#i guess the uk is a good example of it because the uk already imports so much fruit and vegetables

[deepseacityunderground]

i think that veganism as a political movement has a lot of interesting things to say about how food agriculture has been shaped by consumerism and the way its alienated the average westerner from food production especially around meat. its a cruel cruel industry for everyone involved and it sucks.

unfortunately it also overwelmingly falls victim (like a lot of other socially progressive political movements lol) to a complete inability or perhaps a refusal to engage with rural indigenous communities especially in the global south. which is ironic because (like a lot of other socially progressive political movements) much of their theoretical framework for reforming society Depends on rural indigenous communities especially in the global south ^.^

[asmallorb]

Regarding the 2024 Election: Do not despair.

I left Tumblr for Cara a while back but I'm here again to make myself heard on the matter. This is a post I've been wanting to make to my US friends for a while, and certain events have spurred things forward. Do not despair. Always remember the future is unwritten. No matter what your friends or family say, no matter how much media pressures you that things are a certain way, no matter what polls say - your vote is not and never will be pointless. Both here in the UK and France there was a lot of uncertainty around whether the conservative parties would take the vote. But voter turn out proved them wrong. In an example closer to home for you; Oklahoma County came very close to flipping in 2020 as Biden and was only 3,326 votes shy. So yes, even if you are in a state where the rural mentality is dominant, that still shouldn't discourage you from making your own voice heard. Can you imagine if everyone who didn't bother to vote turned up and made the difference? Your vote matters. Period. So please, if you haven't registered to vote in the upcoming elections. Do so. ANYONE who says that your vote doesn't matter in the state that you're in, or discourages you from voting for whatever reason - doesn't want you to vote. If you feel like your vote doesn't matter, vote anyway. If you expect protesters to be around polls ready to intimidate you, go with friends, family or vote over post. In the US record numbers of younger voters have already signed up to vote, go be one of them.

I would also strongly advise adding some palate cleansers to your news feed. Because here's a hard truth that few are willing to accept - there is good in this world. There are good people doing amazing things and making real tangible progress that you are benefitting from right now and don't even know about. People think that negativity = being realistic and that gives them a free pass to not participate in making a better future, when in fact the opposite is true. While I myself am a firm believer of preparing for the worst, it's important to have room in your mind for hoping for the best as well. Because if you just roll over and accept the worst outcome, guess what, it will happen because you let it happen. I highly recommend Fix the News. https://fixthenews.com/ and the blog @reasonsforhope.

One last thing:

Don't let perfect be the enemy of done.

Yes, the democrats are not perfect. And should be called out by the people they're supposed to serve when they fail.

But struggling over if they're the perfect candidate is not going to help in this situation.

Vote, donate, talk to friends and family.

And most of all: do not let yourself regret not participating when you had the chance.

[bunposting]

Super hot take. I mean like the hottest take ever in the history of rabbits. The literal spiciest take of all time. The carolina reaper of takes, even.

If a color variety is endemic to a breed, it should probably, in many if not most cases, be an accepted variety for that breed.

Ok so now that all the color purists are foaming at the mouth and running to their keyboards to chew me out, lemme explain for those who might not know what I'm talking about. As usual, this will be lengthy and in depth because I am incapable of Shutting Up.

Those three color varieties are black, brown (chestnut/agouti), and fawn. The thing with these three color varieties is that with one main exception (we'll get to that in a moment), you're not going to get any colors except those three when you intermix them. If you breed a black to a brown, you'll get browns and blacks. If you breed a brown to a fawn, you'll probably get browns. It makes sense to generally not want to intermix them though, because in theory if you mix these colors, it can result in the kits not having quite the depth of color you want (apparently. This is what I was told by other Silver breeders). A black to a brown could result in browns with too much black, and blacks that aren't as deep as would be desirable. A brown to a fawn could result in browns that are just too dull or light in color. I can understand the reasoning behind not wanting to do this kind of color mixing, especially in a breed where fur color is such an important part of their Standard of Perfection. (In fact, other than silvering and fur texture.. it is *the most important* part in the modern Silver standard... I have opinions on that, but I've shared some of those in a separate post)

----

Example that I am currently aware of in the breed I am currently working with: The Silver technically only has three accepted color varieties for the breed in the United States (four in the UK, but we'll get to that in a moment). That means there are only three color varieties that can be shown, and generally means only three color varieties that will be considered 'part of the breed.'

Remember how I mentioned about the UK having a fourth accepted color variety? You'd think - well considering the only other endemic color that isn't red-eyed white is tort, it's gotta be tort, right? NOPE. It's blue. Where does blue fit in the other three color varieties? It doesn't. It's the dilute of black, yes, but the dilute gene isn't present in any of the other varieties, so technically, dilute isn't a gene that should generally exist in the breed. The only way you can get purebred blue Silvers is to import them from the UK. Other than that, you've got to do some crossbreeding in order to get it, and doing that means you need years and years of careful breeding to take all the traits of the rabbit you're using for crossbreeding out of the breed you're going for. It's a long, difficult process that requires a lot of breeders to work on it, a lot of money, a lot of cage space, and a lot of culling. There had been a Certificate of Development (CoD) for blue Silvers in the states, but it just expired this year because folks just couldn't keep up with it and there wasn't enough interest I guess.

The one typical exception is black to fawn. This pairing can result in a new color, known as black tortoiseshell (or black tort - I'll just be referring to it as 'tort' here). Basically that means the rabbit has a primarily fawn body with black points and black belly/side markings. The other less typical exception is red-eyed white, but this is, so far as I can tell, fairly rare compared to tort in the case of Silvers. Which is good, because perhaps the most important part of a Silver is the silvering, and you can't see silvering if the rabbit is already white. This is one case where a potentially endemic color variety is one that definitely shouldn't be accepted I think, especially considering it's not a common thing to have pop up.

(disclaimer for the two above paragraphs; this is based on the knowledge I have of rabbit color genetics. I absolutely do not claim to be an expert in color genetics and it is a topic I am definitely still learning. If something mentioned is inaccurate, please let me know!!)

Why is that relevant? Because one of the main reasons I was told why tort Silvers shouldn't be a thing, other than just being told that "we don't need another variety," is that getting a CoD and creating a new variety is such a long and difficult process.

That's just it though - it's not a long and difficult process in this case. The color variety already exists in the breed. There's no need to worry about the rabbits having the wrong body or fur type or not having enough silvering any more than you would any other Silver, because they're already purebred Silvers. The effort is minimal, to be honest. It wouldn't be any different than breeding and showing any other 'normal' Silver with the exception of needing to write the standard - which, again, would be as easy as looking at any other breed's standard for the black tort coloration and pretty much just copying and pasting that into the color section. Is it maybe more difficult than I'm able to perceive it as? Sure. Maybe. But that doesn't negate the reason why this is important.

And why is it important?

Because Silvers are already an incredibly endangered breed. They're already genetically bottlenecked enough as it is, not just because there's only about 500 left in the world, but also because breeders insist on only breeding pure colors. Tort Silvers could contain extremely valuable genetic variation to help prevent some of that bottlenecking.

Because tort Silvers are freaking beautiful. I've been told on numerous occasions how stunningly beautiful a tort Silver can be. Beautiful rabbits draw in more breeders. A rare breed can only be saved if there are enough breeders willing to keep it alive. If people can get interested in the breed from this variety, it could be a key to helping to save the breed.

Because we don't need to be wasting anymore perfectly good genetic material. Yeah this kind of ties in with point number one, but here's the other side of it: if tort Silvers aren't an accepted variety, that means any tort Silver technically should be culled. I wish it were as easy as saying "well just don't breed blacks to fawns then." Problem is, folks have already done it, and they've already sold the offspring, and those offspring have already bred and become part of the overall gene pool. It is entirely possible and honestly not even that uncommon to pair a black Silver to another black Silver, to not know of any fawn in the immediate pedigrees of either one, and to end up with a litter of over half black tort. By the logic of breeders right now, those entire litters are pretty much worthless beyond maybe food or fur, or at least the tort half are. This breed can't afford to have 'worthless' rabbits that otherwise fully meet the breed standard and would be a good candidates for continuing the breed.

And so, to make a long story short, especially in the case of a rare breed like a Silver, it is absolutely ridiculous in my opinion and honestly potentially damaging to decide that a truly endemic color variety (especially one that is commonly found in litters where it wasn't even being intentionally bred for) can't or shouldn't become an accepted variety for a breed.

[terresdebrumestories]

I really loved your coming out fic but I was just curious if you meant the Europa League (the 2nd flight of Europe, as opposed to the top flight Champions League) or the CL when you said Europe League? Or did you mean the Euros with England? Do you imagine Jamie having played for Richmond his whole career, or moving on to other top flight teams to pursue more trophies? I would love to know what his life has looked like during that time, as well as the image of Phoebe at what must be about 18!

Also, interestingly - the UK doesn't actually enter a football team in the Olympic Games. This is not meant as a critique, but it's a fascinating factor of English football that I'm not sure many people who watch the show are aware of. The UK does the Olympics, for all sports, as Team GB, so England, Wales, Scotland and NI, but FIFA treats those countries as individuals. British football has resisted the Olympics because there's big fears that if they concede to being Team GB at football in the Olympics, it'll open the door to FIFA revoking individual country status for England, Wales and so on in other competitions. When London hosted in 2012, there WAS a Team GB at football, basically because they had to represent the national sport, but it wasn't made up of major professional players, there were like three veteran players and mostly youth players. It isn't something that pro footballers are involved in, especially because it falls the same year as the Euros. Roy, in 2012, for example, wouldn't have been in the Olympics, he would have been focused on winning the Champions League with Chelsea and then playing in the Euros with England. It's just a weird thing about English football, the Olympics is not an important part of it the way it is for other sports.

Hi, and thanks for the question!

(Also thanks for bringing football knowledge my way, it will be useful as I give said coming out fic a proper round of edits xD)

So, I know barely more than nothing around football, and my sport ancestry is a family full of basketball players, where competitions go from France Championship to Europe to World Championship, as far as I can tell (they're not pro players, though two of my cousins are angling for that) and so I figured it might be similar in football... turns out, nah xD

(Also I researched this fic for a grand total of ten minutes and five of those were spent on Mancunian grammar and accent, so. There's that :P)

All this to say, thanks again: I'll be modifying some stuff in the cleaned up fic x) Now, for the rest of your questions:

While I see why people like the idea of Jamie staying with Richmond his whole career, I can't say that's something I can really picture happening.

First of all, Jamie is competitive (as all high-level athletes are) and good enough to play with/against the biggest team, which AFC Richmond is not. It's presented as a medium club for the Premier League, and this is not something that easily changes in a perennial way, I think (both because they don't have the same resources as clubs like Manchester City (or United) to help maximise their players' potential, and because the funnel effect of bigger clubs will draw a lot of aces away.)

Second, this is a job, and Jamie has been shown to be a hard worker and fairly ambitious. Eventually, as he grows better, I think what Richmond asks of him will cease to be engaging enough for his taste, especially as the team changes with our current cast retiring or going to other clubs (Sam for example seems the type who would be happy to continue progressing as well, though of course that's probably true of all the teammates)

As to where Jamie goes...I don't think I know enough about Football to make an educated guess x) I don't think he would go back to City, if only because of the bad associations that already drove him away. I think by the time he makes peace with that, he'll probably have found another club to settle in. I do like the idea of him playing with the PSG or the Olympique de Marseille, purely because I like the idea of him spending time in my country and learning my language :P

(Also, Marseille would mean he wouldn't have to be freezing all the fucking time xD)

Poetically, I could see him ending in either Chelsea (closing the circle in his paralleling of Roy) or Manchester United (if you assume he's attached to his birth city enough to want to go back there, if not with the club he thought he would.)

Ultimately, I do think in a universe where he's in a stable relationship with Roy and Roy keeps training Richmond, Jamie would want to stay close by and probably not venture beyond Spain/Northern Italy so he could stay close to his loved one, but England is the endgame I see him work towards the most. I can still give him a stint in France so I can have him insult Richard and Van Damme in their birth language from time to time.

I do think he eventually grows close to Roy's sister (whom I named Ruth because I like the headcanon of the Kents as a Jewish family to mimic Brett Goldstein) and becomes a beloved surrogate uncle for Phoebe. My headcanon is that she remains a passionate football fan and player her whole life, and maybe even briefly entertains a professional career in the US (mostly because afaik women's football isn't as well paid in Europe, could be wrong), but ultimately decides she values the sport for its connection with beloved family rather than for itself, and remains at the amateur level.

I do think she's driven enough to actually end up a wildlife veterinarian, or her artistic aptitude (she draws those boobs real good y'all) take her in a bit of a different direction. Either way, I like to headcanon her as queer in some way, also because of the fascination with breasts, though in real life this isn't necessarily indicative of anything xD

Roy stays in Richmond, I think, unless Chelsea calls and begs him to get there. Mostly because my headcanon is that he picked Richmond as a retirement club because it's close to Chelsea and his family, and I don't think he'd want to move too far away again, especially if Ruth doesn't remarry.

This is about the extent of my thoughts on the subject tbh, although I never say never to writing more in any given universe so, who knows... we'll see if inspiration strikes xD

[corbenic]

Hii, I saw your comment on cambridge-madness post about the royals storyline and I have a royal too, for the last 8 years or so, and for the first time since 2018 I’m doing major changes (for reference, I don’t have a “real” country, I made up one because I wanted to use the relation to other royal families).

With that, I started reading you posts and they are amazing, I’m at the Swedish abdication right now, but I have some questions!!

1- I have the same question as anon, on how do you organize the storyline, do you use a different way to document everything? because your story it very detailed with two monarchies (France and Sweden)…

I use google docs and google sheets (I make up some random templates to try to make sense of the all the information on the country and monarchy, but at times it gets messy). I tried to use notion but didn’t adapt well to it…

2- In regards to the royal family tree, what yours do like, I know that you use the Bonapartes as a way to explain the continuation of the monarchy, how many monarchs you have since?

And what software do you use to make the family tree (assuming you make a family tree… I used to use paint, very time consuming, now I use Libre Office (there’s a YouTube that makes royal family trees and I love it he did a tutorial on how he uses it, the page is UsefulCharts)…

3- another question (for now 🤓) You use any of the real royal families, as I notices that you have French, Swedish and Italian royals in your story

Well, thank you!! It’s nice to find someone who have royals too 😆😊

I'm glad you're enjoying the story! Thank you for reading

1 - All of the most important bits are stuck in my brain. Evie and Julien have been with me since I was sixteen. Their story has changed a lot (Julien spent several years as the heir to the fictional country of Mufrana rather than France, for example) but the key components have always stayed the same: they're in love, his family is messy, and they are going to find a way to be happy together.

Other key bits I know: how many children they're going to have, how Julien comes to the throne, what Fiona's happily ever after will look like.

Having said that... I also use a TON of other resources to keep it all straight. I have a notebook with a bunch of research on the Bonapartes and other royal families. I also have a Discord server where I dump a bunch of information. I have an enormous Scrivener file with over 100,000 words of earlier versions of this story, too! I comb through that occasionally for good lines, scenes I can adapt, or information I forgot.

I plan the site on a month-by-month basis. I comb through the real events I've compiled, decide which ones Evie and/or Julien should attend, and plot out their schedule. It's also helpful at this point to remind myself of plot points I need to continue! The list of scene ideas lives in my everyday bullet journal along with my to-do lists.

2 - I once built the Bonaparte family tree in PowerPoint, which was a nightmare. Do not recommend. The most complete version lives in (you guessed it) a story-specific notebook. I really should create a nice version for the website, though.

I can write out the family tree here, but it would overwhelm this already long response, so it'll have to be a separate post!

3 - Since Princess Imperial is alternate history, I decided to make up all the royals. It's easiest that way.

Is it a bit weird for Sweden, Denmark, Luxembourg, Monaco, UK, etc. to have different royals than the ones we know and love? Yes. But hopefully the completely fictional royal houses make it less jarring when the Egyptian, Iranian, Italian, and Russian royals appear!

[dogsliampaynedoesntinstagram]

What's Louis' chances for a UK #1 album?

I really enjoy the nerdy numbers part of the chart and I find the role that charts play in music culture really interesting. I'm not into fandom handwringing over singles charts, or wildly celebrating over itumes. But I think a lot of that comes from just not understanding how charts work and what they're measuring. So I'm going to try and unpack it a bit this bit, while answering this question about Louis' chances.

The first thing to know is that album charts are based on an artists sales or streaming numbers. Different artists, or the same artist in a different place in their recycle, will have a very different make up of streams vs sales. Some artists are all streams - Drake and 21 Savage were Number 1 on the UK charts last week with 35,000 streams, 400 downloads and no physical sales. Taylor, who was number 2, had very high physical sales the first week, but is now mostly streams.

Why does this matter? Because streams and sales have very different patterns across the week. Sales tend to be very front loaded so the figures that come out on Monday are a substantial portion of the total, whereas streams are spread out much more evenly (they might even go down on the weekend) so the Monday figures will be a much smaller amount of the total.

This happened with Walls, where Louis was number 2 in the figures released on the Monday, but ended up as number 4, because Eminem and Lewis Capaldi both did streaming numbers.

So can we expect Louis to hold onto his lead this time? We can't be sure obviously (and I'll explain some of the variables later), but one way to figure out what's likely to happen is to look at last week (for albums that are already out) or the first week of the previous album an artist released (for albums that are new this week) to figure out the trajectory to expect between Monday figures and final charts.

So for example, in 2020 Walls had 1`1,800 on Monday and ended up with 14,700 - the ratio was 1.25. If he has a similar trajectory, then he'll end up with about 26,500 on Friday.

Bruce Springsteen is also a sales artist (although this is a covers album so it's likely to perform differently from his usual albums). He's currently got 20,000, if his ratio holds he'll end up with about 27,500 on Friday.

In third place on Monday we have Taylor Swift who currently has 8,700. I've seen some posts dismissing her (even making fun of people who think she might get a number one), but that doesn't take into account her different trajectory. If her ratio remains the same she'll end up with about 27,700 on Friday.

***********

As you can see it'll probably be extremely close. While these guesses give us a good starting point it's important to remember that it's not last week - let alone 2020 and the ratios won't hold exactly. Given these numbers, I expect Louis will end up on top this week. Charts are very open to gaming and Louis and his team (not even mentioning the fanbase) are far more motivated than either Taylor or the Boss to do what needs to be done. It is definitely not ideal that he's got a broken arm, it limits what he can do personally. But the digital downloads so that they are prepared for this and are trying to jack sales. I suspect it'll work (and hope that I'm right even if I suspect there's something about this very thing in Capital - if I'd even read it).

One final bit of context - Louis had 400 digital downloads to Monday - that's across all platforms. The itunes chart measures digital downloads through that one platform - so there would have been even less than that. That's why the itunes chart is largely irrelevant. Very few people get music through digital downloads now (it's either streaming or purchasing something merch like). So the itunes charts doesn't tell you anything about the charts that people care about (or about financial viability - which is increasingly separated from the charts people care about).

There should be progress figures across the week - I'll update how things are tracking if I can and we'll see how the ratio is holding.

[absolutebl]

bl tag game

i was tagged by @foralleternityidiot​ ​ weeeeeeee...... 

1. your all time favorite bl and why?

out of 224 BLs I have only 6 that I��ve ever given 10/10. Of those, I’m going to pick 4 to rep for different BL producing countries. They are:  

Seven Days (Japan) - it is an absolutely perfect yaoi adaptation, Everything about it is flawless from casting to acting to filming to post production. It has no triggers or other issues, not even typical seme/uke concerns. It’s Japan so it could have gone very dark but it didn’t. If I had to pick the perfect rep for BL it would be Seven Days. (Here’s my pitch.)

Until We Meet Again (Thailand) - is a completely unique BL for Thailand in that is has an extremely strong story, fantastic cast, high production values, and three super solid pairs with excellent chemistry. The storytelling is so good it justifies every second of all 17 hours. It is as close to narrative gold as a BL series gets and I am still stunned.  

Color Rush (Korea) - with this one it’s because it has such a clean magical realism concept combined with Korea’s signature pristine bright brevity and using very stylized yaoi filming techniques. But at root it’s a gorgeous piece of queer allegory that I’m not sure I will ever get over, so I wrote a full analysis of it. 

We Best Love 1 & 2 (Taiwan) - it’s a fantastic example of the Taiwanese style of BL and while it has more flaws in pace, story, and character development than the others on this list, I forgive it every single one of them because there is no better chemistry than Sam & Yu, and it covers both school and workplace BL, and multiple tropes and archetypes, with very little screen time and manages to be ABSOLUTELY RIVETING. It is somehow this perfect tiny ode to the full scope of BL heritage in a way that only Taiwan could ever do. 

2. that bl that scarred you for life?

HIStory 3: Make Our Days Count. Is it actually possible to give a different answer? 

Well maybe if I saw like Boys Love first or didn’t know anything about Japanese or Chinese BL. But yeah. THE BETRAYAL. I’ve never trusted Taiwan since. It makes me doubly grateful for something like We Best Love. 

3. is there any bl that made you feel very single?

Nope. Not something I EVER suffer from. 

4. if you could change one thing from a bl, which one would it be?

Only one? Fine. 

5. that one bl you detest (don’t hold back)

Oh sure. Here have 4 picks again, one from each country. 

No Regret (Korea) - suicide 

A Round Trip to Love (China) - every trigger there is

Grey Rainbow (Thailand) - death 

Sei no Gekiyaku (Japan) - murder 

Before you ask, yes these are 1 stars and I have 17 of the suckers. Remember I’ve watched over 200 BLs, including the early ones and they really loved rape, murder, and suicide in the before times, which I DO NOT. 

6. your top five:

Oops, I already named a top 4. So how about my top 4 that come next? 

Cherry Magic (Japan)

Lovely Writer (Thailand)  

To My Star (Korea)

HIStory 2: Crossing the Line (Taiwan) 

7. that trashy bl that you lowkey like?

Make it Right, nash.

8. your favorite korean bl (it’s important we know)

Color Rush and To My Star for entirely different reasons. 

9. season 2? which one?

LOVESICK. I would not be into BL if it had only had that first season. CAN YOU IMAGINE? I quake just thinking about it. 

Best execution of a season 2? We Best Love.

Season 2 I enjoyed more than season 1? Puppy Honey 

Season 2 of my dreams? Addicted Heroin

Season 2 I am looking forward to? My Engineer I guess, I’m kind bored waiting at this point. 

10. a bunch of dramas will air soon. which ones are you most excited for?

Between Us - WHY AM I STILL WAITING? 

Bad Buddy - of course

Enchanté - old fashioned secret identity trope 

KinnPorsche - mafia 

Cutie Pie - arranged marriage

Golden Blood - bodyguard romance

11. tag them!

Please anyone play who wants to. 

[vicsdeangelis]

I love them since a little bit after X Factor and just hurts so much to see them like this.

Three things: Most people in the UK think about them as the Eurovision band who snorted coke and that's it. When you're lucky they are the "Eurovision band with that one cover" like Matty Healy called them today because he forgot their name, lmao. It's super important to have a good standing in the UK, especially for Alternative which they apparently want to be now, Rock, and even Pop. You want to make it here as well, otherwise you're fucked. They never made it here, people don't get that. For the 800 people concert they played for free in London last year for which all tickets were "gone"? They still had dozen tickets at the door and 1/3 were influencers and their friends who were just there to post a story. That's not making it in the UK. o2 is far from being sold out either. Reading & Leeds would have gotten them so much hype. Festivals are heavily broadcasted here and that would have gotten them so much attention.

Mostly their US label is to blame, would be my guess. The label boss is literally up their asses all the time when they are in the US, even though he only cares about Victoria and Damiano and made that very clear. Or they are up his but he's always around. Festivals, L.A., interviews, late night shows. He's trying to push them into the market there but I think he's not connected to reality anymore with whatever he tries to do with them. He has a lot of power, he's one of the most influential people in music. I'm not saying that, economy magazines are. Not the first ones he would ruin either. He had Avicii on another label just one example.

Fics, people aren't getting any feedback or even notes. So I've seen a lot of people giving up. If you still want to read fics you have to tell the people who write. Tell them that you like their fics, leave them a comment, reblog their stuff.

@definitelynotdamiano and one anon said the same thing about them not having really Made It yet, not only in the UK, but in europe as a whole. it seems like they have only really Made It in italy and a few other countries, maybe? but with their mini tour last year maybe they feel like they already have europe in their pockets, i guess, and that doesn't seem to be the case. it doesn't matter how you spin it (thinking about the fans vs thinking about exposure), pulling out of r&l for the vmas seems to have been the most idiotic decision ever

also thank you for the bit of insight. i have no idea who the boss at patriot is, so you could show me a picture of må with a random middle aged white guy they found on the street and say that's him and i would believe you

about the fics, you're absolutely right. i commented about how i'm going through my blog and the older fics have hundreds of notes. now you're lucky if you break 100. i myself am content with just likes tbh (i think very little of my writing ❤️), but i know reblogs mean a lot to most writers. people in general don't engage that much anymore

[pynkhues]

Hi Sophie! I’m an aspiring writer and I had a question for you!! How did you go on about finding an agent? Also how does one find job postings related to writing? (Tv, etc.) I’m very inspired by you and how talented you are!!!

Hi, anon! Thank you for your kind words, and it’s so exciting that you’re an aspiring writer! I think knowing that you want to write really is the first step on a pretty incredible journey, and it’s one that it helps have to have tools on. Knowing how to ask questions, like you did, is a great way to start building that toolkit too.

Especially because your writing toolkit will be something you build, because there’s not really one answer to either of your questions. I really mean it when I say writing and publishing is a journey, and as a part of that, the pathways people choose to take (and the pathways available to them) often vary a lot, and are impacted by so many things, from where you live to the genre and medium you write in to the networks you have access to.

I’m going to try to answer that for you as well as I can here which I hope will be a useful starting point for you, but I will be contextualizing it a bit with the fact that a) I’m in Australia, which has a bit of a different industry to many parts of the world (in no small part because we have a very small population), and b) that I worked in the industry before I started having my work published, which did give me a jump start and a pretty good network of professional and personal support.

Okay!

So let’s jump in.

Behind a cut because this got a bit long.

How did I get an agent?

Well! I was rejected by four agents before I got one, haha, so that in itself was a bit of an adventure. It meant that I was effectively my own agent for quite a while (something that’s quite normal in Australia for reasons I’ll talk about later), which meant doing everything from pitching works to teaching myself enough legal vocabulary to negotiate contracts (not my strong suit honestly, haha).

The first two agents I ever spoke to were both agents that weren’t open for unsolicited submissions. This is an important term in the industry, because what that means is that they’re not reading any new writers who:

they didn’t invite to submit (usually this would be after you’d won a prize, or they’d read your short story or essay in a journal or magazine, loved it and got in touch)

didn’t come recommended by colleagues; or

didn’t come through their existing networks.

Does that mean you can’t get your work in front of them? It doesn’t actually. Usually when agents aren’t open for unsolicited submissions, they’ll still be interested in work. It just usually means they don’t have the time for a massive slush pile. What they frequently do in these instances instead is that they’ll attend conferences, festivals, workshops or events and do pitching sessions a couple of times a year. That usually looks like you booking a five, ten or fifteen minute window, generally for free (be cautious if they’re charging extra on top of your event ticket) and doing a verbal pitch of your project.

I’ve done a lot of these at various events in various contexts (it’s always hell, haha), but only twice to agents. Once was at the CYA Conference in Brisbane (which is a charged pitch but the money’s a donation towards the Children’s Book Council), where I pitched a YA manuscript I’ve since put in my bottom-drawer, and Emerging Writers Festival in Melbourne, where I pitched The Rabbits, which is my novel which came out in July with Penguin Australia.

Those pitching sessions went just okay. Both liked my pitches, but the agent at CYA had a full stable of YA authors and was more looking for middle-grade fiction, which meant my story skewed too old. She gave me her card if I ever wrote for a younger audience, but otherwise declined to invite me to submit. Again, this is frequently actually why an agent might be closed to submissions or they might reject your work even if they like it – they're just at capacity with what you're pitching.

The one at EWF went better and I was invited to submit my complete manuscript, but she told me that while she thought I was a good writer, she didn’t personally like my writing style and therefore didn’t think she could sell it. She did actually invite me to submit something else if I had something more commercial, but I really figured that if she didn’t like my writing style, she probably wasn’t going to like whatever else I sent her, so I ended up declining because I thought it would be a waste of both our time.

The other two agents I submit to were both open for unsolicited submissions so I didn’t have to go through events. In both cases, I did cold submissions, which just means we’d never spoken before, so when you do that you need to put together a query packet because - - well. They don’t know who you are, haha. All publishers and agents have different requirements for their query packet and these should be listed on their website (if they’re not, feel really empowered to email and ask – in all of my industry experience, they have always infinitely preferred you doing that to guessing. It shows you know the etiquette and want to get it right).

Generally speaking though, what you're looking at pulling together for a packet is usually:

A cover letter explaining who you are, why you’re interested in them being your agent (being familiar with who else they represent is a good thing to highlight), and what story you’re selling them on.

A one-page synopsis of your manuscript.

A writing CV if you have one, or another relevant CV (i.e. if you're pitching a non-fiction book on being a nurse in the pandemic, attaching your nursing CV so they can see you're legitimate is important).

And usually either the first 50 pages or the first three chapters of your novel.

You generally email that to them, it goes into a slush pile, and they’ll read through it when they get the chance. I got a personalized rejection from one, which is pretty lovely (getting a personal rejection instead of one that’s clearly an email template from agents, editors and publishers might sound silly, but they’re actually pretty significant. These are people who get thousands of manuscripts a year, and taking the time to write a reply usually means your work resonated enough that they want to give you that encouragement even if the answer’s still no), and the other, I never heard back from, and my follow up email was ignored. Less lovely, haha, but unfortunately not uncommon.

So yeah, I took a bit of a break from seeking out an agent then, which I could do in Australia. One of the benefits of having a small industry here is that there’s a very limited number of agents (we’re talking literally about 25), which means submissions outside of agents and agencies are pretty normal. My understanding in the US and the UK is that you’re not really going to get a look-in without an agent, but in Australia you can submit direct, having an agent just makes it a lot easier.

So I didn’t have an agent when I actually got offered my book deal. I’d submit The Rabbits to a few different publishers, it had been rejected already by a couple and was still in the slush pile at one when I submit it to the Penguin Literary Prize. It won (yay!), Penguin offered me a book deal, and when the news broke in industry news, I was approached by six different agents, including, hilariously, the agent who said she didn’t like my writing style, haha.

I ended up talking to a few of them, but I went with a fairly new agent who I’d known through industry work, and I went with her because she had a really strong legal background which is what I was personally interested in.

Because that’s an important thing to consider too.

Why do you want an agent?

I actually knew that I didn’t really need an agent to sell my work. I’d been doing that for ten years already, I have over twenty short stories and a novella published, I’d sold my book, and I’d sold the rights to a screenplay already on my own, so the ability for an agent to sell work wasn’t so important to me. What was important to me was having someone who had a background in publishing law (my agent actually worked in the rights team in-house at a top five publisher before she became an agent), and understood rights management particularly in digital rights and international rights, because it makes my head spin, haha.

So that’s why I went with her!

But how do you find agents?

You didn’t ask this question exactly, but I think this is a very relevant question. There are databases of agents and publishers out there – Duotrope is probably the best known and I know people rave about it. One of the things that’s useful about it is that it’ll do a bit of a breakdown listing what genres the agent reads, if they’re currently open to unsolicited submissions, and their requirements. Take a look at Ginger Clark’s page for example (she’s not my agent – she’s American for starters, haha – but I have worked with her before and she’s a gem. Her most famous client is probably Ursula K. Le Guin, but she reps tons of other people too).

So yeah! Duotrope’s really useful. It has free info but also a paywall for certain things, and I personally find it kinda difficult to navigate?

I'd actually instead just recommend you take a look at writers you like and admire, especially ones who write similar genres to you, and just Google who their agent is. They all have websites, so they’re a lot easier to find these days than they were. 😊

How do you find job postings related to writing?

This is a tricky one, anon, as it depends on what sort of jobs you’re looking at. If you’re looking for copywriting opportunities, outlets for articles, short stories, poetry or essays, publishers who are posting open calls for manuscripts, or even cultural production jobs, those are all pretty different things. SO! I’m going to answer this one a little more broadly.

Writers Centres are your friends. Full disclaimer, I worked at one for five and a half years, and have been a member of Writers Victoria since I moved to Melbourne. They’re incredible resources for not only opportunities, but workshops, pitching, professional and creative development, community, networking and advice. They literally exist to help you achieve your goals.

- Writers Victoria maintains a free calendar of Opportunities and Competitions, but publishes more in their quarterly magazine which is a member perk. They’ll also often share job opportunities through their social media channels. I also still get the free e-news for Queensland Writers Centre and Writing NSW too because sometimes they share different stuff.

- I’ve heard Gotham Writers in New York is good too if you’re in America, but really I’d just suggest googling where you live and writers centre and seeing what comes up!

- Similarly festivals. I’ve worked at Brisbane Writers Festival and National Young Writers Festival here in Australia (the latter’s on online right now if you want to check out their free program!) Sign up to your local festival’s e-news, follow them on social media, they’ll usually share stuff.

- Speaking of! Social media! Haha. Twitter is often good for sharing jobs, competitions and opportunities, but I find it can be a bit of a cesspool too where people bombard the hashtags with self-promotion, so approach with caution. I find Facebook groups are way better for it personally, especially as there are a lot of specialized groups that are focused in certain or on certain writers. I know there’s lots for BIPOC writers for instance, I’m personally in a few and recommend:

Binders Full of WRITING JOBS

Binger Full of Copywriters

Style Binders – Writers in Fashion, Lifestyle and Beauty

Binder Full of Editors Seeking their Freelance Writers and Vice Versa

If you’re in Australia though, I’d especially recommend:

Women in Arts Management Collective (particularly if you’re interested in cultural production work)

Film and TV Networking Australia

Melbourne Women in Film

Writers Victoria Members

Australian Binder Full of Women Writers

Australian Arts Amidst COVID-19

Young Australian Writers

I think most of these are searchable, so just have a look, but also google your city or state + writer and see what pops up.

Otherwise, as much as it sucks to say it, a lot of the industry is who you know, so try and find ways to connect and meet with people and forge your own little community. Go to events – festivals, book launches, book clubs, join Facebook groups and in particular, if there are journals or magazines that are made in your local area, go to their launches and the events they run, no matter how big or small, and just chat to people there. As you get more established, you can be more discerning about what you go to, but when you're starting out, these are powderkegs of community and connection, and they breed suppport and, if you find the right people, you'll grow and develop together too.

Being a writer can often be pretty lonely, but being a part of supportive industry really makes all the difference, and as an old mentor of mine said – creative karma is real. You support the people coming up around you, and you’ll not only be creating a better, more inclusive and welcoming industry, but an industry that supports you right back. 😊

[c-mxian]

Shangri La no Tori Drama CD Limited Edition Booklet: Interview with Zariya

Please tell us how you started working on The Birds of Shangri La (Shangri La no Tori).

At first, the plan was to release it as a one shot under a different publisher, but things didn't quite work out (my manuscript ended up getting rejected at one point). I still really wanted to work on this story and Purantan contacted me just around that time. I remember showing the person in charge at first what kind of story I wanted to create and receiving their approval right then. That’s how the story eventually came to life.

I intended for the story and setting to be darker at first, with a somewhat “SM chic” vibe to it, but it’s completely different from the actual story now though of course (laughs). I initially planned to wrap the story up as a one shot, but I realized it would be necessary to do a serialization in order to better tell the story.

 Which elements remained the same in the initial draft and the story now?

The dynamic between the two main characters: a prostitute uke and a seme who takes care of him. I wanted to illustrate a situation where the seme is in charge of taking care of and arousing the prostitute uke only to have to pass him onto a customer in the end! As they grow closer, the uke would end up wanting to be held by the seme and not his customers. I thought the story would become very sad that way. On a lighter note, I really love it when a quiet and reserved seme gets troubled by a more active and straightforward uke. It’s the kind of combination I like the most and I’m able to draw that out as freely as I want in The Birds of Shangri La.

 Please share with us the scenes or lines that left the deepest impression on you in volume 1 of The Birds of Shangri La.

The last scene from chapter one. There are three rules that cannot be broken at Shangri La (“Do not let the birds come”, “Do not have intercourse, “Do not fall in love”), but I didn’t intend to include the last one at first. As I was working on the plot, I felt like something was missing with just the first two rules so I added the third one.

For this scene, I imagined a beautiful world accentuated with the scenery of the sea and sunset and a tone that marks this scene as the start of the actual story. With a lovely setting like this, I felt the romantic mood would be completely lost if I was too pragmatic with my choice in words for the dialogue. Although the story takes place in a brothel, I envisioned it to be one about pure love so I felt the inclusion of the third rule was necessary. I’m quite satisfied with the ambience even though I was supposed to reveal the rule later (laughs).

Despite being a last addition, the third rule is the most important one. I was able to portray what kind of story Shangri La would be from that point on and the readers were able to get an idea of that as well. The inclusion of the rule, “Don’t fall in love”, also adds a very nice lingering ambience to the story so I’m glad I included it. It’s definitely a line that leaves a very deep impression.

 The combination of your beautiful illustrations and balance of emotional language is one of the key elements that always leaves readers highly anticipating the next chapter. Please tell us how you came up with the characters in Shangri La no Tori.

 First off, I came up with the characterizations for Phi and Apollo at the same time since I already had a clear idea that the story would revolve around the relationship between a prostitute and the person who takes care of him. Next is the owner who is a very important character in the story, so important I’d even consider him the third main character. After that is Douglas, Apollo’s lawyer. He’s an essential character who is able to read Apollo, a man of few words. Contrastingly, I then created Carna as a companion who is able to speak on behalf of Phi. Phi may not be as reticent as Apollo, but he does not say much about the things that matter about himself.

 Please share with us anything about the other characters in the story as well.

I have so many things I want to share! As a manga artist, I don’t have many opportunities to talk with other people so I’m really happy for this opportunity.

When I come up with a character, I first consider what kind of role they will play in the story. I created Marco as the character who would help guide Apollo through Shangri La, a place unlike any he has ever been to. Marco is somewhat like a link between the world Apollo has known before and the new one he has stepped into.

Then there’s Sheth who I created because I wanted to have a character who had a vibe most similar to that of a stud. I wondered whether I should’ve made him more playful, but I felt it would be more appropriate to make his personality more relaxed and professional-like since Shangri La is a place akin to that of a high class salon. When he talks with Apollo, you can tell he’s just a normal guy and not loose as many may think. He’s a professional who takes his job seriously.

Carna may be a prostitute, but he is the bravest character in the story. In contrast to his small stature, his mentality is strong. I imagined him to be like a brother to Phi, someone who understands Phi well and stays by his side when he is not emotionally stable.

 So the recording just finished up a moment ago. What are your thoughts after listening to it in the booth?

The impression I always had of Shangri La no Tori when I drew the story is that it constantly carries a calm tone with little variation in intonation. When I listened to the recording, the balance was so nice and the mood livelier than I thought. Many of the scenes with Phi and Apollo are adult scenes, but there are also scenes like where Patrick and the other birds are livelily having a good time. While everyone is enjoying their peaceful daily life, the mood suddenly becomes tense when Phi loses his temper and starts acting violently. It was refreshing to see how a slight change in the sound can shift the tension of a scene and add emotional variety to the story. Since the story takes place in the southern region of the world, I was afraid it would be too laid-back and eventually become dull, but I guess I didn’t have to worry about this!

 What did you think of the characters’ voices?

I’m really thankful because the cast is absolutely amazing. Mr. Nakashima, the voice actor for Phi, is really amazing at expressing the various different sides of Phi: his sexy and mischievous side, his innocent and naïve side, as well as the side of him when he loses his temper. It really felt like Phi was alive.

As for Mr. Matsuoka, he did a wonderful job in portraying Apollo’s open-minded side. As a top, Apollo hasn’t quite “bloomed” yet and his potential is still hidden. Mr. Matsuoka added a wonderful layer of sexiness to that aspect of Apollo. When Apollo first arrives at Shangri La, he is taken aback by this completely new world he has stepped into, but he is able to get a hold of himself and stand ready for what’s to come. I could really feel how broad-minded and deep of a person he was and am really excited to see how the changes he will go through will be portrayed.

Aside from Phi and Apollo, the owner, Marco, Douglas, Raymond, and everyone else…the rest of the cast was absolutely amazing! I would love to share my thoughts on each individual character, but I’ll have to leave that for another time as there is a limited number of pages for this booklet. I have already shared my thoughts on twitter though so please check them out!

Each of the cast members’ voices fit each character so well, but I was really touched that even without clearly expressing their characters through their lines, they really gave life to the characters with their acting. There are certain things I can’t fully portray in the manga so I was really happy to see all those nuances come to life in the drama CD.

 Aside from the love scenes, there are many scenes of everyday life too.

In a BL, the two main characters’ relationship is the most important thing, but depicting Shangri La as “a place with a pleasant atmosphere” was also equally important to me. Shangri La is a “paradise” where only those who have been chosen by its respectable owner can enter. Even though Shangri La is a brothel, it’s a place where one can heal both their mind and heart, as Raymond has said. I was very satisfied with how the drama CD cast was able to portray Shangri La.

 What were your impressions when you heard the drama CD itself?

Out of all my works, I have always thought that The Birds of Shangri La would be the most difficult one to turn into a drama CD due to the lack of dialogue in many scenes. I added in some lines because I was concerned certain things wouldn’t get across without any dialogue.

Despite my initial concerns, it was fun to think of the sound effects and background sounds as a kind of music. When drawing the manga, I could only portray the sounds of the sea and the leaves rustling in the southern region with sound effects (sfx) even though I could picture them clearly in my head. All these sounds come to life in the drama CD. After realizing how big of an effect these sounds have, I regretted not thinking out the interior of the rooms and the miscellaneous things in them more thoroughly. For example, the sound of shell decorations dangling by a window whenever the wind flows can add an extra layer to the atmosphere of a scene.

I can say the same for the music as well. In the beginning when Marco comes to pick Apollo from the port, I imagined reggae music playing in the background, but I could only indicate this with a music note symbol. Shangri La already has a feeling of otherworldliness to it. If I added Gamelan music, I felt the setting would become disconnected from reality so I requested reggae music instead for the drama CD. The drama CD brings Shangri La to life in a way that illustrations and words can’t. I hope you can enjoy the differences between listening to the drama CD and reading the manga.

 Lastly, please give the readers of this special booklet a final message!

To be honest, I was very concerned about the lack of an H scene between Phi and Apollo in the first volume and whether the readers who look forward to this scene would find the drama CD lacking. As I listened to the recording, I started feeling differently. Aside from Phi and Apollo, the characters living in Shangri La and the region surrounding it all give life to the drama CD and the cast did a wonderful job at realistically depicting the lives of these characters. Even if Phi and Apollo don���t go all the way, I think many people will be able to enjoy this drama CD. I hope everyone will treasure the various characters that appear along the way while experiencing both pain and joy as Phi and Apollo’s feelings for each other begin to bloom. I will try my best to create a story that will not disappoint you so I hope you can follow me until the end!

Thank you very much!

[aboutlouishofmann]

White Lies Magazine Interview with Louis Hofmann

How long are you in England for? I'm currently staying for six weeks, but I've already been here for five and a half so I'm only here for a couple more days before heading back to Germany for rehearsals for my next film.

Really, or did they kick you out because of Brexit ? 

No they didn't (laughs) - and luckily there are no real changes until December so I can get in and out without a problem. I'm not exactly sure what will change for Germans anyway, if there are new regulations or if it will be the same in terms of travelling. It's gonna be really crappy for basically everyone leaving the UK - if you consider that someone who has a band for example and plays a tour around Europe will need to pay or be passport-controlled with their equipment every time they cross borders. It might not matter for a big band like Coldplay but small bands will have a lot of trouble with that.

Actually Coldplay has suspended their tours until they can find a way to make them sustainable.

I know and I think that is amazing! 

How are you with environmentalism, are you active? 

I wish I was more active to be honest, because I have a platform on Instagram which I could use a bit more - I'm just always quite scared when it comes to posting because I know that so many people then talk about it and judge me for what I have posted. l don't have an issue with taking a political side on an I think fairly easy topic to take sides on when it comes to the environment. But then again it's this general thing of posting something and l know 400.000 people will look at it or make up their mind about it - have an opinion and voice it. It's just something that scares me, so that is holding me back a bit but I'm trying a bit more. 

Understood. But isn't it the same with doing a movie or starring in a TV series, you put it out there and everyone is going to judge you ? Even more people than just your followers as a matter of fact.

Of course. But that's my job. That's what I love to do, that's what I've chosen to do. I have not chosen to be someone who is followed by 400.000 people on Instagram, that sort of just happened. 

It's a side effect. 

It is and I am grateful for it but it also scares me (laughs). 

That makes sense. But do you even realise how famous you are? I remember I walked into someone's house in Korea last year and they were watching "Dark" that very moment, all fans of yours. 

I don't think I get it. No, I don't quite get it. When I talk to casting directors about my value on the English language market they will eventually tell me that it's not as profound as they want it to be to play a main role in an English language feature film. You have to separate between being known from something and being so known for quality that you have international value - having sort of a critical acclaim and value in different countries. I don't think I'm there yet and would only consider myself famous, which is already weird to discuss and acknowledge out loud. For now, to be fair, I'm just the guy from "Dark". 

It did reach a bit of an iconic status though, also your character. Everyone is going to remember you for that yellow raincoat.

I hope they won't only remember me for only that (laughs). 

Do you wear a yellow raincoat in private ?

No, there is no opportunity for me anymore to wear a yellow raincoat. It's not possible. But let's get back once more to environmentalism. One thing is stating your opinion on social media but the other thing is when it comes to acting myself, to change my daily life to help the environment. I would say I'm quite conscious about it and avoid flying and consuming local produce. Focus on quality and try to not waste products. 

Who is inspiring you?

Leonardo Dicaprio for example. But I don't know if he necessarily acts himself that way, but he does something about speaking out about it - using his figure and position as an activist to talk about it. I quite like that.

He is doing one thing I could personally not do however. Speaking out for something and then doing the opposite in his private life. And that judgement is what I'm afraid of. I'm afraid of getting perceived as a hypocrite. But then again being perceived as that in terms of climate change doesn't really help because it needs to be spoken about and maybe you do not do as much as you talk about it. But at least you raise awareness and take even just a small part.

I absolutely agree. I think we need to re-think that whole concept of hypocrisy in this thing because if he reaches a couple of million people and they are changing something about it - even if he is doing the opposite - he is still doing a lot of good with it. Even though he is a hypocrite I think we need to redefine what it means - at the end of the day we will all be hypocrites because no one is really going to be able to live completely sustainably, we can't think in those absolute terms too much. Everyone needs to start with one thing - picking their battles. Focus on plastic for example, we may get better at disposing of it while still being bad in terms of traveling for example, but that is okay, we can only do one thing at a time. 

Don't you think it's crazy that in relation to something like the coronavirus pandemic, pressing and tangible as it affects us now - everybody is afraid, everyone acts, the government acts and everyone is doing their part. Then there is climate change which is more intangible because it's still far away and people don't really care about it - I think this is a problem. Why only act about something that only affects yourself? It's quite selfish and stands for a lot more than only this. 

That's it. We went really deep pretty quick didn't we? The most pressing question however is - how often do you cry watching movies ? 

I do like to cry when I watch films, because I think I'm quite empathetic so I can relate to the characters a lot. I don't often do it but I really do not mind - it means I'm involved in the story. I like crying in movies. Therefore I know it has touched me somehow.

I have a weird relationship to crying in movies, I like doing it but there is a certain place where I cry much more easily - on planes. It's quite strange actually but I get very emotional when I'm up in the air.

That's good, I guess? Have you seen the film "Click"? It's not the greatest film out there, it's with Adam Sandler. But there is a scene in the end where he (spoiler alert) dies. There is a remote with which he can forward his life and he fasts forward to the moment when he dies. It's very dramatic, tragic - almost pathetic and still I started crying because I imagined that happening to me and felt so sad (laughs). 

This is going to be the headline: Louis Hofmann, the guy who cries at Adam Sandler movies.

I can imagine you being the guy who would make a head- line like this. 

Have you ever died in a movie?

[START OF SPOILER]

Yes, I've died in "Alone in Berlin" and also in "Prélude", where my character hangs himself in the end. 

How was that for you?

I was not very attached to myself at that moment. I mean eventually it gets cut out. So the moment I actually die they cut off and it turns black. I still enacted the scenes but it was weird, it was more of a physical thing than an emotional one when I acted it. It's just sometimes with very physical scenes - the dynamic approach and action can be so mentally and intellectually exhausting that there is not much room left for emotional attachment. It didn't feel I was dying myself. It did hurt though, I had the rope around my neck.

[END OF SPOILER]

Good one. Do you believe in fairytales?

No I don't. But I do like "Bojack Horseman" though because it seems so dumb first but turns so philosophical. 

In general, what is happiness to you?

I don't know what it means to me but I know when l feel happy - that's when I'm grounded, when I'm self-assured and when I feel like I'm really being myself. When I reach that state I feel happiness. Sharing that happiness with someone is what's most important. Happiness is truly being yourself.

Very profound answer. How is your work- life balance, are you always working?

I think it's quite okay. The only thing I kind of need to improve is that - when I work I work 100% and I tend to think about the year in little phases. I work then I'm free, then I work then I'm free. And I always only take really care of myself in the times when I have spare time. When I work my health and my hobbies - I just do not look at that. It's all about the work. I want to get somewhere where I can balance those things better.

The thing I really wanted to touch base with you on was the future of movies. We are talking about technology, virtual reality, 3D. Would you like to do some work in 3D?

I would only like to do something in 3D if the new technology elevates the film to another level and makes sense story-wise. I'm not a fan of it only if it looks good. If it helps the story to evolve into something bigger then it's okay. I'm an admirer of that old cinema look, of that really organic taste of a film. I don't know if I would like to act in a VR film. What I don't like about new technologies is that the acting itself and the characters and craft are kind-of left behind. In the foreground it's only the technique, the focus is too much on the visual aspects rather than the screencraft.

I totally understand what you're saying - but if you think about it this way now - people probably said the same thing about colour films in times of black/white films because colours took away the attention from the acting. I think it's about what we are used to. If we say in a couple of years it's normal to consume everything in 3D and VR, do we still think about that?

I mean it surely is incredible what they have achieved and still continue to achieve with 3D and VR. Remarkable how they portray an illusion and tell a story in such a unique and involving way. I'm just always afraid that if you want to tell a character based story with that technique, the characters and the acting will be left behind due to the sheer amount of attention the technical stuff needs from the cast and the team. But of course it's fascinating and intriguing. And since we sort of got used to seeing films in 3D, maybe that's also gonna happen to VR.

How do you think we will consume movies and series in 20 years or how does acting actually change? Looking at "Death Stranding", a video game by Hideo Koji-ma that stars an impressive cast with Mads Mikkelsen, Lea Seydoux and Norman Reedus, to name but a few. They are in this game as actors through 3D scanning. Imagine this fast-forwarded 20 years.

I really hope that traditional acting doesn't die. I don't know - in 30 years I'll probably think differently but right now I think you can not replace something natural with something computer-generated. If the technology evolves, maybe it will be possible.

Anyway, how does it feel like to see yourself in a sex scene?

(laughs) I've always said I separate myself from the character when I watch my films. It's the character who gets naked and has sex, it's not me. It's just when you are around people who you know personally, it might get awkward, for example with my mom. You just have to evaluate if nudity and sex is necessary for the story and the character - if it is, it's not tough to watch.

It's a powerful meditation on how to detach yourself from something, isn't it?

For sure, it doesn't always work though.

[chemicalarospec]

A Look At Dan’s Recent Branding

AKA I Make Up a Bunch of Stuff About Media and Perception and Promotion and Branding and Say the Same Things Over and Over

I’m so sorry this is actually horrendously long. I’m a loquacious a$$hole.

So I started rambling in the tags of this post began thinking about Dan’s  presence recently. The reason so many of us fell for the red chairing was because it actually seemed possible -- perhaps not a proper joint video, but a cameo or side role.

Now that the video’s out, I can see it has very strong Solo Phil vibes, but I can still imagine a few different ways Dan could have been in it if he wanted to be. (Side note: It also feels like a run-of-the-mill, everyday, video, though seasonal, and not a festive special, despite the content. idk, I blame it on the lack of decoration and boring grey wall. cue clowning for more spoopy content though.) Dan is not in the video, so he must not have wanted to be in it. Why? 

Before I talk more, let’s just talk about “branding” for a bit. I use it interchangeably with “image”/”public image”/”public persona”/”common connotations”/”associations” here (kinda wrongly), but I default to “branding” because it’s what the phandom (possibly even Dan and Phil themselves?) use the most frequently -- “image” is perhaps the best-fitting term. Regardless, in a very general example, if Stephen King wrote a fluffy teenage romance book, it would be “off-brand” for him. That’s what we’re talking about here. Except with Dan and smaller differences.

It’s also worth noting that Dan and Phil were not always Dan-and-Phil -- I remember seeing an early liveshow clip where Dan says they’re not a double act. I’m pretty sure the radio show in 2013/early 2014 followed by the launch of the gaming channel in 2014 is when they became a “double act” --  the BBC absolutely billed them as such. 

You can see what I’m getting at here: Dan is trying to drop the “and Phil” in a softer way than he dropped the “isnotonfire” back in 2017. However, it’s definitely worth noting that he had already distanced himself quite a bit from it before the official name change, with first the shorter fringe and then the curls being a visual representation of that. And it’s probably just a mental thing on my part, but curly Dan now looks different from curly Dan-with-Phil.

Okay so first, why is he trying to change his image? Like his first evolution, a major component is being more mature -- llamas and malteasers didn’t simply not represent Dan anymore, they represented a younger, less mature Dan. He didn’t like it anymore. Does Dan not like who we view him as now? My first instinct is “no,” because his current connotations are fairly empty, but I don’t really know, so I’ll just move on.

What do we associate with Dan right now? i. e. what’s “on brand” for him? Well, again, there’s not a lot of strong specifics, at least for me. After two years for being nearly absent from the internet and very clearly growing a lot as a person, Daniel hasn’t talked enough for there to be only the basics left: tall, British, memes, and gay.

Okay, but the gay. Dan and Phil have been out for one year, but being part of The Gays is a pretty big part of their branding. This is because of their already long-standing reputation, more specifically their attachments to the community -- all those teenage girls turning out to be lesbians and, of course, the shipping.

The Gay is also an answer to the next question: What different aspects of his image is he pushing? Again, that he’s more mature and serious -- the UN talk, for example. I’m not counting the book here because that’s the product of the changes, not content being used to create a shift.

The big thing I want to focus on is the attitude video series. I’m very curious as to how this came about to be and don’t know enough details to say some things, but one thing I can note is that the plug for You Will Get Through This Night is a really small part of it. It’s literally the last thing he says, and they don’t even show the cover. It’s so skippable, and while it’s good that means they all really care about the important content of the series, it does create some questions.

To be honest, all of the attitude/This Night content is kind of strange to me. For example, the quote they used to promote it doesn’t mention the book, which just looks bad. This Night isn’t really the center of the collab -- it’s more general mental health awareness and activism.

So that’s the first thing Dan’s trying to put into his image. The podcast (Get Britain Talking or something like that) is, I feel, more directly part of marketing This Night, though of course, like with the video series, the content itself is emphasized and important and I should treat it as such.

Back to attitude. attitude is “the UK’s best selling gay magazine.” Why is Dan trying to build connotations to things he already is? No, but actually this gives insight on how he’s trying to be perceived: he’s a confident gay man. This magazine with its connotations (formal media, queer, well-established) will come up should someone new search up Dan -- obviously that’s not the direct reason; it’s a representation of his public image. 

Why is he trying to create this image? Right now, us in the phandom are probably 90% of the people tuned into Daniel’s actions. We’ve already built up a lot about him, and though we don’t want to admit it, we do like Dan-and-Phil, the double act. Overall, I do think Dan will not change our image of him as much as he’d like, but he has changed it more than we might think -- for example, people talking about how “mature” and “grown-up” he is in new photos. 

I think I’m just stupid, but these pushes don’t seem to be needed for You Will Get Through This Night. Okay so the problem here is “how do you get people to buy a book?” An author’s broader public persona doesn’t really impact this. I’m not going to hear about a mental health book written by an ex-Youtuber and search up the author. I’m not going to hear about a mental health book written by an ex-Youtuber in my normal book searching, period.

You know where I could see myself finding out about a book like this, and what would get people to buy the book? Doing mainstream interviews specifically about it; I’ll read TIME interviews with anyone, so long as it seems mildly interesting. But Dan’s not doing that, not a lot, not yet. (I bet he will later.)

I guess what I’m saying is the attitude video series is periphery media that impacts his branding but does not reach a large audience; it’s impact is atmospheric, not promotional.

(Dude it’s 10:30 at this point I’m not sure what I’m saying.) (also I rearranged these paragraphs sorry if it reads poorly)

Dan is a private person. He has made this extensively clear throughout the years and in the most recent content. What this means is I don’t believe he wants to update his branding just for the sake of accuracy to self.

So it’s (partially) for something else, but the public framing clearly goes beyond This Night. The obvious answer is that Dan’s just trying to return to the public eye, but then I still ask why???

The attitude series is not an end goal -- i. e. it is a building block for something. I mean, I just don’t think Dan’s like “yeah I want to create content again and this is the content I want to create,” simply because it started out seeming like an extension of the interview and now it’s clearly more than that, but it’s still like, for the magazine. It’s not his.

So what’s Dan going to do with this status of being a queer content creater and mental health advocate he’s curating? So remember how there’s a 99% chance he’s doing something w/ television but there’s been no official announcement? Yeah, that. 

I had a few paragraphs talking about book-adjacent media (interviews, reviews, ect.) vs television-adjacent media but all of it was me 100% making stuff up so it’s gone now. Basically, I *think* if he were to make a show, fiction or non-fiction, people would search him up and write a small description of him, and I *think* this is less likely for You Will Get Through This Night, so I *think* this reputation-building is in preparation of the former, not the latter.

Isabelle, you spent over an hour on this, do you actually have anything interesting to say?

Freaking *waves hands* promotional-- social dynamics-- what the heck actually is branding at this point-- Dan show.

TL;DR: It might just be the French in me (or just *my* French relatives?), but life is manipulation and Dan is trying to drop “and Phil” from his name and is manipulating his public image to be more mature, with a focus on being one of The Gays and a mental health advocate. Because it’s not vibin’ as This Night promotion/set-up, it is likely setup for promotion for another project, probably the TV one.

TL;DR 2: Just read the tags on the original post I literally didn’t have to say any of this except for “television theory”.

[dailyaudiobible]

03/01/2021 DAB Transcript

Leviticus 24:1-25:46, Mark 10:13-31, Psalms 44:9-26, Proverbs 10:20-21

Today is the 1st day of March welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian it is wonderful to be here with you today as we greet a brand-new month, the third month of the year. It really does feel like we just began the journey, I don't know, maybe a couple weeks ago, but here we are. We’ve already moved through two full months of this year together and two full months moving through the Scriptures together. We’ve covered some significant territory in the Bible and what we’re gonna do is put one foot in front of the other and take all of the steps through this month and just keep going and we will accomplish the entire Bible this year. But let’s…let’s just mark where we are beginning this month. And we invite God to speak to us through the Scriptures, through the power of the Holy Spirit, guiding us and leading us into all truth as we navigate the month of March. And obviously, we…we pick up right where we left off, which is what we'll do today. And, so, let’s dive ion. We’re reading from the Amplified Bible this week. Leviticus chapter 24 verse 1 through 25 verse 46.

Commentary:

Okay. So, in the Gospel of Mark children are approaching Jesus, or parents are bringing children for a blessing from Jesus and the disciples or can like shooing them all away. Like…like…like these kids can't be bothering the master while the master is about the business of revealing God's kingdom. And it's funny because it’s…it's really easy…it's really easy to have that kind of opinion in general. In like the adult world this is what's really going on, this is what has consequence and, you know, childish things, there's nothing to glean from that. We were all children once and we grew out of that. But that's not…that's like not at all Jesus approach. So, then we could say then that that's not at all God's approach. Jesus wanted the kids to come to Him. And my goodness, if we think about it…it…do we not want our children at the feet of Jesus? But are we blocking them by the story of our lives are telling? Like are we too preoccupied in the grown-up world to ignore the fact that we are not just instilling wisdom and training up our children but that there is plenty for us to learn from them if we would pay attention. I think of my son, Ezekiel, who has started to read Daily Audio Bible kids this year. And I was sitting in with him on Daily Audio Bible kids I guess like, I don't know, three weeks ago, four weeks ago, I can't remember, but we passed by this story I believe in the book of Matthew and I was listening to him read the story and just looking at him…and I have had these thoughts before but this was like so stark it was happening in real time, I’m just looking at him realizing, “buddy, you know, way more than I thought you did. You've picked up way more along the way, along the story of your life. You are more intuitive than I…than I knew. Like your simplicity in your purity isn't naïveté, it's…it's not ignorance, it's just simple.” And just having conversations with him since then I realize he has a very simple trusting understanding of God's kingdom and Jesus love for him. And certainly, Jill and I have instilled this. Like, certainly we have of provided this backdrop for him. This is our lives. This is what we believe, and this is what we are teaching our children, this is what we’re trying to live into, but just to understand it's not all lost. He understands a lot and he has connected a lot of dots and I have a lot to learn. I think that may be more true to a posture of what Jesus is talking about today when He says, “to the kingdom of God…the kingdom of heaven belongs to those who are like these little children.” In God's kingdom the faith of a child matters. And if we think about it, we would understand why. We are God's children. And we understand that if we’re like a loving parent, if we’ve been intentional in…in care about our children, they know that; they trust in that; they rest in that; that is solid for them; they trust us and they believe that anything is possible. They believe in God's presence with such a purity and simplicity that there is a lot for us to learn there. So, maybe we should understand that the teaching, the learning is mutual and that we’re not just the disciplinarian to try to pattern a child's life to make our lives easier. Like, our parenting role isn't just to mold our children so that they can stay out of our hair. If we do that then we’re missing the lesson they are teaching, the lesson that we need to know, the lesson that the kingdom of heaven belongs to those who are like children.

Prayer:

Father we come into that. On so many levels it touches us because nobody judges us harder than we judge ourselves usually. Usually, we are more difficult to be with inside of ourselves than anywhere else and that just gets projected out into the world with the different kind of convictions and judgments that we have. But there is a simplicity and purity underneath it all. And we can try to dismantle faith to such a degree that we understand all the component parts, but that's just not gonna work. Faith is beyond our control. And, so, looking at the quiet acceptance, exuberance, excitement of a child greeting the new day, believing that there is a God watching over them…O that sounds…that sounds like how You made us to live. And why we’re not becomes a mystery. Come Holy Spirit and allow us to begin to see what life could look like if we understood that we were Your children and that that is what we need to be and that we can trust You in all things. Come Jesus we pray. In Your precious name we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base, it’s the website, it’s where you find out what's going on around here. And stay tuned and stay connected. Of course, if you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app you can access all these things as well.

For example, the Community section of the website or app, that's where the Prayer Wall is. That's where we are continually praying for one another and asking prayer of each other. That’s one of the places that…well…it’s one of the ways in which we love each other, we pray for each other, we shoulder each other's burdens. And, so, being aware of the Prayer Wall is always very important. It’s always there anytime, day or night.

Also, there in the Community section are the different links to different social media channels that we’re on. It's good to follow along and get the announcements anytime that I we need to let you know something or whatever. It's a good idea to be familiar with the different places that were at on social media so check that out.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com as well or in the app. If the Global Campfire, if…if the mission to bring the spoken word of God read fresh every day and delivered to anyone who will listen to it anywhere on this planet any time of day or night, and to build community around that rhythm, if that…if that matters, has made a difference I thank you for your partnership. There is a link on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.com. If you’re using the app you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner for the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And as always if you have a prayer request or encouragement you can hit a Hotline button in the app and share from there, no matter where you are on this planet, or there are a number of phone numbers that you can use. In the Americas 877-942-4253 is the number to dial. If you're in the UK or Europe 44-20-3608-8078 is the number or in Australia or the part of the world 61-3-8820-5459 is the number to call.

And that's it for today. Welcome to a brand-new month. It's gonna be a great ride as we continue our journey forward. That's it for today though. I’m Brian I love you and I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hello Daily Audio Bible this is Duane from Wisconsin all praise and glory to our wonderful Lord and savior Jesus Christ. Today is February 25th I believe. Just calling in. I need prayers. I know I talked to you about my sons Nicholas and Nathan. I was able to send a letter to Nicholas who's in jail and copied some Bible…chapters of the Bible and printed them out and put them in the letter so he could read those. But I'll be sending him more letters. So, prayers for him as he is in jail and pray that he will at some point be able to get a work release so he can get a job and be able to go into work and help support his child. But I'm calling him for Nathan. Last weekend we went to go see him. In a sense he is almost homeless. I'm asking that you would please pray that his mother would take him in, that her husband would have a softened heart and take him in, but more importantly that Nathan who would understand where he's at, be compassionate, have understanding and be taken care of. For a son…like I said he's almost been homeless. It’s been kind of scary because over the last few weeks here it got down to about 20 below and he just manages to find a place to sleep and stay. But…but he's doing OK. So, he went and got him a phone. Unfortunately, he still hasn't given us…sent us the cell number. So, we pray that will happen, but I pray that he's gotten ahold of his mother and that he will be able to stay with his mother and pray that he’ll get a job and start getting his life turned around. Thank you, Daily Audio Bible family. I greatly appreciate it and you have no idea how much love I feel from all of you.

Nobody Gets Left Behind in Colorado just checking in with the DAB family. I just heard Sherry from Texas, your prayer request for your husband. Guys I’ve been married for 29 years and got to say sister that was very very heartbreaking. I can't even imagine what you're going through. I just want you to know that my heart, it goes out to you and my prayers are going to be going out to you and…and your children and your husband. And I hope he hears every single one of our prayer…prayers for him as he goes through this. I also want to thank little Cherry for being transparent, talking about judging people and, you know, when Brian he goes through that every year and talks about the unforgivable sin and it has made a big impact on the way I treat people and the way I think. And I'm so glad that he's made that clear to all of us. And just makes perfect sense. We’re always just supposed to be working on ourselves. We have so many things inside ourselves that we need to work on and that's important. And I know a lot of times like pointing fingers and stuff like that for some reason it makes us feel good inside but it really…it’s not healthy. So, thank you Brian. Thank you for that lesson. Thank you for teaching us that every single year. And thank you for Zekey and him reading the DAB to the kids. My daughter Halo loves it. And with that being said I’d just like to say what Zekey says. Bye.

Hey DAB family it's Doctor John from Jordan New York calling back. And Karen from California thank you so much for your prayer for me. I was a crying just tears. So, thank you so much. I wanted to give you guys an update. I saw the orthopedist yesterday. He was very pleased with the progress. There’s still paralysis of some of the muscles and the nerves but it is improving and improving every day. I was like super thrilled this morning when I could tiny…get the tiniest wiggle out of my pinky fingers. Kind of silly but, yeah, you go with small victories. So, yeah, the…the knucklehead, white as snow, that called in after Karen from California, I totally get what you're saying because, yeah, that was me. I was just moving way too fast. And, so, that was my message. You know, and as I looked back through this and say what is God trying to teach me and it's that I need to slow down. And of course, that leads to the song [singing starts] slow down you move too fast got to make the morning last just kicking down the cobblestones looking for fun and feeling groovy. Duh duh duh duh duh duh duh [singing stops]. Apologies to Simon and Garfunkel but Daily Audio Bible I love you so much for all of your prayers and I will keep you posted on my progress. Bye-bye. Doctor John from Jordan.

I just wanted to pray for Sherry and her family in Texas. God we just lift up our sister Sherry and her family and we thank You for them and we thank You for her husband and for his love for Your word and for his desire to share it with others. And we…we thank You for that light that You placed inside of him. And God we just ask that now during this time as he's passing that You would be close to their family, that You would surround them, that You would bring peace and comfort. God we just ask for Your sustaining love to just be their strength in these hours. God, we thank You for Your faithfulness to this family, that You have not left them, that You will not leave them, that You are there with them. We pray for godly Hospice workers, that You would send them their way. We pray for every moment leading up to this passing and that there would be peace, that You would bring breath and life into her God and to her children, that they would feel Your sustaining arms around them. You are near to the broken hearted and we know, we trust that You'll be near to this family. Jesus we just are grateful. We ask that the passion that You had for Your word would just continue down through all his generations and that many would come to know You Jesus through his faithfulness. Thank You, Lord. We just ask that You be glorified in his life and in Sherry's life and the lives of her children. Amen.

Hello, DAB my name is…I'd actually like to remain anonymous…but I'm in Tucson AZ and I am 29 years old and I have three kids and I'm married, and I was just diagnosed with postpartum depression. I have a 3-month-old baby and I'm just asking for your prayers as I go through this. And I'm praying that God would deliver me from this. The doctor gave me some medication and he said my case is severe, but she thinks I caught it in time. But I'm just asking for prayer and help and protection from these intrusive thoughts that I've been having, and I just asked that God would protect me mostly because I fear for myself sometimes. Thank you.

Good morning this is Storylines from San Diego. I've been a listener for just over a year and I'm so grateful for the Hardin and family. My daughter and I listened to Zekey too in the mornings and it’s just such a sweet, sweet time. I just want to pray for Sherry from Texas. I just heard your prayer request about your husband and the brain tumor that was just so sudden and him now being in Hospice. So, I just wanted to pray for you. Lord I thank You so much for Sherry and her husband. And God thank You for their great love story. I heard it in her voice as she spoke about him. And God…I just…my heart breaks for her as a wife and I just ask that You would come, that You would give her everything she needs. Lord thank You for You for her faithfulness just to play the word of God over her husband as he moves into eternity. Lord thank You for his influence over droves of people. God thank You for the love of Your word that he has had in his life and how that doesn't stop, that he has lived out Your word to people and he's been a great influence. And God I pray that as he moves from this life into the next that You would comfort him, that You would use his story for Your kingdom to come here on earth as it is in heaven. I pray for Sherry as she loses the love of her life in this moment in this time, that You would be her ever present help in time of trouble. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

[aunstudies]

What is the UCAT?

The University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT) is an admissions test used by many UK Universities for their medical and dental degree programmes. It is a two-hour computer-based test which assesses a range of skills. There is a fee to take the test, and it varies depending on which country you live in. There are five separately timed sub-tests which each contain multiple-choice questions.

The following are the themes of the sub-tests:

Verbal reasoning – evaluating information in a written form.

Decision making – making decisions and judgements based on a range of information.

Quantitative reasoning – evaluating information in a numerical form.

Abstract reasoning – inferring relationships from information, usually in the form of shapes/letters.

Situational judgement – assessing how situations are approached in the workplace.

Raw marks are converted to scale marks so that direct comparison can be made between the sub-tests. The raw score for situational judgement is processed into one of four bands, where band 1 is the highest. Results are only applicable to the application made in that year. For example, sitting the UCAT in the summer of 2020 means that the results will only be applicable to the application for 2021 degree entry. 

The UCAT result is used in different ways by universities during the admissions process. Keep this in mind and try to make informed choices with your result on which universities you apply to. But also remember, this is only one part of the application process!

What to consider:

Exam format: familiarise yourself with the types of questions in each sub-test and the skills they assess. This can help with targeting areas of improvement.  

Test booking: dates for the UCAT tests go fast, so booking earlier will limit disappointment. Having a date to work towards will also help with structuring studying.

When to start and planning: preparation will vary for every person. The earlier you start, the more time there is to try different resources and see what works for you. There is also more opportunity to spread out practise and reduce burnout. Have an idea/timetable of what aspects of the test you want to cover each day and how long for.

Resources: there are a range of free and paid resources available. From books to online question banks to courses, it can be confusing to know what you should use. However, a question bank is essential for practising and understanding the different question types. Most question banks require payment so use the free trials to decide which you would like to use. So much is available which can get overwhelming at times, so I’ve made a list of resources available that I am aware of!

Time management: timing is extremely important in the test, so once you feel comfortable with the question styles, mimic the exam timing conditions when practising. It is inevitable that you will skip questions due to time in the real test, so if you’ve reached a time limit for the question, mark an answer, flag the question (and come back to it at the end if there is time) and move onto the next question.

Mock exams: once you are ready to tackle the exam format in its entirety, focus on mock tests to fine tune your pace and timing. Question banks often have mock exams, but the official UCAT consortium mocks are the best because that is the format you will be faced with on the exam day. Use the on-screen calculator to familiarise yourself with how to use it. There is a selection of keyboard shortcuts which can make its use easier if you wish.

Tips for the sub-tests:

Verbal reasoning: read the question first, and then skim the text to look for the answer. From personal experience, timing was the most difficult in this section, so if you are running out of time, go with your instinct.

Quantitative reasoning: review fractions, ratios and percentages, as well as the basics of maths (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division). Read the question properly so you know exactly what is being asked of you. Having good mental maths skills is a bonus if it saves time from using the calculator. Identify the questions types that you need improvement in, and review the mathematical principles used in them before tackling the questions again.

Decision making: understand the different question types and what you have to answer. Only draw conclusions from the passage of text given to you. Graphs and Venn diagrams can come up on the statistical part of the section, so familiarise yourself with them.

Abstract reasoning: again, familiarise yourself with the question types. Identifying the pattern can be easier in some questions and harder in others; if you are struggling then skip the question and come back to it after having done the easier ones. Practising will help with identifying common patterns. The ‘set A and set B’ questions tend to have reciprocal patterns, so if you cannot identify the pattern in set A then try and grasp it from set B. Perspective can change the way you see patterns, so feel free to move closer or further away from the screen to help you identify it. A mnemonic that some may find useful in identifying patterns is SCANS: Shape, Colour, Angle/Arrangement, Number and Symmetry. There are several other mnemonics too.

Situational judgement: the General Medical Council’s Good Medical Practice or the General Dental Council’s standards help with understanding the themes that will be tested in this section, such as honesty, dealing with pressure, team working, and safety. I highly recommend reading and understanding the basis of the document. Make sure you know your role in each question, as this can change your responsibilities and actions.

Never leave empty answers because there is no negative marking. If you are running out of time, make an educated guess with what you have already worked out.

Replicate full exam timings when doing mock tests.

 Doing well in the UCAT is a combination of being quick but thorough and picking up on patterns swiftly – I think practise is a good way to improve. Being consistent and familiarising yourself with style of questions will improve your outcome. Just a reminder that the official UCAT practise papers are the best replication of what you will face in the test.

Good luck!

* It is possible to do well on the UCAT with just a question bank and a book (example: me!).

[omoi-no-hoka]

Would you say studying Japanese as a major at University is mandatory to find a good job in Japan? I am currently studying International Economic Communication (M.A.) and studying Japanese by myself. Already been in Japan but just for volunteer work and some internships. Do you have any experience with job seekers in Japan who didn't study Japanese but something else and who were successful?

Thank you for your ask! This is a great question. 

The answer depends entirely on what sort of job you want to have in Japan. 

Short Answer: 

If you intend to work in a Japanese-heavy setting or in a job that requires specific language skills such as translation, YES, you must study Japanese beforehand.

If you intend to work in an English-heavy setting, probably not.

Long Answer:

For those who want to teach English in Japan

Speaking from my own experience, I double-majored in Japanese and English. My Japanese levels still weren’t proficient enough for me to work in a predominantly Japanese setting when I moved here though, so I worked at an Eikaiwa (English conversation school) for 3 years while studying Japanese at night. I passed the N1 after two years of studying, and then did additional studying every day for the next year after that. And now I’m a Japanese-English translator. 

The vast majority of foreigners living in Japan do not study Japanese before coming here. They get jobs at Eikaiwas, where the classrooms are often English-only and their coworkers speak English, so Japanese isn’t a necessity. Most of these workplaces understand that your life outside of work will be impacted by your lack of Japanese (unable to read bills and notices, not sure how to do things at the city hall, going to the doctor, etc.), and you will likely have at least one person at work that will assist you. If you’re really lucky, you’ll nab a kind Japanese boyfriend/girlfriend that will help you too lol. 

The other good thing about most Eikaiwa is that they tend not to have overtime and the teaching itself isn’t very mentally draining. Most of the time they’ll have a curriculum already drawn up for you and you just kinda follow the blueprint. So this means that you should have time and energy to study Japanese on your own. 

So if your dream is to teach English in an Eikaiwa, no, you don’t need to study Japanese. Quite a few of my coworkers showed up with absolutely zero knowledge of Japanese other than “domo arigato mister roboto” lol. 

Now, if it is your intention to become an English teacher in a private high school, junior high, or elementary school, YES, you MUST be fluent in Japanese. Though I will be very frank with you, these jobs are exceptionally rare and due to visa sponsorship issues, private schools will be much more likely to hire a Japanese person over you if you do not have Japanese citizenship or a spousal visa. Also, Japanese teachers arguably have it rougher than their American counterparts in terms of overtime and workload. Again, arguably. 

I can dive deeper into the topic of teaching in Japan and the Japanese education system if people are interested, but for now I’ll leave it at that. 

For those who want to do something other than teaching

Having been born in America, I have grown up communicating with people whose native language wasn’t the same as mine, who were still learning English, or who didn’t know it at all. It is easy for me to sympathize and empathize with foreigners who have moved to a new country, because I have interacted with them for forever, and I became one lol.

But Japan is an extremely homogeneous country. As of the end of 2018, foreign residents in Japan accounted for a measly 2.0% of the population. TWO. TWO PERCENT. That’s an INCREASE from the year before. And I’m guessing that most of them are where the action is, around Tokyo and Osaka. 

This means that the average Japanese person (and by extension, the average Japanese workplace, city/government establishments, post office, etc.) doesn’t understand what it’s like to live in a country without speaking the language, and they do not cater to you as Americans do. This isn’t to say that the average Japanese person is callous; they simply haven’t had to consider these things.

Just a couple examples of things I experienced that I found unbelievable as an American:

The Hokkaido Immigration Bureau staff speak only Japanese. Forms are only in Japanese, with English in tiny print beside it. You better hope you can speak Japanese or you can bring someone who can speak it when you go there. FOR IMMIGRATION. FOR THINGS SPECIFICALLY FOREIGNER-RELATED. Hokkaido is rural, so I hope Tokyo is different?

Don’t even get me started on the hoops I had to jump through when I moved here. Couldn’t rent an apartment until I had a bank account. Couldn’t open a bank account until I had a phone. Couldn’t get a phone until I had a bank account. And around and around we go. The system wasn’t designed with people starting fresh in this country in mind, and it really, REALLY shows.

So, if you intend to work in a workplace full of Japanese people, where you are a decided minority, you need to have a good handle on the language not only for your 9-5, but also to navigate your life outside of work. I’m lucky that all of my coworkers are nice and they’ll give me a hand if I ask for it, but a lot of times they can’t anticipate what I will need assistance with and what I can handle on my own. 

“Good lord, I get it. I need to learn Nihongo. But do I need to major in Japanese in order to succeed in my work life and private life?”

Not generally, no.

Again, this really depends on the field you want to go into and the level of linguistic accuracy your job requires. I work for a software company. My translations do not affect the safety/well-being of anyone like they would if I were translating something in, say, the fields of medicine or law. My company was just psyched that I was reasonably fluent in Japanese, and a Japanese major/JLPT N1 was not required. 

If your desired field is highly technical, you will likely be asked to prove your Japanese proficiency with an N2 or N1, as well as a practical test during your interview, both verbal and written. Again, having majored in Japanese will please your potential employers, but isn’t strictly necessary. The emphasis isn’t on your diploma, but on what you can actually do. 

An employer will be much more likely to ask for a JLPT N2 or N1 certificate instead of a degree in Japanese. So even if you don’t major in Japanese, I do recommend that you strive to attain at least N2. 

“Okay, so if I don’t study Japanese in uni, how can I get proficient enough in Japanese?”

I have two ideas for you.

Get an easy job like teaching at an Eikaiwa and teach yourself/pay for private night lessons.

Graduate from uni, come to Japan, and attend a Japanese language school for 6 months to a year before seeking employment.

Option 1, as I detailed above, is not impossible. But self-study requires a lot of discipline and progress is slower than classes. And private lessons can get very expensive very quickly. 

My good friend whom I got hired on as a translator for another project within my company is from the UK and studied a science field completely different from what his current job entails. He took path number 2. He studied at a language school for 6 months or a year, worked at an Eikaiwa for 5 years, and his Japanese proficiency is comparable to mine. 

The Japanese language school can be a bit expensive, but there is nothing better than learning the language in the country and you will be amazed by the speed with which you gain proficiency. 

If you choose not to major in Japanese and if you have the funds, I recommend enrolling in a Japanese language school. If you don’t have the funds, at least minor in Japanese and then bust your butt.

Summary

I feel like I really rambled a lot here, but there is no clear-cut answer. The low down is: 

Unless you are going for a very specific language-related job, most employers don’t care if you’ve majored in Japanese. They’re just happy if you can speak and read it well.

If Japanese is important to your job, you may be asked to provide a JLPT N2 or N1 certificate so I do recommend you obtain one.

Spending 6 months to a year in a language school in Japan is a great way to become fluent in a short amount of time without majoring in the language. 

[purplesurveys]

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What was the most unsettling film you’ve seen? Unsettling films are my jam, man. To name a few, there’s Eraserhead, Room, Midsommar, Eyes Wide Shut, Misery, and most recently, I’m Thinking of Ending Things. Eraserhead takes the cake though. That movie always makes me queasy...

What unethical experiment would have the biggest positive impact on society as a whole? I’m a firm believer in nothing good ever comes out of unethical practices. I’ll never forget reading about an experiment where a group of newborn babies were given basic needs like food and being bathed, but weren’t shown any affection whatsoever and it was meant to see if humans can survive with just the most basic physiological needs. By the end of the experiment period half of the babies were dead. The results were honestly a lot bleaker than how I’ve put it, but I don’t wanna be a downer lol. Suffice it to say that experiment haunted me for days after reading it.

When was the last time you were snooping, and found something you wish you hadn’t? It was around a week or so ago, I’m pretty sure.

Which celebrity or band has the worst fan base? My sister is into K-pop and I hear insights from her all the time, but her one constant is that BTS breeds the most annoying, toxic fans. I’d have to agree. Ariana Grande’s fandom was also annoying at one point, but I haven’t heard much from them making a mess these days.

What are you interested in that most people aren’t? Autobiographies.

If you were given a PhD degree, but had no more knowledge of the subject of the degree besides what you have now, what degree would you want to be given to you? Why would I deserve a PhD on something I’m clearly not qualified for...I’m not sure I’m following this question right, but I don’t feel like thinking too hard about it.

What smartphone feature would you actually be excited for a company to implement? I’m happy with the features that are widespread now, but I wish companies adhere more to countries other than the common ones like US, UK, Australia, etc. I always see ads about phones being able to tell you how much movie tickets cost or track boarding passes, but those are all irrelevant here. It makes a lot of Apple’s basic apps useless on this side of the world haha.

What’s something people don’t worry about but really should? Long-term effects of poor habits like not getting enough sleep or drinking too many cups of coffee. I know because I’m guilty of this.

What movie quotes do you use on a regular basis? “I won’t think about that now, I’ll think about it tomorrow,” but I usually say it to myself, especially when I feel stressed.

Do you think that children born today will have better or worse lives than their parents? Better, but idk if that’s just me being biased because my generation will be the next parents lol. I just think that a lot of Gen X parents still have a lot of dated prejudices and mindsets that my generation was able to learn better from. For example my mom doesn’t like using people’s preferred names, especially if they’ve transitioned -_____- and I know I’d never want to set such an example for my kids.

What’s the funniest joke you know by heart? I know I’ve come across hilarious ones but I always fail to come up with one when asked on the spot.

When was the last time you felt you had a new lease on life? LOL RIGHT NOW

What’s the funniest actual name you’ve heard of someone having? It’s more stupid than funny and I know I’ve already mentioned this before, but Covid Bryant as a first and second name still takes the cake for me. My sister went to school with a girl whose name is just her surname backwards, and for a time I was really weirded out by it. But in the times I’ve seen her she really owns her name and never looks bothered by it, so I quickly stopped caring.

Which charity or charitable cause is most deserving of money? For me it would have to be organizations for animal welfare.

What TV show character would it be the most fun to change places with for a week? Post-El Camino Jesse Pinkman. I wouldn’t want to live through his chaotic shit  from Breaking Bad, but his fate after El Camino is something I’m super envious of.

What was cool when you were young but isn’t cool now? Flip phones, Blackberry phones, Roshes, Frappuccinos.

If you were moving to another country, but could only pack one carry-on sized bag, what would you pack? Phone, laptop, their chargers, important IDs, some of my favorite tops and jeans, underwear, essential toiletries, wallet, a family photo, a journal and pen, earphones, certain knickknacks to remember Gab and my dogs by. Minus the clothes, all of these are pretty tiny so I think these would all fit in the bag just fine.

What’s the most ironic thing you’ve seen happen? I don’t know. I’m not really a fan of rating the most/worst this and that stuff in my life, either. I feel like I unnecessarily rack my brain too hard for them when I take surveys to have a chill time.

If magic was real, what spell would you try to learn first? Probably something that’d keep my dogs from dying.

If you were a ghost and could possess people, what would you make them do? No thanks. I’d be the chillest ghost tbh, I’d like to just sneak up on people’s business and hang out but never interfere in them.

What goal do you think humanity is not focused enough on achieving? Climate change, global warming, alleviation of poverty. Corporations and the few people who actually have the power and money to change things only ever come up with short-term shit like donations and never look at the big picture. What problem are you currently grappling with? So many personal ones. But just like the recurring theme of my surveys so far, “I don’t want to get into it.”

What character in a movie could have been great, but the actor they cast didn’t fit the role? As much as I love Kristen Stewart, I heard she was cast as Princess Diana for an upcoming film and I’m not really feeling that decision. They could’ve gone with a British actress for starters?????? The movie is still in production but it is pretty annoying to think about lmao.

What game have you spent the most hours playing? Probably GTA: San Andreas as a kid.

What’s the most comfortable bed or chair you’ve ever been in? Luxury hotel beds are always so fluffy and comfortable.

What’s the craziest conversation you’ve overheard? Omg one time at a coffee shop Gabie and I sat beside this older couple that obviously was going through some heavy SHIT. There was a lot of animosity and tension between them and I caught the lady silently break into tears a few times. I never overheard anything but then again they sat in silence for hours until the lady finally walked out on him. Never knew what it was about but I’ve always guessed that the man did something crappy, like cheat, and was discovered. It was a really sad sight and a crazy situation to witness and I think I felt even more sorry because they were obviously in their 50s or 60s. I hope the woman is in a better place now as she looked rough as fuck that evening.

What’s the hardest you’ve ever worked? I wore a lot of hats when I was in my college org, and that was on top of balancing my acads as well.

What movie, picture, or video always makes you laugh no matter how often you watch it? That scene from Friends where Ross plays the keyboard for Chandler, Phoebe, Monica, and Rachel.

What artist or band do you always recommend when someone asks for a music recommendation? It depends on what music they’re into and if I have actually have a recommendation in mind for them. I obviously can’t suggest Paramore to someone who mainly listens to metal.

If you could have an all-expenses paid trip to see any famous world monument, which monument would you choose? I’m down for any monuments that are super ancient like Stonehenge or the Pyramids of Giza.

If animals could talk, which animal would be the most annoying? I’d go with frogs, but only because they get annoyingly loud in the evening.

What’s the most addicted to a game you’ve ever been? Playing The Sims, Mario Kart, Rock Band, or games in the Burnout franchise.

What’s the coldest you’ve ever been? Japan was so fucking cold when I was there. Didn’t do my research and ended up being dressed poorly, and I was so cold I could barely talk to my parents or fully enjoy my time. Sagada was also nearly unbearable in the early morning.

Which protagonist from a book or movie would make the worst roommate? Not from a book or movie, but BoJack Horseman. Diane can also be in the running as I always found her too whiny. I get that she had her personal shit to deal with, but I don’t think living with her would be good for my own sanity and mental health.

Do you eat food that’s past its expiration date if it still smells and looks fine? It annoys my chef dad to death that I don’t lol. No matter how great it looks, I’d bounce. I once ate expired Kit Kats that tasted like cardboard and that scared me off of expired food forever.

What’s the most ridiculous thing you have bought? I once bought a stupid novelty soap that to this day I’ve never even opened. It’s in one of my drawers, and I plan to just throw it out at some point.

What’s the funniest comedy skit you’ve seen? Not a fan of these but one that got to me is Dear Sister from SNL.

What’s the most depressing meal you’ve eaten? A few years ago there was a local breakfast place that offered red velvet pancakes for a limited time and I was all over that crap, so I went and ordered. The actual pancakes ended up not being any bigger than my palm, and I remember not being able to hide my disappointment once the server placed the dish on my table haha. I felt so scammed. I had to order something else to feel full, because those pancakes were stupidly small.

What tips or tricks have you picked up from your job/jobs? One of my superiors, when she was presenting a pitch to our director yesterday, kept asking questions and picking at the director’s brain so that she can get suggestions and answers straight from the director herself and so that she didn’t have to do any brainstorming anymore. I thought that was a pretty nifty and clever hack.

What outdoor activity haven’t you tried, but would like to? Hiking a mountain!

What songs hit you with a wave of nostalgia every time you hear them? Umbrella by Rihanna feat. Jay-Z.

What’s the worst backhanded compliment you could give someone? Idk, anything can be the worst depending on the context. I’m not a fan of giving those, though.

What’s the most interesting documentary you’ve ever watched? Unsolved Mysteries’ Dupont de Ligonnès episode was a lot of fun to watch.

What was the last song you sang along to? I think it was Thinking of You by Katy Perry? but I’m not entirely sure. I haven’t sung along to anything in a while.

What app can you not believe someone hasn’t made yet? I don’t really download and use a lot of apps other than the basic ones, so I don’t care too much.

When was the last time you face palmed? Last night.

If you were given five million dollars to open a small museum, what kind of museum would you create? I’d give it away to the Martial Law museum currently being made near my university so that it can do more to show the atrocities of the Marcoses. And so that I can piss off my pro-Marcos relatives.

Which of your vices or bad habits would be the hardest to give up? Uh hating myself, if that counts.

What really needs to be modernized? Public transportation systems in this country.