#i have a lot of thoughts ok i might elaborate more on the dreamers thing on vaedar's blog

[rhaegxr]

𝐎𝐍 𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐆𝐎𝐍 𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐌𝐒

Was Rhaegar a dreamer? Before House of the Dragon aired, I did not have him as a dragon dreamer, but once the show gave us new info (such as the Conqueror being a dreamer), I figured a change was in order. Recently, we’ve gotten more info that has helped me better shape that headcanon, so I will elaborate on that in this post. As always, the disclaimer: all things I post here are for RP purposes. In no way am I saying this is book canon or that others should consider it so, or that I am expecting others to accept it. 

We were recently given, in show, the little detail of how Daenys the Dreamer got her prophetic Doom of Valyria dream the night after she claimed a young Balerion. Then in season one, we learn that Aegon I Targaryen, also rider of Balerion, had a prophetic dream about the Long Night (which prompted him into conquest). Then we also learn that Viserys I Targaryen, the last rider of Balerion, had that single one-time prophetic dream, and he only rode on Balerion once. We know that the dreamers aspects (and very likely the Daenys claiming Balerion and then dreaming bit) come from GRRM, so what is he trying to tell us viewers/readers?

Let’s check what we do have in books about dreams, starting with the wolf dreams the Stark children experience. They all seem to first receive these dreams when/after they get their direwolves. Direwolves are magical creatures, such as dragons are. Magic in the ASOIAF world appears to be connected, like a worldwide magical network that weakens and gets stronger. Something magical in one place can affect it everywhere (the birth of dragons after a century, for example, had ‘shockwave’ sort of events around the world). There are even certain places that Melissandre alludes to as magical ‘hinges’ of the world, with The Wall being one of them. Magic, in a sense, is almost a consciousness in that worldwide magical web; we can even consider the weirwoods as an ‘access panel’ to it for greenseers to be able to tap into. 

Using another Stark example of that magic having a ‘consciousness’ that connects all magical creatures/places, we have a passage on Jon and Ghost in books. Jon describes ‘It was Ghost who knew what to do’, with Ghost being there when he wakes from his recurrent Winterfell crypts dream. He starts getting this dream when reaching The Wall. The magic, through his bond to a magical creature, is trying to tell him a ‘truth’ about who he really is, and shows him the crypts because likely the truth is found there—Be it figuratively or literally. This is likely because the truth of his identity (half Stark, half Targaryen) will play a big role in the Long Night. This, in itself, is a headcanon, but since it’s a pretty widespread one, I am using it as an example to better explain my reasoning. 

We know that dragonlord families practiced interbreeding to keep the bloodline pure, because their blood is what enables them to bond and ride dragons. Some of them experience dragon dreams. So I do think it’s safe to say ( for the sake of the Ice/Fire parallel themes of ASOIAF ) only the Starks or those of First Men blood are able to bond with direwolves, and like them, the Stark children experience wolf dreams. And so it’s why they receive these kinds of dreams, because their magical bond to those magical creatures bestows the dreams upon them. Of course, we have characters in books and show that have had other prophetic dreams through other means, be it greensight or coming into contact with hinges or magical things (such as weirwoods), or even simply practicing magic ( like the Red Priests, the maegi, and so forth). 

And we come again to how characters like them have pointed out a resurgence of magic that makes them ‘stronger’ (after Dany’s dragons hatch). Which again alludes to the theory of magic being a worldwide web kind of thing, interconnected, with certain places, items (like glass candles, horns), elements (fire, ice, blood, etc.) and creatures serving as conduits to it. Going also by the theory of Valyrians and First Men blood being able to bond with the creatures, it would also make sense if they are more innately ‘sensitive’ to certain hinges or conduits or concentrations of magic, such as The Wall and the weirwoods; even without being ‘trained’ (as Red Priests or maegi are). We also know that ‘king’s blood’ plays a role. 

Now, after exposing all this, I do believe GRRM might be further supplementing these clues through the show bits. And I do think the message is that: dragons give the dragon dreams. Of course, we know dragons eventually go extinct but Targaryens (or those with Targaryen/Valyrian blood) continue to have dragon dreams—But the dragon eggs remain. The tradition of placing dragon eggs in the cradles of Targaryen babies continued. We know of a few of those people who had an egg or were possibly in proximity to eggs, to have been given dragon dreams. Among those dreams were the ones pertaining to the return of the dragons, and this drove a few (if not all) the dreamers into trying to fulfill what they saw. 

Dragons seem to definitely be an important part in the Long Night prophecy, so what if this obsession is also magically spurred, in a way? Even in Fire and Blood, we are told dragons seem to have an intelligence that men can’t understand—Can it be that, like direwolves, they are conduits connected to the worldwide magical network? The same that is stirring with the impending coming of the Long Night? Even Quaithe tells Dany that the dragons ‘remember’, and implies that perhaps they are trying to make Dany ‘remember’ who she is—In the same way Ghost is trying to make Jon learn the truth of who he is and is pointing to where he might find out. Because it’s all an important part of the prophecy, the Long Night, and whatever roles big or small they might have in it. 

After all this, let’s finally go back to Rhaegar and the actual reason why I wrote it. I am 99.9% certain Rhaegar has dragon dreams (always leave that .1% because this is GRRM, wouldn’t past him to just change stuff or add something that changes everything as he has done before). I used to be like a 50-50 before House of the Dragon (applied it only to AUs), and then maybe an 85%, but after the Daenys and Balerion info, I am very certain now. We are even directly given in books where and when he had those dreams: Summerhall. 

In a previous headcanon post regarding his birth, I did include the dreams as a possibility of why he was going to Summerhall but now it has been elevated into a certainty. We know Rhaegar was born during the tragedy at Summerhall, where a great fire killed half the Targaryen family. We’re not given the ‘what exactly happened’, and this is probably on purpose because it might be revealed in some big way or something later on ( because if the theory of what happened is true, then dark stuff went on there ). But we do have the bits of that half message, how there were seven eggs, the blood of the dragon was gathered and pyromancers with wildfire, before the fire went out of control, a ‘treason’ happened and Dunk saved someone ( Rhaella and -unborn or not- baby Rhaegar ). 

Here we have all the elements for the same egg hatching ritual Dany’s dreams told her to do: eggs, fire and blood sacrifice. Who was going to be the sacrifice? Unborn baby Rhaegar. Just as unborn Rhaego (oh yes, the name similarity is more than just ‘to honor her brother’ on purpose and very GRRM) was the sacrifice that gave life to the dragons in the eggs. But what matters for the purposes of the headcanon is; the eggs. We are not told what happened to those eggs so I do believe it’s not far reaching to say at least one of the eggs is still there. 

So what would happen if a Targaryen prince, already marked by the magical yet tragic circumstances of his birth, visits said ‘haunted’ place with only his harp, and comes in proximity to the egg while he sleeps under the stars? 

“Whenever he came back he would bring a song. When you heard him play his high harp with the silver strings and sing of twilights and tears and the death of kings, you could not but feel that he was singing of himself and those he loved.” --Daenerys IV, A Storm of Swords

His songs were tragic things (like prophecy?), and it felt like he was singing about himself and those he loved because of the emotional intensity in them. And that’s because he probably was, in a way. He did think himself the Prince that was Promised at some point until Aegon’s conception, after all. He was a musical individual and it would make perfect sense for him to ‘record’ or translate his dreams into song—Much like how we get in the show Helaena’s drawings on the walls and sketchbooks. For Helaena, we are told it was a way of escapism, so I can easily see the same being for Rhaegar (who already shows escapist tendencies). And speaking of dreamers and similarities, I do think there are bits throughout books that connect possible dreamers in personality terms. But I won’t get into that here. 

However, we know that Rhaegar read of the prophecy in some scroll or book, and that is what prompted him to ‘become a warrior’. I have already explained this bit in the birth post for him as well, but I think him being a dreamer only adds to it. We know he ‘grew up with a complex fascination for the ruins’. So what if when he first visited Summerhall, he was still a young teenager yet to read about the prophecy? What if when he first visited, he had a certain dream that had him want to learn more about what exactly happened in the place he was born? And what if when he learned of it, his dreams, his birth, his very existence, has a whole other meaning that he embraces through the prophecy? This, I believe, all fits with traits that previous dragon dreamers had displayed, subtly or not. And when paired with the show bits we are given about dragon dreamers being apparently bestowed the dreams by dragons (or eggs, as book might suggest), then it rounds up nicely, in my RP opinion.

Again, this is all headcanon for the purpose of RP as I portray Rhaegar, but thanks to the show’s supplemental info paired with the book equivalents; there’s too much coincidence to just think it’s nothing more than that. Of course, if/when we are given more info from GRRM himself or when/if Winds of Winter comes out, I will adjust as needed to fit canon as much as possible. For now, it’s fun to weave these threads we have been given together into a bigger tapestry through the magic of RP. And as always, if you read all this, thank you!

[hiko-the-teacup]

DSMPSTUCK DESIGNS PT2

heheehehe tommeeeyyyy

he's so goofy, i tried to make him look interesting cuz i saw a lot of designs that were really simple and i wanted to add more silly details

so tommy is a human, but he is in fact an Aries, he is a Prospit dreamer and i believe he is a Heir of Blood (im too sleepy to explain just trust me on this one) so, hypothetically, if he were to be a troll he would be in the (canon extended zodiac's) sign of Arcer (sign of the officer)

OKAY SO TUBBO

i love the idea that tubbo had kind of a jade situation and had to fuse with his sprite which happened to have a ram and is actually god tier but uses normal clothes :)))

so tubbo is a human as well but he is a Capricorn, and i believe he is a Derse dreamer and a Bard of Breath

mostly because of the way he developed as a character, starting in a way, very attached to Tommy, looking for connections and trying to be the leader of a country, but in the end not being able to bare with it all and pushing people away

so hypothetically if he were a troll he'd fall on the sign of Capriun (sign of the cartographer)

fundy!

fundy is a human which also had a jade situation and became part fox!!

hes a Mage of Breath i believe, mostly because of the way he felt isolated from everyone

he is also a libra and a Prospit dreamer which would land him on the sign Libus (sign of the vibrant)

OMG MY FAVOURITE ONE :)

ok more like my second fave but still hehe

Wilbur, unlike many designs would lead you to believe, is actually a Virgo!!

i believe he is a Prince of Mind, and i will elaborate in another post (maybe) because i have a lot to say about him bc i LOVE THIS CHARACTER SO MUCH AGHHH

so anyways, he therefore is a Derse dreamer Jadeblood, Prince of Mind, which would fall into Virza (sign of the puzzle) ((fun fact that's also my extended zodiac sign)) (((i swear it wasn't or purpose i prome plz-----)))

JJJJJSCHLATT

slatt

he is also a virgo actually, that surprised me lmao

i believe he is a Witch of Rage, a Derse dreamer and being a Jadeblood that would give him the sign of viriborn (sign of the stringent)

i don't have much to say, this design was kinda lazy, i might remake it actually

ERET MY BELOVED

they would also be an ancestor design, i just couldn't render him cuz,, i got lazy---

but yeah he is a Capricorn and he is a Sylph of Heart♡♡♡, he is also a Derse dreamer and that would give him the sign Caprio (sign of the opaque)

FINALLY I GOT TO HIM I REALLY WANNA TALK ABOUT THIS

so first of all quackity is a Capricorn, HOWEVER i couldn't think of a very good design with purple for him specifically and so i was talking with a friend and came to this thought:

Quackity, like Jack Noir, was kinda pushed around and undermined,(more things i wrote but were deleted,ill do a deeper analysis when im more awake i swear)

essentially hes a derse Capricorn page of space, that would fall on Capriga sign of the surveyor

((edit;; oh my god it deleted like half of my post im going to die))

((ill post the rest tomorrow maybe))

[breaking-up-with-cockles]

Tinhatting Cockles like a Boss - like a G0$$ B0$$

So Misha did a livestream for his death2normalcy Valentine’s Day sale yesterday, and as a cockles tinhat, I think I would be remiss if I did not consider that Jensen is somehow involved. I will even go one step further and postulate that Misha was lying when he said the screaming came from one of the grandmothers. 

Ok so first of all I think that this D2N Valentine’s Day sale is about Jensen because yeah I’ma crazy tinhat but it’s freaking Valentines. But also because I think Misha and Jensen disagree when it comes to keeping their relationship secret. This might seem random but bear with me. At SPNHON (when they were broken up blah blah blah), the last question of the cockles panel was about gishwhes and after Misha tells the story about Jensen finding his skittles portrait, he pivots to another skittles portrait story that I don’t think Misha has ever told before:

So that year, this friend of mine actually was on a gishwhes team and he made a Jensen - he never watched supernatural he had no idea - but he made a Jensen Ackles’ mosaic portrait in Skittles and he was like “I’m certainly not gonna hang this up in my place so I thought you should have it” and I was like “oh thanks” and I stuck it in the closet. And then Vicki was like -a few months later she was like , “We have to get rid of that Jensen Skittle thing because rats are eating the candies off of it and it’s attracting rats.”

Ok I think I need to post a video because imo it looks like the story was fabricated by Misha in an effort to hurt Jensen while making a point and that’s important. When you’re angry and in a high emotional state, you are gonna say shit that’s true and shit that hurts. And yeah I know most cockles shippers think this was a great panel, but nah. Misha’s story starts at 34:16. If you watch before or after this part when the band comes on stage, you can see how teary eyed both Misha and Jensen are. Especially Misha doing everything he could to keep the emotion from escalating. Honestly, I don’t see how people can see this panel and think that they were in a good place. It’s painful.

Anyways, so this is all about The Closet™. Yep, that closet. Because Jensen wants their relationship to stay secret and while in the closet, they can’t openly be as affectionate as they would probably like, which means that it’s easier for people to think Misha is available which gives him more opportunity to stray since not everyone is aware of their relationship. I’m not blaming Jensen or giving Misha an excuse, I’m just reasoning that the more temptation there is, the harder it is to resist. So I think one thing that maybe Misha is saying, is that because Jensen is in the closet, he is gonna attract cheating rats like Misha. He could also be saying that because Jensen wants to stay closeted, Misha (and Vicki?) think they should toss Jensen and break up because they only get the little bits of Jensen anyways rather than the whole guy. So maybe this was like a retaliatory breakup for Misha, if true. One of those “you can’t break up with me! I’m breaking up with you!”. So I think this closet conversation is possibly a point of contention for them. This closet thing from SPNHON came back to me because of the D2N email they sent out a week ago.

The closet in Hawaii had some serious negative connotation, but the way that Misha is using it here, is diametrically different. Here with D2N, the closet is associated with 7 minutes, which was probably intended to remind us of that teenage party game where two people make-out in a closet for 7 minutes. The game is called 7 Minutes in Heaven. Cute and relevant. And since this is set to go down on Valentine’s day, then almost certainly Misha wanted us to think of sexy closet time.  But with Valentine’s I also think of cupids, which reminds me of angels, which reminds me of heaven. Cool. 7 Minutes of Heaven. Just kidding, I thought cupi-Cas, which reminds me of Cas’s original personal heaven from season 9, a room full of pics of naked Deans. Maybe this is Misha’s personal heaven too. Being a in a closet with naked Dean/Jensen. 

But then Misha throws me when he keeps reiterating in the D2N video and on twitter that “loving someone means letting go” and “when you love something, set it free”. Oh god is this another cockles breakup.Of course my negative filter, thinks he’s talking about letting Jensen go but would he do that on Valentine’s Day? Maybe. Misha is pretty twisted but I don’t think he is cruel. Plus, I have seen what broken-hearted Jensen and Misha look like and how they behave, particularly when their relationship has blown up, and I just don’t see the Misha from his D2N video as the lovelorn one from late last year. But I could be wrong.

However, even though my default is to go negative, I am actually more hopeful. The dreamer in me is hoping that this whole D2N thing was making way for Jensen and Misha to say goodbye to the closet and for them to finally be open with their love. Death to the closet. Death to normalcy. Hello motto. Hello to polyamory. That would be freaking amazing but yeah that’s definitely not gonna happen (yet). And I don’t really need or care if they’re public with their relationship, but I don’t want my babies fighting. I actually wonder if maybe that’s where gishwhes was gonna go this year till Misha blew it. Like it was gonna be some elaborate coming out celebration/scavenger hunt, but since they broke up, they had to call off that plan and Misha decided to go ahead and stick with the same tried and true gishwhes formula. Oh man, I wish. But the truth is, I don’t think Jensen and Misha are gonna come out on Valentines Day but I will be more shocked if this D2N thing is about a breakup rather than if its some next level flirting on Misha’s part. I mean c’mon! He is selling a mixtape. 

So that was crazy the first. Crazy the second is that I’m not actually convinced that it was a grandmother at Misha’s door. I have no real proof for this (as if I ever do) except that when Danneel posted ❤🌏🌚🌏 in response to one of Misha’s instagrams on saturday the 10th, my eighth thought was that she meant “see you in two days”. The little moon guy signifies night and the rotation of the earth. So when Misha had visitors at his house that he was desperately hiding from us, in my crazy tinhat head, it was the Ackles family and everything was all coming together. Here is Misha’s D2N video.

Here is my stellar logic though. Yes, it could have been a grandmother but he has already introduced us to both of them. We met Vicki’s mom in Hawaii and Misha has never been too shy with showing off his parents. I think he had a a gishwhes meet-up in Bellingham for his mother’s bday in 2016 where tons of fans socialized with her. It just doesn’t make sense to me that he would suddenly want to exclude them (unless they asked for that which is a possibility) when he films pretty much anyone that is there. But this is flawed because i have no idea if he asks permission from the people and the parents of everyone he films beforehand. But no doubt, both Misha’s and Vicki’s respective mothers know Misha well enough to know he’s quirky and he records a lot of videos. Ok I admit this is a weak argument. But what about Misha’s reaction when his wind-chime/doorbell rang, before the screaming even began? Why would he frantically run upstairs away from his mom or MIL? I mean, Misha booked it, two steps at a time. 

And then there was that weird thing he said after he ran upstairs and closed the door.  He said:

What else do I need to tell you. I mean that may be it. It’s valentines day. They say -  I mean really that’s the problem with live video. Someone walks through the front door and starts screaming and it’s all - it’s captured for everyone to see. Something terrible is gonna happen eventually.

But how is having one of the mothers/grandmother’s accidentally walk in on a live video terrible? How many times have we seen glimpses or flashes of people that we have known and not known in his videos? Would he define those as something terrible? Considering he hasn’t, probably not. However, even though I have begged and prayed for a revealing accidental cockles moment in one of Misha’s videos, as amazing and life-saving as that would be for me and for the world, I can see how that could be “something terrible” for Misha and Jensen and maybe even their families. But imo family time with a shrieking grandmother does not compare to "something terrible”. It is actually a rather odd, harmless time for Misha to suddenly realize the risks of livestreaming. He has streamed dozens of live videos of his family, one where someone even farted. These are not uncommon occurrences for him yet we are supposed to believe that this ordinary standard loud family gathering with grandma is the eye-opening incident that shines a light on the hazards of livestreaming that he never considered before. Sure, Jan. The incongruity or just plain absurdity of his grandmothers visit warranting a “something terrible” is so weird and it makes it suspicious for some kind of deception. 

Plus Misha was way too urgent and nervous when he ran upstairs. He definitely did not want us to see who his visitors were. He was also talking and stomping on the stairs while his visitors were loudly greeting each other in the background. He definitely did not want us to hear who his visitors were. Now this is my favorite part. Even though he was hiding us or his visitors, he was having a good time doing it but I don't think he wanted us to know that. He was trying not to smile. He was suppressing smiles when he was running up the stairs and for a lot of the second half of the video but especially when discussing the dangers of live streaming. The suppressed smile on the stairs actually makes sense because it could have been because he was probably happy and excited about seeing his visitors and/or finding humor in the whole ridiculous situation. It could be for other various reasons, including the one I am about to talk about, but you can’t be sure because the loud women were legitimately funny, thus smiling is an appropriate display. But the smile that he tried to suppress that slipped out in his “something terrible” speech was a different kind of suppressed smile. I believe he was displaying something known in the nonverbal world as duping delight.

Duping delight is when a smile leaks out when we fool or dupe someone with a lie, partial truth or when we are withholding information, like a secret. Some people subconsciously or semi-consciously occasionally take delight in such a ruse and obviously a suppressed smile is indicative of that pleasure and thrill they experience in tricking others or in doing some other act of deception. But this smile has to be out of place and inappropriate and since there was nothing else going on that would normally produce a smile (like the loud ladies), and because he did display a cluster of other deceptive body signals along with his duping delight, I really do think he was delighting in his clever deceptions. But was he all that successful? Because as hard as Misha tried not to show his joy in deceiving us, he just couldn’t completely shut it down. But that’s understandable if it were actually “something terrible” as Jensen and his brood that he was trying to keep secret. I would be delighting so fucking much in that dupe, too, if I were that lucky. 

[auraelmusicud-blog]

407 Re-evaluating the brand

407 EVALUATING BRAND DEVELOPMENT TASK  - Critically evaluate personal, professional and skills related development over the course of study.

401 – Deconstructing the artist PERSONAL  - distinctive, characteristic, unique, individual, one's own, particular, private, peculiar, exclusive, idiosyncratic, Consider how the 401 unit affected you personally

1. What was your initial reaction to the deconstruction process?

 It was exciting because I finally give myself time an space to look into myself a little deeper. Something I always knew I needed to do but never allowed myself too because of distractions in life. Rushing into projects and writing sessions because I felt thats what I needed to be doing and experiementing with different people before understanding what I wanted and everything that really identifies and resonates with who I am as a person and not just an artist and who I think I should be.

2. Once you started to deconstruct your brand how did it make you feel? It was hard and I began questioning everything I was doing. Over thinking whether I was right or wrong or found new ways to experiment all got bit too much. I feel like I went round in a massive circle to find justification for my previous work. at the end of the process i realised that i was right in my direction and validation had been given. The new things i had completed were things that I can use down the line and part of the journey. It has made things clearer now and kind of adds up as to what I like and where I fit as an artist. Why i like the things i do example glitter, alice in wonderland, dreamy, fantasy, dancing.

3. How did discussing these experiences with your peers affect you, what new insights did you gain? 

Some people can get confused with me and my ideas and thats fine because I realised not everyone will understand me. Thats part of my brand I am mysterious only some will understand and work me out and thats ok with me. I am there for a specific group of people who are just like me and that makes me happy and trusting knowing there will be those people and I will discover them as I go along my journey.

4. Were there any negative affects? 

Some people were a little confused and thought I was hiding behind  ‘Aura’ as in an alter ego and not being true to myself. I had to explain that Aura is not part of reality and that it is myself it’s just a way of me expressing and being myself a lot better than perhaps the every day me can be in reality. However they slowly began to understand that I am a complex person and thats part of my brand.

5. Did this unit change the way you thought about your work? if so please elaborate. PROFESSIONAL Consider how the 401 unit affected you professionally I did change my direction to some extent and I did begin to over think a little, which is good and bad thing. Everything became clear and relatable in my life and linked to my journey or inspirations for example Alice in Wonderland links to how I’m kind of lost in my own dreamworld and I have discovered thats how my music and voice sounds, dreamy and un-conforming to rules as it is my world. However I also started to think that all the things had to make sense to the things that I collected e.g. images that represented me I directly linked to my music and my brand image and colour patterns etc.

1. How did the deconstruction process affect the professional side of your work? for instance did you consider approaching any part of the creative process in a different way?

I looked at my traits such as the ‘dreamer’ and angelic voice and discovered dreamier sounds were what I wanted to incorporate  as well as contrasting with grittier sounds. I am now more carefully referencing songs to producers I would work with rather than just getting lost in all the sounds and ideas of others and going off what they are good at or want to do. Also in the past i didn't allow myself enough creative freedom and the deconstruction has taken me back to the ideas and the message and what its for. It slowed the process down but its made it more of a building relationship. 

2. Did you develop any new working methods or approaches as a direct response to this unit? I will approach production in a more discussion based rather than rushing into just making music. Letting people understand what I want and not work on a formulae as such. Being more selective in my approach has meant I'm filtering out the wrong people to work with.

3. Have you professional plans changed as a consequence of the deconstruction process? SKILLS  - A skill is the ability to carry out a task with pre-determined results Consider how the 401 unit strengthened existing skills or helped you develop new skills Yes I am considering things a lot more carefully rather than rushing things I'm giving myself more time. Im thinking more about who I'm spending my time working with. Asking more questions for example if a producer asks me to work with them I will ask if they play instruments and how they would approach this. For example are they looking to build a lasting working relationship partnership or would they just be making me an instrumental as a one off. I think this important for the level of commitment and value that they can add to the music. And the more skills and experience is mutually beneficial.

1. make a list of all existing skills and highlight any skills which you enhanced though the completion of this unit, remember skills can also be thinking skills, creative skills as well as technical skills. Thinking - what needs to go into my music how much depth and understanding do i have on what I want where do my inspiration draw from what am I trying to say how i want to be perceived and who my audience were. Writing skills - developing an understanding of my writing style and non conforming to structure and not questioning that it will be accepted. Realising I want to be decoded by others and applying it to my writing process. Marketing I used to think I wanted to be the popstar but I realised I want to remain quite mysterious and less predictable.

Decision making.

2. Describe the relationship between skill development, skill enhancement and brand development.  I have enhanced my writing in different ways but this made me consider a different route almost. However through developing my   decision making skills and thinking about what I really want my music to do it has directly impacted on my brand vision. For example making the decision on the style of music I want to make has influenced my image and the social posts I put out to the world and the art work and videos for my music. Also the productions behind the music.

403 – Brand development PERSONAL

What effect did action planning have on you personally? How did you feel, what were your responses emotionally to this task and why do you this was? Writing the things down that I wanted to achieve definitly made things more clearer and break down the process of how I would get to each step. Breaking it down helped me not get so overwhelmed and thats where I usually get a block because I am over thinking everything I need to do because I had no plan laid out. This is also helped me become calmer in the studio and begin the enjoy the making music as opposed to making it feel like high pressure and stressed.

PROFESSIONAL

1. How did action planning affect you professionally, explain why it had this affect. SKILLS 1. identify any skills you purposefully aimed to developed as part of this unit and explain how action planning specifically helped you to achieve this.

I learnt how to complete things. Seeing things through to a conclusion is now my main objective. I have discovered what works for me and how to work collaboratively.  . I had recognised that i had built a relationship with someone who understands my way of working and taking the pressure off me to do everything for myself e.g. recording the whole idea. I over think and get so many ideas being with my engineer allows me to go through in a calm organised way and bounce off their advice. My working relationships are based on real understanding.

406 – PRESENTING THE BRAND PERSONAL

1. What was the emotional affect of critically analysing your core values?  It was positive it took me back to my childhood and things and even to my teenage years for example one of my values if to not conform to what is expected something I realised I have had in me since a young age and also I was a little rebellious at school. It kind of made things make sense. I also never followed the crowd and as I have gotten older done a lot of things independently because I find it hard to pretend to want to be part of groups or be around others too much. I like being on my own and not being told what is cool and not cool or what to do. As I have definitly learnt with my music. I should not take too many opinions of others and continue to walk alone with my idea until I find the people that will understand me.

2. Did anything become clearer as a consequence of this critical process? Yes I feel knowing what my values are really help bring my brand together as a whole who I am what my messages might be and how my music also relates to them. Before I was a little lost but thats okay because that is who I am as a person and is also part of the brand. It also gave me more confidence as looking at the UK market artists I can clearly identify a need and a gap in the market for an artist like me.

PROFESSIONAL

1. Has anything changed at a professional level as a direct consequence of this unit?

SKILLS 1. Have you strengthened or developed any new skills as a consequence of this unit, if so please discuss this process and explain how you think your brand development is likely to develop as a consequence. 

I think just understanding what the vision is and who I am as a person helped identify my values and that has made my branding so much easier to put into place and build. I think I have recognised skills that I already have such as relationship building with fans and connecting with fans through my music the way i intended too. I feel like I also have a clearer direction of the route I am going to take with what music I will release first and where to go for feedback. For example I will release my more darker moodier music to begin with and look to tastemakers and play listing as a way of gaining some recognition as opposed to more traditional radio. This has definitly gave me more confidence as I used to worry about my music being played on radio or not being accepted but there is a huge world out there and the use of the internet to connect with so many people.

TASK 3. Summarise how the course has changed your thinking or approach and the affect this has had on your artist brand and you personally.

It changed me from thinking I want to be a big global superstar on performing on the MTV awards and having my music played on the radio. I realised thats quite the opposite of what I want. I want to remain mysterious for along as I can and allow myself to be more artistic and expressive because thats who I really am deep down.  Not what mainstream expect or want artists to be. I’d rather people find me than me forcing my music down peoples throats and rather not be in every music video and be anonymous sometimes using smart visuals that make people wonder.  In the future of course moving into more commercial outlets is what I have learnt I would like to do but for now I am happy to explore my darker more cooler side because that is okay and everything is stages and processes right now I'm at that point in my life and I have learnt not to over think it just enjoy it and experiment if anything but also allow for inperfections.