#i had to jump through 50 million hoops to make this post i hope you all enjoy it

[astralynx]

Santa: Dry ice is just frozen carbon dioxide, right?

Junpei: Yeah, it is.

Santa: I wonder how warm it has to get for it to turn back into gas again...

Junpei: Hell if I know. How's that gonna help us, anyway?

Santa: Oh, well, I figured we might be able to use it to get out of here.

They were about to move on when June spoke up.

June: Carbon dioxide's sublimation point is -109 degrees. Any warmer than that, and it'll turn into gas. Any lower, and it becomes a solid.

Junpei looked at her, dumbfounded.

Junpei: How do you know that?

June: Tee-hee. Despite my looks, I'm the Qleen...bleh. Ahem...the Queen of random knowledge.

Junpei: Looks bad to mess up when you're showing off.

June: Argle mouf *Mumble* *Mumble*

Junpei: Oh, you're so cold your mouth's going numb?

June: Yef. Wats wite.

Junpei: ...You're just doing that on purpose, aren't you?

June giggled, and did her best to hide her guilt. At least she was still feeling good enough to joke around, Junpei told himself.

Santa: C'mon guys... Don't you think that's kinda weird? I wonder why it doesn't turn into a liquid first...

Santa was now shivering at an astounding rate, but his curiosity seemed unaffected.

[crystallinestars]

Hello! I'm back for another rant :)

I was still thinking about Mihoyo's tendency to pair characters and play the ambiguity game to make more money and something I've noticed is that people will jump through sooo many hoops to defend the company. ''oh they can't be explicit because of censorship'', ''oh it's China, their culture is different!'' or even ''stupid entitled westerners always complaining about things they don't even try to understand smh 🙄''

Now, while I can agree that censorship and culture should be taken into account when talking about these games, I also feel like it's a bit disingenuous and lowkey patronising to chalk it all up to ''the Chinese are just all like that lol''

Like, why are we so vehemently defending a company that makes millions (if not billions) through ship teasing, as you've put before? Censorship does not change the fact that the development that characters get in these games (especially Genshin) goes out the window every other event or as soon as the main story is finished. And whenever I hear someone talk about censorship, I always think about Mo Dao Zu Shi (granted, the situation was different in its case so we should take it with a grain of salt) where its donghua and drama adaptations where indeed censored (but they were much more explicit than whatever's going on in Hoyoverse), yet the novel (the source material) had many MANY chapters with its two male leads going at it

I admit that I've been feeling a bit salty recently (because I feel like people only care about coding when it comes to the 'great' questions of ''OK but do these two men FUCK? How many times a day do they go at it and who's the woman in this ship??'' Meanwhile nobody ever talks about different dynamics, asexuality and aromanticism are seen as boring, and oh lord does bisexuality seem to be often treated as a trump card to say ''ok but this character is at least 50% gay'') and I also don't know that much about how everything works in China, but idk, I guess my point is that if they wanted to make ships canon, they WOULD (or could) find a way to do so

Anyway, your recent posts and asks also got me thinking and I guess I wanted to show you some support! I've seen your bio and I think it's a really smart move on your part to be clear on what you don't feel comfortable with from the get go. It can definitely be awkward when you have to tell someone that's just really excited to share their thoughts on something they enjoy that you're not interested and you'd rather not talk about this AT ALL. And it really does not help that popular ships tend to attract a lot of unhinged behaviour 😑 It's really refreshing to come across content creators like you, who are very clear in their boundaries and write such thoughtful fics

Once again, I hope you will be left to do your own thing in peace and that you'll keep finding ways and solutions for you to enjoy your favourite works without feeling alienated 💜

(And hopefully one day I will learn how to type short rants 😅)

Haha, short rants don't exist, Anon! It's perfectly okay to type long rants to me, I don't mind. If anything, I relish in them. As someone who rants and complains a lot myself, I welcome it when someone else does it. 😊 (I mean, just look at the length of my reply. I am not any better than you, dear Anon)

Lord, the "Mihoyo can't show explicit gay ships because of the CCP censorship" excuse grates on my nerves, as well. Censorship of homosexuality is definitely a thing in China, and it can sometimes be very horrible, but that's not what's stopping Mihoyo from making certain ships canon. They got way with a lot of lesbian ships in Honkai 3rd (though admittedly they had to tone it down once new laws were implemented, but the fact remains that at some point they were able to be blatant about their ships), and if we're talking actual coding, then Jeht being lesbian-coded is a thing that exists! If it was such a huge deal, I feel like Mihoyo would have either been way more subtle about it or not included these things at all.

It's just my personal opinion, but I'm certain that the reason Mihoyo doesn't make any ship canon is for the sake of making money. They need to sell characters, and the best way to do that is to allow players to enjoy characters the way they want. Assigning a specific sexuality or canon ship will crush the interpretations some players have about a character, and make that character unappealing. It would negatively impact their sales. Keeping things vague and only giving teases of the most popular ships seems to be the ideal marketing tactic for them. It panders to a lot more people this way and keeps most of them happy (however, the fact remains that they ignore a particular demographic of women, though that's a story for another time).

Regarding your reasons why people whip out the "coding" card... YOU ARE SO RIGHT! People only use sexuality coding as a way to "prove" their gay ship is canon and discredit any BG pairing. And they focus on things like one guy being muscular and the other more slender, and then assigning traditionally masculine and feminine traits to them, respectively. I could go on a whole separate rant about this topic, but I'll spare you the wall of text. Feminizing one of the guys in a gay ship is one of my biggest pet peeves, especially when it's OOC for the character.

One thing I noticed is that sexuality often gets used as a convenient tool to suit the needs of certain shippers instead of being used for actual diversity.

I can't tell you the amount of times I saw a sexuality tier list where the aromantic and asexual rows were treated as trash bins where people tossed the characters they didn't care about. There's no actual thought put into the sorting, and that's very unfair to actual aro and ace persons.

As for bisexuality... it's such a polarizing topic in fandoms. It's seen as a good thing when you have a canonical BG pairing, because then you can claim one or both are bi and therefore are also attracted to the same sex (as you said, they're "at last 50% gay" and can be shipped in gay pairings). However, if you have a non-canon BL or GL ship, saying one or both characters are bi is tantamount to treason. How dare you suggest they can be attracted to the opposite sex? That's erasing the gay representation!

Basically, bisexuality, much like the term "coding", gets treated like a tool that's allowed to exist only when it's convenient to a person, instead of as an actual sexuality real people have. I feel like bi, aroace, and pansexual people get shafted hard in fandoms in general.

Anyways, thank you for your support, Anon! I mentioned it in another post, but putting your likes and dislikes in the bio is a common practice in the Eastern part of the world, and I chose to copy that. I think it's a good way to meet people with similar interests while also letting those who have opposite interests avoid you. If the BL Anon had checked my bio first before following me, he could have spared himself some trouble haha. Sadly, it seems that many don't look at bios 😢

Thank you for your nice sentiments! I'm fairly confident that I won't be harassed, especially not in the reader-insert community, but I appreciate the thought! And hopefully I can find a way to combat the alienation... If not, then I'll simply uninstall both HSR and Genshin and find games that actually pander to me 😅

May you stay happy and free of harassment as well, dear Anon! 💚

[noheroes-allowed]

week 3

I’m struggling to find the balance between being an advocate and letting my voice be heard with the action of stepping aside for those who know more than me. I also think it’s selfish for me to put my mental needs above someone else’s needs who is in a tougher situation especially in this critical period. the past 24 hours I’ve been wrestling a lot with our specific org’s contribution to blm. ultimately I agree with our final decision and I’m glad I raised my point again to be revisited. I’m also proud of myself for setting aside my pride and pushing keith to voice his opinion bc he was hesitant to add another layer of complication into our discussion. I appreciate him. he was the one pushing us to raise our donation by more than 50% than what someone initially proposed. when I asked him on the boston car ride what issue he talked about in his segc application, this was it. and I saw it yesterday and today in him and I genuinely love that about him. he does make me want to be a better person. I know it’s not an idealization bc I’ve seen it now. I’ve seen concrete proof of it and my initial thoughts about him have been confirmed. when I raised the possibility initially and when we called today, he was in my corner. he apologized for not agreeing with me last night. even though we ultimately decided to stick to our original plan after contacting and getting more info from the campus coalition, I liked that he apologized. I liked when he said ‘lucy put it really well’ at our meeting yesterday bc I felt acknowledged. I also like that he sent a picture of three gatorade bottles to my friend bc sir why did you need to do that

keith venmo’ed me an amount that was greater than the contributions I’d donated beforehand. I know he’s from a more privileged and well-off background than I am. but the past week, I’ve been wrestling with what my monetary contribution should be. those stupid bingo card memes of privilege within the college student community, I’d coincidentally donated the exact amount I supposedly could afford before those memes started circulating. but then I saw the fb post that added zeros to all the numbers, calling me out to raise my contribution by a multiplier of 10. it was the guilt inside of me that made me match keith’s donation. it’s the guilt from benefiting from the system, harboring prejudices, not having the courage to fight for causes I believe in, now and in the past. our world is broken and I’m afraid we can’t fix it. I’m afraid our planet will burn before we get the chance. I’m afraid the ones with 99% of the world’s wealth will rule our economies, political systems, and social institutions forever. in the future, will I have the courage to fight for causes I believe in? to be very honest, I’m not sure I will. I need someone to come up with step-by-step plans, I need to see the economic and budgetary breakdowns, I am unhealthily realistic. pessimistic maybe in other people’s words. internally, I look down on people who call for change but cannot outline the process to do so. it is wrong of me I know, for it is harmful to put down the hopeful. but how will programs be funded? where does the money come from? how can they be enacted? what is the timeline? whose political voice do you have in support? in our deeply divided country, I fear no change will ever come about. there will always be a push-and-pull, a tug-of-war cycle that repeats itself. for every step forward, we’ll take a step back when the other half refuses to relent. 

everything is so interconnected, I fear change will never come about. the bureaucracy of legislation. the rolling back of past administration’s legacy. the money tied to everything. it makes me sick. dc, police, prisons, college, climate change. my friend urged me to vote last week, and if you’re readying this, you’ll be happy to hear I did. I think the issue for me is, everything sounds like empty words and empty promises. of course I want change. of course I want to elect someone who can do that for us. but what about the chokehold lobbyists and super pacs have on our politicians. what about the republican-led senate where all house bills go to die. what about the fact that mortgage-backed securities are essentially still being traded despite collapsing our economy in 2008 and requiring million dollar bank bailouts at the expense of taxpayer money. what about the reversal of the paris climate accords. what about the nra funding gun violence in our country, no change after sandy hook, orlando, las vegas, parkland. what about the cdc’s bullshit response to covid, the lack of federal support to keep employees on payroll, the nearly 20% unemployment rate, the failure to restock our PPE when states literally had to outbid each other to save people’s lives. what about the fact our supply chains are so broken, farms dumped milk and slaughtered animals instead of being able to feed the hungry, and there might not be enough vials for when a vaccine is finally created. what about the head of the epa having connections to oil and gas companies. this revolving door of industry professionals and government appointments has to stop before I can believe in anything. veep is a comedic show but it made me extremely depressed last year. I know it’s fictional but it opened my eyes to another world of closed-door deals that happen in washington against society’s best interest. I know empty words and empty promises are better than the greater enemy though. I know that. I just wish I could believe what our candidates say they’ll do for us. I feel like I’m voting just to kick the greater evil out, not to bring good in. I know that is still something. but that’s why I was so detached when we spoke. the interconnectedness of everything defeats me. how can voting enact change when washington is part of the problem? the system is designed such that we are not a democracy. we drag our feet and jump through hoops and nothing changes. money is a weapon to make things go their way and not ours. 

it has almost been a year since I’ve become naturalized. this is my country now. I feel like I have to participate in this movement despite my visionless view. all the circulating materials and donations now, I fear it will just be commotion we look back on by the end of the month. is that not what happened with the insurgence of blm in the past? is that not what happened after every gun shooting? is that not what happened after greta thunberg left the news cycle? I even forgot her name just now. this is what happens. I know I am part of the problem. it’s my responsibility to make change happen too. I just don’t believe it. and in order to believe it, I need organization. I need the step-by-step goals. I need the data supported conclusions. I need to see what my money is being used for. I need to see each org’s financials and I need to understand how impact is maximized.

this was my week 3. I was distracted all Tuesday morning instead of working on my project. I wanted to hear different people’s views on everything but work is work. I hate when people talk down to me. I feel like my mentor is not listening to me on what I want to explore with my project. I’m stressed about this innovation group challenge I signed up for. I keep piling things onto my plate instead of realizing I need a break. is this how we’re destined to be? in this world of amazon prime, shortened attention spans, constant social media feeds, are we destined to not just breathe?  

I have not been outside for a week bc I’m scared of my neighborhood and the dark and. it is selfish of me to say this I know, but I wish no one had died at the reservoir. I feel more trapped than I have before and outside is no longer a solace with the midday heat and the suspicious dark. there are too many things on my mind. too many deadlines, too much work. I wish I was 12, my brother’s age. I read a book today and its main storyline was on specific family relationships. siblings are weird bc we have the same parents and inherit the same genes but our experiences are still so different. my brother has lived a completely different life than me. what will he remember about 2020? is it just a time for him when he gets to stay home and play video games instead of doing hw? that is so different from my 2020. 

[topicprinter]

Before I became a mother, I was a Personal Trainer, and so once I had recovered post birth, I decided to head back to the gym to catch up with clients, show Caden off, and do a bit of a work-out. As I was working out, Caden got fussy, so I went to feed her and this is when my ‘ah-ha’ moment came about! I battled my sports bra, trying to pull it up over my breasts to feed. Once I finally managed that, my boobs were then being squashed by the tight band. Milk was being pushed down and coming out too fast for Caden. It was a mess, and I was left infuriated. “This is impossible! There’s got to be a better way!” I thought. So, as soon as I got home, I went online to look for some quality nursing sports bras. There was nothing. “Why has no one thought of this? How can mothers be expected to keep active and breastfeed when there’s nothing practical out there to do it in!”I decided there and then if no one else would make the gear mums/moms needed, then I’d give it a go! I had absolutely no experience in fashion design, but I knew what was needed, so began drawing...Flash forward 19 months, and Adam (my partner in life and business) and I have just welcomed our second baby girl, Ryan into the world!  Four days later, $20k of nursing sports bras arrive from China, and are emptied onto our front lawn…here we go!In 2020 we’re set to turn-over close to $7 million. Cadenshae (named after our first born Caden, her middle name is Shae) now employs 20 staff and is recognised as the leading activewear brand for pregnant and nursing mothers, worldwide. Australia, New Zealand, the UK, the USA and Canada are our target markets.Why did you choose the maternity niche?I didn’t really ‘choose’ it, it chose me! I stumbled across a niche market that wasn’t being serviced, so I decided to try service it! And luckily...for all involved, it turned out to be a profitable decision.How did you validate the idea?You mean validate starting the business? Easy. I went online when I desperately needed a nursing sports bra...there was nothing available, and I thought if I am struggling to find activewear that is affordable, practical, stylish and colourful during this time in my life...then I bet there are other moms/mums out there who are struggling too! Starting this business to me was a no-brainer...there was such a huge need.Primarily, our demographic is pregnant women and new mums/moms. However,  we have now launched a new range called ‘LEVEL,’ which is our non-nursing range, so just ‘normal’ activewear for our mothers who are no longer breastfeeding, but love our products and still want Cadenshae in their lives!‍The co-founder is my gorgeous husband Adam, and if you must know, we met on a dance floor in a bar years ago! ;)Did you have any experience/expertise in the area?Not really! I had a little bit of business experience, but I had no fashion design experience, and no idea about the apparel/retail/maternity worlds to be honest! But I backed myself to be able to start this company,  because I was so passionate about what we were doing. I truly believe if you’re passionate about something, and you have the ‘fire in your belly, ‘ then you’ll succeed. If you want something bad enough, you’ll make it work. Also, the research I did after thinking up the idea proved there was a huge shortfall in this market...so I thought if we did this right, we couldn’t go too wrong? I am a practical person and I love problem-solving, so this was so exciting to me, and I knew I could do it with the awesome support crew I had around me as well (now husband, parents, friends etc).Have you raised any money? How much?I had $20k which I invested to buy the first lot of stock (bras). That was completely my money which I had earned the old-fashioned way! Hard work! I sold my shares from a gym I partly owned in Australia a year or so before-hand, and the money from that was the initial investment for Cadenshae.Any tips for finding first employees?Yes. You have to go with your gut, trust that. Many people look good on paper, but they may not be right for the role. You need to find people that you connect with instantly, and people who are willing to learn, take direction, but also take initiative too once they know exactly what they’re doing and what is expected of them. Adam does most of the hiring for our business as he has a gift for judging a person’s character and work ethic based on one meeting. He hasn’t been wrong about anyone we have employed yet as they’re all absolute guns!  Yes, get someone who has experience in what you need, yes, get someone who has the skills you need, but above all else - hire on their personality and what your gut and your intuition is saying - it’s always right.Did you run any companies prior?Sort of. I was a part-owner/manager (there were three of us) of a health and wellness centre/personal training gym. I’d never gone solo before. Previously, I was a medic in the NZ Army, a beautician and a personal trainer.Business ownership is just something I’ve always wanted to do.  I like the challenges involved in launching something and making it work. Before starting out, I could see that working for yourself has a lot of bonuses, a lot of stress for sure, but a lot of pros...so I wanted to do it. Working for other people doesn’t really fit my personality type to be honest! I’m a creative thinker, so I want the ability to think of something and see it come to fruition, not have to jump through hoops for someone else, or implement other people’s ideas...that’s not for me!Family were behind us from the start, they knew we could do it. Friends weren’t too sure what to make of it all, but were supportive none-the-less!What motivates you when things go wrong? What is the end goal?The fact that something has gone wrong motivates me! I am a problem-solver, and I like things done quickly...so I stop whatever I’m doing and fix whatever needs to be fixed as quickly as I can. Our end goal is to remain the best in the business. We are currently, but we have to maintain that lead.Do you have any advice for someone just starting out?Invest with your own money and bootstrap it if you can - that’s if you want to remain in complete control, like we do. Trust your gut. Realise that sometimes profit isn’t always ‘King,’ and make decisions based on your heart - ‘heart over profit,’ if you will! It might cost you initially, but in the long run, you’ll be winning...consumers want more from their brands these days, they want them to stand for more, be more, give back...so aim for more than just profit - seek out what your customers would appreciate and give it to them.  Give the people what they want!What has driven the most sales? We have a very strong social media presence, and we put a lot of time and resources into that. We work hard to be ‘available’ to our customers and to establish a genuine connection with them. We wanted to create a community of supportive mothers/parents who can all help each other out, and we have done that by being open, honest, real, and available. We put ourselves out there and it truly does result in repeat sales and customer loyalty - no doubt. People feel they know us personally, and they know what we stand for and what our brand is about…I feel like we have a special bond with our customers, and this is priceless to us, in so many ways! What is stopping you being 3x the size you are now?Money. Isn’t it always money? Investment. If we had a few million invested into the business we could be much larger, and we know that. We have toyed with this idea before, but having investors means you can grow as a business, but you lose complete control, and I’m not sure we want to do that just now. There’s also the DTC (direct to consumer) v stockists debate, should we remain DTC or expand into shops? We’re toing and froing on that one too...these decisions take time and need a lot of consideration...so that’s what we’re doing right now...considering our options.How do you protect yourself from competition?To be the best, you have to work the hardest, and I know we do. Also, we do not stinge on quality...the quality of our products is essential. We work the hardest, we create the best gear with the best materials, and we invest time to connect with our customers...that’s how we protect ourselves.What apps could your business not run without?Unleashed - for our inventory.Asana - for general business planning.Starshipit - for our shipping management.What are the next products you’re working on?We have just launched our ‘Shine Bright’ leggings which are made out of recycled plastic bottles, they are gorgeous and environmentally friendly! We want to make more items out of this material and try to help the world to reduce waste, and do so in a positive way.Our other range we are focussing on is ‘LEVEL,’ the activewear for moms who are no longer pregnant or nursing...but just want to stay in our gear because it’s that good. ;)Are there any releases you can tell us about? We’re working on something a little different for next year, and I’m pumped about it! It’s called the ‘Kiardi” (a kimono and cardigan combined)! We’re also working on a merino range which will be so great for the colder months!Where do you see the company in 5 years?I see us turning over around $30 million, maybe more annually. I see us having a far larger presence in the US, Canada and the UK...we have a presence there now, but we want to be bigger and be as large in those countries as we are in Australia and New Zealand. I see a staff of 50, not 20. We sponsor the fabulous Alysia Montano, but by then we’d like to sponsor a few more professional athletes as well. I have so many ideas, I’m just hoping that in five years time, we’ve pulled off a good hunk of them.What is current revenue? If you don’t mind sharingBetween 4 and 7 million. ;)Would you ever sell?Potentially, for the right price! But it would have to be to someone we fully trusted and who would hold on to the same morals and values we have...someone who would stay grounded, take care of the customers and give back to others who need it - that’s just so important to us.If you enjoyed this interview, the original is here.