energy replaces it. That’s when you can get more creative in solving problems. — Stephen CoveyEveryone in sales should have heard the expression, “two ears, one mouth” by now! Interestingly, top performers seem to have this skill innately engrained in their systems — the ability to listen more than they speak. It allows them to seem as though they can see around corners because the prospect, more often than not, will unknowingly paint the blueprint for the rep on how to close the deal if you just let them talk! Listen with your eyes as well as your ears and you’ll understand the whole story even better — you can learn a ton from body language.Last point on understanding…demonstrating appreciation of your clients’ needs isn’t enough — that merely shows that you’ve done your homework (your clients expect that much of you). Empathy is the ability to understand the impact of those needs, the personal stake someone has in a decision, and the payload associated with your time. It’s something I call Outside-In selling and have dedicated a whole other blog post to (stay tuned). Suffice it to say that without having the ability to see and feel what your prospect is going through, the third element of TRUST will be out of reach and your believability will suffer.Stories…and when they resist believing you, tell it through the lens of someone else! One of the biggest, most recurrent themes I’ve heard from one sales rep to another….heck, I’d take that further and say from one sales organization to another, is the gulf between what people are selling and the corporate treasure troves containing the anecdotal evidence, the wins, the ROI contributions, and the overall personal/business impacts of what is being sold.At my previous company I felt this problem profoundly. When I moved my young family from Australia to the UK to run EMEA sales, I found myself in a situation where we had reps all across Europe selling into local markets. With different buying cultures, different competitors, etc. we were faced with the real challenge of creating meaningful collaboration between the different regions. The consistent ask from reps, whether they were in Cologne, Milan, London or Paris was for the relevant stories and anecdotal facts that they could leverage from one another’s existing customers. We created a Google sheet of stories, asked the customer success teams to contribute alongside the reps and did a company offsite to try to proliferate those stories. The challenge we faced was that the stories were super personal and very situational, so it was hard to get a high degree of recall without being in-the-moment. If we’d cracked the code on how to share these stories, the result on sales cycles would have been profound!Prospects may believe what you’re telling them about the unmet pains and needs your solution will provide, but without a shadow of a doubt they will believe the stories you tell them of other customers in similar situations. It not only helps bring your product to life in a real example, but it helps disarm a prospect from thinking that they’re your first guinea pig in a market. I’ve too often seen the Powerpoint deck with the “customer logos” page, propping you up artificially in a sales process….if you’re going to put logos in your deck, you’d better know a story or two from each of those companies. You will be asked!TimingMost in sales will be coached on deal cadence — the ability to read the tea leaves in a deal and submit a realistic forecast for a month/quarter/year (the longer the timeline the more we all expect it to become nebulous, of course). What about customer cadence? Who is taught well on how to set the pace of a conversation, when to interject, how to build waves of follow-ups to bring an opportunity to a successful conclusion? How do you develop a good sense of timing?We’ve already established the “two ears, one mouth” rule which should hint at your conversational timing. Often, though, we scramble to keep up with a highly educated, well-researched buyer when it comes to answering their questions, responding to their needs, doubling down on their pains and eliminating objections from a deal, whether they be related to competition, legal, product or other.I remember a customer once telling me the law of diminishing returns on his likelihood to buy from vendors:Respond to my questions with certainty in-the-moment and you’re 10x more likely to earn my business. Let those concerns go unanswered by an hour and you can cut that probability in half… by two hours half it again… by one day half it again…and so on. It shows me that you don’t know the answers, which challenges your believability… or shows me that you don’t care enough to address them.Now, that’s not a universal law, but I think you get the point — you create a perception through your ability to respond. It’s much better to be prepared with the right information in the right moment than it is to say “I don’t know.” If you really don’t know, commit to a timeline to get the answer and stick to it — always better to come back with a good answer than to make up a bad one!When you’ve been on the sales roller coaster enough times, you get a sense of when key moments are coming and hopefully can become a bit more rhythmic with the twists, turns and undulations of your deal flow. It does take awhile to get there! That said, the sooner you can figure out your sense of timing on a few different levels, the better.The TRUST EquationSo what does all of this mean? Every sales person is going to be measurably different in their degrees of Talent, Resilience, Understanding, Story Telling and Timing Sense. This is by no means a prescriptive formula with exact ratios of each element! Some of these skills can be taught better than others and some really do need to be innate. Results aside, the best measure of any of these skills is to ask customers, friends and peers how a person measures up in their TRUST equation. What are their shortcomings? Why? I can say that in my experience, finding a natural is the exception to the rule and when you do find them….hold on to them!Sometimes you don’t know a gifted salesperson until you’ve already signed the contract! Not because they did anything wrong, but because you didn’t feel like you were being sold to at all.At Dooly, we’ve built our platform with an appreciation for how all of what we’ve said above impacts your relationship with your customers (and ultimately, your ability to close business!). We recognize that the smarter you are, the more in tune with your buyer you can be. There is no greater contributor to your deal movement than being in harmony with your customer from your offering through to your interactions. Our goal is to bring you the tools that will help you earn the respect of your customers in the moments when they are most needed. With this, we’ll help you earn their TRUST.Happy selling!

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