#i wanted his regular design to really emphasize the Literally Just Some Guy thing

[airocats]

[ninjagirlstar5]

Imagine getting the talent of the guy you absolutely despise. Yeah, that's right, Yoruko is the Ultimate Wizard in this Swap Talent AU.

Yoruko's was fun to tackle as I don't think she'd be super flashy or anything as a wizard but she'd still look very pretty as one. She may have been a hostess but she only dressed up like that cause she required to look appealing while working. But making it clear that she was a wizard was a bit...I don't wanna say "difficult" but I definitely had to consider how she would dress herself up as a wizard as I didn't just want to put her in a witch hat and dress and then call it a day. She's not like Mikado, who simply put on a fancy hat, cape, magical mask and gloves over his regular clothes and called it a day. (And even then, he wasn't even a real wizard.) So I decided to just go off of vibes when approaching this design: I gave her a sleeveless sweater, a long skirt with a split (I might change that split design though the next time I draw this Swap Talent AU), boots with dark socks, made her bow MUCH bigger, a single glove with a bracelet that has a gem hanging off of it (most likely to help her control her magic), a shawl and some glasses to both reference her real self's sprite design and to put emphasize on her smart looks when it comes to magic. I also changed her ponytail to a big side braid as it symbolizes wisdom and I tend to think of braids as a sort of wizard-y kind of hairstyle. Fun fact: I used heart shapes to make her hair. ^^ The butterfly tattoo on her arm is kind of a brand or a symbol to what kind of magic she specializes in, which in her case, I'm thinking is probably transformation magic, a kind of magic that's exactly what it says on the tin: she can transform any object or person into another thing, although there's probably limitations. Like, for example, she can't turn a living being into an inanimate object and the more complex the object/living being is, the less time that thing will remained transformed. (Basically, if she changed Nikei - clothes and all - into a frog for annoying her, he'll only remain as a frog for a couple of hours at most and will wear off with time.) She can also make simple changes like turning her black hair to pink. Hey, why use hair dye when you can literally just use MAGIC to change her hair itself? That being said, that's probably the only physical change in her appearance that she made. I don't think Yoruko is the kind of person to make any DRASTIC changes, just small, simple ones. Especially since she tends to copy people she looks up to a lot. Anyways, I changed her color palette from gold and blue to gold and lilac since purple is associated with power and since an Ultimate Wizard would be pretty powerful in raw talent and, well, power, I thought it would suit Yoruko a bit more although I made the colors far softer and gentler than Mikado's darker and murkier cape and hat. Yoruko isn't perfect but she tends to have her heart in the right place most of the time, unlike Mikado, who is...Mikado. And so, Yoruko is done and wow she is a pretty wizard.

Next up is Syobai!

Okay, coming up with background story beats for Yoruko and how she came into her talent is...interesting, to say the least. Like, for starters, the talent wasn't even real in the first place. It was just AIkado fucking around in the Neo World Program thanks to his administration access and to be as powerful as he can be in contrast to his "fellow students." A show of power without revealing where they really are. To be honest, I don't see Yoruko being given any kind of administrative access from Mikado if the main story were to remain the same, just with swapped talents, unless he had made her into an AI/program and frankly, I'm not interested in approaching this background like she IS a program. So I'm just gonna ignore the fact that magic isn't actually real in the DRA/SDRA2 version of the Danganronpa timeline and say that it does, in fact, exist. And hey, if ghosts can be canon in Despair Girls, why can't magic? (This also probably means that the age twist wouldn't work cause they're not in the Neo World Program and it'd be impossible to de-age them like they were in the original story, at least in this version of events. But since magic is real...well, regardless of Mikado's swapped talent, he'd probably delve into Necromancy just to see if he can bring back Utsuro thanks to Yoruko's talent confirming that magic does indeed exist. Oops.)

Anyways, for Yoruko's background, she would have never became a hostess if she had never met her Senpai, who saved her from a group of bullies that were going too far and nearly could've killed her. I think in this version of events, the reason for her Senpai, Amane, to intervene was twofold: 1.) because it was the right thing to do and she couldn't stand watching the same thing that happened to her happen to someone else, and 2.) because she noticed there was magic building up around Yoruko and realized that there was going to be an outburst that could easily injure, or worse, kill these bullies and intervened to keep it from escalating. She knew that if that were to happen, Yoruko would forever be haunted by this event and she couldn't stand by and watch her younger classmate become fearful of her own power. So she helps Yoruko and befriends her, trying to subtly train her in her magic without revealing that she has it and to keep it concealed. The bracelet Yoruko has is to help her keep control over her magic without it bursting and creating havoc whenever she loses her temper or when survivor instincts kick in in a way that would hurt others when she didn't mean to. She thinks that, for Yoruko, ignorance would be bliss. At least, at the start. But eventually, Yoruko hears rumors about Amane being a "witch" or doing "creepy rituals at night" and she's like, "Pfft, yeah, right. Like magic ever existed...right?" She didn't think it was true, but when the thought of the rumors covering up something more insidious that Amane couldn't get out of, she caves into her suspicions and follows her one day after school to prove to herself that it's nothing like that. And it wasn't! But she does end up witnessing a magical ritual where Amane easily repaired a valuable object that seemed irreparable with how many pieces it had been turned into or how she helps a plant regain it's vigor and color. So, the rumors were a lot more truer than everyone thought it was and she kinda freaks out. Which was enough for her to get caught by her Senpai and she begs for mercy. But her Senpai is quick to reassure her that she's not going to hurt her and admits the truth: she's an actual wizard and probably one of the last ones left...at least until she met Yoruko. It's then that she also revealed that one of the reasons why she approached Yoruko was because of her magic and how it was this close to hurting someone, which she had a feeling that her younger classmate would regret. Yoruko would try to deny it at first but when her Senpai takes the bracelet off, her magic starts to sizzle out from her due to all her anxiety and ends up cracking a mirror. Hit with the reality that she was the same as Amane, she questions why no one had noticed and Amane just...tells her to sit down.

You see, if wizards/witches and magic really do exist in Danganronpa, you'd have to question why this wouldn't be common knowledge in this universe, especially with a world based off of real life and the real history we've been through. Some people's solution to this is to make a secret society, but that actually crops up OTHER issues like how some humans would react to actual real world events like, you know, war and such, and how many of them would probably try to use their magic to stop it or make it worse, and how difficult that would be to keep that a secret when such events happen. But honestly, I think there's a much simpler solution in this case: wizards are just...a dying breed in the modern world, for lack of a better word I could think of. If they were common place back then, then most of them had been hunted down and killed due to their power in magic scaring society. That's Amane's assumption, at least. According to her, even she doesn't know enough about magic and it's own history. Just that if no one believes that magic actually exists, that it's just a fictional part of storytelling or folklores, then the real history of magic had nearly all but disappeared from existence. Even Hope's Peak never had an Ultimate Wizard before since it's existence. There just isn't enough people to even be considered a group, and to Amane...she considers herself to be one of the few wizards left in this world. Assuming there are more of them out there.

Yoruko questions how the hell she even came to realize her own power, and Amane simply says that she was just lucky that her own parents had magic as well and were far more equipped to handle her magic when it became obvious that she had it. When Yoruko questions how the hell her own family never noticed, Amane simply asks if they had magic, and if they did, she should think back on the times when strange things were happening around her while growing up, if she ever got blamed for something that seemed out of her control, and how they handled it. If they had magic, would those signs have gone under their radar? After a pause of Yoruko thinking back on her childhood, on the times when she managed to jump higher than should've been possible when playing tag, on the times when a kid blamed her for getting hurt when they tripped on a root that wasn't there before and thought she had pushed them, on the time when she tried to blow out a candle when her group of friends brought her a birthday cake but somehow the flames grew bigger instead and accidentally set the table on fire, and how everyone started to avoid her for being "accident-prone" and becoming more and more pessimistic in her life in response, she realized, no, they didn't have magic. Yoruko's parents, and perhaps even her sister, were normal people that simply tried to comfort and support her when things went wrong, never realizing the power their daughter/sister had in her all along. Yoruko asks how that's even possible, and Amane simply shrugs, admitting that even though she and her parents had magic, her younger siblings did not. She may have theorized that wizards had been hunted down and killed, and for all she knew, she may be right since witch hunts WERE a thing, but it could also possibly be because magic was a gene and humans just...stopped needing a use for it over time and wasn't being passed down by the majority anymore. It doesn't mean it can't crop again, like what happened with her and her parents and even Yoruko, but that also meant that the majority of people born with magic are more likely to end up with a family that may not understand what's going on with them, let alone figure it out. Like what happened with Yoruko since, according to her, neither of her parents nor her sister seemed to have magic like her. Again, Amane didn't know enough about magic's history and even her parents knew jack shit, gravitating towards each other because of their shared issues and only then realizing that what they were dealing with was magic. All their learning was pretty much trial and error, which they passed down to her.

Yoruko...has no idea how to feel about all of this. On the one hand, learning that she has magic is almost...freeing, in a way. An explanation for the many things that just shouldn't have happened in normal circumstances but did. But on the other hand, she had a power that could hurt others. Kill others. That kind of power would be terrifying for Yoruko. What if she messed up? What if someone got hurt because of her? But Amane, ever kind and patient, calms her down, saying that she doesn't have to go through this alone. Not anymore. Not as long as she's around, and she offers to teach her to control her magic and even give it a use. If that's what she wants, at least. Amane reminds her that as long as she wears that bracelet she gave her, her magic would never get out of control, even when she uses it as an outlet to better direct what kind of magic she's using and such. She can easily return to her normal life if that's what she desires most and apologizes for leaving her in ignorance. But Yoruko, knowing that Amane may be the only one that can understand these magic-related issues in a way no one else would and wanting to stay by her side, accepts. After that, Yoruko spends months, perhaps even years, learning from Amane and even teaching her new things as well since she's still learning more about magic herself. Learning together, working together, and helping each other when the other is down helped Yoruko become just as skilled of a wizard like Amane, perhaps even better.

But one day, Yoruko would ask Amane why she has new things to repair almost every day. She would laugh awkwardly, admitting that she kind of turned her magic into an independent job by repairing people's most valued objects in exchange for cash. When Yoruko asks why she has to do that, for the first time, Amane grows quiet...and admits that her parents actually passed away in a car accident a few years back. She's not sure if they had no relatives or if they somehow became a black sheep to their relatives due to their magic, but no one took her or her siblings in so it was either being stuck in a system that may separate them all or try to take matters into her own hands. Clearly, she chose the latter as she's able to take care of both herself and her siblings through her magic, and even gained a reputation of sorts. A reputation that she really hopes doesn't take the notice of Hope's Peak cause as much as she wished there were more people like her, she knows better than to let the world know that such powerful magic exists. She doesn't want to think of the consequences that could entail from it. Yoruko agrees but is also surprised as she had never realized that Amane is dealing with a lot more on her plate than she admits. She simply says that she didn't want to burden Yoruko at the time since her teachings were much more important and she had managed this far, it's just...well, it's become a bit harder to find commissions lately and she's worried she may not be able to pay the bills in time. Yoruko rebuts, though, saying that she may be her mentor but she's also her...friend, and it wouldn't be fair if she just vented all her feelings to her but never allowed her to do the same. She even asks if she could help, which surprises Amane for moment but then...she agrees. She even says it would be a good opportunity to teach Yoruko how to repair objects from scratch as it's a pretty handy spell to know for daily life, although it's much more complicated for something that's to have a more permanent effect than Yoruko's usual transformation spells.

Looking back on it now, Yoruko wished her Senpai had turned her down. If only to avoid what happened next.

Amane had asked her to set up the chalk circle and candles while she double checks the book. Yoruko wasn't sure what she had messed up back then, especially under Amane's watch. Did the candles not have the correct properties? Did she make such a small, tiny mistake in the chalk circle when messing up just a smidge could change it into a different spell entirely? Or did she overdo it with her magic as she followed her Senpai's instructions in staring at the original photo of the object and visualizing what it should look like as she imbued the object with the spell?

Regardless of what the mistake was, magic was the embodiment of chaos, not logic, and only bends to it's own rules. And Yoruko, despite doing her best, messed up and turned the object into dust.

Shocked by what had just happened, Yoruko tries to apologize and even says that maybe they could still try to fix it but Amane just stared at the remains of the object in silence before saying that this can't be fixed. All the pieces had been destroyed and now it's impossible to fix it at all. She tried before, but couldn't, and had to bring the bad news to her customer, getting hit with a refund soon afterwards. Yoruko apologizes again, quieter, but this only gets Amane to snap at her, blaming her for losing the paycheck she could've used to help her and siblings from this one commission. In hindsight, she probably shouldn't have allowed Yoruko to work on a commission the first time trying out this spell as it's only natural for her to mess up on her first try, but she was too angry and distraught to realize her own misjudgment in this situation and Yoruko is too hurt and upset to try and defend herself. She just constantly apologizes as she leaves, hoping that by removing herself from the situation, it would allow Amane some space to calm down.

By the time Yoruko worked up the courage to talk to her again, though, she couldn't find Amane at school and finds out through her teacher that she had to pull out for the time being. Horrified by the implications, Yoruko runs back to the hideout, only to find the mess had been cleaned up with a stack of books left on the desk and a letter on top of it. When she opens it up, it was an apology from Amane snapping at her, saying that she shouldn't have done that and some of the blame was hers as well for making the wrong call in judgment. Still, due to her current circumstances, she could no longer stay in school and had to go searching for a second job, bringing her siblings along with her as she admits to moving away. The letter tries to reassure Yoruko that this was probably going to happen anyway due to the lack of commissions, but she's not internalizing that, instead blaming herself for forcing her Senpai into a position where she had no choice but to move away. When she gets to the bottom of the letter, her Senpai reveals that while she can no longer teach Yoruko due to both her own circumstances making it hard to meet up anymore and Yoruko simply being better than her at magic at this point, at least according to her, she left her all the books and research both she and her parents had done over the years in her care. She expresses the hope that she'd still continue to study and research magic so that maybe, one day, when they meet up again, they can understand their shared magical history together. Yoruko, still racked with guilt, chooses to do just that, taking responsibility for her actions by continuing her studies in magic.

And then, perhaps a few months or even a year later, Hope's Peak comes knocking at her door via a letter proclaiming that they know her secret and wish to bring her into the school to study her talent as the Ultimate Wizard. And if she doesn't, they'll out her to a government agency and have her be taken away. Worst of all, Hope's Peak is still tied to the government themselves, even when they lacked funding, so it's basically a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation. So Yoruko decides her only option was to "willingly" join Hope's Peak Academy's newest class so she can have more freedom, and perhaps, more control over what they learn about magic. If she has to be forced out of hiding and reveal that magic exists, she'd doing it her way in the hopes that she can at least try to give guidelines on how it should be treated and worked with.

Too bad she ends up in a killing game, but hey. It was an effort, at least. And to keep her from being too overpowered in the killing game, Mikado probably set up some kind of magic-negation objects that keeps her from blowing him up on sight. After all, she does still have her bracelet that both negates her own magic and helps her control it, and doesn't actually require magic to create. Some gems simply have magic-negating properties. And HE learned this from HER during their time at Hope's Peak, even if she doesn't realize it due to the collective amnesia plot point. Oof.

[qhazomb]

I keep pinballing between monster Gordon designs in my head, and the most common contenders have been and owlbeast form like from The Owl House (bc him fluffy), that one humanoid design where his hair is super long and floaty and full of eyes, or a spiky dragon with near geometric scale spikes (bc the irony that his monster form is all sharp and pointy but his human form and personality are so soft and cuddly)

Bubby is usually the fire type of the group, so i always imagine monster Gordon with magma or plasma? Plasma maybe better, fits a celestial theme.

ooooh, that’s neat! i like the idea of monster gordon with plasma and lightning powers might have to incorporate that with the one i’m picturing. imagine electricity arching between his mane tendrils and whiskers and stuff, which signifies that something is about to get plasma breath’d also OOPS THIS PROMPTED ME TO SHARE A LOT OF THOUGHTS SO THIS GOT LONG, putting the rest under a read more ha ha

another thing about the monster gordon au i’ve been thinking about is that he’s not a straight-up cosmic entity like i picture benrey being, but more of just an alien from another dimension, like the critters from xen (he’s not from xen, though. whole ‘nother place entirely!) in this au, i still have gordon and benrey having known eachother as children, only this time gordon was the lil monster kid living in the woods, of course. and also, kid benrey actually saw his monster friend get carted off by black mesa! he saw the company’s logo on a vehicle or equipment or something, and never forgot it. benrey and his folks move to new mexico when he’s like, 13, and ends up befriending their new neighbor- a twenty-something guy named tommy. eventually, benrey learns that tommy’s working for this lab called black mesa, and when he sees the place’s logo he’s just !!!!!! and immediately decides he needs to try and get in that place. he doesn’t know shit or fuck about science, so trying to get a scientist job there is out. but maybe they’re hiring for like, a janitorial or security position? he’s pretty fit, and knows how to mop a floor and shoot a gun. so he goes for that. gordon still completely forgets his human childhood friend, though, awww. though that might be partially blamed on some of the experiments conducted on him. speaking of his time as a research specimen, he actually had it a tiny bit better than benrey did. didn’t take until he was in his teens before a much more caring scientist showed up to make sure he had good mental, emotional, and physical enrichment. and instead of that scientist being tommy, like for benrey... for gordon, it’s coomer. dad coomer momence :) they find gordon much more willing to cooperate after he imprints on coomer, too. and also take note of how active his curiosity is, with the alien asking so many questions and looking for so many answers for about how things work, especially when he hits his teens. somewhere along the line, some ‘mesa higher ups decide to let this xenoguy indulge his apparently scientific mind, and give him a job (he’s still required to check in for tests on himself, and not allowed to leave the facility, though). even tho he’s not an eldritch horror, he’s still got shape-shifting powers, and takes on a human form, both because all the spaces he’d work in were made with humans in mind, and to reduce the number of weird looks from literally everyone outside of sector E. and because he looked human, benrey didn’t recognize gordon at all, but also couldn’t shake this weird vibe he was getting from him. vibe increases after he sees this guy heading to do a dangerous test without one of the fancy hazard suits (being near-indestructable, he doesn’t need one). just before they get to where the test chamber is, and benrey asks him again why he doesn’t have a HEV suit if he’s really supposed to be here, gordon yells “BECAUSE I’M NOT FUCKING HUMAN, OKAY?? Now will you PLEASE let me go do my fucking job, I’m running so god damn late, christ...” the “not human” part is emphasized by gordon briefly showing a glimpse of his true form. which benrey instantly recognizes. ...aaaand then feels bad about the “i need to make sure you’re nice or not, everybody here’s afraid of you” thing. in this case, some of the other employees in sector C were afraid of gordon, as they knew what he was. benrey was a new hire and didn’t (obviously) and didn’t get why some of the scientists and guards were acting nervous around this seemingly friendly (if short-tempered) guy. but now he does. as well as why gordon looked a little self-conscious about it when benrey brought it up. whoops. even though monster!gordon doesn’t wear a HEV suit, he still has trackers that the military use to hunt the science team down. the trackers are just, y’know, in him. and unfortunately, nobody on the team knows exactly where they were stuck in him, and he doesn’t wanna just go clawing himself open everywhere to find the damn things. so the betrayal still happens, though benrey is def not feeling it as much, cause like, he JUST found his old alien friend and was gonna bust him out!! which obviously he can’t do if the fuckin’ military gets a hold of him. but then, he also can’t bust gordon out if he himself gets killed by the military... so turning gordon in is the lesser of two evils. turn him in now, and then try to free him again later. that’s the plan. of course, the bootboys ambushing gordon aren’t at all prepared. they weren’t properly informed on everything about gordon, and for about this whole time, gordon’s been taking on a human form. said form being considerably smaller than his true one. gordon does not black out and get tossed in (the wrong part of) a trash compactor. he does still get pissed at bubby and benrey, though. but this time, he forgives benrey first, as the guy gets way, WAY more emotional over this all than gordon’s ever seen from him. showing off a ton of genuine guilt and regret over it, and also explains why he did it right away (even tho gordon’s still convinced he and benrey never met until the test). bubby mostly just seems scared shitless, oops. but gordo does forgive him before it’s all said and done. they still run into coomer clones and less-than-stable bubby prototypes (which are now just clones as well because reasons). bubby’s not a genetically engineered perfect organism, but a regular/realistic ‘test-tube baby.’ he’s still got a bionic heart, though. coomer’s still a cyborg, too, but not really a super-powered one. his robotic limbs are just advanced in that they’re as dexterous as his old natural limbs, and have artificial touch receptors. they’re also made out of materials that are sturdy as all fuck. they’re just a couple of dudes, as far as physical abilities go. their clones, however? still very fucked up. possibly a little bit more fucked up. this au is also another “not a game” one, and there’s a different reason for why coomer’s clones seem to have a weird connection with gordon/gordon’s brain. bubby’s do, too. those clones aren’t just clones, but also results of genetic splicing experiments. i’ll let you guess where the other non-coomer/bubby genes that were spliced in came from. go on. guess. i haven’t thought about what happens when they get to xen too much. probably just that they fight the nihilanth, since i headcanon that it was indeed still the cause of the xen portals, but benrey ate it to steal its sick boss arena. gordon however wouldn’t do that, as he doesn’t get pissed at any of the team to, y’know, wanna go final boss on them. still gotta be the big hero man (even when he’s not technically a ‘man’). after they get back from xen, tommy prob manages to convince his dad to convince his employers to NOT lock gordon up in a lab again, as it would both mean a lot to his best friend benrey (who is like a little brother to him), and because he’s become fast friends with gordon himself and thus cares about him. i’m also trying to decide if i still want mr. coolatta to be an eldritch being or make him human, too. kinda leaning towards letting him stay non-human, though this time tommy doesn’t have any of the ‘buffs’ i say his adoptive dad gives him in my other not-a-game aus. aaaand that’s all the thoughts i’ve had on this thus far!

[bluescreening]

Practical GCSE Advice

Tips From A New Year 12 Who Somehow Got All 9s

Don’t worry, I’m not becoming a studyblr. I’m writing this on results day as a sort of farewell to GCSEs and to impart some “wisdom” upon the youngsters before I move on to A-levels. I’m going to keep this to specific, practical things you can do to improve, none of that vague nonsense. Subject-specific tips for maths, geography, triple science, language, literature, graphic comms and comp sci under the fold because this is too bloody long already.

General Tips:

Don’t go revision crazy. People will always emphasize revision, but so long as you’re revising effectively (see below) you’re safe to start revising about a month before mocks, and two months before your final exams. In terms of a revision schedule during those months, I worked with one or two hours per day, with a free day on Friday and Sunday. 

Use apps to stay organised. Put your school timetable and exam dates in your calendar of choice with appropriate reminders and colour coding. To keep track of homework and revision, use Adapt - you can put in your GCSEs and it tracks which topics you have covered and how many times, as well as allowing you to input homework and your school timetable. During study time use Forest (free on Android) to lock yourself out of your phone for a certain amount of time.

Pay attention to lessons from the start. From the beginning of Year 10 every lesson is a GCSE lesson, and everything you learn could come up in an exam. Follow along with your teacher, make the best notes you can, do the work and understand the concepts as early as you can. You’ll thank yourself in a year as you watch the rest of your class wonder what a ribosome is when revision time comes.

Revise effectively. Use Adapt or a textbook to keep track of your confidence level on every topic, so when you’re revising you can focus on the ones you don’t understand whatsoever. Also, don’t just read stuff when revising. You have to train your brain to retrieve the information. Memorise vocabulary and basic facts using flashcards, then answer exam questions. Lots and lots of exam questions.

Use your teachers. They want you to succeed because it reflects well on them! If you don’t understand something after a lesson, pop back at break or lunch, or shoot them an email and they will help. Don’t just bank on it not showing up in the test because Sod’s Law dictates that it will. After Christmas in Year 11 they will often start revision sessions or intervention. Attend them for any subjects you’re even slightly shaky on. They’ll boost your grade like nothing else, even if it does take up some of your chill out time.

Buy textbooks and study materials through school. If your school offers you textbooks and workbooks it’s likely that will be the best deal for them, since they’re purchased in bulk. Grab all you can in Year 10 and talk to the school if you can’t afford many - they may be willing to help. If you know any higher-level teachers see if they have any sample study materials from CGP and the like. My English teacher gave me a lovely set of sample CGP Macbeth flashcards that would have proved really useful.

Make flashcards at the end of every topic. Stay on top of them. You want a term on one side and a definition on the other, or a quote and analysis etc. If you don’t like endless bits of card floating around use Quizlet - you might not even need to make them yourself as many people have shared GCSE flashcards there.

And finally - don’t forget you’re a human! Humans need regular sleep, healthy food including breakfasts, hydration, fun and social time. Make time in your day to take care of yourself. Your brain works better when you’re healthy so often an extra hour of sleep will do more for your grade than an extra hour of revision. Hanging out with your friends and keeping up with your hobbies reduces stress. 

Feel free to ask me any questions you may have about any of this stuff, or if you just need advice I’m here too! I’ve done it before, I can help you out.

Subject Specific Tips:

Edexcel Maths:

Use CorbettMaths. All the time. If you haven’t done every one of his worksheets at least once you’re not grinding hard enough. Jk, but seriously this guy used to teach me in real life and he’s awesome. He makes flashcard packs, videos on every aspect of GCSE maths, daily challenges, textbook exercises, practice exam questions... literally everything you could ever need.

Practice everything until you’re sick of it, and then do ten more questions.

You’ll need to memorise some trig identities. Don’t memorise them as a table, that’s hard. Memorise them as these triangles, sketch them out in an exam and work it out on the spot. Easy.

AQA Geography:

Don’t goof off during your fieldwork. Don’t make the same mistake as me. If I ever had to do the fieldwork paper I would not have got a 9. Even though it’s a field trip, even though you’re with your friends, this will directly impact your GCSEs and you need to treat it like an exam.

Memorise vocabulary then move onto exam questions. Geography is very formulaic and exam questions repeat themselves - take advantage of that.

Memorise. Your. Case. Studies.

AQA Biology, Chemistry and Physics:

A l l  h a i l  f r e e s c i e n c e l e s s o n s .

Practice those reading comprehension questions where you’re presented with information and have to answer questions about them. A surprising amount of people get overwhelmed because they haven’t revised it. You can’t! You have to read and understand it within the exam.

Memorise your bloody equations for physics or you will fail. Use Quizlet, learn them all by the end of year 10 even if you don’t know what they’re about yet, practice using them.

Buy the CGP workbooks and complete them! Make sure to buy the answers too, because CGP are scammers.

AQA English Language and Literature:

Identify 10-20 brief quotes from each piece of literature so you have a few for each character and theme. They can overlap! Also, memorise the author’s intentions for each one. With poems (for those of you who have to do them... I’m not salty, I promise) ask your teacher to recommend 5 that match up with the most themes and memorise 3 quotes from each. Remember to analyse the rest of the poems too - any of them could come up so it’s good to have an understanding.

Memorise structures for every question. The examiners will tell you not to use structures. Shut up, I got all 9s. Structures are the best way for slow writers to ensure they get everything they need to in. TETAAC (topic, evidence, terminology, analysis, alternative interpretation, context) works for lit essays and can be modified for every other question. Work out how many paragraphs you can write in 40 minutes and take that into account when planning. Once the plan is done it’s just a matter of making it sound frilly. English: hacked. My normal plan for a lit essay is a one-sentence thesis statement for an intro, 3xTETAAC paragraphs and a conclusion which reiterates everything but better.

Don’t worry if your grade is terrifyingly low to begin with. That’s just how English rolls. You’ll slowly develop the skills you need and start to make 3 or 4 grades of progress throughout year 11.

OCR Art and Design - Graphic Communication:

Think long and hard about whether you want to do graphics or fine art, if your school offers both. Graphics is designing logos, fine art is whatever you want. I should have taken fine art in retrospect.

Make as much work as possible from the very start, even if you haven’t decided on your portfolio project yet. Everything, and I mean everything, can be shoehorned. If you make a lot of work you have some leeway and can leave out your early stuff so your overall portfolio looks better.

Annotate as you go and store all your thoughts digitally. Even if you have no clue what you’re supposed to write in annotations, put down your thought process. It’s easy to tidy up something you wrote a year ago, but it’s really hard to stare at a letter F made out of newspaper and remember where on earth you were going with it.

To make enough work you will need to stay after school often and give up a lot of lunch times. That’s just how it goes. At least with the right crew it can be fun - the combo of my friends and the very chaotic art teachers at my school made my Thursday graphics sessions something to look forward to.

OCR Computer Science:

Use Quizlet flashcards to memorise terms. Being able to correctly define terms is half the battle, literally. You’ll basically get an instant 9 on the first paper if you memorise every term defined in the textbook. Luckily, someone beautiful and generous by the name of sporkified (wink wink) on Quizlet has created two sets with everything you need to know for the entire qualification.

Practice programming in your chosen language before your programming project starts. Learn to do everything mentioned in the textbook and try it out on a sample project. Many will tell you to not bother about the programming project, it doesn’t matter. That’s true to some extent, but excelling in the programming project can tip you up a grade as well as making the algorithm questions on paper 2 easier for you.

Take part in Cyber Discovery. Give it a Google, sign up. It’s really hard if you have no practical computer experience but doing it gave me a real edge with paper 2 which is where you want to focus your energy as it’s weighted more. Also it’s fun.

[ayakashiramblings]

ABC NSFW Headcanons: Koga Kitamikado

So... in my absence, the only time I went on ARR was to vote for Koga and Aoi. And I just realized one of my top boys is literally at the top! Hence, I’m going to do a super late tribute... 

ALPHABETICAL STYLE!!!

... I’m so sorry for ‘D’ though. Click on ‘Keep Reading’ to NOT SEE IT.

A - ‘Aftercare’ (What they’re like after sex)

Once you’ve been intoxicated by Koga… YOU GET EVEN MORE DRUNK WITH SAKE.

Seriously, a nightcap is what ends a nice round of magic… because he has much more in store!

“I’ve rolled the die to give me a one! That’s super odd!”

Goddamnit, kiss this dork, please. 

Because only amongst soft kisses will the both of you be lulled to sleep.

B - ‘Body’ (Body Part of Yours he Loves)

Your head.

… Wait, no, not like that. Sort of. Hmm...

It’s just that he wants to be closer to you and he’s extremely soft for forehead touches during these tender moments. 

Feels like that’s where you share everything, your thoughts, your deepest secrets... everything. 

C - ‘Cum’ (How does his cum taste like/look like)

You know what? I think it’s pretty good.

At first, I wasn’t certain because he is a sake lover and that will affect the taste.

Plus, he didn’t really say what he likes in Hot Pot, although I’m guessing it has to include thinly sliced meat and leafy vegetables. The thing is beef isn’t good but if he pairs it with the right non-cruciferous veggies, it could come out decently.

Another thing I’ve noticed is his regular food intake. Sure, it’s called an old man’s diet like what Kuya says but pickles and rice for breakfast are good if you want extra flavour.

So it’s one of the tops in the list for the fact it has enough volume with a taste that isn’t bitter, salty or sweet. It’s just... 

Warm. 

D - ‘Dirty Secret’ (DUH)

He hates peaches but...

Your butt... is like the only kind of peach he would ever consider eating. 

Brown peach, peachy peach, pale peach, green peach and whatever the colour your panties are today, he’s going to really secretly enjoy the fuzzy texture but also silently HATE that the closest comparison is his least favourite fruit. 

E - ‘Experience’ (Does he know what he is doing?)

He’s had a few partners but that doesn’t negate the fact that he literally takes any challenge by... the horns. 

He does go to the Entertainment sector but honestly, he’d get closer to the sake bottles then the women there first.

That said, he’s very observant and can suss out any sensitive zones you have to get you screaming all night is all I’m saying. 

F - ‘Favorite Position’ (Again, duh)

Don’t kill me. 

But it’s the CowGirl position.

Not only does he get to see you in all of your magnificent, unclothed glory... (or maybe with clothes? It’s up to you, hun.)

But there’s something about a strong woman just topping him that makes him go wild, especially when she uses his horns to guide him to her entrance as she sinks down on him.

G - ‘Goofy’ (Serious or humorous?)

Dude, expect the both of you to burst out in ridiculous giggles if any supposedly sexy line comes out wrongly.

“Hey, Koga, are you feeling... horny?”

“Depends, are we going to be thoroughly... purified in the shower?”

H- ‘Hair under THERE’ (Pubic Hair Treatment, does the carpet match the shades?)

He does get uncomfortable if any hair on him gets too long for... certain reasons. 

So yup, don’t expect a bush.

It’s interesting how the middle is entirely crimson red while the surround curls are black but Koga sometimes wonders if his lower part is bleeding as a result. 

I - Intimacy

Ladies and gentlemen, the #1 in intimacy. 

He really... really... REALLY does not want to ever lose you again so he keeps his body so close to yours.

Every time he recalls the past inferno, he would be sure to drown out the memories by stroking the flames of passion with his fingertips against your skin. 

And he will check that your eyes are still full of life, even when both of you are in the midst of a climax.

J-Jack Off (Masturbation)

Honestly? Maybe once in a blue moon last time.

This man has had to deal with running businesses, establishing connections, terrible nightmares of losing his woman, and controlling his Carnage. As cheery as he is, he’d rather dedicate his free time to helping the Capital.

Until he met you NOT dying in his arms. Now, he had to give in to these sudden carnal urges that are coming at him with full force to make up for his lack of horny times in his teens. Usually, he tries to satiate them with actually having you but if you are busy, he will do so.

K- Kinks (One or two of his kinks)

Get his horns. 

Have I emphasized it enough? 

No? 

GRAB THEM.

L - Location (Favourite places to do the do)

His office. 

A certain spot will be designated, far away from the precious books that he has accumulated but always near the spot where he can nap for just a short while... 

Only to be reminded of your sweet moans, flushed face and great, now he’s wide awake and has to work off that desire... 

BY DOING MORE WORK.

... Kuya decides to invite you more often to the house because he is getting really tired of seeing Koga not actually taking a break. 

M - Motivation (What turns them on, gets them going)

Canonically, he gets jealous easily. Like, he actually beats Aoi in that department. 

Mention Toichiro giving you a beautiful kimono, Kuya sleeping at your place, Past! Koga giving you a book... wait, what?

Yeah, you catch the drift. No matter who it is, he’s going to want to reaffirm your feelings for him afterwards. 

Oh, but the ultimate turn-on is you beating him in a drinking contest.

... God, I’m making him sound like an alcoholic.

N - ‘No’ (Something they wouldn’t do, turn-offs)

Absolutely. No. Sharp objects. 

Not only will they hurt you, but he’s also worried that if he himself gets pricked, the Carnage will act up.

He IS kinda into the thought of you wielding a sword though.

O- Oral (Preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc)

The God of Giving. He gives so, so, so much. 

Whatever did we do to earn this deity?

Ok, to be honest, it was hard at first because he was worried about the horns poking your thighs and tried to do it as a human at first. 

Until you insisted that he be comfortable and try working out the best position for both of you. 

Do suck him right though. He won’t deny his love for a good blowjob. 

He’s even turned the idea of mutual masturbation into a game - who can make the other come first? The winner gets a prize (probably who is going to save everyone else’s asses next time)

P - Pace (Are they fast and rough? Slow and sensual)

Koga tries not to be rough, considering both of your... er... jobs and shared tragedy together. 

If you grab his horns though... you asked for it. 

Suddenly, he is thrusting into you so hard that you get sent a little higher up the sheets, the bedding getting more wrinkled and... soaked with certain body fluids. 

He’s going to give you make-up kisses to the hip area though because of a guilty conscience... and also to admire how you are still quivering from the aftermath.

Ultimately has a good balance between slow and sensual sex to rough and rapid romping in bed.

Q - Quickies (Their opinions on quickies rather than proper sex, how often, etc)

Poor soldier. 

Poor COMRADE OF YOURS.

This is his ultimate battle.

To take you right here, right now and bang like there is no tomorrow when technically they only have 10 minutes in some random closet...

Or to patiently and painfully wait for the sake of public decency (and sanitation) where you can be together without being seen? 

Taking you here in the middle of a hallway during a Gala sounds great but so does waiting until you’re behind closed doors so you can be free with those beautiful lips of yours.

Ultimately, the risk factor is what turns him to quickies if he’s particularly flirty but for more serious times, he’s definitely going to whisk you away somewhere for only the two of you.

R - Risks (Are they game to experiment, do they take risks, etc)

... You know... we are talking about Koga Kitamikado, right?

It’s just a matter of what KIND of risk you guys want to take. A public one, a sex-toy related adventure...

The list can go on PROVIDED neither of you gets hurt.

S - ‘Stamina’ (How many rounds can they go for, how long do they last…)

The Carnage does take a toll on this aspect but Koga is an entrepreneur for a reason.

Let his fingers & tongue please you during the moments he has to recharge in between 3 rounds. 

T - ‘Toy’ (Do they own toys? Do they use them? On a partner or themselves?)

… Good god, he knows the owner.

But that’s the thing. 

Just because he knows it, unless you’ve expressed interest, he’s going to take things into his own very, very, very capable hands.

U - ‘Unfair’ (How much they like to tease)

Oh, he does tease you if you are acting particularly shy despite being completely nude and fully invested in intercourse.

He’s not going to be as bad a certain fox but he does love seeing you flustered if he hits a certain ticklish spot.

V- Volume (Do they moan/grunt?)

He really hates to admit it but you’ve been the only one to get ANYTHING out from him.

It’s even worse because even Koga can’t deny how animalistic he sounds.  

Growls, grunts, & groans, everything rumbles from him through you in the closest moment.

W - ‘Wildcard’ (Random Headcanon)

Medicine is not the only thing Koga is getting from Yura once you come in. 

No, but seriously, ever since you have given him those tea leaves, he has been hooked on aromatherapy and would like to incorporate that in your sex lives. 

It helps that there are some nice essential oils and massage lotions that help both of you get slick and ready.

Yura can’t judge him because... huehue...

X - ‘X-ray’ (How is the package?)

… I am too embarrassed. Let’s just say he has hit the double-digit integer in inches. 

But if you look at how I ranked him amongst the Dawn and Twilight factions, you know it’s gooD.

Yes, that ‘d’ letter was capitalized. A Capital D for the Man who loves the Capital.

Y - ‘Yearning’ (How high is his sex drive?’)

Before meeting you? His yearning was high… particularly, the yearning to die.

Same, my boy, same.

So honestly, it’s been sort of turned off although he could feel the biological urge and go get someone to relieve him of the ‘baggage’.

Upon meeting you, suddenly he has to adjust his sword hilt and... his other sword.

Z - ‘Zzzz…’ (How fast do they fall asleep?)

Honestly, he’s going to have trouble sleeping the first few times. 

Man is busy and working off that sexual energy just converts his strength to do something else.

Hence, the introduction of sake to share a lovely drink, a lovely moment and a lovely MOMENT TO FINALLY REST... with you!

[thoughtlessghost]

Salem ou alekoum fellow disbelievers,

I decided to write this story down because one of my friends is currently questioning Islam. She said it might be a good idea for me to share my journey to help her and others find inner peace once you have walk out of something you grew up thinking was correct. I think I will make this a 2-3 parts series depending on interest and how she deals with just part 1. There's a lot to go through, and I will try to be brief, but I do not mind elaborating on any section in the comments or private. I am very open and confident about who and what I am. Finally, I want to have at least one part dedicated to my current worldview with the hopes of helping you guys create your moral landscape.

Finally, I would like to complete this preface by saying that I know that we all have personal reasons for leaving a Religion. Some of you have left the faith because you felt as though it was too controlling; others may have felt that God was simply too cruel. I will say that in the end, those were not the deciding factors for me. In my view, only Truth matters. Therefore, for me to stop believing in a concept, it merely has to be proven untrue, whether scientifically or logically. So my journey of leaving Islam did not originate because I had problems with its takes on the world. They occurred in large part because I feel as though Islam is inconsistent with our understanding of the natural world. Given the purpose of writing this is to help people, and that most people don't make decisions based on logic, I will try and emphasize how events and not thoughts affected my worldview to help illustrate how and when the transition occurred.

1. Humble beginnings: I know everybody has a different upbringing, so I would like to give you guys some context of how familiar I was with Islam growing up as a child (4-12). For starters, I am the eldest son of first-generation Algerian immigrants to Canada. This is just to tell you I'm brown, and I went to a school surrounded by non-muslims. In school, I was a troublemaker. I was basically this brainy kid who cared so little of rules and norms that I was almost transferred to this school for a learning disability. In response, my dad would beat the shit out of me every day for not being an obedient student despite my grades being decent (during that period B to B+). Despite his sincerest efforts, I never learned or changed. I'm only saying this because it made Arabic school impossible for my parents to manage since I simply refused to do my regular homework from school. My thinking was something like this: "What's the point of going to ANOTHER school on the weekend and spend all of my time off doing pointless alphabetical exercises in a language no one other than my parents spoke?" This, in turn, limited my exposure to Islam since I didn't interact with other Muslim kids. Finally, my parents bestowed upon me few Islamic teachings or practices. For instance, I fasted, I didn't eat pepperoni pizza, I was a relatively good kid, and I knew of prayer. Still, it wasn't something we did in our household. So I basically ended up with the same amount of knowledge of Islam and Arabic as Mohammed did when he was visited by Gabriel.

2. The quest begins: By the time I reached 14, I began to change mentally (One would only hope). I had stopped being this rebellious kid and became a book worm. I read encyclopedias, watched documentaries, binged read Wikipedia and genuinely wanted to learn everything the world had to offer. Therefore, religion seemed like the next logical step. Another reason that pushed me to that position is my first adolescent trip to Algeria. It was the first time I had truly been exposed to Islam, and I felt like I got a good whiff of what it meant to be a Muslim. And so, I decided I had now come of age and was of sufficient maturity to read the Quran and become a proper Muslim. I purchased a translated version of the Holy Book and waited until nightfall to open it. I vividly remember the mindset I put myself in before opening the book. I told myself the following things:

1. Bismillah. (YAH BOY) 2. I am about to read a book written by a being that is not human. (how fucking cool is that?!) 3. It is a book of ultimate and limitless knowledge and is the literal word of God.   4. It will guide me now and forever, for it is a timeless work meant to guide all of humanity.

By the time I made it halfway through Al-Baqarah, the second chapter of the book, I was mortified. For whatever reason, God presented himself as a terrifying merciless being. So many verses spoke about how powerful God was, and for some reason, it felt weird to me. It's almost like Bill Gates flaunting billions at a homeless person or a fisherman trying to shame a fish on how it cant breathe once it's out of water. I also felt as though too many verses spoke about eternal damnation instead of collective upbringing. In essence, it wasn't the book I expected. I was hoping for the key to save my soul and help humanity. All that ran through my head was that I was unworthy and had to dedicate myself or else face the consequences. But I persevered. Over the next few days, I kept reading while trying to keep an open mind, but I was definitely feeling perplexed. What I could not wrap my head around was the following: If God can indeed do anything, why can't he have a son?  Like all this talk about how Powerful he is, but he can't have a son?

It was around this time I started to explore other religions. However, there were so many religions that existed that it would take an eternity to study and contemplate every single one. So I elaborated the following shortcuts:

1. I skipped Judaism because a "true" faith can't have fewer subscribers than the city of New York. That also threw a bunch of other religions out the window. In my view, a Divine being should do a good job of spreading his work even if he has to do it remotely. 2. I skipped polytheistic religions like Hinduism because multiple Gods seemed odd to me. 3. Buddhism didn't have a deity, can we, therefore, call it a religion?

By that flawless logic (lol), I thought that Christianity was likely to be the One True Faith. But there were inconsistencies. For starters, the faith had multiple subdivisions and multiple versions given the Bible was written after the life of Jesus. Suffice to say, I agreed with most Muslim criticisms towards Christianity's essence manipulated by men. If Christianity is the real deal, then God would have cared a little more. As a side note to my thinking, the book of Narnia really helped me appreciate Christianity. It portrayed a more merciful caring version of God that wanted what was best for his disciples and all that existed. Yet the feeling of a merciful and just God was simply not sufficient to make me convert.

And so I started to think about atheism. However, I could still feel the presence of God. In the end, I just felt discouraged. I wrapped my head around the whole thing when I realized there was a possibility I was simply too immature to understand Islam or the Quran. So, in the end, I decided to postpone my immersion in the faith until later.

3. I committed: By the time I reached 16, I had started rereading the Quran, which actually flowed better this time around. I was relieved to know that my 14-year-old self was simply too childish. Eventually, I stumbled upon a verse akin to the following: Oh, Believers look into the world, and you shall see evidence of Islam. It felt as though God challenged me to learn science and search for proof of his existence in the natural world. And so, I did.

So one thing that occurred to me growing up is that I wanted to learn everything. By the time I reached 12, I thought to myself that if I knew every word in the dictionary, I would end up knowing everything. But the dictionary was dull. So, I decided that if I know how all things came about by reading history, then I would end up knowing everything. So when I read that verse that said learn science, I was ecstatic.  I just doubled down on my readings and started to focus more on scientific theories. I read about physics and the origin of the universe. I read on chemistry and the nature of matter and atomic bonds. By the time I reached biology, Darwinism quickly became very problematic. I thought really long and hard about how to counter it. I started to read into Intelligent Design and watched Islamic Scholars debate atheists. Still, it didn't make sense to me since the evidence for evolution was just overwhelming.

I voiced some of my concerns to a Muslim friend of mine in High School, and we had this long-winded conversation in which he convinced me he was right. I wish I remembered exactly what he said, but I remember him instilling upon me enough doubt to make me not drop the faith. Following that conversation, I decided it was time to commit to Islam finally. Here are a few things I started to do: 1. I started praying 5-7 times per day. 2. I read the Quran. 3. I would watch videos daily on what it meant to be a Muslim and how I can improve on my practice. 4. I would fast every once a while. 5. I went to the mosque whenever I could since it was far from where I lived. 6. I even helped start our prayer group in High School. In that group, we would all sit and eat together. We shared food, laughter and drinks. We were a brotherhood through and through, and for a time, it was good.

Reflecting on this period, I was one standard deviation from being in a CIA hit list. I literally messaged Benjamin Netanyahu on YT, encouraging him to stop his occupation of Palestine and to seak a peaceful approach when engaging with my brothers and sisters. Despite these friendly messages, some darker thoughts flowed through me. So I will say that there definitely is some credence to the idea that the more radical a Muslim is, the more you should worry about him, especially if he is a dude.

So when I say I genuinely believed 100% of what the Quran said, I really did. Some people will say: "Well, yea, I also used to be that way too." Well, I think I took it to another degree. For instance, when I used to walk, I would think to myself there are two people next to me—these immortal, holy beings made of light were sent by God to watch over my every move. I must, therefore, walk and behave in the utmost perfect ways to not only impress them but also uphold my honour. I was 16. 

4.The Masturbation/sleep problem:

Now I'm going to say that the period mentioned above lasted about 6 months. During this period, despite my holier than thou behaviour, I was still a man, and I had urges dawg. Every once in awhile, i.e, once a week, I would lament hypothetically at my hypocrisy. Repression creates obsession; truer words have never been spoken. The more I fought my urges not to masturbate, THE MORE I HAD TO. I created this whole inner mathematical system based on the number 19 since its a particular Islamic number. Basically, I would only masturbate around times when I could calculate 19. To me, it meant God approved of my addiction. I ended up using the time since my alarm clock was next to me. Its such warped logic don't look too much into it for when there is a will there is a way and I can get creative. Here are a few noteworthy examples:

1.Its 1:09 AM. Shit that's 19 to me since all you have to do is ignore the 0, and you have 19. 2. Its 1:45 AM. You guessed it 19. 3.7:00 PM. 19. 4. 12:07 PM. Unzip. 5. 12:17. PM shit, that's 19 too. 12+(1 times 7). Guess its Time for round 2.   6. 12:35 PM. FUCK I have to again you see 1+2+35=38, which is 19 times 2. EYYYY

[Insert COOMER MEME.]

To get over this dissonance, the Devil was responsible for these intrusive thoughts. I was a holy man of God, after all. But the voice that told me to unzip my pants and wax my carrot was the EXACT same voice that told me to go bed when I didn't want too. In the end, I knew deep down temptation doesn't come from the Devil. It comes from me. I decide what I do with my life, not some off-world entity. Keep in mind for later its just this thing I noticed. The Mosque event: So the day started like any other Friday prayer. The Imam began to speak about how God has no equal. He went on about how great and awesome of a sky Chad he was. He said that although he had no equal, there was another being that was insanely powerful as well. My eyes lit up, for I loved Islamic lore. He said that among non-God entities, the strongest was Gabriel. Eventually, he went on to say how to associate any other thing to God's power was literally the worst crime a human could commit. Shirk was worse than murder, he said. It literally guarantees you a trip to Hell.

And so given that I was human when I am told not to think about something, I immediately start to think about it. So I began to think well what if Gabriel stood up to God. I do not know what came over me but I got a literal panic attack from this. [Insert meme it was at this moment he knew he fucked up]

As the Imam had so eloquently put it to associate anything to God, you just committed the worst sin ever. I kept trying to tell myself not to think about it. Still, it just kept repeating it over and over again despite my sincerest efforts. I legit left the mosque and went back home and prayed all night, hoping God would forgive me.

The next morning was wild. I was basically schizophrenic since I kept thinking God was going to smite me for I have sinned. Crossing the street was so hard since I felt God would turn a car invisible and run me over or would simply kill me there where I stood. I lived in utter fear since I felt as though I had a bounty on my head. The inner world that I worked so hard to create had fallen apart from stupid, intrusive, thoughts. How the mighty have fallen.

5.Rethinking the Conspiracies:

A few days later, I started to rethink everything inside my head once I started to calm down. I felt as though my fears were way too irrational for the type of person I usually am and that I could not regain my sanity by thinking I was unworthy. I just simply had to work my way back up to the top fam.

During this time, I also began to rethink my understanding of the political world. For starters, as far back as I can remember, I have always been anti-authority. I believed in political realism, and so large corporations or governments always used their powers to oppress others. And so, what began as a soft-hearted liberal who thought 911 was an inside job turned into a cult of devil worshippers who rule the world and are trying to get us into the End Times.

This political worldview of a small elite who use the Devil to gain off-world power was further validated my understanding of Islam. In my view, the END WAS NEAR. Eventually, people took my ideas and thoughts in High School, and it became its own thing. Just to give you context on the time here, but it was when Lady Gaga dropped Bad Romance, and Kanye West and Jay-Z dropped Watch The Throne. We would analyze the videos and look for satanic imagery, but I always felt like that was a tad bit too far. Why are they being so apparent about something that's supposed to be secret? Predictive-Programming can only go so far after all. I began to pushback on this worldview, and I went so far back that Islam was caught in the cross-fire.

This turned into a three-month-long journey. I started by revisiting natural selection, and I realized that I duped myself. I just did not understand natural selection well enough to defend my position 6 months ago. I read The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins. I binged watched George Carlin, and he really helped me overcome any anxiety I had towards leaving my faith because, like him, I really did want to believe in a deity, but I started to realize all of the inconsistencies. [I will elaborate more on this in a later part]

5. The social consequences: By the time I left my faith, I was open about it. I have always been vocal about what I believe in, and I simply told all of my prayer brothers why I stopped going to prayer. Needless to say, they weren't pleased about it. Unlike Elementary School and as a result of our immigration policies, High School had more Muslims in it, and many hated or criticized me for questioning the faith. As time went on, they became more toxic and vicious in their opposition, and so I called them out on their shit. I told them that I am on a journey like each and every one of them, and if they don't want to talk to me anymore, I would not care, and if they wanted to fight me, then bring it on. It was the last time any of them said anything to my face that was negative. Some of them never spoke to me again, some spoke to me less. I respected their choice and moved on; whether they respected mine mattered not. All that I cared about was that I felt that I was moving forward in my life. Eventually, the Muslim prayer group fell apart, and everything went back to normal in my High School.

Now, all of what I wrote happened about 10 years ago, and despite standing up to my fellow peers, I still haven't mustered up the courage to tell my parents. Honestly, I'm glad I still haven't. To this day, I have a good relationship with them, and they are far more religious now than they were. It seems like an egregiously unnecessary thing to do that will not only sour my relationship with them but also with their future grandkids. That just seems too selfish for my liking despite my usual vocal tendencies.

End of part 1.

[daresplaining]

Who are your favourite DD villains? Fisk, Bullseye and Mr Fear all sound brilliant from what I know of them, but are there any others with similarly iconic influence on Matt?

    There are! Daredevil comics aren’t known for their well-crafted villains to the extent that, say, Spider-Man or Batman comics are, but I really enjoy a lot of Matt’s rogues gallery. Fisk and Bullseye are probably the two biggest names, but there are many others who have had major impacts on his life, and the Marvel Universe in general, over the years. Here are some of the most notable DD villains, in my opinion:

Gladiator (Melvin Potter) is a major antagonist who, over the years has become arguably one of the most nuanced and interesting Daredevil characters. I wrote a longer post about him, way back when we thought we might actually get a Gladiator origin story in the Netflix show, but in general, a lot of his lasting appeal comes from the complexity of his character. When he was first introduced in Daredevil vol. 1 #18 he was a pretty standard Silver Age villain: a guy with semi-logical origin story, a funky costume, and a penchant for monologuing. Specifically, Melvin Potter was the owner of a costume store who was sick of being disrespected by his customers, and so decided to make a name for himself by attacking people with spinning blades. 

[ID: A panel from Lee’s Daredevil run. Daredevil is battling the Gladiator. Daredevil hoists himself up on a big crate to dodge one of the Gladiator’s spinning wrist blades.]

Matt: “He’s not fooling with those wrist blades… he’s fighting for real! But, why? I’m certain I’ve never met him before!”

Melvin: “You can’t keep dodging me forever! And the moment you slip, you shall have the honor of being my first victim!”

Daredevil vol. 1 #18 by Stan Lee, John Romita, and Sam Rosen

    Over the years, various writers have worked hard to add nuance to his character. Despite his fearsome appearance and goal of gaining respect, most early Gladiator stories involve Melvin being manipulated by stronger, smarter supervillains. Later, he becomes even more sympathetic: a dangerous killer who, at heart, is gentle and naive and hates when he loses control and hurts people. This creates an inherent discord in his character that adds an emotional hook to all of his stories. Matt tries to help him, and Melvin is grateful for Matt’s friendship and returns that favor when he can, but sometimes they end up having to fight each other. Essentially, Melvin’s story is the relentless tragedy of a man who wants to live a peaceful life but keeps falling victim to his own demons and the cruelty of the world around him. 

[ID: A page from Miller’s Daredevil run. Matt Murdock, in civvies (a tan suit and blue tie) confronts Melvin Potter, who is in a prison uniform and holding his Gladiator helmet.]

Matt: “Melvin, we’ve come so far. I know how much you want to be well… to go straight. We can help you, Betsy and I.”

Melvin: “I been trying, Matt. I been sitting in that courtroom, listening to them say those things about me, feeling my guts churn up, wanting to rip them all to pieces… They hate me. They all hate me… so I’m gonna hate them back!”

Matt: “I’m not letting you off that easy. If you want to become the Gladiator again, you’ll have to get past me.”

Melvin: “Past you?! Look at you– you’re just a skinny little blind guy! I’d break you in half! It’d be easy…”

Matt: “Is that what you want?”

Melvin: “Why not? I’m the Gladiator! The Gladiator! When I’m wearing my armor, I’m unbeatable, I’m…” 

[ID: Melvin throws the helmet and falls to his knees.]

Melvin: “I’m all alone. Help me… please…”

Daredevil vol. 1 #173 by Frank Miller, Klaus Janson, and Glynis Wein

    This complicated and heartwrenching characterization has helped Melvin to remain a fresh and popular antagonist (anti-hero, even) and a regular guest in Daredevil. He is one of several characters who complicates the hero/villain dichotomy, and thereby both emphasizes and challenges Matt’s own heroism. 

Typhoid Mary/Mary Walker is another one of the more famous Daredevil villains, and someone who has had a significant impact on Matt’s story over the years. I wrote a longer post on her as well. Female antagonists in particular seem to suffer from a variety of weaknesses in their depictions, and Typhoid– as a sexual character by nature, as well as someone who plays upon “crazy” villain tropes– has had her share of not great depictions over the years. However, at her core, she is a wonderfully compelling character and a dangerous villain who is literally multifaceted by design. Even moreso than Melvin Potter, Mary plays upon the concept of a good person who is powerless to prevent themself from doing violent things– in Mary’s case, through genuinely having multiple psyches inhabiting one body. She is in constant conflict with herself, as gentle Mary and bloodthirsty Typhoid battle for dominance. As much as she is an antagonist to Matt and the other heroes whose paths she crosses, she is her own arch-enemy. 

[ID: An excerpt from Nocenti’s Daredevil run. Typhoid Mary and Daredevil are both underwater, in the East River. Mary looked panicked partway through strangling Daredevil, and flees out of the water.]

Mary/Typhoid: “Don’t kill him! You! Shut up! I love him! Stop! Get out of my head! You can’t kill him! Get out of my head! Oh, god! Where am I? Why am I dressed like this? What have I done?!”

Matt: “Curious. That’s a completely different woman running away! What came over her?”

Daredevil vol. 1 #256 by Ann Nocenti, John Romita Jr., and Christie Scheele

    Matt’s dealings with Mary have brought about some of the more unheroic moments in his career. In Joe Kelly’s attempt to integrate the Man Without Fear-verse origin story into the 616 universe, he proposed that Matt nearly killed Mary on his first superhero outing. When Typhoid, in her introductory arc, is hired to seduce Matt, it works– he cheats on Karen with her. Later, when attempting to bring down the Kingpin’s empire, Matt removes Mary from the equation by sleeping with her to get her guard down and then forging documents to have her locked away in a psychiatric hospital. She hits all of his weak points: as Mary, she is a victim who needs rescuing… and an attractive one at that. As Typhoid, she is a dangerous enemy who must be stopped. In addition to her skill with weapons, she has all kinds of awesome psychic powers– including, most notably, pyrokinesis– and something about her physiology messes with Matt’s senses and makes her difficult to fight. She is a challenge on every level, and in many ways, Matt serves the same purpose for her– Mary (and, arguably, Typhoid as well) accidentally falls in love with him, representing a loss of power and control that she can’t stand. 

[ID: Excerpt from Nocenti’s Daredevil run. A series of panels alternating between Daredevil falling off a bridge and a tear sliding down Typhoid Mary’s cheek.]

Daredevil vol. 1 #260 by Ann Nocenti, John Romita Jr., and Christie Scheele

The Hand I love the Hand– which is to say, I love the Chaste, and part of why I love the Chaste is because I love their rivalry with the Hand. On some levels, the Hand are your standard Big Bad Secret Organization, but I also find them to be a lot of fun, and they have been a significant force in Daredevil comics since they were introduced. The Hand are key players in Miller’s updated version of Matt’s origin, which introduced Stick and gave him a purpose for training Matt. They also had a huge role in Elektra’s origin, since her attempt to singlehandedly bring them down from the inside led to her becoming an assassin. And of course, Matt’s role as leader of the Hand and temporary vessel for their patron demon, the Beast, was a defining moment in recent DD comics and a low point of Matt’s career. The Hand are dangerous because they are vast, and their high-ranking members have all kinds of cool powers, which I love. And there’s also a certain amount of weakness and dysfunction to the Hand that makes them appealing. They are a once-great organization relegated to being mercenaries-for-hire. Their low-ranking members are fairly weak– as Matt quips in Volume 1 #380, “a little harsh language and [they’re] up in smoke!” They were led by a Skrull (disguised as Elektra) for a while, and didn’t even notice. Arguably their most dangerous enemy, Master Izo, mostly just bothers them with Hand puns. 

[ID: A panel from Diggle’s Daredevil run. Daredevil, seen from the back, is standing in an empty room. The light from the sunset streams in through the windows. Izo is sitting behind him on the floor, drinking tea.]

Matt: “Look, you wanted me leading the Hand, you got it… but I never agreed to be your puppet.”    

Izo: “‘Hand puppet.’ Heh.”

Daredevil vol. 2 #503 by Andy Diggle, Roberto De La Torre, Marco Checchetto, and Matt Hollingsworth

    I also enjoy the way the Hand and the Chaste operate and Matt’s relationship with them. Matt isn’t an official member of the Chaste (like Elektra, he was rejected for being too emotional– which, in his case at least, is a fair assessment) but he still teams up with them on occasion, and the experience almost always puts him out of his depth in really entertaining ways. Matt is one of the Hand’s biggest enemies and one of the Chaste’s most useful allies, so he gets dragged into their business even when he doesn’t want to be involved. 

[ID: Excerpt from Daredevil: Ninja. A conversation between Daredevil and Stone in a series of face close-ups.]

Stone: “We need your help.”

Matt: “You should have asked me to come.”

Stone: “Would you have?”

Matt: “I hate this ninja crap. I hate it. Every single time it’s nothing but lies, half-truths, and misguided loyalties. Stay away from me and my life.”

Daredevil: Ninja #2 by Brian Michael Bendis, Rob Haynes, and David Self

    There are also two excellent (and, I’d say, influential) alternate universes in which Matt joins the Hand and thrives in their presence: What If? Daredevil vs. Elektra and Earth-65 (Spider-Gwen-verse). 

Lady Bullseye (Maki Matsumoto) And if we’re discussing the Hand and the Chaste, I have to mention Maki– undisputed head of the Bullseye Fan Club and another of my favorite Daredevil villains. She’s relatively new (she was introduced during Brubaker’s run) and so hasn’t had a particularly big long-term influence on Matt, but she is a great character with extensive connections to Daredevil history. One thing I love about her is the fact that while she modeled her look and identity on Bullseye, she isn’t treated as just female version of him, as her name might suggest. They actually have very little in common; she just chose to honor Bullseye because he played a role in her origin story by indirectly rescuing her from a human trafficking ring.

[ID: Panels from Brubaker’s Daredevil run. Bullseye is single-handedly beating up a bunch of gun-toting mobsters in a warehouse building. Maki Matsumoto watches him between the bars of a large cage.]   

Caption: “She remembers that so vividly. Remembers the joy she beheld that day from her cage. She had never seen anything so beautiful, she thought. Of course, she was nearly insane already by then. But then, like a miracle… freedom.”

[ID: Maki reaches between the bars of the cage and grabs a key from a dead mobster’s pocket. As she tries to escape, another mobster runs toward her.]

Man: “You– back in your cage, girl!”

Maki: “I think not.”

[ID: Without looking at him, she slices his throat with the key.]

Daredevil vol. 2 #111 by Ed Brubaker, Clay Mann, and Matt Hollingsworth

    Since then, Maki has teamed up with Bullseye– mostly notably, resurrecting and caring for him after his death in “Shadowland”– but more often, she operates on her own as an assassin. Like both Elektra and Matt, she was trained by the Hand and the Chaste without forming an official allegiance with either, and it seems her primary teacher was Master Izo– thus making her Matt and Elektra’s ninja aunt and/or sister in the Chaste Family Tree that definitely exists in my head and nowhere else. 

[ID: Excerpt from Brubaker’s Daredevil run. Lady Bullseye and Izo are standing on a Manhattan rooftop as the sky brightens behind them. Pigeons are flocking around them; Izo has one perched on his hand.]

Maki: “You said I would lead the Hand.”

Izo: “I said a lot of things when I was training you, girl… Said whatever I needed to say.”

Maki: “You’re as bad as them.”

Izo: “No. I didn’t put you in a cage and sell you to the Yakuza.”

Maki: “You still used me.”

Izo: “Yes, I did… but I’m not going to apologize.”

Maki: “Someday I’ll kill you for this. You know that, right?”

[ID: Izo leaps off the roof.]

Izo: “Yeah, well… get in line.”

Daredevil vol. 2 #500 by Ed Brubaker, Michael Lark, Stefano Gaudiano, Matt Hollingsworth, et al.

    Maki masterminds the destruction of Matt’s life that leads him to join the Hand. She is extremely smart (she passes herself off as a lawyer during Brubaker’s run and fools both Matt and Foggy; as far as anyone knows, she might actually have a law degree…?), an excellent fighter (arguably better than Matt, not quite as good as Elektra), an absolute badass, and an all-around great antagonist who deserves her own solo series (hint, hint, Marvel). 

Death-Stalker I’m not sure Death-Stalker counts as a major Daredevil villain, but he was used about once a week in late 70s Daredevil so he’s certainly been a recurring presence. I also just find him really cool, conceptually. One of the interesting things about Death-Stalker is that he started his existence as a completely different supervillain: the Exterminator, who is best known for “killing” Mike Murdock! The Exterminator had a weapon that could shift its victims out of sync with the time-stream. When Matt blows it up to fake Mike’s death, the Exterminator is caught in the blast, with shocking consequences: 

[ID: Excerpt from McKenzie’s Daredevil run. A series of flashback panels: the Exterminator (a kind of goofy-looking villain with a purple and white costume and blue antennae on the side of his mask) watching Daredevil pull a lever, then the Exterminator getting caught in an explosion and falling into a void.] 

Death-Stalker: “How many long and empty years has it been, Murdock? How many… since you so callously destroyed my awesome Time-Displacement Ray… catching me fully in the time-shattering explosion?! How long has it been since I was hurled through the fabric of time? But what you believed to be my death proved instead a macabre rebirth! I found myself in a timeless limbo! Unobserved, I could go anywhere! Do anything!”

Daredevil vol. 1 #158 by Roger McKenzie, Frank Miller, and George Roussos

    Thus, the Exterminator returns years later as Death-Stalker– a villain who can move freely through time and space, become intangible at will, and whose mere touch is lethal. This, combined with his new appearance (glowing eyes, bony hands, huge billowy cape…) makes for an excellent creepy character concept, and some of the Death Stalker issues feel more like horror stories than the typical Daredevil comic. 

[ID: Excerpt from Gerber’s Daredevil run. A tired Daredevil is making his way through a swamp. Death-Stalker appears behind him out of the fog and puts a skeletal white hand on his shoulder. Daredevil collapses.]

Matt: “H-he’s gone! Nothing but an empty cape! It’s not possible! It– where did he go?!”

Death-Stalker: “Here, Daredevil. I am here. Death is at your back.”

Matt: “Huh? Wha– No!! My… shoulder… your fingers… like ice–!”

Death-Stalker: “Like death, Daredevil. Like the grim, glacial embrace of the North Wind. No use to flee… you can’t outrun the wind.”

Caption: “For Daredevil, for this sightless adventurer, all the world is blackness, all the time. But now, a different kind of darkness envelopes him, a sort of oblivion he has never known before. He hears his heartbeat slow… feels his mind empty of all thought… feel his every nerve tingle, then go numb… and he knows that he is… dying. And that is all he knows when the darkness claims him and the Death-Stalker relaxes his grip.”

Daredevil vol. 1 #114 by Steve Gerber, Bob Brown, and Stan G.

    Sadly, though, I don’t feel he was ever used to his full skin-crawling potential, particularly considering how dangerous his power-set was. He was mostly just a nuisance who rarely got the upper hand, and he was killed in Daredevil #158 when he accidentally materialized through a tombstone during a fight with Matt. One of my favorite details about Death-Stalker isn’t Death-Stalker himself– it’s that his mother lived in a booby-trapped mansion and owned an army of exploding robotic children that she sicced on Matt to avenge her son’s death. But that’s a story for another post… 

Jester (Jonathan Powers) The Jester gets no respect, and it’s a shame because he’s both genuinely a great villain when he’s used well and highly entertaining when his 1960s goofiness is played up, and he manages to embody both of those characterizations with absolute panache. He has played a role in some fairly major Daredevil stories over the years and I’d consider him a staple DD villain. His origin story is pure Silver Age silliness: he was an actor who received bad reviews for his first major starring role, found his career heading downhill, and so decided to become a supervillain instead. This is pretty typical of motivations for villains of this time period (see the Gladiator’s origin story above, and Stilt-Man below), but even this aspect of his character has been put to good use. Daredevil #218 features a surprisingly touching story of the Jester stealing the chance to reprise that first starring role– and of Matt keeping the cops distracted (by pretending to be the Jester!) so that his enemy can finally live his dream. 

[ID: Excerpt from O’Neil’s Daredevil run. The Jester is dressed as Cyrano de Bergerac. He pulls off his false nose and bows dramatically to Daredevil and the cops who have come to take him in.]

Jester: “A moment ago you unmasked. Now I shall perform a similar gesture… I am your humble and obedient servant… the Jester! At your service!”

Matt: “You deserve the bow. You were magnificent.”

Jester: “Indeed! I trust the critics will change their tune.”

Daredevil vol. 1 #218 by Denny O’Neil, Sal Buscema, and Christie Scheele

    Throughout the issue, Matt draws comparisons between himself and the Jester: their shared mask-wearing and the experiences of disillusionment that shaped their lives– and while it certainly doesn’t give the Jester the emotional depth of certain other Daredevil villains, it’s a memorable connection. 

    But where the Jester is at his most dangerous is not as an actor looking for attention– it’s as a creator of chaos. The Jester is a master of illusions and media manipulation. In his introductory arc, he frames Daredevil for his murder and turns Matt into a wanted criminal. Later, he uses a campaign of false news reports and misinformation to sabotage Foggy’s run for District Attorney, turn the superhero community into targets, and throw the whole country��into an uproar. Most recently, in Waid’s run, he manipulated TV footage to cause rioting in NYC in the wake of an unpopular and highly publicized court ruling. His plans don’t always succeed, but even then, the scope and effectiveness of the damage he causes makes him a truly formidable villain.

[ID: Excerpt from Waid’s Daredevil run. The Jester is sitting in front of computer monitors in a dark room, yelling into a microphone. In the next panel, we see random civilians in a cafe, watching “Mayor Jameson” (played by the Jester) on TV.]

Jester: “Listen to him. God, he’s so smug. No matter. This is a minor setback. Daredevil’s not the ultimate target, after all. The city’s the target, and it’ll burn. Voice synthesizer on… People of New York… this is Mayor Jameson! Effective immediately, I am rescinding all handgun regulations in Manhattan! Take up arms– for your own protection– and await further instructions!”

Daredevil vol. 3 #32 by Mark Waid, Chris Samnee, and Javier Rodriguez

The Owl (Leland Owlsley) The Owl has, unfortunately, been overshadowed by the Kingpin for most of his existence, and as such, hasn’t been given anywhere near the same amount of character development or nuance. They were created based on the same character concept: a high-powered mobster with a shadowy network of pawns who controls the city’s criminal underworld. 

[ID: A series of panels from Lee’s Daredevil run, showing a man in a long green coat and brimmed hat walking into an office building. His face is not shown; the people he passes looked at him with fear.]

Caption: “This is Wall Street, heart of New York’s Financial District, where fortunes are made and lost by the world’s greatest financial wizards! And, within the canyons of this street, we are about to find one certain man… a merciless man… a man with no friends… no loved ones… nothing to connect him with the human race, save the fact of his birth! Let us follow this man… let us study him as he walks into a towering office building, his heavy footsteps reverberating through the huge marble lobby! For we shall see much of this man on the pages that follow… He walks slowly, but with a sure, steady tread… looking neither to the right nor the left… ignoring those he passes and those who pass him! But he himself cannot readily be ignored by others! His very presence seems so fraught with evil, with menace, that his fellow humans shrink back from the mere sight of him! There are some who recognize him… who speak his name in whispers… for his wealth is said to be legendary, and his power almost beyond measure!”

Daredevil vol. 1 #3 by Stan Lee, Joe Orlando, and Sam Rosen

    Unfortunately, the Kingpin just ended up doing it better, and while there are a few Owl story arcs that I really like, I’ve never found him that interesting. However, he is hugely significant because he was the very first Daredevil supervillain, introduced all the way back in Daredevil #3! (In #1 Matt fights the mobsters who killed his father, and in #2 he fights Electro, who is a Spider-Man rogue.) Thus, he has had an impact on Matt’s life simply from having been around for so long. This also means there’s a huge range in his stories, verging from extremely ridiculous (he sometimes eats rats, and used to own an owl-shaped airplane. How cool is that?) to slightly more grounded. There is a great Owl story arc in which his bird-like body modifications start killing him, which gives his law-breaking more nuance, because he is doing it to look for a cure. Matt, upon discovering this, tries to help him. 

[ID: Excerpt from Chichester’s Daredevil run. Daredevil and the Owl are on a fire escape together. The Owl has metal cybernetic legs and has collapsed. Daredevil is comforting him.]

Matt: “You’re going to make it, hear me? You’re gonna–”

Owlsley: “You should’ve let me…”

Matt: “Unh-uh. You take my hand– you’re willing to take my hand– I don’t let go. You’ve got some long ways to go, mister… but you can count on me…”

Daredevil vol. 1 #303 by D.G. Chichester, M.C. Wyman, and Christie Scheele

    There’s also great point in Bendis’s run when the Owl, in a surprising demonstration of cleverness, hires a lawyer to sue Daredevil for breaking and entering. It doesn’t work, but it throws Matt off and is absolutely priceless. 

    The Owl has also had several children– two unnamed young kids who were introduced in Alias, and Jubula Pride, who was introduced in Daredevil Volume 4 and worked alongside Matt to rescue her father. Jubula’s brief-but-memorable appearance added a bit more depth to the Owl– allowing us to see him in the role of a parent as well as a villain. But mostly, over the years the Owl has remained one of the more insidious of New York’s mob bosses, always scheming to stay in power and fight his way out of the Kingpin’s shadow. And he’s been doing it for so long that he feels like an integral part of Daredevil comics. 

Turk Barrett He’s not a costumed supervillain or even much of a threat, but Turk has become an iconic Daredevil antagonist for both his sheer ineptitude and his plucky ability to stay alive. Of all of the recurring low-level mobster characters, he has the most engaging personality, and his dynamic with Matt is one of long-held friendly animosity. Daredevil isn’t the most dangerous person in Turk’s life, Turk isn’t the most dangerous person in Matt’s life, so they mostly just annoy each other. They’ve even been known to team up, when Turk thinks the odds of survival are in his favor. 

[ID: Excerpt from Daredevil: Love and War. Turk Barrett (dressed in a white shirt and blue pants) is mopping the inside of an elevator. The doors open, and Daredevil walks in. They ride the elevator together.] 

Matt: “Turk! You got the job!”

Turk: “No, man… this… I mean, I’m working undercover, man… I’m your backup!”

Matt: “I believe you, Turk.”

Turk: “Even know what level the doc’s on, man… So how’d you get in, Devil?”

Matt: “I flew in, Turk.”

Turk: “…Course. I knew that. ‘Spose the window locks weren’t much trouble…”

Matt: “Melted them with my heat vision.”

Daredevil: Love and War by Frank Miller and Bill Sienkiewicz

    Turk is an underdog. He’s kind of a goof and he’s certainly a criminal, but he’s also a small fish in a big and dangerous pond, working in a career where most people eventually end up at the bottom of the East River in concrete shoes (or a taxi, as the case may be). He’s slippery and resourceful, he stays just harmless enough to keep himself out of danger, and you can’t help but root for him, even when he does dumb things like stealing Stilt-Man’s stilts or trying to kill Daredevil for the hundredth unsuccessful time. 

Stilt-Man (Wilbur Day), of course, requires no introduction. He is another personal favorite of mine, and a rare case of a goofy Silver Age villain surviving into the modern era while remaining exactly as goofy as he was when first introduced. The great appeal of Stilt-Man is, in fact, that he’s a bit of a joke, while at the same time being quite dangerous, in a comic book physics-kind of way.  

[ID: Excerpt from Lee’s run. Daredevil is battling Stilt-Man on a daytime city street.]

Wilbur: “Hah! You missed!! Have you forgotten so soon how easily I can change my height, thanks to my magnificent hydraulically-operated stilts?!!”

Matt: “Mebbe so! But I haven’t forgotten that I’m the gent who whumped you good last time fought! (Man! It sure is lucky I was here! If Stilt-Man ever managed to get the Leap-Frog safely away, what a team those two would make! But, I hear the boys in blue hauling that human jumping jack right now! Which means Stilty and I can go it alone!) Heads up, dad! It’s time for fun ‘n games again!”

Wilbur: “Hah! Didn’t expect me to seize your cable, did you? I should have warned you, little man– I’ve modified my protective armor in such a way as to double my strength! Which means I’m more than a match for your limited talents!!”

Daredevil vol. 1 #26 by Stan Lee, Gene Colan, and Artie Simek

    Part of the charm of this characterization is the fact that he’s a joke in-universe as well; most of his appearances in modern comics consist of Stilt-Man being made fun of and/or of the audience being reminded that he’s actually a threat. This creates a great balance in his depictions; the jokes are fun, the sight of various superheroes being beaten up (at least a little) by Stilt-Man is fun, and he remains an enjoyable, mostly lighthearted presence in a landscape that has become dominated by Dark, Serious, and Disturbing villains. 

[ID: Excerpt from Bendis’s Daredevil run. Matt is sitting at his desk in his darkened office, talking to Wilbur Day– a short, bald guy in a black jacket, with his arm in a sling.]

Wilbur: “Wilbur Day– I’m Stilt-Man. We’ve met four hundred times.”

Matt: “Stilt-Man– Huh. Oh, you mean that burglar guy Stilt-Man? Who wears the stilts and robs things?”

Wilbur: “Can we please just–”

Matt: “We’ve met when?”

Wilbur: “I–”

Matt: “Are you in some kind of legal trouble? Is that why you’re here?”

Wilbur: “Okay, fine.”

Daredevil vol. 2 #41 by Brian Michael Bendis, Alex Maleev, and Matt Hollingsworth

    Stilt-Man is just a short guy in a ridiculous outfit who wants to commit some crimes and get a little respect– and really, who can’t relate to that?  

Ikari (???) I’m mentioning Ikari not because he’s a long-established Daredevil villain– he’s not– but because I am fascinated by his potential. He’s a favorite of mine as much for what we don’t know as for what we do. In his introductory arc, we learn this: He was engineered/commissioned by Bullseye to kill Matt, his fighting abilities equal Matt’s, he has hypersenses, and (as a horrified Matt discovers later) he can also see.

Ikari: “Someone has, in fact, managed to re-create the toxic chemicals that blinded you, gave you enhanced senses. Someone whose hate for you keeps him alive. But he didn’t waste the process on weak, malnourished vagrants. He used it to baptize a warrior. A fighter trained to be every bit your equal in skill– and now, in power.” 

Daredevil vol. 3 #25 by Mark Waid, Chris Samnee, and Javier Rodriguez

    And that’s it. We don’t know who he is or where he came from, or what the consequences are of having that degree of sensory perception (presumably his vision is heightened too?). We don’t know what his personal goals or motivations are, since we’ve only ever seen him as a pawn– first of Bullseye and then, later, of the Kingpin. But the concept of his character as someone who shares Matt’s powers plus some– who is essentially, skills-wise, a criminal version of Matt– and all the mystery that surrounds him, is hugely compelling to me. 

[ID: Excerpt from Waid’s Daredevil run. Both Ikari and Daredevil are out on the street, being shot at by cops. As Daredevil hides behind a parked car, Ikari attacks the cops and cuts their guns in half with his blades.]

Matt: “The cops are hunting me under an open-fire command. Presuming they’ve been advised of Ikari’s prison break, I’m sure the same order applies to him. I wish it scared him. I wish anything did.”

Daredevil vol. 4 #17 by Mark Waid, Chris Samnee, and Matt Wilson

    In his last appearance he was killed by the Shroud, but his body was stolen, leaving the door open for him to maybe return sometime in the future and receive more development. I hope he does. 

[johnboothus]

Next Round: Nomadica Wine Co-Founder Kristin Olszewski on Making Canned Wine Cool

Airing between regular episodes of the VinePair Podcast, “Next Round” explores the ideas and innovations that are helping drinks businesses adapt in a time of unprecedented change. As the coronavirus crisis continues and new challenges arise, VP Pro is in your corner, supporting the drinks community for all the rounds to come. If you have a story or perspective to share, email us at podcast@vinepair.com.

In this “Next Round” episode, host Adam Teeter discusses the new canned wine brand Nomadica with one of its co-founders Kristin Olszewski. The two highlight Nomadica’s packaging and how the brand uses works of art as the “doorway” to excite its customers, welcoming them into what are often complicated conversations about wine. Olszewski emphasizes that while canned wine offers a particular convenience — for throwing a can in your purse or enjoying a sparkler on the beach — she always takes pride in the “juice” Nomadica uses.

Nomadica has paired with several small wineries to create limited-edition releases and sources all of its wines from producers Olszewski swears by. As a trained sommelier with over a decade of experience in the field, she proudly markets Nomadica as sommelier-curated canned wine, and hopes the brand can change consumers’ minds about the bottle-versus-can debate.

Nomadica’s current lineup includes two sparkling wines, a still rosé, and a red. Listen or read below as Olszewski discusses her initial skepticism of canned wine, how she built the brand, and her hopes for Nomadica’s future.

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Adam: From Brooklyn, New York I’m Adam Teeter. And this is a VinePair “Next Round” conversation. As you guys know, we’re bringing you these conversations between the regular podcast episodes in order to give everyone a better picture of what’s going on in the alcohol beverage industry. Today, I’m really lucky to be talking with Kristen Olszewski, the chief beverage officer and founder of Nomadica Wine. Kristen, what’s going on?

Kristen: Hi, Adam. I’m so excited to be here with you today.

A: Thank you so much for joining me. I hope I didn’t butcher your last name.

K: That was actually perfect pronunciation.

A: So you are based in L.A., right? And a former sommelier, who now has a canned wine business?

K: Yes, from Barolo to canned wine. I love it.

A: So can you tell me a little bit about Nomadica, and then we’ll get into your career and how you came to start it in the first place, but give me the “What is Nomadica wine” pitch.

K: OK, so Nomadica is sommelier-curated canned wine. Of course, I am the sommelier curating the wine. And then anyone who takes a look at our cans always remarks on how beautiful they are. We work with artists so that the art on the can works as the first tasting note for the wine inside.

A: Oh, interesting. So I got to tell you, literally I’m not kissing your a** here. I just saw your cans a few years ago and they were brought into my office and I was like, “Wow, this is the first canned wine brand that I thought was understanding what craft beer had gotten right,” if that makes sense. Craft beer’s branding has been so good, especially on the can and that’s what consumers love. And I saw a lot of canned wine brands coming out prior to meeting you that looked a lot like this could have been designed by Anheuser-Busch, right? It was very “Bud Light,” but it was a rosé. And so I was like, wow, how is this the brand? Because at the time, I didn’t know you, and we’re just meeting for the first time, to be fair to everyone listening. I’m just excited about it. I was like, how has it taken anyone else this long in wine to figure this shit out? Just because it’s in a can doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be beautifully designed and something that you want to pull out and people will ask you in the park, what are you drinking? That’s been what craft beer has gotten right for so many years now, whether it’s L.A. breweries that I am less familiar with than the New York City ones, the Other Halfs and the KCBCs. And if you listen to this podcast, you hear me talking about these breweries a lot whose labels just look dope. I was blown away that you were the first one I saw to do that. So this is a very roundabout way of me asking you about your wine brand and what your decision to create a wine brand was in the first place. Because prior to this, you were at a restaurant group, you were a working somm, so why a canned wine brand?

K: Well, it was a crazy journey. I got introduced to my co-founder through a mutual friend. He actually comes from the New York restaurant scene, and he was like, “Hey, I met this girl. She wants to start a wine company. You should speak with her.” As you know, I’ve spent my entire career working in Michelin and wine-focused restaurants and am literally obsessed with wine. So I go meet her after working on the floor at Mozza, I show up in my lady suit in my favorite natural wine bar in Los Angeles, shout out to Tabula Rasa. And Emma tells me that she’s been pouring nice wine into Pellegrino cans to take by the pool or on really long Uber rides in Los Angeles. And at first I was like, “Ugh, canned wine?” To be honest, I’d only had bad experiences with canned wine. It’s not something I thought of myself as ever drinking or ever having any interest in. But Emma is famously stubborn and stalked my Instagram, found a winemaker she knew I really liked on the Central Coast, Josh Klapper from La Fenetre at Timbre, who worked at Avant Cremant for a while. She canned a small batch of his Pinot Noir and brought it back to me to taste. And I let it sit in my cabinet for two months. I’ll be honest, I opened it up one night when I didn’t feel like opening up a bottle. And I had this realization that canned wine wasn’t bad. People were just putting bad wine in cans. And of course, I think the market has changed now. There are some amazing players in the canned wine space, and I could not be more excited about sharing this space with some really great winemakers, but Nomadica was born. And so we decided to use artists as our labels because I’m sure anyone who works the floor will understand this. You spend all night talking to people, and probably 10 to 15 percent of the people you speak with actually have language to describe what they like in wine, right? They understand what body means, what tannin is, or how to talk about acid levels, what volatile acidity is, et cetera. But most people you have to use unconventional formats to describe flavor profiles and tastes. I remember one time describing Poggio di Sotto Brunello di Montalcino to a guest as God walking down your throat in velvet slippers. And he’s like “Yeah, I want that. I want that wine.” So we thought it would be really fun to be really playful with that and play on the idea of synesthesia here, and I think we do a great job and we’ve actually just hired a creative director the last couple of months who is immensely talented. And I can’t wait to reveal our new lineup of can art coming out next year.

A: That’s super cool. So when Emma brought you this idea, you were like “OK, let me figure this out. I’ll think about it.” How long did it take you from thinking about it, to saying, “OK, screw it. I’m quitting my job. I’m doing this full-time?” What was the process? What did you go through to do this?

K: Well, I worked two jobs for a very long time. I’m sure anyone who started their own business knows the hustle is real. So I would spend all day working on Nomadica and then I’d spend all night at Osteria Mozza, slinging Barolo and Brunello and all the fun Italian wines. And we were able to raise a little bit of money last year, and I was able to go full-time, and I can’t even tell you how exciting it was — and still is — to work for myself. It’s crazy.

A: Awesome. Yeah. It’s totally great, right? It’s this thing that you just finally take the leap and you do it, and it’s nuts. So you have this canned wine brand. You finally got it on your own. What is your goal for this brand? Or obviously you said that it’s about putting good wine in cans, but what does that actually mean to you? And could you put Barolo in a can? Do you know what I’m saying? I’ve heard some people be like, “Oh, there’s only certain kinds of wine that you’d put in cans.” So what does it mean for you in terms of the wine you put into a can?

K: Well, we source wine specifically for the can, and I do think this is where my decade-plus in wine really does come in handy. We don’t just put any juice in the can. I will probably never put Barolo in a can. I do think it needs to age in a bottle, but certain varietals like our current red, a Sangiovese blend with a little bit of old vines and vanilla and Grenache. It’s poppy. It’s bright. It doesn’t have tannin, it’s high-acid. It’s crushable. So that’s kind of where we’re heading here. And then we have a core lineup of wines. Two sparklings (a white and a rosé), a still rosé, and a red. We’re adding a still white to that lineup next year. And then we’re also doing some really fun limited editions that we’re just going to drop online, small boutique things. We’re doing a collab with Stolpman Vineyards. We’re doing a carbonic Syrah with them. And then Mike from Rootdown and Cole Ranch, and SLK wines made an amazing Piquette with some 70-year-old Riesling from his single vineyard.

A: OK. I get it, though, I get it. So basically the whole idea is it’s wines that are drinkable now, right? We’re not aging anything in this. Are you the person that’s drinking from the can, or do you expect the consumer to pour into the glass?

K: So I always say wine tastes better from a glass, and no one will ever get me to change my mind on that. There are some circumstances where you’re on a hike, you’re at the beach, you’re sneaking a can into your purse to have with an In-N-Out burger. I don’t know for a fact, I’ve never done this myself, of course — I would never — but sometimes you just drink out of the can for convenience. Another thing I really like about the cans, and I think one of the special things about what we do at Nomadica is we have nothing to hide. I encourage everyone to drink it out of a glass. And because of that, we’ve noticed — we’ve done a lot of surveys with our customers, and they’re wine drinkers. They’re a little older, they’re in their 30s typically, and they’re choosing us because they don’t want to open an entire bottle.

A: Oh, interesting. So, here’s what I’m curious about. I was going to ask this question, you sort of answered it for me, but it’s who does dump it into a glass? Because we started, and in all fairness, we’ve never had your wine submitted for the tasting, we started two years ago a big open call for canned wines. Because there’s so many now, right? Canned wines were submitted to us and actually our tastings director basically the first year was like, we have to stop pouring the wines into a glass. And so we don’t, if anyone else who listens has submitted to us before, you’re now learning, it’s the only tasting where we do not pour the wines into the glass, because when we surveyed our staff and then readership, most said they drank it from the can. And so we were like, well, because a lot of times when you pour it into the glass, especially with some of these canned wines, you get that weird sulfur smell initially. And so we were like well, no one is actually going to get that because they’re drinking it from the can. They’re consuming it in the way they would consume a seltzer or the way they would consume White Claws, but yeah, the way they would consume a seltzer or a beer, that’s that format we’ve been conditioned. We drink from it. We don’t pour into a glass. So I, that’s why I was curious to ask you, just because I wonder, then, if you think about what kind of wine goes into the can, knowing that it’s not going to be examined or it won’t aerate?

K: Yes, absolutely. So when I’m selecting wines, I always have several cans, and I taste it out of the can and because I don’t want to control how anyone drinks it. I want it to be amazing in every single scenario.

A: It’s funny, there’s a restaurant near me in Brooklyn that sells Nomadica, but how have you expanded? What has that been like? So you obviously quit your job. You’ve raised a little bit of money. You’re now out in the world. What has your growth trajectory looked like? Or what are your plans for growth? How is that working?

K: So we’ve actually been really lucky in a pretty awful year — let’s be honest — to really hang on, and over half of our business is in on-premise, which people are always surprised by. I mean, I was surprised by that. I think when we first started Nomadica, I was like, “Oh, this is just gonna be retail. This is just going to be retail,” but we’ve seen a massive uptick from luxury hotels and grab-and-go programs. I’m sure that restaurant in Brooklyn is one of those.

A: It’s like a little falafel shop.

K: Oh, Holy Pita! I love that place.

A: That’s so funny that you know which one it is!

K: Of course I do. Of course I do. I have a very hands-on approach with our national sales office, and I think because the wine world and the beverage world is really small and I have to just really shout out our partners. At the beginning of this, we went to people and we’re like, “OK, this sucks for everyone.” I have worked in restaurants basically my entire life. And I’m worried about the future of restaurants. I think we all are. And so we went to a lot of our partners and just asked how we can help them, how we can be there for them. So we’ve done a bunch of Zoom tastings, virtual staff trainings. We’ve done a lot of charitable partnerships. And I think our relationship with our partners is better than ever. And thankfully, the industry is so small, we’ve also felt that love back towards us in a lot of ways.

A: Right. So is part of the plan for this to be a DTC brand? So obviously, on the site, right, you can order, you have the wine shop. Was that part of the business plan to begin with where you would be able to send people the wines they love on a subscription basis or is that since Covid?

K: Well, that’s definitely a re-pivot since Covid. We had always planned on launching some e-comm business as wholesale. We love our wholesale partners. We’re never going to take our foot off the gas of that, but e-commerce allows us to do these limited-edition collaborations and allows us the opportunity to talk to our customers, which I love. I miss the floor so much. I can’t even tell you. I just love talking to people about wine. It’s a sick obsession. I’m sure you understand. And so we actually just expanded, we’re going to be able to ship to 48 states in January, we’re launching a subscription service called “Club Nomadica.” You can either order monthly or subscribe quarterly, and we’re doing some really fun, exciting things next year.

A: So can you tell us any of those things?

K: So I’m so excited about this. We’re offering this up to all of our Club Nomadica customers, they get 24-7 access to me for all of their wine questions. It’s called “Text a Somm.” And so we’ve been beta testing it. And this came about because I get probably at least 10 texts a week from friends or family. Either it’s a photo of a wine list, “What’s the cheapest, best wine I can drink?” Or “I’m at the grocery store. What do I get?” And so we were like, wouldn’t this be great if we offered this up to our customers and our early adopters. And we’ve been beta testing it. People love it.

A: Yeah. I will say just full disclosure, no relation to the VinePair Text a Somm program. Totally different.

K: Totally different things.

A: But yeah, no, I think that’s super cool. I mean, obviously, yeah. I’m joking, but we did do “Text a Somm” this summer to give working somms a shift, basically. And we saw how many people texted in who have just random questions for wine professionals and they really want to know stuff. So obviously we’re never going to make this full-time. I think it’s super cool that you’re doing it like this. I think you’re also insane to be available 24-7. But I mean, it is still a young company, so I feel that’s when you have the energy be like “Yeah, s***. I’ll do it. 3:00 a.m. I don’t care.” So I dig that. So I have to ask you a question that is not about the wine. Then we’ll get back to the wine, but we’re going to be going all over the place here. I did check out your LinkedIn and it looks like you thought about going to medical school.

K: Yes. Oh my goodness.

A: So, where did that change for you? Obviously you went back, you had done undergrad, then you went back to that post-bacc to go to medical school. Where did you fall in love with wine in that journey and say, “You know what, screw being a surgeon, I’m gonna ultimately own a canned wine brand.”

K: So I majored in sustainable agriculture, moved to San Francisco, cooked for a little bit, worked at some really amazing restaurants, front of house, met Carlin Carr, who’s now the wine director for the Frasca group. She was so generous with pours. I cannot even tell you, and I kind of started to get the bug for wine there, but for a slew of reasons decided that “No, I should be a doctor. I should go prove to people that I’m really smart.” And so I went and did my pre-med post-bacc at Harvard. I’m originally from Massachusetts, so it was just moving back home for me, essentially. And throughout this time I was spending my summers working on Nantucket at Straight Wharf Restaurant, which actually has an incredible Bordeaux and Burgundy cellar. The restaurant has been around since the ’70s. Julia Child was actually the opening chef there. I know, so, so cool. And my last year, and here’s when I really started to get exposed to great wine. And there’s very generous guests. I had the opportunity to taste things that I could never in a million years afford to buy. And then in my last year of school, I’m taking my MCAT, applying for med school, I get in and that’s that, I’m going to med school. I’m going to be a doctor. And I meet this woman, Felicia Foster, who was running the small wine bar in Somerville, which is right outside of Boston, called Spoke Wine Bar. And she just mentored me, invited me to taste with her, you know when you first start out in wine and you’re tasting things and just don’t have the confidence to name flavors, to talk about the wine. She just encouraged me, and exposed me to Piedmont and Austria and Germany and all these wines that I just had no idea about, and she just really encouraged me to leave school because I was pretty miserable. I’ll be honest. And I love wine and I just took the leap and never looked back.

A: That’s great. That’s awesome. So back to the wine. So obviously the company is only a few years old. What are your goals for Nomadica? Would you like to ultimately grow it to a level where it is bought by a larger wine company? Would you like to own it forever? Would you like to ultimately use the label to expand into bottles or other things? I’m curious, what is your vision for the brand? As of right now as we’re closing out 2020 moving into 2021.

K: I really do want Nomadica to be everywhere. I think we’ve all had the experience in our life, whether it’s we go to a sports game or a movie theater and you drink beer because there’s not a wine that you would drink. And I really do think Nomadica solves that problem. And to be quite honest, we’re just so focused on building this thing and making it as great as it possibly can be that if we potentially get bought out, we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. We’re just trying to make our product as great as can be and do some really fun things while we’re at it.

A: So you bring up a really great question and probably something that some people who listen to the VinePair podcasts always have, which is how do you get into those kinds of places? How do you get into the sports arenas or the movie theaters or the Holy Pitas of the world? And what I mean by that is I think that your value proposition is really great. I love the cans. I think the juice inside the can is absolutely stellar. And I get the marketing positioning of sommelier-curated wines. But the places that I think where you find the initial customers is where you’re talking about, right? The places where I wish there was a good glass of wine, but I don’t have it. And for the most part at those places, the person doing the buying may not know the difference between Nomadica or be able to appreciate the differences between Nomadica and that canned wine brand from Oregon or that canned wine brand from — not to pick on them — that canned wine brand from Northern California or something else from even New York state, right? How do you explain to them that this is the canned wine brand they should have for all of the reasons that I understand they should have it, the quality, the better design, all that stuff. Is it just that they see the package and they get it? What is your strategy there?

K: The packaging definitely is the door opener, but our strategy is really just, I can’t even tell you how great I’ve gotten at rejection the last few years. I remember starting this journey and thinking I’m great at sales. I sell wine on the floor every night, I can sell so much wine, and I really didn’t realize how you just have to constantly take it on the chin and keep going. And that’s basically my strategy. So I never really take no for an answer because I do think that there’s always an opportunity to revisit. And that our sales have definitely shown that to be true. And maybe it’s not always a “no,” maybe it’s a “not now.” And you just relentlessly follow up. You leverage your network. I stalk buyers, I’ve realized how creepy I am. And we’ve also been really lucky. I recently brought on Terra Hannaford as my COO, and she was the VP of sales from Casamigos and just what a difference she’s made in the company. And she has taught me so much about how to leverage and manage our distribution network, which was not formerly a skill of mine coming from the fine-dining wine world, and how to talk to retailers, how to use everything from your friend that you knew in seventh grade who maybe has a cousin that owns a wine shop. You got to really connect with people. And so I think it’s been working pretty well.

A: That’s awesome. So I feel like at this point I have a really good picture of the business. Do you plan to raise more money? What are your goals? Because like I said, the cool programs you have coming are “Text a Somm” et cetera. What are your goals when you think about where you’d like to be at the end of 2021?

K: Yeah, well we’ll raise some more money. We’ve got some exciting innovations on the way that you will be one of the first people to know about, I promise. I’m so excited about that for 2021. And just a lot of really innovative programming, and you know things take money, unfortunately. And I want to be everywhere in the U.S.

A: Kristen, this was really awesome to talk to you and get to know the business, where you’re headed. Like I said, I really think that the product is awesome. When I came in contact with it two years ago, I thought it was great. And then to be fair, I see so much stuff that it passed my mind. And when I got emailed about it again a few weeks ago, I was like, “Oh man, yes, I absolutely want to have this conversation” because I think you really seem to get it in a way that I think a lot of other people who are trying to do the canned wine thing just are missing, right? I’m not telling you to make, as I said earlier, the next “Bud Light.” I’m telling you to make the thing that I also would love to have out on my table or to be seen with in the park. That’s what I want. And I feel you’re delivering that, and it’s just awesome.

K: Thank you, Adam. That’s so nice.

A: So anyways, all the best in 2021 and with Nomadica. I’ll definitely keep watching, and I’ll definitely drink it when I go to Holy Pita.

K: Shout Out to Holy Pita!

A: Shout out to Holy Pita. Talk to you soon.

K: Bye, Adam. Thanks.

Thanks so much for listening to the VinePair Podcast. If you enjoy listening to us every week, please leave us a review or rating on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, or wherever it is that you get your podcasts. It really helps everyone else discover the show. Now, for the credits. VinePair is produced and hosted by Zach Geballe and me, Adam Teeter. Our engineer is Nick Patri and Keith Beavers. I’d also like to give a special shout-out to my VinePair co-founder Josh Malin and the rest of the VinePair team for their support. Thanks so much for listening, and we’ll see you again right here next week.

Ed. note: This episode has been edited for length and clarity

The article Next Round: Nomadica Wine Co-Founder Kristin Olszewski on Making Canned Wine Cool appeared first on VinePair.

Via https://vinepair.com/articles/next-round-nomadica-wine-kristin-olszewski/

source https://vinology1.weebly.com/blog/next-round-nomadica-wine-co-founder-kristin-olszewski-on-making-canned-wine-cool

[wineanddinosaur]

Next Round: Nomadica Wine Co-Founder Kristin Olszewski on Making Canned Wine Cool

Airing between regular episodes of the VinePair Podcast, “Next Round” explores the ideas and innovations that are helping drinks businesses adapt in a time of unprecedented change. As the coronavirus crisis continues and new challenges arise, VP Pro is in your corner, supporting the drinks community for all the rounds to come. If you have a story or perspective to share, email us at podcast@vinepair.com.

In this “Next Round” episode, host Adam Teeter discusses the new canned wine brand Nomadica with one of its co-founders Kristin Olszewski. The two highlight Nomadica’s packaging and how the brand uses works of art as the “doorway” to excite its customers, welcoming them into what are often complicated conversations about wine. Olszewski emphasizes that while canned wine offers a particular convenience — for throwing a can in your purse or enjoying a sparkler on the beach — she always takes pride in the “juice” Nomadica uses.

Nomadica has paired with several small wineries to create limited-edition releases and sources all of its wines from producers Olszewski swears by. As a trained sommelier with over a decade of experience in the field, she proudly markets Nomadica as sommelier-curated canned wine, and hopes the brand can change consumers’ minds about the bottle-versus-can debate.

Nomadica’s current lineup includes two sparkling wines, a still rosé, and a red. Listen or read below as Olszewski discusses her initial skepticism of canned wine, how she built the brand, and her hopes for Nomadica’s future.

Listen Online

Listen on Apple Podcasts

Listen on Spotify

Or Check Out the Conversation Below

Adam: From Brooklyn, New York I’m Adam Teeter. And this is a VinePair “Next Round” conversation. As you guys know, we’re bringing you these conversations between the regular podcast episodes in order to give everyone a better picture of what’s going on in the alcohol beverage industry. Today, I’m really lucky to be talking with Kristen Olszewski, the chief beverage officer and founder of Nomadica Wine. Kristen, what’s going on?

Kristen: Hi, Adam. I’m so excited to be here with you today.

A: Thank you so much for joining me. I hope I didn’t butcher your last name.

K: That was actually perfect pronunciation.

A: So you are based in L.A., right? And a former sommelier, who now has a canned wine business?

K: Yes, from Barolo to canned wine. I love it.

A: So can you tell me a little bit about Nomadica, and then we’ll get into your career and how you came to start it in the first place, but give me the “What is Nomadica wine” pitch.

K: OK, so Nomadica is sommelier-curated canned wine. Of course, I am the sommelier curating the wine. And then anyone who takes a look at our cans always remarks on how beautiful they are. We work with artists so that the art on the can works as the first tasting note for the wine inside.

A: Oh, interesting. So I got to tell you, literally I’m not kissing your a** here. I just saw your cans a few years ago and they were brought into my office and I was like, “Wow, this is the first canned wine brand that I thought was understanding what craft beer had gotten right,” if that makes sense. Craft beer’s branding has been so good, especially on the can and that’s what consumers love. And I saw a lot of canned wine brands coming out prior to meeting you that looked a lot like this could have been designed by Anheuser-Busch, right? It was very “Bud Light,” but it was a rosé. And so I was like, wow, how is this the brand? Because at the time, I didn’t know you, and we’re just meeting for the first time, to be fair to everyone listening. I’m just excited about it. I was like, how has it taken anyone else this long in wine to figure this shit out? Just because it’s in a can doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be beautifully designed and something that you want to pull out and people will ask you in the park, what are you drinking? That’s been what craft beer has gotten right for so many years now, whether it’s L.A. breweries that I am less familiar with than the New York City ones, the Other Halfs and the KCBCs. And if you listen to this podcast, you hear me talking about these breweries a lot whose labels just look dope. I was blown away that you were the first one I saw to do that. So this is a very roundabout way of me asking you about your wine brand and what your decision to create a wine brand was in the first place. Because prior to this, you were at a restaurant group, you were a working somm, so why a canned wine brand?

K: Well, it was a crazy journey. I got introduced to my co-founder through a mutual friend. He actually comes from the New York restaurant scene, and he was like, “Hey, I met this girl. She wants to start a wine company. You should speak with her.” As you know, I’ve spent my entire career working in Michelin and wine-focused restaurants and am literally obsessed with wine. So I go meet her after working on the floor at Mozza, I show up in my lady suit in my favorite natural wine bar in Los Angeles, shout out to Tabula Rasa. And Emma tells me that she’s been pouring nice wine into Pellegrino cans to take by the pool or on really long Uber rides in Los Angeles. And at first I was like, “Ugh, canned wine?” To be honest, I’d only had bad experiences with canned wine. It’s not something I thought of myself as ever drinking or ever having any interest in. But Emma is famously stubborn and stalked my Instagram, found a winemaker she knew I really liked on the Central Coast, Josh Klapper from La Fenetre at Timbre, who worked at Avant Cremant for a while. She canned a small batch of his Pinot Noir and brought it back to me to taste. And I let it sit in my cabinet for two months. I’ll be honest, I opened it up one night when I didn’t feel like opening up a bottle. And I had this realization that canned wine wasn’t bad. People were just putting bad wine in cans. And of course, I think the market has changed now. There are some amazing players in the canned wine space, and I could not be more excited about sharing this space with some really great winemakers, but Nomadica was born. And so we decided to use artists as our labels because I’m sure anyone who works the floor will understand this. You spend all night talking to people, and probably 10 to 15 percent of the people you speak with actually have language to describe what they like in wine, right? They understand what body means, what tannin is, or how to talk about acid levels, what volatile acidity is, et cetera. But most people you have to use unconventional formats to describe flavor profiles and tastes. I remember one time describing Poggio di Sotto Brunello di Montalcino to a guest as God walking down your throat in velvet slippers. And he’s like “Yeah, I want that. I want that wine.” So we thought it would be really fun to be really playful with that and play on the idea of synesthesia here, and I think we do a great job and we’ve actually just hired a creative director the last couple of months who is immensely talented. And I can’t wait to reveal our new lineup of can art coming out next year.

A: That’s super cool. So when Emma brought you this idea, you were like “OK, let me figure this out. I’ll think about it.” How long did it take you from thinking about it, to saying, “OK, screw it. I’m quitting my job. I’m doing this full-time?” What was the process? What did you go through to do this?

K: Well, I worked two jobs for a very long time. I’m sure anyone who started their own business knows the hustle is real. So I would spend all day working on Nomadica and then I’d spend all night at Osteria Mozza, slinging Barolo and Brunello and all the fun Italian wines. And we were able to raise a little bit of money last year, and I was able to go full-time, and I can’t even tell you how exciting it was — and still is — to work for myself. It’s crazy.

A: Awesome. Yeah. It’s totally great, right? It’s this thing that you just finally take the leap and you do it, and it’s nuts. So you have this canned wine brand. You finally got it on your own. What is your goal for this brand? Or obviously you said that it’s about putting good wine in cans, but what does that actually mean to you? And could you put Barolo in a can? Do you know what I’m saying? I’ve heard some people be like, “Oh, there’s only certain kinds of wine that you’d put in cans.” So what does it mean for you in terms of the wine you put into a can?

K: Well, we source wine specifically for the can, and I do think this is where my decade-plus in wine really does come in handy. We don’t just put any juice in the can. I will probably never put Barolo in a can. I do think it needs to age in a bottle, but certain varietals like our current red, a Sangiovese blend with a little bit of old vines and vanilla and Grenache. It’s poppy. It’s bright. It doesn’t have tannin, it’s high-acid. It’s crushable. So that’s kind of where we’re heading here. And then we have a core lineup of wines. Two sparklings (a white and a rosé), a still rosé, and a red. We’re adding a still white to that lineup next year. And then we’re also doing some really fun limited editions that we’re just going to drop online, small boutique things. We’re doing a collab with Stolpman Vineyards. We’re doing a carbonic Syrah with them. And then Mike from Rootdown and Cole Ranch, and SLK wines made an amazing Piquette with some 70-year-old Riesling from his single vineyard.

A: OK. I get it, though, I get it. So basically the whole idea is it’s wines that are drinkable now, right? We’re not aging anything in this. Are you the person that’s drinking from the can, or do you expect the consumer to pour into the glass?

K: So I always say wine tastes better from a glass, and no one will ever get me to change my mind on that. There are some circumstances where you’re on a hike, you’re at the beach, you’re sneaking a can into your purse to have with an In-N-Out burger. I don’t know for a fact, I’ve never done this myself, of course — I would never — but sometimes you just drink out of the can for convenience. Another thing I really like about the cans, and I think one of the special things about what we do at Nomadica is we have nothing to hide. I encourage everyone to drink it out of a glass. And because of that, we’ve noticed — we’ve done a lot of surveys with our customers, and they’re wine drinkers. They’re a little older, they’re in their 30s typically, and they’re choosing us because they don’t want to open an entire bottle.

A: Oh, interesting. So, here’s what I’m curious about. I was going to ask this question, you sort of answered it for me, but it’s who does dump it into a glass? Because we started, and in all fairness, we’ve never had your wine submitted for the tasting, we started two years ago a big open call for canned wines. Because there’s so many now, right? Canned wines were submitted to us and actually our tastings director basically the first year was like, we have to stop pouring the wines into a glass. And so we don’t, if anyone else who listens has submitted to us before, you’re now learning, it’s the only tasting where we do not pour the wines into the glass, because when we surveyed our staff and then readership, most said they drank it from the can. And so we were like, well, because a lot of times when you pour it into the glass, especially with some of these canned wines, you get that weird sulfur smell initially. And so we were like well, no one is actually going to get that because they’re drinking it from the can. They’re consuming it in the way they would consume a seltzer or the way they would consume White Claws, but yeah, the way they would consume a seltzer or a beer, that’s that format we’ve been conditioned. We drink from it. We don’t pour into a glass. So I, that’s why I was curious to ask you, just because I wonder, then, if you think about what kind of wine goes into the can, knowing that it’s not going to be examined or it won’t aerate?

K: Yes, absolutely. So when I’m selecting wines, I always have several cans, and I taste it out of the can and because I don’t want to control how anyone drinks it. I want it to be amazing in every single scenario.

A: It’s funny, there’s a restaurant near me in Brooklyn that sells Nomadica, but how have you expanded? What has that been like? So you obviously quit your job. You’ve raised a little bit of money. You’re now out in the world. What has your growth trajectory looked like? Or what are your plans for growth? How is that working?

K: So we’ve actually been really lucky in a pretty awful year — let’s be honest — to really hang on, and over half of our business is in on-premise, which people are always surprised by. I mean, I was surprised by that. I think when we first started Nomadica, I was like, “Oh, this is just gonna be retail. This is just going to be retail,” but we’ve seen a massive uptick from luxury hotels and grab-and-go programs. I’m sure that restaurant in Brooklyn is one of those.

A: It’s like a little falafel shop.

K: Oh, Holy Pita! I love that place.

A: That’s so funny that you know which one it is!

K: Of course I do. Of course I do. I have a very hands-on approach with our national sales office, and I think because the wine world and the beverage world is really small and I have to just really shout out our partners. At the beginning of this, we went to people and we’re like, “OK, this sucks for everyone.” I have worked in restaurants basically my entire life. And I’m worried about the future of restaurants. I think we all are. And so we went to a lot of our partners and just asked how we can help them, how we can be there for them. So we’ve done a bunch of Zoom tastings, virtual staff trainings. We’ve done a lot of charitable partnerships. And I think our relationship with our partners is better than ever. And thankfully, the industry is so small, we’ve also felt that love back towards us in a lot of ways.

A: Right. So is part of the plan for this to be a DTC brand? So obviously, on the site, right, you can order, you have the wine shop. Was that part of the business plan to begin with where you would be able to send people the wines they love on a subscription basis or is that since Covid?

K: Well, that’s definitely a re-pivot since Covid. We had always planned on launching some e-comm business as wholesale. We love our wholesale partners. We’re never going to take our foot off the gas of that, but e-commerce allows us to do these limited-edition collaborations and allows us the opportunity to talk to our customers, which I love. I miss the floor so much. I can’t even tell you. I just love talking to people about wine. It’s a sick obsession. I’m sure you understand. And so we actually just expanded, we’re going to be able to ship to 48 states in January, we’re launching a subscription service called “Club Nomadica.” You can either order monthly or subscribe quarterly, and we’re doing some really fun, exciting things next year.

A: So can you tell us any of those things?

K: So I’m so excited about this. We’re offering this up to all of our Club Nomadica customers, they get 24-7 access to me for all of their wine questions. It’s called “Text a Somm.” And so we’ve been beta testing it. And this came about because I get probably at least 10 texts a week from friends or family. Either it’s a photo of a wine list, “What’s the cheapest, best wine I can drink?” Or “I’m at the grocery store. What do I get?” And so we were like, wouldn’t this be great if we offered this up to our customers and our early adopters. And we’ve been beta testing it. People love it.

A: Yeah. I will say just full disclosure, no relation to the VinePair Text a Somm program. Totally different.

K: Totally different things.

A: But yeah, no, I think that’s super cool. I mean, obviously, yeah. I’m joking, but we did do “Text a Somm” this summer to give working somms a shift, basically. And we saw how many people texted in who have just random questions for wine professionals and they really want to know stuff. So obviously we’re never going to make this full-time. I think it’s super cool that you’re doing it like this. I think you’re also insane to be available 24-7. But I mean, it is still a young company, so I feel that’s when you have the energy be like “Yeah, s***. I’ll do it. 3:00 a.m. I don’t care.” So I dig that. So I have to ask you a question that is not about the wine. Then we’ll get back to the wine, but we’re going to be going all over the place here. I did check out your LinkedIn and it looks like you thought about going to medical school.

K: Yes. Oh my goodness.

A: So, where did that change for you? Obviously you went back, you had done undergrad, then you went back to that post-bacc to go to medical school. Where did you fall in love with wine in that journey and say, “You know what, screw being a surgeon, I’m gonna ultimately own a canned wine brand.”

K: So I majored in sustainable agriculture, moved to San Francisco, cooked for a little bit, worked at some really amazing restaurants, front of house, met Carlin Carr, who’s now the wine director for the Frasca group. She was so generous with pours. I cannot even tell you, and I kind of started to get the bug for wine there, but for a slew of reasons decided that “No, I should be a doctor. I should go prove to people that I’m really smart.” And so I went and did my pre-med post-bacc at Harvard. I’m originally from Massachusetts, so it was just moving back home for me, essentially. And throughout this time I was spending my summers working on Nantucket at Straight Wharf Restaurant, which actually has an incredible Bordeaux and Burgundy cellar. The restaurant has been around since the ’70s. Julia Child was actually the opening chef there. I know, so, so cool. And my last year, and here’s when I really started to get exposed to great wine. And there’s very generous guests. I had the opportunity to taste things that I could never in a million years afford to buy. And then in my last year of school, I’m taking my MCAT, applying for med school, I get in and that’s that, I’m going to med school. I’m going to be a doctor. And I meet this woman, Felicia Foster, who was running the small wine bar in Somerville, which is right outside of Boston, called Spoke Wine Bar. And she just mentored me, invited me to taste with her, you know when you first start out in wine and you’re tasting things and just don’t have the confidence to name flavors, to talk about the wine. She just encouraged me, and exposed me to Piedmont and Austria and Germany and all these wines that I just had no idea about, and she just really encouraged me to leave school because I was pretty miserable. I’ll be honest. And I love wine and I just took the leap and never looked back.

A: That’s great. That’s awesome. So back to the wine. So obviously the company is only a few years old. What are your goals for Nomadica? Would you like to ultimately grow it to a level where it is bought by a larger wine company? Would you like to own it forever? Would you like to ultimately use the label to expand into bottles or other things? I’m curious, what is your vision for the brand? As of right now as we’re closing out 2020 moving into 2021.

K: I really do want Nomadica to be everywhere. I think we’ve all had the experience in our life, whether it’s we go to a sports game or a movie theater and you drink beer because there’s not a wine that you would drink. And I really do think Nomadica solves that problem. And to be quite honest, we’re just so focused on building this thing and making it as great as it possibly can be that if we potentially get bought out, we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. We’re just trying to make our product as great as can be and do some really fun things while we’re at it.

A: So you bring up a really great question and probably something that some people who listen to the VinePair podcasts always have, which is how do you get into those kinds of places? How do you get into the sports arenas or the movie theaters or the Holy Pitas of the world? And what I mean by that is I think that your value proposition is really great. I love the cans. I think the juice inside the can is absolutely stellar. And I get the marketing positioning of sommelier-curated wines. But the places that I think where you find the initial customers is where you’re talking about, right? The places where I wish there was a good glass of wine, but I don’t have it. And for the most part at those places, the person doing the buying may not know the difference between Nomadica or be able to appreciate the differences between Nomadica and that canned wine brand from Oregon or that canned wine brand from — not to pick on them — that canned wine brand from Northern California or something else from even New York state, right? How do you explain to them that this is the canned wine brand they should have for all of the reasons that I understand they should have it, the quality, the better design, all that stuff. Is it just that they see the package and they get it? What is your strategy there?

K: The packaging definitely is the door opener, but our strategy is really just, I can’t even tell you how great I’ve gotten at rejection the last few years. I remember starting this journey and thinking I’m great at sales. I sell wine on the floor every night, I can sell so much wine, and I really didn’t realize how you just have to constantly take it on the chin and keep going. And that’s basically my strategy. So I never really take no for an answer because I do think that there’s always an opportunity to revisit. And that our sales have definitely shown that to be true. And maybe it’s not always a “no,” maybe it’s a “not now.” And you just relentlessly follow up. You leverage your network. I stalk buyers, I’ve realized how creepy I am. And we’ve also been really lucky. I recently brought on Terra Hannaford as my COO, and she was the VP of sales from Casamigos and just what a difference she’s made in the company. And she has taught me so much about how to leverage and manage our distribution network, which was not formerly a skill of mine coming from the fine-dining wine world, and how to talk to retailers, how to use everything from your friend that you knew in seventh grade who maybe has a cousin that owns a wine shop. You got to really connect with people. And so I think it’s been working pretty well.

A: That’s awesome. So I feel like at this point I have a really good picture of the business. Do you plan to raise more money? What are your goals? Because like I said, the cool programs you have coming are “Text a Somm” et cetera. What are your goals when you think about where you’d like to be at the end of 2021?

K: Yeah, well we’ll raise some more money. We’ve got some exciting innovations on the way that you will be one of the first people to know about, I promise. I’m so excited about that for 2021. And just a lot of really innovative programming, and you know things take money, unfortunately. And I want to be everywhere in the U.S.

A: Kristen, this was really awesome to talk to you and get to know the business, where you’re headed. Like I said, I really think that the product is awesome. When I came in contact with it two years ago, I thought it was great. And then to be fair, I see so much stuff that it passed my mind. And when I got emailed about it again a few weeks ago, I was like, “Oh man, yes, I absolutely want to have this conversation” because I think you really seem to get it in a way that I think a lot of other people who are trying to do the canned wine thing just are missing, right? I’m not telling you to make, as I said earlier, the next “Bud Light.” I’m telling you to make the thing that I also would love to have out on my table or to be seen with in the park. That’s what I want. And I feel you’re delivering that, and it’s just awesome.

K: Thank you, Adam. That’s so nice.

A: So anyways, all the best in 2021 and with Nomadica. I’ll definitely keep watching, and I’ll definitely drink it when I go to Holy Pita.

K: Shout Out to Holy Pita!

A: Shout out to Holy Pita. Talk to you soon.

K: Bye, Adam. Thanks.

Thanks so much for listening to the VinePair Podcast. If you enjoy listening to us every week, please leave us a review or rating on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, or wherever it is that you get your podcasts. It really helps everyone else discover the show. Now, for the credits. VinePair is produced and hosted by Zach Geballe and me, Adam Teeter. Our engineer is Nick Patri and Keith Beavers. I’d also like to give a special shout-out to my VinePair co-founder Josh Malin and the rest of the VinePair team for their support. Thanks so much for listening, and we’ll see you again right here next week.

Ed. note: This episode has been edited for length and clarity

The article Next Round: Nomadica Wine Co-Founder Kristin Olszewski on Making Canned Wine Cool appeared first on VinePair.

source https://vinepair.com/articles/next-round-nomadica-wine-kristin-olszewski/

[jayietheriverwarrior]

Well, it’s certainly been a while since I drew this guy. ^^ Okay, some context for those who haven’t heard of any of this. Some time ago, I used to be a big fan of a podcast called “Welcome to Night Vale.” I really loved the show, but I sorta fell behind on episodes for a while, then I fell further behind, then so many episodes piled up that I felt overwhelmed at the thought of trying to catch back up. That was a few years ago. Recently, with my new job and being able to do some of my work while listening to something in one ear, I decided to get myself back into Night Vale. I recently caught back up, and my love for the podcast has returned full-force. :D I have now listened to all of the episodes, and have read both of the novels, and loved them all (though some of the continuity stuff in “It Devours” is a bit weird, and I overall preferred the first novel I think). For those who haven’t heard of this podcast before, “Welcome to Night Vale” is a podcast that takes the form of a local radio show of a fictional US town, Night Vale, located somewhere in the desert. Anything supernatural or horrifying, like a Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives in Your Home, or hooded figures that lurk around a forbidden dog park, or the Sheriff having a Secret Police force, or government agents watching everyone’s every move, are all seen as completely ordinary and mundane to those living in Night Vale. ^^ The radio show is hosted by a man named Cecil, who reports on the events that happen in his town, occasionally sharing his own thoughts on the matter, and gushes over the handsome scientist who just moved into town. ^^ The fun of the podcast is seeing what bizarre events happen in the town, and how most of it is seen as run-of-the-mill to those who live there. The fun of it is also the great writing, wonderful characters, wonderful relationships between those characters, and great representation for minorities and for the LGBT community. :D Anyway, I decided to make a new design for the main character, Cecil, since I drew my old design for him ages ago. Since the podcast is all audio and no visual, and since Cecil’s appearance is never described to us, fans are able to depict Cecil however they like, although tentacle tattoos, white/gray hair, and a third eye are all common in fan depictions of Cecil. There were certain aspects of my old design for him that I retained for this design, but I changed a fair bit of it. And yes, I know, I know, my design looks like just about every other skinny, white-haired, tattooed Cecil design out there. I wasn’t going for originality so much as trying to just come up with a design that felt the most like Cecil to me, if that makes sense, that I could make to fit my mental image of him. And I’ve seen far too many white-haired, tentacle-tattooed Cecil designs over the years to wildly alter my mental image of him at this point. And I didn’t really want to. I just wanted to have fun coming up with my own version of him to fit my mental image while still being sorta original in my design. Anyway, the design itself. I kept a similar idea of the hair sorta swooping back and then tufting back up. But I was able to portray that much better here, the way I meant for it to look, not the wild, mad scientist sorta hair I drew him with before. :P His hair isn’t as tall and doesn’t stick up as much as on his old design. I also changed the coloring, as the gray from before with all of the flecks of other colors just didn’t look right anymore. Instead, I played around with a bunch of different options before finally settling on a two-toned look like other Cecil designs I’ve seen. It seems that most two-toned hairstyles like this involve the dark part of the hair being very short and close to the scalp to contrast with the lighter hair being longer, but… oh well. :P I like the look of him having full hair throughout, at least for my design, there’s definitely good and cool designs of him out there with the short hair on part of the head. :D I always intended for Cecil to have a very narrow sort of face. I made it really thin and long in his old design, and I was not very good at portraying that in a realistic manner. :P Here, I think I managed to get that across much better, while still having his face look fairly realistic. Fun fact – I actually used pictures of Hugh Laurie as a reference while drawing this. ^^ He has the sort of narrow-faced look I was going for, though I didn’t copy the elements of his face exactly, I just used the pictures to help suss out the anatomy at this angle. I used a mix of yellow and purple in his old tattoo designs, sort of trying to emphasize how Night Vale and Desert Bluffs are connected. While I liked that idea, I just couldn’t get that blend of colors to look right on this new design, so I ditched the yellow and just stuck to various shades of purple. Before, I had given him unusually-large amber irises, with a pupil that was just a darker shade of amber rather than black. I didn’t have any particular reason for this, I just thought it looked cool, and emphasized Cecil’s not-quite-human-ness. :P But before coming up with this design, I had an interesting idea, and I’m honestly not sure if anyone’s incorporated this into a Cecil design before (probably) – instead of regular eyes, what if I made the eye-moon thing in the Night Vale logo his actual eyes? I decided to try it out, and I really liked how it looked, so I stuck with it. :D I like to think that Cecil was born with normal eyes, maybe brown or something, but when he was officially declared the new Voice of Night Vale, as such an important representative and voice of their weird little community, his eyes literally became the symbol of Night Vale, symbolizing how he represents and speaks for the town. I really like how those eyes look on him. It shows his connection with the town, it’s a cool color for his eyes, and the lack of white in his eyes or black pupils further emphasizes his not-quite-human-ness. I image they’re also quite freaky to those not from Night Vale and not used to its ways. Carlos was probably quite alarmed when he first saw those eyes, and also quite confused as to why he found such frightening eyes attractive, before eventually getting used to Night Vale and its strangeness and fully embracing how attractive he found Cecil. ^^ I also changed my design for his facial tattoos, though I think his arm tattoos will mostly stay the same, though the colors will be simplified to just light and dark purple, and some of the design might be simplified and shifted around. I’m pretty sure I’ll also keep the tattoo monster thing on his chest and back, ‘cause I like the idea of it. ^^ Anyway, I decided to get rid of the lines and shapes on his face from his old design, and just go for a few tentacle tattoos on his face framing his eyes. I kept the moon-eye on his forehead, but I added some eyelashes just to make it stand out, and I got rid of the line around it and just put more tentacle tattoos beside it. As I said before, I got rid of the yellow in the tattoo coloration, and just used dark purple as the outline, and a light, pinkish purple to fill in the tattoo. I think the colors work really well together, and I like how the tattoos came out looking. :D Overall, I’m really happy with this new design for Cecil. :D I was too lazy to draw a full body shot of him, and I really just wanted to focus on his face at the moment, but maybe some time I’ll draw his full design with his new tattoos. I know Night Vale’s fashion sense, and Cecil’s in particular, is supposed to be completely ridiculous and nonsensical and over-the-top and not matching – Cecil has been described as wearing antlers and hip-weighters, furry pants, a poncho with cat ears and goulashes, and god knows what else - but I just can’t seem to get rid of my mental image of him in a nice shirt and waistcoat, it’s just been my mental image of him for too long. Maybe one day I’ll eventually embrace his canonical mis-matching fashion sense, but for now I’ll just keep drawing him this way. :P I decided to keep the shading simple on this, and I just added a bit of a starry background so it wasn’t too plain. Honestly though, for not having drawn humans for several years, I’m honestly ridiculously proud of how this turned out. :D The anatomy looks way better than the last time I drew humans, and it just looks really good, I think. :D

[jcmorrigan]

Random dump of ASOUE headcanons involving minor anti-villains coming, ruthlessly blending showverse and bookverse extended canon

But given that I try to obsessively give backstories to all of my favorite characters that don’t have them yet, I’ve been thinking about the showverse Henchperson of Indeterminate Gender (referred to in the rest of this post as “Ainsley,” my personal favorite name for them, for the sake of convenience and not typing out either that whole title or an acronym) and what their life might have been pre-Olaf.

Meanwhile, it occurs to me that over in All the Wrong Questions, Ellington is oddly enough treated like kind of a stranger by all the other kids (except Jake and Cleo). Was she not part of the group? Was she somehow apart from the community? Who was she hanging out with if not Moxie and co.?

And it hits me that Ellington and Ainsley are both morally ambiguous and love coffee...

So now (without doing any math to see if the ages add up because they probably won’t and I don’t want this to get ruined that easily) I have this whole thing going on in my head about Ainsley growing up in Stain’d-by-the-Sea and them and Ellington being each other’s only friend forever. I actually CONSIDERED making a fanfiction of this, but that would involve me having to go out and actually purchase the entirety of ATWQ instead of just library-ing it up, and then reading all four of them again, and I have other books to read and fics to research for in other ways, so I can’t be bothered to marathon a four-book series for a oneshot. (Watch me change my mind in a month.) Anyway, because right now I am decidedly set on NOT making a fanfic out of this (come on, JC, nobody buys that Ainsley and Josephine are the same age anyway!), I’m just going to give you the bullet points of if this had actually happened.

Adding a cut because this is gonna get long

EDIT: I just did some looking up of stuff and the ages REALLY don’t line up, so this is super AU but I’m leaving it here for you to read anyway

-Ellington first meets Ainsley by coming across Stew Mitchum beating them up for being a “guy who thinks he’s a girl” (despite Ainsley’s insistence that they are nonbinary, which they try to emphasize in very verbose terms in between getting kicked in the shin). Ellington, thinking she can play hero as seen in the fantasy novels she loves, rushes in, attempting to beat up Stew. However, as Ellington has not been trained in combat in any sense whatsoever (YET!), she gets utterly decimated - bruises, teeth in danger of falling out, ends up lying on the ground unable to get back up. Stew warns her that she doesn’t know who she’s messing with before turning and walking ominously away. Ellington lies on the ground for about thirty seconds thinking about how big of a mistake she made before Ainsley gingerly approaches her, helps her get up, and walks her back home for first aid.

-They have a long discussion about how everyone around them is so literate and both of them sort of feel like outcasts, as Ellington is the ONLY person in town who has read ALL of Lord of the Rings and Ainsley prefers plays by and large to books. Now, Ainsley is turned off by the idea of reading even ONE book as huge as a Tolkien, and Ellington finds plays utterly too short to hold her attention when they’re not actually performed onstage, but they make an agreement not to belittle each other for their literary choices.

-Ellington is the one who gets Ainsley hooked on coffee. Specifically Black Cat coffee. The two of them commandeer that shop and are basically its only two regular patrons before Lemony comes to town.

-Armstrong isn’t a fan of his daughter having a friend. There are secrets, Bombinating-Beast-related secrets, he doesn’t even want to tell HER. And now she’s bringing a stranger into their life? A stranger who might learn way too much by accident by being too close to Armstrong? Armstrong disapproves. But he’s not going to be overt about this, or his cover will be blown.

-I’ve been a fan for a while of the idea that Ainsley prefers dressing in male clothes specifically for the sake of comfort (largely inspired by statements by MCards) (In-universe, though, it��s more like ”Because, you know, women’s clothes are intentionally designed for form over function as a byproduct of the misogyny that has permeated the industry...” Ainsley goes on for another five minutes), but can appreciate throwing small feminine touches onto their ensembles (like that pearl necklace). Ellington, on the other hand, loves skirts because they make her feel regal. Ellington is SO femme. They have disagreements over this at first, but then Ainsley spots Ellington’s perfectly painted and groomed black fingernails and asks if Ellington wouldn’t mind painting theirs. Ellington is more than happy and Ainsley ends up with blue fingernails (she retains the monopoly on black; am I the only person who sees her as a bit of a Goth fashion-wise?).

-Ellington has a crush on Ainsley for about a week before trying to drop big obvious hints. “Have you ever felt anything about a close friend, like they should be more than that?” “I don’t like you that way, Ellington.” “...Oh.” “Besides, I’m half convinced love is just a fallacy concocted by our culture in order to” AINSLEY GOES ON FOR ANOTHER FIVE MINUTES

-But she gets over it, it’s okay

-They’re both aware of the fact that there are big things going on in the world around them. Plots, secrecy, underhanded schemes, covert organizations and operations. The Inhumane Society. They both want in on this, as the unexamined life is not worth living. But it’s one of those “be careful what you wish for” scenarios.

-They decide to try and write a play together as a passion project of their friendship. Ellington wants to write about a secret agent who finds himself stranded in a small, economically troubled town populated by strange characters. Ainsley wants to write about a set of children who are orphaned thanks to the machinations of a diabolical villain. Ainsley insists their idea is more suited to at least two adaptations of varying quality by sets of actual actors while Ellington’s idea is better suited to print.

-Though at first, Ellington wonders about writing a comedy. Ainsley talks her out of it. Tragedy, after all, paints the world as it truly is. Ellington finds she cannot disagree, even though she hasn’t experienced a tragedy of her own. (YET!)

-Armstrong REALLY doesn’t like how much time they spend together writing this play.

-They never get the chance to finish it.

-Armstrong begins acting very strange, and he might actually voice his concerns to Ellington about having friends she doesn’t know if she can trust. Ellington tries to argue hard that Ainsley IS trustworthy, but Armstrong doesn’t buy it and pushes back. 

-Basically something happens with the Inhumane Society, Armstrong, and the Beast to make Ellington start to doubt her friendship with Ainsley for real. She tries ignoring them and giving them the silent treatment, but they notice. They confront her about it, standing in front of her and refusing to move until they get some answers. Ellington just shoves Ainsley over, and while Ainsley stares at her in disbelief, she tells them that “If you didn’t want to get pushed over, you shouldn’t have stood in my WAY!”

-They stop talking.

-Then Armstrong goes missing. At the same time Hangfire rears his villainous head. Ellington is blind to the connection from the start. 

-You’d think now would really be the time she’d need a friend, but she’s starting to think her father was right about friendships, as she’s already lost one person she loved. For one thing, can she endanger someone else like that? For another, how does it speak to Armstrong’s memory if she runs right to the person he didn’t approve of?

-Ellington basically disappears from social life.

-Ainsley just wants to know what happened.

-Eventually, Ainsley’s family leaves Stain’d-by-the-Sea because the ink economy is in the toilet. It’s unclear whether this is before or after Ellington found Lemony and saw her opportunity.

-But once Ellington got wrapped up in that plot, she stopped caring (made herself stop caring?) about Ainsley.

-Fast forward several years later and Ainsley still hasn’t found coffee that tastes as good as Black Cat.

[easynaturalhairstyle]

24 hard part haircut ideas

The hard part haircut is when a line is shaved in the scalp to create a contrasting separation between the sides and the top of the hair. It is also referred to as shaved part, hard line, shaved part line or line in. It's a classic men's haircut that has made a comeback. This look results in an edgy contrast that puts more attention and definition to any kind of styling, including undercuts, combs, pomps, fades and even the man bun, who makes hard haircuts extremely popular.

A fresh and precise hard part can express a refined stylish statement and add a modern touch to any hairstyle! The thickness of the line can be adjusted according to hair type and preferred style. Regular maintenance is necessary to keep it exceptional at all times.

Add style to any style as you try one of these popular variants of a hard haircut.

Center-bald, faded Razor Line Part

Ideal for men with thin hair, this highlights the hair on top while creating contrast with fading skin and hard surgical parts.

Curly hair with hard side part

How would you describe this look?

This cut would be a fading of the curly skin. The biggest part of this cut is the razor work. Since his hair is so dark, it makes everything look clean and sharp.

Any advice for someone considering it?

This style is good for anyone whose hair can be easily manipulated with the product or with enough length to go aside. Most people would use pomade or paste for these styles, but if you have curly hair, a gel, curl cream or conditioner (which was used in this image) would be perfect for curls and easy to style for men.

This cut can be good for any man who is not afraid to try something fun and edgy. Corporate or not, this cut is timeless and clean. It just depends on how you design it.

Little boy with hard part faded

How would you describe this look?

This undercut with a hard part is edgy and business at the same time. It's a great statement look for this fashionable rebel and looks stunning, paired with a suit. The thing I love most about this look and undercuts in general is their versatility in styling. Slide it back or pump up the volume with a cool pompadour.

Any advice for someone considering it?

Remember that this is a highly effective look. To stay sharp, I would recommend keeping up with the cut at least every 3-4 weeks. Styling clay or cream will be your best friend for a natural or matte finish. For this smooth and shiny Rocker-Do, use a high-gloss, highly effective gel.

High skin fading with hard part comb coating

How would you describe this look?

This is a modern haircut with a smooth razor hard-part finish! It is a formation with medium to high fade. This haircut is one of my favorites because of the sharpness, symmetry and cleanliness. The hard part provides extra freshness and completes this style.

Any advice for someone considering it?

The cool thing about having a hard part haircut is that you do not necessarily have to go to a zero on the sides to get it. The tricky part is a nice detail on a haircut, when the top of the hair is quite long enough to style. I used a combination of the Layrite Supergrip and some Layrite cement just to create extra grip.

High Bald Fade with Hard Line Part

How would you describe this look?

This look is a bit like a classic combo / pompadour with a medium to high bald-fade hybrid. His head shape and his hair pattern lead to a higher than the normal part on the side. Believe it or not, his hair has of course parted there. I like the clean, easy-to-comb style that it is. A little water-based pomade for a brighter look or some tone for a more natural windblown look works great.

Any advice for someone considering it?

I would tell them to do it. Sometimes it's just nice to try something different. I mean, it's just hair and it's going to grow again. I would advise them to make sure that they do not mind styling a little every day when they wash their hair (blow-dry, product, comb, etc.). If you do not mind taking 5-10 minutes every day, do it!

Medium fade with hard part

How would you describe this look?

This look is classic, timeless and traditional. That will never go out of style! It's been there forever! The coolest part is the versatility of the style you get with this cut.

Any advice for someone considering it?

Depending on whether you have little or little maintenance, I will cut in the hard part or not. It all depends on the lifestyle or the lightness of the styling. For example, I would not give the part to a construction worker if he has a hat all day, unless he wants it. You always give what the customer wants.

Brushed back undercut

How would you describe this look?

This is a great cut for the modern man! Tapered sides and backs provide a nice, clean look, while the top has length and style options! You can achieve a pompadour, great, slick-back or side-sweep look.

This guy has curly hair and I love that we can get a great S-shape to highlight the look and give it a little personal style!

Any advice for someone considering it?

If you are dealing with such hair cuts for hard parts, I would recommend to buy a paddle brush and a hair dryer with a fortress paste. These will be the best tools for success! If you wish a full-time stay from office to evening, I would suggest drying in a fortress gel with the brush to raise the hair for volume. Then finish the look-off with a matte paste.

If you are looking for a more relaxed look, I would sweep it aside with a medium hold paste. If you have a longer face, keep the volume to a minimum.

That's such a funny look! Play the hard part up to get a little bit more edge!

High Taper Fade Long straight line

How would you describe this look?

This hairstyle is referred to as a bald fading camo with a hard part. The best thing about this hairstyle is how many options you have to style your hair.

Any advice for someone considering it?

Get used to the use of a hair dryer. Products are good, such as pomade or wax, but the hair dryer gives the hair its original direction. Products give you a longer-lasting hold, especially with the pompadour hairstyle. This gives you a particularly refined look that is not only stylish, but also allows for good fading. It is the ultimate classic hairstyle.

Artificial falcon with classic cone-hard part line

How would you describe this look?

This is a very popular haircut as most of my clients work with this look. I like this haircut because, whether you work in an office or go to a party, this haircut is great for any occasion.

Any advice for someone considering it?

I think this haircut fits any face shape, and as far as styling products are concerned, it really depends on the person. You can go with a shiny, hard-holding gel or with a dry paste look and give it some volume.

High-tapered, faded, shaved part

How would you describe this look?

The look I've chosen is a classic 40s / 50s haircut with a modern touch. It is a strong skin that fades with a hard part. I kept the fading in the middle to low, so I could pull out the fading and improve the faded look by holding the scissors over the comb and giving the hard part a proper definition. I used a razor for parting to give maximum style and definition.

The best thing about the haircut is that it's a modern cut based on a very classic cut. The cut gives the customer a feeling of nostalgia and freshness. I am offered a lot of creative freedom.

Any advice for someone considering it?

Having the right face shape is important for the cut, as I think it best complements an oval face shape. The hair type itself is important. The best hair that works is smooth, heavy hair. You can get the same look with finer hair, but for me, heavier hair works best.

One of the most important things to maintain and maintain looks is a good hair product. Personally, I use Uppercut Deluxe. It gives shine and the grip is strong. To get the shape for the style, I like to style the hair to be able to style the volume and height, using hot and cool heat with the hair dryer. The temperature variations with the shape of the style help to maintain the look throughout the day. The use of a vent or round brush during blow-drying leads to the best results.

Slicked Back Hardline Haircut

How would you describe this look?

This is a severed pompadour haircut with a hard part. We cut backs and sides like an undercut with the pompadour as a separate cut. My client receives tons of blonde highlights in its entire length and recently we've started adding some subtle copper-colored lowlights. The best part of this cut is the hard part. It can literally change the entire look in 3 seconds. I think it gives the haircut a lot of character and gives it more fun and personality.

Any advice for someone considering it?

A product is a must. In his hair, we use a mousse when the hair is moist. We use an oversized round brush to help with the volume, and then we use a mixture of a texturizing paste to pick it out, and a dry texture spray to keep some of the sand's volume. Then we finish it with a strong hairspray so it does not move.

This is no easy-care hairstyle, and easily 30 minutes and half a dozen products are necessary to have them look and look good. That's why I only recommend this look if the customer has the time and dedication to style it every day. This is also a haircut for men who have a lot and / or thick hair for styling purposes. This haircut is definitely becoming more popular and no specific body / face type is not suitable for it.

Military Buzz Cut Hard Part

How would you describe this look?

This is a pretty simple haircut, but you can cut the part in different directions depending on your view. What I like best about this look, while generally still simple and simple, is that it really attracts attention through the part as a decorative element. This eye-catching detail can also help emphasize the dignity or hide the flaws of the head shape if there are any features.

Any advice for someone considering it?

Take care of your scalp, regardless of whether you're considering such a look or not. All your skin blemishes are particularly noticeable when you cut something on your head, so think about it.

It may seem strange that there are actually many styling options for this haircut. I usually tend to use wax or girls, especially when preparing a client for an event. Decide which product to use, depending on the effect you want to achieve: shiny, dull or whatever. For haircuts like this, the styling really makes a difference.

It does not matter what kind of hair you have, but this haircut is best for thick, dark hair.

Since this haircut takes on the shape of the head (as I mentioned earlier, all errors can be corrected with the right choice of part direction), the face shape is not so important. Although, it is definitely perfect for those who share their hair sideways.

Looks like they are suitable for a confident person who does not depend on the opinion of others. Speaking of lifestyle, this haircut will make you look cool, especially when you're doing sports or maybe even creative activities. This is actually more of a mental state than a job thing. Just make sure you follow the dress code if you are to do it.

Medium skin fading with lateral hair part

The fading of the hair from the midsection concentrates on the upper mane and makes it effortless to wear any kind of cut.

Short-haired crew cut

A cut length with a clean-cut surgical line creates a sharp contrast for a more interesting look. This fresh cut is characterized by a low fade.

Hard Part Hairstyle High Fade

If you're the type who wants a polished look, such a comb is the best for you. Make it more exciting by separating it from the page to create a visible line and contrast.

Low-gloss, faded razor part

A very stylish look that definitely puts you in the limelight – this hard part provides a direct contrast between the side and the upper mane.

Low Bald Fade with hard part

This is the ideal option for men who want to make the most of their work and party life. It is very neat and slim, but still contemporary.

Short hair with double hard part

Get extreme duo action if you have this really cool style. For this purpose, two lines are used on the same part of the head or on opposite sides.

Long hair on the top Short side panel

A fun way to refresh your look – these neatly shaven pages provide a real sharp distinction for your structured, long mane, allowing you to style it the way you want it.

Hard part of skin fades

Have this fantastic clean look when combining a bald and an elegant farewell! Definitely a style for a casual and business event.

Hip hard part haircut with beard

Everything on this look is absolutely accurate – strong angles, clean sides, hot top. That's coolness!

Separated undercut hard part

A crisp line can create a strong contrast between your skin and the funky long top! It allows so much versatility in styling.

Hard part pompadour cut for thick hair

Eye-catching heights, complemented by an edgy, faded style, make it perfect for anyone trying to get everyone's attention. With thick hair, it becomes important to be able to style a hard part of the haircut in order not to be taken away from other features. Going high is a definite option.

Hard part haircut with temp fade

Try this clear, sleek style to create that fresh and formal look.

Low fading side part

To make such a cut requires patience, creativity and a whole bottle of hair spray.

24 hard part haircut ideas

[qualitytacolover]

24 hard part haircut ideas

New Post has been published on https://www.easypromhairstyles.com/24-hard-part-haircut-ideas.html

24 hard part haircut ideas

The hard part haircut is when a line is shaved in the scalp to create a contrasting separation between the sides and the top of the hair. It is also referred to as shaved part, hard line, shaved part line or line in. It's a classic men's haircut that has made a comeback. This look results in an edgy contrast that puts more attention and definition to any kind of styling, including undercuts, combs, pomps, fades and even the man bun, who makes hard haircuts extremely popular.

A fresh and precise hard part can express a refined stylish statement and add a modern touch to any hairstyle! The thickness of the line can be adjusted according to hair type and preferred style. Regular maintenance is necessary to keep it exceptional at all times.

Add style to any style as you try one of these popular variants of a hard haircut.

Center-bald, faded Razor Line Part

Ideal for men with thin hair, this highlights the hair on top while creating contrast with fading skin and hard surgical parts.

Curly hair with hard side part

How would you describe this look?

This cut would be a fading of the curly skin. The biggest part of this cut is the razor work. Since his hair is so dark, it makes everything look clean and sharp.

Any advice for someone considering it?

This style is good for anyone whose hair can be easily manipulated with the product or with enough length to go aside. Most people would use pomade or paste for these styles, but if you have curly hair, a gel, curl cream or conditioner (which was used in this image) would be perfect for curls and easy to style for men.

This cut can be good for any man who is not afraid to try something fun and edgy. Corporate or not, this cut is timeless and clean. It just depends on how you design it.

Little boy with hard part faded

How would you describe this look?

This undercut with a hard part is edgy and business at the same time. It's a great statement look for this fashionable rebel and looks stunning, paired with a suit. The thing I love most about this look and undercuts in general is their versatility in styling. Slide it back or pump up the volume with a cool pompadour.

Any advice for someone considering it?

Remember that this is a highly effective look. To stay sharp, I would recommend keeping up with the cut at least every 3-4 weeks. Styling clay or cream will be your best friend for a natural or matte finish. For this smooth and shiny Rocker-Do, use a high-gloss, highly effective gel.

High skin fading with hard part comb coating

How would you describe this look?

This is a modern haircut with a smooth razor hard-part finish! It is a formation with medium to high fade. This haircut is one of my favorites because of the sharpness, symmetry and cleanliness. The hard part provides extra freshness and completes this style.

Any advice for someone considering it?

The cool thing about having a hard part haircut is that you do not necessarily have to go to a zero on the sides to get it. The tricky part is a nice detail on a haircut, when the top of the hair is quite long enough to style. I used a combination of the Layrite Supergrip and some Layrite cement just to create extra grip.

High Bald Fade with Hard Line Part

How would you describe this look?

This look is a bit like a classic combo / pompadour with a medium to high bald-fade hybrid. His head shape and his hair pattern lead to a higher than the normal part on the side. Believe it or not, his hair has of course parted there. I like the clean, easy-to-comb style that it is. A little water-based pomade for a brighter look or some tone for a more natural windblown look works great.

Any advice for someone considering it?

I would tell them to do it. Sometimes it's just nice to try something different. I mean, it's just hair and it's going to grow again. I would advise them to make sure that they do not mind styling a little every day when they wash their hair (blow-dry, product, comb, etc.). If you do not mind taking 5-10 minutes every day, do it!

Medium fade with hard part

How would you describe this look?

This look is classic, timeless and traditional. That will never go out of style! It's been there forever! The coolest part is the versatility of the style you get with this cut.

Any advice for someone considering it?

Depending on whether you have little or little maintenance, I will cut in the hard part or not. It all depends on the lifestyle or the lightness of the styling. For example, I would not give the part to a construction worker if he has a hat all day, unless he wants it. You always give what the customer wants.

Brushed back undercut

How would you describe this look?

This is a great cut for the modern man! Tapered sides and backs provide a nice, clean look, while the top has length and style options! You can achieve a pompadour, great, slick-back or side-sweep look.

This guy has curly hair and I love that we can get a great S-shape to highlight the look and give it a little personal style!

Any advice for someone considering it?

If you are dealing with such hair cuts for hard parts, I would recommend to buy a paddle brush and a hair dryer with a fortress paste. These will be the best tools for success! If you wish a full-time stay from office to evening, I would suggest drying in a fortress gel with the brush to raise the hair for volume. Then finish the look-off with a matte paste.

If you are looking for a more relaxed look, I would sweep it aside with a medium hold paste. If you have a longer face, keep the volume to a minimum.

That's such a funny look! Play the hard part up to get a little bit more edge!

High Taper Fade Long straight line

How would you describe this look?

This hairstyle is referred to as a bald fading camo with a hard part. The best thing about this hairstyle is how many options you have to style your hair.

Any advice for someone considering it?

Get used to the use of a hair dryer. Products are good, such as pomade or wax, but the hair dryer gives the hair its original direction. Products give you a longer-lasting hold, especially with the pompadour hairstyle. This gives you a particularly refined look that is not only stylish, but also allows for good fading. It is the ultimate classic hairstyle.

Artificial falcon with classic cone-hard part line

How would you describe this look?

This is a very popular haircut as most of my clients work with this look. I like this haircut because, whether you work in an office or go to a party, this haircut is great for any occasion.

Any advice for someone considering it?

I think this haircut fits any face shape, and as far as styling products are concerned, it really depends on the person. You can go with a shiny, hard-holding gel or with a dry paste look and give it some volume.

High-tapered, faded, shaved part

How would you describe this look?

The look I've chosen is a classic 40s / 50s haircut with a modern touch. It is a strong skin that fades with a hard part. I kept the fading in the middle to low, so I could pull out the fading and improve the faded look by holding the scissors over the comb and giving the hard part a proper definition. I used a razor for parting to give maximum style and definition.

The best thing about the haircut is that it's a modern cut based on a very classic cut. The cut gives the customer a feeling of nostalgia and freshness. I am offered a lot of creative freedom.

Any advice for someone considering it?

Having the right face shape is important for the cut, as I think it best complements an oval face shape. The hair type itself is important. The best hair that works is smooth, heavy hair. You can get the same look with finer hair, but for me, heavier hair works best.

One of the most important things to maintain and maintain looks is a good hair product. Personally, I use Uppercut Deluxe. It gives shine and the grip is strong. To get the shape for the style, I like to style the hair to be able to style the volume and height, using hot and cool heat with the hair dryer. The temperature variations with the shape of the style help to maintain the look throughout the day. The use of a vent or round brush during blow-drying leads to the best results.

Slicked Back Hardline Haircut

How would you describe this look?

This is a severed pompadour haircut with a hard part. We cut backs and sides like an undercut with the pompadour as a separate cut. My client receives tons of blonde highlights in its entire length and recently we've started adding some subtle copper-colored lowlights. The best part of this cut is the hard part. It can literally change the entire look in 3 seconds. I think it gives the haircut a lot of character and gives it more fun and personality.

Any advice for someone considering it?

A product is a must. In his hair, we use a mousse when the hair is moist. We use an oversized round brush to help with the volume, and then we use a mixture of a texturizing paste to pick it out, and a dry texture spray to keep some of the sand's volume. Then we finish it with a strong hairspray so it does not move.

This is no easy-care hairstyle, and easily 30 minutes and half a dozen products are necessary to have them look and look good. That's why I only recommend this look if the customer has the time and dedication to style it every day. This is also a haircut for men who have a lot and / or thick hair for styling purposes. This haircut is definitely becoming more popular and no specific body / face type is not suitable for it.

Military Buzz Cut Hard Part

How would you describe this look?

This is a pretty simple haircut, but you can cut the part in different directions depending on your view. What I like best about this look, while generally still simple and simple, is that it really attracts attention through the part as a decorative element. This eye-catching detail can also help emphasize the dignity or hide the flaws of the head shape if there are any features.

Any advice for someone considering it?

Take care of your scalp, regardless of whether you're considering such a look or not. All your skin blemishes are particularly noticeable when you cut something on your head, so think about it.

It may seem strange that there are actually many styling options for this haircut. I usually tend to use wax or girls, especially when preparing a client for an event. Decide which product to use, depending on the effect you want to achieve: shiny, dull or whatever. For haircuts like this, the styling really makes a difference.

It does not matter what kind of hair you have, but this haircut is best for thick, dark hair.

Since this haircut takes on the shape of the head (as I mentioned earlier, all errors can be corrected with the right choice of part direction), the face shape is not so important. Although, it is definitely perfect for those who share their hair sideways.

Looks like they are suitable for a confident person who does not depend on the opinion of others. Speaking of lifestyle, this haircut will make you look cool, especially when you're doing sports or maybe even creative activities. This is actually more of a mental state than a job thing. Just make sure you follow the dress code if you are to do it.

Medium skin fading with lateral hair part

The fading of the hair from the midsection concentrates on the upper mane and makes it effortless to wear any kind of cut.

Short-haired crew cut

A cut length with a clean-cut surgical line creates a sharp contrast for a more interesting look. This fresh cut is characterized by a low fade.

Hard Part Hairstyle High Fade

If you're the type who wants a polished look, such a comb is the best for you. Make it more exciting by separating it from the page to create a visible line and contrast.

Low-gloss, faded razor part

A very stylish look that definitely puts you in the limelight – this hard part provides a direct contrast between the side and the upper mane.

Low Bald Fade with hard part

This is the ideal option for men who want to make the most of their work and party life. It is very neat and slim, but still contemporary.

Short hair with double hard part

Get extreme duo action if you have this really cool style. For this purpose, two lines are used on the same part of the head or on opposite sides.

Long hair on the top Short side panel

A fun way to refresh your look – these neatly shaven pages provide a real sharp distinction for your structured, long mane, allowing you to style it the way you want it.

Hard part of skin fades

Have this fantastic clean look when combining a bald and an elegant farewell! Definitely a style for a casual and business event.

Hip hard part haircut with beard

Everything on this look is absolutely accurate – strong angles, clean sides, hot top. That's coolness!

Separated undercut hard part

A crisp line can create a strong contrast between your skin and the funky long top! It allows so much versatility in styling.

Hard part pompadour cut for thick hair

Eye-catching heights, complemented by an edgy, faded style, make it perfect for anyone trying to get everyone's attention. With thick hair, it becomes important to be able to style a hard part of the haircut in order not to be taken away from other features. Going high is a definite option.

Hard part haircut with temp fade

Try this clear, sleek style to create that fresh and formal look.

Low fading side part

To make such a cut requires patience, creativity and a whole bottle of hair spray.

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HOW TO GET RID OF COLD CALLING ANXIETYCold calling is a double-edged sword. It is extremely important to drive and control sales but it makes salespeople freak out like crazy. They come up with all sorts of excuses and reasons why RIGHT NOW really isn't a good time to pick up the fucking phone and get some prospects on the line.And the single most important reason is the fear of rejection. That's it. Nothing else. Think about it for a second. If all prospects were nice and funny when picking up the phone would it still be fearsome? Would you still had to deal with anxiety? Of course not.​SO LET'S GET YOU FIXED RIGHT AWAY!All throughout my career I encountered salespeople with cold calling anxiety. They come in all shapes and forms. Young and old, male and female, skinny and buff, huge beasts and skinny little fuckers, senior and junior level. Yes, I know a ton (emphasize it: A TON) of senior salespeople that literally would shit themselves when they had to cold call a prospect. Ring rust isn't only a thing in combat sports.I want to share a story with you. It was during my time at Liberty Global (one of the worlds biggest internet service provider). As a outbound manager I was responsible for multiple call centers within Europe. There was a situation in one of my centers in Zurich, Switzerland where we had to exchange nearly 50 percent of the team (a team usually consists of 30 agents).Normally you always have three to five unexperienced new hirers but this wasn't really a challenge. You would just seat them on the side of a veteran let them monitor how he makes his calls and after a week or so they start on their own. But it's another ballpark when more than half of the team is unexperienced and you had to keep the sales coming. But I could never ever just give them a script and let them do their calls. They would piss themeselves and I had no motivation to work in an open office with this kind of aroma everywhere.What I did was to create a funny challenge. Teams of three. The objective was to fail as hard as possible during their calls. I gave them some ideas: talking to the prospect with a really high pitched voice, talking really slow and stuttering. It was mad fun.They were allowed (even commanded) to suck. And they did. They had to deal with rejection like crazy. And they had a blast coping with it.After lunch I told them to switch. Get their scripts and try to close some deals. They transitioned from total wankers to fucking animals! They were literally on fire!Get some co-workers and create a "funny fail challenge"As in the example above. Take one to five fellow sales guys and look who can fail the hardest off all of you. Act like children but try to sell:- speak extremely slowly- speak with a high pitched voice- stutter (duh duh duh does this so so sound iiiiintresting t t t to you?)- try to integrate movie quotes (I know that you are not interested Sir but as Ezekiel would say "The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness." You know what I mean?)The movie quote thing is something I still challenge my buddies with. If you are running a company with a salesteam, implement a monthly fail challenge. It's a huge deal when it comes to sales reps motivation. Believe me!Create a list of what possible could go wrongBrainstorm and write it down. All of it. Once you're finished think about what this really would mean in reality. How would his affect your life?Example: A prospect could say "I am not interested". Now what, how would this affect your life? Set yourself a goal of calls made not meetings scheduled or deals closedCommit to this number and follow throughCreate a list with objections you fear the mostThen come up with how to handle these objections.Ask on quora, ask on reddit, ask google - or ask a friend or co-workerGet a really good cold call script that helps you to bypass the gatekeeper and makes cold calling funHere are some word for word scripts about how to handle the gatekeeper that show you exactly how to handle receptionists and personal assistants. Following the link will also get you to the complete cold call script I developed for Groupon helping them to become the fastest growing company ever (Forbes)It flips the regular cold call script design, that's why it is so strong.Regular scripts follow this structure: But if you pitch first your customer has it's firewall up and running and you won't have much success.The script mentioned above uses this structure: Motivate yourself with movies (or scenes)- Boiler Room- Glengarry Glen Ross ("Put that coffee down! Coffee is for closers only!")- Thank You for Smoking- Wolf of Wall Street- Moneyball​I really hope I have added some value for some you guysLet me know if you have any questions or specific challenges!​Please note: English is my second language, so please take my apologies if my text is a bit rough to read sometimes

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My Aspiration Guy Out of cash My Heart-and Allowed Me to Find the Appreciate of My entire life

My Aspiration Guy Out of cash My Heart-and Allowed Me to Find the Appreciate of My entire life

Reader’s Digest publishers asked the Reader’s Break up contributor networking to tell us their stories of fine people and places. The following piece was written reacting to that fast. To share your company’s own 100-word true tale for feasible inclusion inside magazine or perhaps on RD. com, click this link.

Back in my college times, I chop down very beautifully into the group girls who efficiently filled up a male need for an associate or a minor sister, but never to get a girlfriend. We were obsessed with sporting activities, by this point working the night shift and writing sporting activities for a daily newspaper, intensely independent, and a country mile from everything that one may define since hotness. Simply speaking, it looked like that I was a real hoot to hang with, but quite possibly not at the top of the scale of alluring adolescent females to date. It’s OKAY; a decade in the future I’ve obtained over it, I promise. Significantly.

I say so much so that you will have the background intended for the story I actually is going to tell. The idea involves the weirdest thing anyone offers ever thought to me plus the nicest matter anyone features ever carried out for me. Concurrently.

It was later part of the at night within a Starbucks building. At the very least , in my college years, Starbucks parking tons were types of the place where stuff went down. That it was hot in that thick summer time night means, the type of high temperature that you form of swim through, the type that catches within smells and magnifies these people. In this case, coffee hung uphill, sweet and nutty. Comments and fun came in dunes as the Starbucks’ door opened and closed. I just stood outside the house my car after a long evening of chatting with close friends and silently laid. (These summer time love tales will melt your heart. )

Observe, it was the past time I used to be meeting with a team of twenty-somethings the fact that was structured through a local church. People met regular at Starbucks but got summers away, which supposed that I would end up being unlikely to cross trails with some of the other associates until October. They were close friends, but solely in the sense that our friendships had been rooted in your weekly group meetings. The capture was, mainly because these things tend to go, there buy a wife online is “this person. ” This specific one was cute, had an accent, and was just the right volume of wacky to make my family think I would have a go with him. We got on great, i had started to get the tone that he may be right into me. This is where I just let you know the fact that my “vibes” at the time had been pretty undependable.

Right. So I was located at my automotive. He was not moving one position over, and now we stood now there semi-awkwardly as I tried to deliver him enough time to ask me personally out. If it was at any time going to happen, he and that i both knew it had to become now. People trickled via the last feasible stream of small talk, unlocked all of our cars, did start to climb into our driver’s seats, and when the common and literal door was closing, he turned to myself.

“Hey-”

“Yes? ”

“Kiss a lot of children this summer! ”

And he was gone. Door shut, engine started, building vacated. What precisely. Just. Happened.

I driven home within a moderate bear. What did he imply by that? Kiss loads of boys come july 1st? How have he imagine that was also remotely the proper thing to say? Whether or not he was not going to question me out, at the very least , he could not say that! The content his challenge? What was my very own for loving him to begin with?

I stewed on his separating words for your good very long time. But as the summer months heat rose, I gradually cooled down. Everyone knows that slipping in love involves a family, somehow miraculously sharing the same feelings regarding each other. Plainly, we could not. There was nothing I could carry out about that.

But some of us wonder what still irked me is the fact that I had spent a long period crushing on this guy. We may float to and from of each other peoples lives, each time we all reconnected, Outlined on our site think, might be . Still there was hardly ever a possibly on his end, not even close. I actually promised by myself that the when I attained a guy and started installing my thoughts in him, I didn’t waste years hoping he’d make a move.

August burned off and my additional friends arrived from college or university. I had graduated a . half-year earlier during the cold months, but now the full crew acquired caught up. Considered one of my good friends from high school came residence and asked me to attend a DISTINCT VARIATIONS . with her. That’s wherever I met Jim. My initial attractive force to him was purely physical. He was c-u-t-e. Then, the circle of friends suddenly began to meet constantly. The more I leaped into this Jim dude, the more I actually liked him. Maybe however ask me out. Probably . Delay. No . Simply no, no, not any, no .

The good news is moment in every area of your life when you have to assess if you’re going to leap off the high cliff. For some people, it means taking a risk at work, or quitting university, or switching cross country. My cliff was Jim, and once I dived cowardlessly, I produced myself really emotionally prone. These quotations perfectly take what it seems like to are in love.

John was quite shy and liked for you to do things the proper way. That designed taking his time just before he asked a girl away. That decided not to really fit in my eye-sight of our marriage, though, therefore i asked for his phone number a single night. The person obliged, are costly we started to text and got along great, he even now didn’t consult me away. A month passed. Then one night, we were getting together with friends and went through the usual dance of talking and flirting till we talked about goodbye. Yet not even a touch of a time invitation. So , I dived cowardlessly off the ledge. I owned to a Starbucks (a distinct one than back in August … just like I reported, a lot went down at Starbucks in the ones days), requested a espresso, and made up a wording.

“So, Now i am just wondering … are you thinking we’re friend materials or more than friend? micron

I continued to wait. And anxiously waited. An hour ticked by. Solely then did I realize I had no stick in the Starbucks and the communication had not also sent. Sleek operator. My spouse and i moved out of doors, the text directed, and an answer followed a short while later. The guy didn’t think this was one thing we should text message about. Could we meet up with sometime that week to talk?

I’ll keep it to themselves the extended beautiful love story that follows. In short, all of us met within a park and took an extended walk. The guy said the person thought we have to develop a stronger friendship prior to we went out with. I explained I was chock full of friends and had not been particularly considering climbing in the beloved friend-zone with him. He did not commit to anything that day, however the next day, this individual asked me away. He proposed less than a 12 months later. Six to eight years in our marriage, I emphasize him frequently that I on their dragged him into the most effective marriage often of us would have ever dreamed up. You aren’t welcome, Rick.

And that brings us back around to the best thing any person has previously done for me personally. Back in the Starbucks parking lot, as being a guy which has a cute accent told me to “kiss numerous boys come july 1st, ” that felt like lowest position of playing. Not considering that he designed to hurt me, but because he didn’t want me personally. What I didn’t realize was that in this moment, Outlined on our site develop the resolve Required to refuse anything less than a deep romance with my next smash.

I discovered an important class that night. That sometimes, for anyone who is not willing to take a associated risk, you don’t find the reward. Therefore , thanks, Starbucks guy. And the way, I did so kiss a single boy that summer. However kissing him today.

Keep reading for another history about how just one woman’s initially romantic devastation taught her an important appreciate lesson.

The post My Aspiration Guy Out of cash My Heart-and Allowed Me to Find the Appreciate of My entire life appeared first on Hitachi Hà Nội.

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Silicon Beach (Part 2): Jumpcut’s Kel Livson

By: Connie Lu

Kel Livson (UCLA ‘14) is the Head of Content at Jumpcut Inc., a startup known as the “Netflix of Education” that creates captivating online courses for aspiring content creators and startup founders.  

I reached out to Kel to discuss her journey with Jumpcut and what she sees in the overlap between entertainment and innovation.

P E R S O N A L

How did you first hear about Jumpcut?

I was already working with some of the founders--Kong and Jesse--first as a graphic designer and later as lead copywriter for Simple Pickup, their Youtube channel when they pitched Jumpcut to me. Kong actually wrote a letter and taped it to the door of my room to persuade me to join!

Wow. What finally convinced you?

It was a mixture of believing in Jumpcut’s mission and taking a personal risk. Simple Pickup is targeted to help men gain confidence, make friends, talk to women, and be happy. I’m all about this! And while it felt very fulfilling to help these men, making the transition to Jumpcut allowed me to impact a greater audience that I related to - especially those seeking a nontraditional career path but unsure of where to start.

The personal risk was my own career trajectory. I graduated from UCLA totally ready to work that 9 to 5, low-salary job in a marketing agency or for a corporate brand. I didn’t mind it at all. But in Kong’s letter he said:  “Look, you’re gonna be able to grow at a startup than any other job. Trust me for 1 year.”

And one year later?

I took the risk and it was so worthwhile. I learned so much. In the beginning at Simple Pickup, I was ordering people’s lunches - I would literally ask: “Do you want fries with that?” But 4 years later, I’m not just designing, but also managing market campaigns, emailing 3,000+ people, and writing courses with Youtubers. There is no way I could have imagined doing all this if I had stuck with a regular job as a designer.

People emphasize how much you learn in start-ups, but it’s true. The environment allows you to be constantly evolving and adapting.

J U M P C U T

Sounds like Kong knew what he was talking about! Did he or Jesse have any prior entrepreneurship experience?

Kong and Jesse were both business majors in college. But they felt their classes weren’t teaching them anything they could learn in real life. I remember Jesse telling me that he was enrolled in an entrepreneurship class teaching him how to write emails with good manners. So from the start, the two already had a lot of side projects going - mostly selling textbooks and sassy sport apparel about another college team. Simple Pickup was the first real company that they started that gained traction. They grew to a couple million subscribers all by themselves actually! Once the money was rolling in, Kong and Jesse dropped out of school with 6 or 7 months until graduation. A lot of people would have stuck in to get that degree certified on paper, but Kong’s philosophy was: instead of getting a degree that doesn’t mean anything to me, we’re gonna focus on the company and be 6 or 7 months ahead of everyone else. But ultimately, there is no way to really prepare for running your first company until you just do it.

And how did Jumpcut evolve?

It was a constant iteration process. A lot of people think working for a start-up means focusing on one mission, but it’s really about testing a bunch of things and finding that one idea that changes the world the way you want it to. When Kong and Jesse saw the results in Simple Pickup, the initial idea was: “what if we made viral videos for other Youtube channels?” So we started working with six other Youtube channels in the LA area. But then the idea grew to: “what if we made viral videos for not just other YouTubers, but for anyone, anywhere?”. There were a lot of pivots, but the success comes from Jesse and Kong knowing the target audience--people who don’t want to work that corporate job, who want to be their own boss--because Jesse and Kong were those people. Today, our mission is to be the best education platform in the world by enhancing the learning experience for students who aspire to be content creators or startup execs.

How are you creating that learning experience?

There’s lots of factors! First and foremost, all our courses are taught by real experts. A class on growing your Youtube audience, for example, is always taught by actual Youtube influencers with the stats to back it up. Our bonus classes on vlogging, comedy, and even Youtube legalities are taught by names you might recognize such as David So from DavidsoComedy, Joe Jo and Bart Kwan from JKFilms, and much more. For the course on how to found your own startup, we have Justin Kan, the founder of Twitch--a company almost worth one billion right now--teaching it, along with lessons from over 25 startup founders in Silicon Valley!

Second, our videos stand out visually. I’m currently leading the production process and I can tell you we take the “Netflix for Education” motto seriously. Our lectures have stories, characters, beautiful footage and editing -- it feels like watching a documentary. And our startup series is going to have cinematography that’s 10x better than anything we’ve done before. Jumpcut really believes in improving quality to make learning a more entertaining experience.

Lastly, we focus on student-course interaction. It’s not hard for self-starters to learn; those are the 1% who don’t need Jumpcut. But for the 99% of people who aren’t motivated by a boring lecture--like Jesse and Kong--we’ve developed features to engage our students so they can apply what they’ve learned. I’m particularly proud of our Peer Review system, which guarantees ratings and reviews for students when they submit a Youtube video assignment for review.  Posting to Facebook or Reddit for feedback isn’t as immediate or qualified, since you don’t have that forum of like-minded individuals. One of our sayings here is, “In life if you want to get value, you have to give value,” and I think that’s so true, whether in your job or relationships. Our bootcamps also let students give and receive, since the course incorporates daily challenges that hold a group of team members accountable for completing assignments. Working together not only connects the learning experience, but also gives them a set network in their niche to help each other out as they continue their trajectory.

T E C H  &  E N T E R T A I N M E N T

Jumpcut’s roots in Youtube make it a real gamechanger. What makes the company so unique from other traditional start-ups in Silicon Valley?

I like to think Jesse and Kong’s success in Youtube helped us show our credibility in getting results. Instead of theoretical graphs and charts, we had an actual, profiting company to show to incubators and investors. And now we’re backed by Y Combinator!

With the advent of new tech like VR/AR/360, the applications to film are endless. What do you see in the future of Jumpcut?

I’m mind-blown at the rate at which our tech has advanced! It’s crazy and I’ve had the awesome opportunity to experience VR at this year’s VRLA convention. However, I believe

you should only leverage new tech if the tech has a purpose, no matter how cool it sounds. For instance, VR in a classroom doesn’t really enhance the learning experience compared to watching it already. So currently, AR/VR hasn’t found a space at Jumpcut yet. But I do hope that we eventually find that space.

On the topic of tech though, I do believe that we’ll be seeing more opportunities opening up. Social media wasn’t present 20 years ago; today, there are new Influencers on new platforms creating new jobs. Creating your own job - even that concept is relatively new. And 10 years from now, there will be careers and ways to make money that don’t exist today. Jumpcut is all about helping you create your own path, so I’m excited to see how far we expand.

To give you an example, there’s a guy on Youtube who makes puppets. Fucking puppets! And no one who would normally give him the time of the day maybe a decade ago are binge watching his channel. This is what the internet gives us. A place to share our craftsmanship, however silly and unmarketable it may seem. If this guy can make a living, I’m sure you can turn your hobby into something career-wise too.

C U L T U R E

So anyone can make money doing anything. What might this mean for us as a society?

For better or worse, our standards are going to be higher. 10 years ago, I would watch a TV show and think it’s great. Now I have an unlimited number of shows on Netflix or an unlimited number of influencers to follow. Choosing between them refines your taste so we might be becoming more spoiled. But it also forces the creators to be constantly aware of their market and up the content quality.

Your work at Jumpcut means interacting with a lot of different people from different backgrounds. What have been some highlights?

I am lucky to interview our teachers and testimonials. One woman who founded Scale.api told me: “You should always make sure you’re the dumbest person in the room.” This really struck with me because it’s a spin off of “You’re the average of the 5 people you hang out with.” It made me realize that maybe I’m not the dumbest person in certain situations and that I can try hanging out with different people.

Another highlight has been our Jumpcut meetups, which we host in L.A.  It’s incredible to see our users show up and be excited about what they’re pursuing. Seeing the impact on their lives is what gets me going at work, knowing that their entire career paths might be changed because of one thing I did.

What advice do you have to current and post-grad Bruins?

For current students, I would say spend more time on projects and meeting people. I regret being so focused on school; not one employer so far has asked for my GPA. Even if you’re an engineer, many companies like Google and Facebook are now prioritizing your GitHub over your resume. I was a DESMA (Design and Media Arts) major, so everyone around me was talented, creative, and motivated. It’s a rare environment that you take for granted until you’ve graduated. Nowhere else, except maybe at a startup, are you surrounded by that much ambition. The reality is that many people in the world do not give a shit about their lives.

For the post-grads, seriously evaluate the career trajectory you’re on. Ask yourself: “Is this what I really want to do? Is this something I feel fulfilled by?” It might be cliche but life is short. It’s a disservice to yourself to come to work--that’s 8 hours everyday for your life!--doing something that you don’t care about.

I think the fear is: “the things that do make me happy are silly and I can’t make a career out of it”. But the possibility is out there - you’re just scared because it’ll be hard to earn it. What we teach at Jumpcut is that you only need one thousand true fans to make a good amount of money. 1,000 really isn’t a lot of people, but it’s enough to take that chance. A lot of people will say the alternative is living safe, but it’s really living in fear. Which isn’t how anyone should live. And I know, because it took me more than Kong’s letter to be convinced; I had several personal conversations and a whole lot of doubt to sort through before I made the jump. In short, let happiness--not fear--dictate your life.

All photos courtesy of Jumpcut

For more information on Jumpcut or on Kel, check out: http://www.jumpcut.com/ https://app.jumpcut.com/course/viral-entrepreneur-academy https://www.facebook.com/jumpcuthq/ https://www.facebook.com/kel.livson https://www.instagram.com/jumpcuthq/