#i was never super interested because if you look at women's fashion theres a lot more outwardly interesting stuff

[imjustabeanie]

Omg!! You have so many fandoms?!1!1!!

Well HI HUN!!! 🩷🩷 if it’s okay, i would love to ask for a match up with Mystic messenger and Obey Me! I got back into em recently!

I currently don’t have any deal breakers. If i get paired with Rika or Jaehee ill be okay!

About me: My name is Mera!

I go by She/her, (AFAB) and im Pansexual, although i usually lean towards men, though all my partners have been women!!

Im a Cancer zodiac, and im an INFJ!

Personality:

I have an rbf 🥹 people have told me so many times they are scared to approach me because they think i’ll be a bitch. Later they’ll tell me they love me though!! Pretty much an Ambivert. I’m super awkward and shy at first, and it ends up causing me to be short and blunt without meaning to!! but once I start talking? I never shut up!! I also tend to listen to things, and i try to help in anyway i can, although im not the best comforter. I also think my personality also can change depending on who i hang out with. If i hang out with more introverted people I’ll definitely be more outgoing, and talk to others! But if im with extroverted friends, i’ll tend to stay in my shell. I’m a pretty kind person, but also sensitive. I’d jump in front of a bullet for someone else though. Im a people-pleaser so what other people think of me, i really take into account. Once people get close to me though, i tend to be sassy and have “snarky” remarks, but in a joking way. If my friends have ever spoken out about if it makes them uncomfortable i will immediately stop. Honestly though, i can’t handle seeing someone else in pain- or crying. My heart will literally tear and i’ll start crying with them. I tend to be the “funny” friend- everyone usually laughs at my jokes, but i’ve been called the “mom” friend too, because i start to take into account what other people may need! Hair ties? I have A MILLION!! Advil? Dont worry!! I got some :)

I tend to surround myself with a lot of people also. I love to be in the spotlight (theatre kid alert..)

Hobbies:

Writing match ups !!, Drawing, Dance, Singing and musical theatre. I do Dance a lot and its also caused me to start caring more about myself! I sing all the time too- i take voice lessons :) I’m also a cosmetology student, so i LOVE to do hair, makeup, nails and fashion!! I love to talk about it too!! Theres so many interesting things people don’t know! I’m always listening to music though. The only genres i don’t really listen to is country and rap.

Likes: Honestly I like so many things, but i like sweets, people who give me attention, and i also like- love every color on the rainbow… i LOVE horror movies, and slashers. I love biology, and cos stuff! I might actually be able to go to dubai because of cosmetology :)

Dislikes: Rude people, people who are genuinely just bitchy for no reason. Not really much.

Love Languages: PHYSICAL TOUCH, is the biggest. Im super touch starved and i need someone to hold me!! Quality time too. They go hand in hand for me. Receiving gifts are the worst for me. Ill feel so guilty, but i love to give!

Ideal type: I dont really have an IDEAL type. Pair me with whoever!

Looks: if looks play into anything- i have pretty dark features. Although my skin is very light. Im a ghost in the winter. But whenever i get tanned, i usually have been told i look “Arab” which is a compliment. My hair is pretty much at a level 6, so its a dirty brownish color. I stopped wearing my glasses, but i have brown doe eyes! (If i was a certain “pretty” i’d be deer pretty.)

Im pretty short honestly. 5’1. I also love to wear heels though. I walk in them like its my second nature. My hair reaches around my shoulders, i usually Dont have it long, and i have curtain bangs!

Fun facts:

Im poly lingual!! I speak 3 different languages.

My parents are actually immigrants, and english wasn’t my first language lol!!

I major in pre law! So i plan to be a lawyer. - specifically medical malpractice because according to multiple nurses, “i have an eye for medicine.”

i hope this wasn’t too much-!!! 🥺💕 i hope you enjoy writing and matching!! Whenever you get the chance to do it, i’ll happy!!

Matchup trade for this wonderful person

Your OM match is...Diavolo!

Not gonna lie I did hesitate between Diavolo and Asmo but finally I decided on Diavolo. You can definitely keep up with him and your love languages match! He may be a little pushy but in the end he means well.

Let’s stay with the OM original plot shall we? (date. My bad lol). At first Diavolo only wanted to learn and bond with the new exchange student. He saw that you were rather awkward at first and stayed in your shell that’s why he poked more about your interests (read here that he just checked your case in the human world). He tried very hard to be your friend and was super happy when you started to reciprocate! He loved your jokes and often tried to get in on your train. Diavolo is someone who lives on the present but also calculating (not in a negative way. He just prefers that major plans aren’t altered that much cuz he’s the prince and all). Your sarcasm honestly makes him laugh, you’re not being mean about it so he doesn’t feel bad either. Diavolo fell for the way you two had fun together. You are someone he can get loose with but also get serious. He doesn’t have to worry much you’ll always match his style. Also, you’re the mum friend and it makes Barbatos so happy because he doesn’t have to worry about another hyperactive adult lmao. It took Diavolo more time than he wished to confess cuz he had to check out everything and what changes it would bring to your life. He knows that he can’t afford to get into reckless relations that can endanger his kingdom and how much pressure it would be on you the more serious the relation got. You noticed that he spent more time in his office and just went in, worrying for your friend. That’s when Diavolo, in his sleep deprived state blurted out that he doesn’t know if he can ask you out considering his position and all. He didn’t realize it was you….You two had a very heart to heart conversation and in the end agreed to go out together. What a mess.

Diavolo is kinda like a golden retriever boyfriend. He includes you in all sorts of fun activities and always have dates planned out for you two! He shows you hell and you show him the human world. Sometimes Barbatos threatens him with less time with you to get him to work. But one thing for sure is that you two are always seen touching each other. He loves holding your hand and waist, when he sees you he runs up to you and engulfs you in a hug which is rather funny considering his corpulence. In private you two cuddle a lot, when he’s working he’ll hold you in his laps to recharge as he calls it. Diavolo often takes you on dates to operas and plays. He passes them to Barbatos as ‘Seeing how the arts are developing’, yeah of course. We all believe you Diavolo. During these dates he gives you historical facts and explains references you might not get. After or before those dates, Diavolo takes you two to try new foods. He knows you like sweets so he makes sure to always get you some or ask Barbatos to make some. Speaking of gifts….yeah you’re getting spoiled but he’ll calm down after knowing you feel guilty about it. Getting spoiled in the sense he always gets you your favorite things and supports your hobbies by getting you the best material. Then with time he’d start getting you jewelry and all. If you two get married your birthday might as well become a national holiday just like his….

Diavolo likes to have lazy days because he can just spend them doing whatever with you. Perhaps you’d explore the human world or he’d try his hand at the kitchen! You two always have a laugh after that. He likes taking your hand and engaging to a songless dance (he puts in music eventually), I believe he knows many dances and will even teach you some. He’ll also let you do his nail and makeup (you can’t tell me he doesn’t put at least some make up). Diavolo has to follow certain fashions but enjoys going shopping to get things he’d only wear at the castle. He’ll always take you with him and you also have some kind of say in the official clothes his tailor makes him! At the end of a busy day, Diavolo just wants to relax with you in bed. You’re his safe space.

I wanted to elaborate on this but didn’t find how to make the transition so I’ll just say it here. One of the topics diavolo used to get to know you is your law major. He asked you about it and you two had pleasant evenings comparing the devildom laws with the human laws. It’s canon that healthchecks in the devildom are rather….rough so you’ll have fun comparing them. I initially planned to match you with asmo considering your interest in cosmethology but Diavolo is a much better fit in my opinion. He’d always hype up your interests and even proposes to let you in some factories so you can compare products in both worlds. He’d be really interested in seeing you make some cosmetics because he is very curious in all fields. The only issue with Diavolo is that he can’t always take no for an answer. He is used to getting his way so set up some clear boundaries at the start. You also have to accept that he is a prince first, he has his own secrets. I think I lost track of words….

Your Mystic Messenger match is...Zen!

Yup it wasn’t 707. He was my second pick actually but Zen won first position. 707 is too self sacrificial and has a lot of secrets, he might not even give you all the attention you deserve because of his job. But Zen is sensible, funny and devoted to those he care about. Since MysMes is an otome game we’ll go the OG route for how you and how he asked you out. I’ll skip to relationship with him.

You and Zen are quite similar in my opinion. He can easily relate to your sarcasm and snarky remarks which makes the two of you a formidable duo. None talks shit about you when you’re nearby because they’re getting torn apart. He likes it when you get passionate and start talking about your interests. When you do that he’ll shut up and stare at you lovingly before muttering some corny pick up line and kissing you. Zen compliments you a lot because you’re perfect for him. He calls you his Muse but won’t reveal your identity to the public until he knows you won’t get much backlash. Even his fans don’t comment about you because he gets so defensive when you’re brought up in a bad way. Even if you enjoy the spotlight and is proud of your relationship he still feels guilty for dragging you inside all this drama. He’ll need reassurance over this. Zen’s love language is mostly words, affection and quality time when he can. As an uprising star, he’s very busy but does his best to give you all his attention. That’s why he always leaves you voicemails saying how he loves you and even letters/flowers when his schedule gets hectic. Tight budget but huge heart. His favorite type of date is taking you for a picnic and just spending the night talking about everything, no matter how silly or deep it is. But he gets so nervous each time you ride the bike with him….

You are Zen n1 critic. He always wants you to review his performances and you two spend a lot of nights watching movies together (not his own, just movies and plays). He knows you like horror movies, that’s why you two are up to date with the latest horror movies in the market. When he makes it big, you can be sure he’ll invite you at every premiere/event. Your common house often gets noise complaints from Zen practicing or you two dancing to music! Yeah you might be the neighborhood favorite couple but they still want to sleep unfortunately. Zen is a workaholic, you being the mum friend helps in the sense that you’re the only one he listens to when you ask him to stop and get some rest. If it weren’t for you he’d forget himself, you’re the only reason why he didn’t have a burnout yet. He enjoys your singing and as an actor (he played in musical) he’d help you train out more. If you ever want to get into the business he’d be happy to help you out. Zen only lets you interfere with his skin care routine. He’d test out any product you recommend and lets you do his makeup or chose his outfits. He’d purposefully let paparazzi take pictures if you two are matching cuz he’s just happy and proud lol. Your future opportunity in cosmetology and upcoming law major actually make Zen so happy. He always encourages you to continue your studies as it’s what you love. He is a man of passion who dropped out, it’s the only topic he may get insecure about considering your own academic background.

In conclusion, you and Zen are definitely a popular celebrity couple that people look up to. The way he loves and cherishes you make so many fans jealous it’s not even funny lol. You two may be dramatic but your love is obvious.

[vampr1x-bl00dx]

Omg!! You have so many fandoms?!1!1!!

Well HI HUN!!! 🩷🩷 if it’s okay, i would love to ask for a match up with Bungo Stray Dogs and Honkai stair rail!

About me: My name is Mera!

I go by She/her, (AFAB) and im Pansexual, although i usually lean towards men, though all my partners have been women!!

Im a Cancer zodiac, and im an INFJ!

Personality:

I have an rbf 🥹 people have told me so many times they are scared to approach me because they think i’ll be a bitch. Later they’ll tell me they love me though!! Pretty much an Ambivert. I’m super awkward and shy at first, and it ends up causing me to be short and blunt without meaning to!! but once I start talking? I never shut up!! I also tend to listen to things, and i try to help in anyway i can, although im not the best comforter. I also think my personality also can change depending on who i hang out with. If i hang out with more introverted people I’ll definitely be more outgoing, and talk to others! But if im with extroverted friends, i’ll tend to stay in my shell. I’m a pretty kind person, but also sensitive. I’d jump in front of a bullet for someone else though. Im a people-pleaser so what other people think of me, i really take into account. Once people get close to me though, i tend to be sassy and have “snarky” remarks, but in a joking way. If my friends have ever spoken out about if it makes them uncomfortable i will immediately stop. Honestly though, i can’t handle seeing someone else in pain- or crying. My heart will literally tear and i’ll start crying with them. I tend to be the “funny” friend- everyone usually laughs at my jokes, but i’ve been called the “mom” friend too, because i start to take into account what other people may need! Hair ties? I have A MILLION!! Advil? Dont worry!! I got some :)

I tend to surround myself with a lot of people also. I love to be in the spotlight (theatre kid alert..)

Hobbies:

Writing match ups !!, Drawing, Dance, Singing and musical theatre. I do Dance a lot and its also caused me to start caring more about myself! I sing all the time too- i take voice lessons :) I’m also a cosmetology student, so i LOVE to do hair, makeup, nails and fashion!! I love to talk about it too!! Theres so many interesting things people don’t know! I’m always listening to music though. The only genres i don’t really listen to is country and rap.

Likes: Honestly I like so many things, but i like sweets, people who give me attention, and i also like- love every color on the rainbow… i LOVE horror movies, and slashers. I love biology, and cos stuff! I might actually be able to go to dubai because of cosmetology :)

Dislikes: Rude people, people who are genuinely just bitchy for no reason. Not really much.

Love Languages: PHYSICAL TOUCH, is the biggest. Im super touch starved and i need someone to hold me!! Quality time too. They go hand in hand for me. Receiving gifts are the worst for me. Ill feel so guilty, but i love to give!

Ideal type: I dont really have an IDEAL type. Pair me with whoever!

Looks: if looks play into anything- i have pretty dark features. Although my skin is very light. Im a ghost in the winter. But whenever i get tanned, i usually have been told i look “Arab” which is a compliment. My hair is pretty much at a level 6, so its a dirty brownish color. I stopped wearing my glasses, but i have brown doe eyes! (If i was a certain “pretty” i’d be deer pretty.)

Im pretty short honestly. 5’1. I also love to wear heels though. I walk in them like its my second nature. My hair reaches around my shoulders, i usually Dont have it long, and i have curtain bangs!

Fun facts:

!! I speak different languages.

My parents are actually immigrants, and english wasn’t my first language lol!!

I major in pre law! So i plan to be a lawyer. - specifically medical malpractice because according to multiple nurses, “i have an eye for medicine.”

i hope this wasn’t too much-!!! 🥺💕 i hope you enjoy writing and matching!! Whenever you get the chance to do it, i’ll happy!!

Hii!!! Thank you so much for requesting!

Okay for the Bungo Stray Dogs request I do happen to see you with

Chuuya Nakahara!

I just feel you two would definitely have a sass off and it’ll 100% be a heated one

You two would also go on like shopping trips and give one another fashion tips (esp with chuuya and his odd obsession with hats/lh)

Though I do see it’ll take a while to allow Chuuya to let you touch him but once he does he’ll let you touch him. Like hugging him or even giving a lil kiss on the cheek.

Now for HSR

I do see you with

Argenti!

I do personally see you two dancing together in a ballroom and having genuine fun with one another

He would also 100% allow you do his makeup seeing that you enjoy it

He’ll also listen to your singing since he’ll think it’s beautiful and would listen to your fashion advice🩷

[fedine]

I'm getting into traditional menswear (in an unmistakably queer and transgender way) and now every time I see a weird suit jacket I want it. I keep scrolling past Benny from FNV (a game I never played) and I want that jacket. I could make it out of flannel cotton and it would go with my pyjama pants that I want to alter.

[astro-break]

Quick first thoughts on the first ep of the Hypmic Anime. Spoilers beware (and im writing this as I watch so :p)

Otome’s speech is.... questionable from a persuasive point of view. Manga did a great job of introducing her (which you can read here) but they really cut out the more terrifying parts of her speech and how she uses force to show people that she's not to be messed with

Its cool seeing everyone in their respective environments though. thats cool. Though they could have added Sasara and Kuuko (shhh i know why they didn’t let me dream)

I love how poppy the typography is. Its amazing how the visuals just leap out at you. The OP does a great job of this. The first few seconds before the title really gives me Persona 4 OG OP vibes with the influx of information given. The rest is a clear concise and streamlined way that still gives character. Animation is sparse but still carries across a general idea of each character and shows off each character object. Rendering is really nice and pays a bit of homage to the posing artwork thats done for the MVs. They also do their division hand signals and thats cute

Love how the OP has blatant HifuDoppo and DRB matchup foreshadowing

so far I really like what theyre going for. BB is about brotherly familial bonds and they show the goods and the bads. Jiro and Saburo bickering right out the gate really cements the fact that they get along like cats and dogs but you can still see that they love each other, working together when the situation calls for it

Now the 3d models. Theyre... not great but usable if you don’t look too hard. They serve their purpose and don’t actively detract from the viewing experience.

Visual typography in the rap itself are fun and poppy but they dont.... speak to me? like theyre there yes and I appreciate them but the only ones that got me excited were from Ichiro’s rap

I take my words back the group portion was kickass and I apologize

I love how they interpret the Hypnosis Speakers though. Esp. Saburo’s organs. That was super creative and I love it! If there was one thing that I felt was missing from the franchise was a deeper exploration of the speakers but the anime puts a new and fresh spin on it! Love it, especially with their attack patterns!

If the production team ever feels inclined to, Id love to see those info sheets on Otome’s desk released. There seems to be very interesting info and stats written out about each member (like capabilities, personal status etc.) They all seem unique too so I really really really hope they release images of those sheets

OOOOOOOOKAY MTC. I have such a big biased for them so Im very torn to see what unfolds

Rio striking out on his own is interesting. Out of everyone in MTC hes the biggest team player yet here he trusts his teammates to go ahead. This either displays Rio’s willingness to trust his teammates or it becomes very OOC if the anime wants to set him up as a lone wolf like character

I love how they specify its a drug deal. It means that Jyuto surely will show up and it also shows that Samatoki knows Jyuto’s motives and willingly gives black market info that he knows aligns with Jyuto’s goal. Thats A+ detail writing there and a great establishing characteristic for both of them

OOohhhhhhhhhhhhh man Asunama-san’s voice acting is god tier his work as Samatoki is phenomenal. He pulls of Samatoki’s threatening voice so well with those almost calm words before his voice becomes loud and confrontational. Those rolling syllables in contrast to Komada-san’s almost lyrical and airy speech and Kamio-san’s strict and enunciated words is such a delight to hear. It just speaks to how amazing and great these Seiyuu’s are in order to pull of such amazing work

Im so biased but MTC has such a better rap than BB im so sorry. Just by watching Samatoki’s part, the imagery is amazing. Even the arrival of his Hypnosis Speaker was awesome and sent a shiver down my spine. using the lyrics to form blades and blood was such a great thing to do. Theres so much more variety that just him standing there and shots of his hypnosis speaker. The old fashioned vignette shots, the four panel spread, the nods to old Kurosawa era films are great and I love these small details. Even the typography looks better.

Again, the interpretations with the speakers is fresh and new. Its great and I love the different imagery and attack patterns. Each one is so unique but carries across each different style of rap.

The 3d modles aren’t any better tho lol

(Hi this is Astro who is reading over their assessment again and making a note. Yeah I’m a bit harsh on BB’s rap. I’m not going to change it since I still stand by it and this post is supposed to be a documentation of my first impressions. I think one of the reasons why I’m so harsh on BB is because of their dynamic as a trio of brothers. They Have to have a more uniform approach than the other divisions. Which in of itself isn’t a terrible thing, it just doesn’t catch my eye as much as MTC did. Thats all! I definitely don’t hate BB, they’re maybe my 3rd favorite division out of the current lineup [not including TDD era teams like Kujaku Posse, MCD, and Naughty Busters] its just that their rap was pretty meh)

Samatoki crouching like a real gangstar and the cigarette kiss killed me

sadjkhfjkasdghsadjkcsdjhsdfsjhf im dying i love these trio of dumbasses so uch oh y fod someone save me aaaaaaaa (Astro note here! yeah i died when the jyuto and samatoki’s stomach growled im weak please. Samatoki’s face is just so precious and funny I might set it as a profile pic somewhere)

But also my initial assessment of Rio possibly being characterized as a lone wolf is very much jossed and im very thankful for that. It seems that Rio was simply trusting his teammates to carry out their part of the plan while he carried out his own. I like that, it really shows how much of a team these three are and that they genuinely trust each other. He’s also comfortable enough around them to invite them to dinners after work casually and not just for special occasions.

I really love MTC guys

Oooh! we get Ramuda on his design process which is really cute. the inside of his studio is super cute and retro and i love it. the poppy old music you would hear in a cafe or 90′s resturaunt is also really cute (astro note: yeah i know that in ARB you see the interior of Ramuda’s office but its kinda different seeing it animated)

the translation i have has gentaro speaking in early modern english (Shakespearian english for those who aren’t english nerds like me) but from what I can hear, he doesn’t speak in a particularly old fashioned way? Its more formal than old? and hes speaking without any of his character persona lying thing that he likes to do (as he refers to himself as “Shousei” throughout the segment where hes in Ramuda’s office which is kind of his default pronoun of choice). so its kinda odd for the translation to go in that direction but im not complaining

Gendice banter is gold but it feels... flat? a little? it doesn’t have the same impact as in the drama cds or in the manga? i feel? Also Ramuda using gratuitous english is??? idk how to feel about that

kjshf thats against the rules Ramuda omgggg,,,,,,,, (astro note again: while watching i was under the assumption that using your hypmic for monetary gain such a as buskering [which is what FP is doing] is against the rules. May not be the case but whatever)

FP’s rap might be my favorite in terms of tune and lyrics though. It’s a nice laid back bop and really gives of chill vibes. the integration of 3d and 2d is really nice and i love how they play off each other in the rap. The wordplay is so fun with little nods here and there and the beat is poppy too so it really energizes me.

Ramuda’s rap concerns me slightly since he makes very subtle and small nods towards his past (being created in a laboratory, warfare, and his overall very unpleasant life experiences) but spins it into something cutesy. It could be a coping mechanism, it could be me overthinking it. But it does make me worry a bit. Gentaro and Dice’s rap really play off each other with Gentaro sticking to stories and Dice taking up the baton by carrying on that same imagery but putting his own spin on it.

the self awareness of how scattered they are as a team is interesting though. It doesn’t seem like something you’d speak about in a rap? but i guess since its not really a do or die situation they can afford to be looser on things like this.

Right off the bat, i don’t like how they handled Hifumi and Doppo in relation to Hifumi’s fear of women. Slug made a post once talking about this and I echo many of his sentiments. Hypmic has never been very tactful about tackling this particular issue and while I didn’t have high hopes that the anime would be any better it hurts to see Doppo take away the one thing that allows Hifumi to function within society.

Doppo’s breakdown mirrors a lot of my own mental state when I spiral though its shown a lot quicker than what happens to me oof. that hits close to home. though Jakurai’s advice is. Questionable. Its not the best advice to give to someone but we have no idea what kind of doctor Jakurai is so ill let it slide

Jakurai’s pose looks like hes going to do a mahou shoujou transformation lmao

I don’t have many thoughts about the rap though again. How they visualize the rap is interesting. the different imagery is quite interesting for each of them and the typography is nice a distinct but im still on the fence about the visuals here

The sound is in the same boat. The sound effects either drown out the rap or are too quet but some parts are nice at least. When they talk about Tokyo’s beating heart, the heartbeat sound is a but distracting especially since its only played once. But the imagery is at least nice

I wonder if for the eds they’re going to take a similar approach to what Enstars did and have a four different endings, one for each division. I love the blend of styles here and it really accentuates that although they’re different they mesh well together.

Ramuda’s silhouette though is hilarious. Love it.

:p and thats it. Uh not bad for a first episode. Established all 12 characters really nicely and their dynamics. I had some problems with it but then again nothing is perfect. I look forward to what they show us next week

[positive-lesbian-vibes]

I recently found out that I'm a lesbian (I realized I don't like men at ALL) and I'm femme, but sometimes it bothers me that people might not know I'm a lesbian. Is there any way I can still be femme but dress in a way that Fellow Gays would be able to recognize me? (I realize that stereotypes don't matter- I'm just asking in case there's any advice you can give. If there's anything ignorant I said, please let me know, because I'm still pretty fresh to this. :) )

this is a thing! it’s called flagging, its dressing in a particular way in an attempt to signal to other wlw that you like women!

i can super relate, people never even entertain the idea that i might not be straight, and it can be hard to meet other women when you dont even come up on their radar

before i get any further, i should give a quick disclaimer: there is no one way to “look gay,” and you dont have to conform to any sort of fashion standard to be a part of the lesbian community. if you’re a lesbian, then congrats! you look like a lesbian! but sometimes other people don’t say it that way, which can be disappointing. so i get it. i’ve been there.

there is a lot of stuff online for flagging, but some basic things that a lot of women do to signal that they are into other women are very femme-friendly, although there are certainly ways to “look gayer” that might not suit your style

I have a “how to look gay” tag but knowing tumblr, i cant imagine any of my posts on it would come up with a search, so here are my hot tips!

some common (but sometimes used by straight girls) things would be:

 a flannel, i prefer mens because they are softer and warmer, but tying it around your waist can be a nice femme touch, although i will layer with flannels too.

you can double-denim/canadian suit it up. one way i like to do this is with like a black denim pant and a loose denim shirt or jacket over the top of a t-shirt. if double denim is too tacky for you, splitting it up into two separate-looking denims can help. but theres nothing wrong with a tacky denim get up!

things like undercuts or sidecuts, with one section of your hair buzzed short. may not be your style, but definitely gets the message across if youre into it

asymmetrical piercings. i have a double cartilage in my left ear but nothing special on my right. i hear industrial bars are a big thing, too. nose rings can be pretty hit or miss, i tend to believe they are gayer than other people do imo. but i have a nose stud so... i guess i cant really talk

in the same vein, tattoos. this one is also pretty hit or miss, because there are PLENTY of straight people who like tattoos (tats are cool, who can blame them) but i always think twice when i see a girl with a sleeve or a shoulder tat.

less conventional makeup. it doesnt even have to be too out there, but maybe like, you just dont wear foundation, or only do lipstick, or go really bold with your brows. my first term at college i saw a girl with really bold brows, a couple face piercings, and a flannel, and i just. Knew she was into women

boots. they dont have to be combat boots. but combat boots are pretty gay. people usually say wlw dont wear heels, but i know some who do.

accessories. this is a big one. i know a lot of lgbt people who are big on the rainbows, like rainbow bracelets, earrings, headbands, belts, pins, buttons, etc. generally i feel a little too loud with big rainbows all over my body, but there are other options! i like the interlocking venus symbols as a lesbian symbol, as its a bit more subtle but also relatively recognizable. i have two interlocking venus symbol necklaces, and a hat with a little rainbow on it. some lesbians like the labrys from the labrys flag, but it doesnt really seem as recognizably gay to me 

theres definitely a quirky kooky femme fashion niche that i (sadly) cant say im a part of, but a bunch of femmes like to dress kind of tacky. there’s a big joke about “tacky lesbian fashion” because lesbians can be known to wear some interesting combos, like crocs with a skirt, etc, but this can be dressed up, too. louder prints that might not be too appealing to the average straight man OR woman can be a subtle way to give off vibes

hats. the classic beanie. even in the year of our lord 2019, i know nary a straight girl who would dare don a beanie. its just so classically lesbian. but you can opt for a baseball cap or bandana, too. backwards hats? very gay. my belief is that this stems from the classic lesbian pastime, softball.

dyed hair. usually unconventional colors. this one can go both ways, too. pastels tend to be “less gay” but that doesnt mean there arent lesbians out there rocking some pastel pink hair. streaks or an ombre of a bright or non-natural hair color give off vibes. the ends of my hair have been purple on an off since i was a freshman in high school.

the way you carry yourself. this one isnt a way of dressing, yeah, but it can be just as effective. my gaydar tends to go more off behavior/body language than appearance. it obviously isnt 100% (none of flagging ever is) and takes some practice, but I’ve generally been pretty good at figuring out if someone is gay from interacting with them. it isnt instant, takes practice, and can easily be wrong, but its usually my method of choice. unfortunately, this method almost NEVER gets the point across the straight people, who tend to think if you have long hair then there’s no WAY you could be a lesbian. body language to look out for: not sitting in chairs properly (a meme that reflects reality) like “manspreading” but as a woman, generally more confidence/self-assuredness, focusing more on women, being less “meek” and more “aggressive” with taking up space, accommodating for women’s comfort but not for mens, disregard of the male gaze, that sort of thing.

lastly, all of these things are just suggestions of how to “look gayer” based off stereotypes, some of which were played up by the lesbian community in an attempt to find each other. you dont have to change how you dress, act, look, or anything else to be a real lesbian or to “look” like a lesbian, because there is no one “thing” that lesbians look like. some of us dress to stereotypes, and some of us dont, but we are all lesbians at the end of the day, dressing and looking the way you feel most comfortable should be the goal. if that includes some things on this list, great! if not, thats fine too! you don’t have to do everything. just the stuff you feel good about

[baek--honey]

1-50 bitch

well since u asked nicely how could i resist

1. If you didn’t have to sleep, what would you do with the extra time? paint/draw or the like, or knit maybe,

2. What’s your favorite piece of clothing you own/owned? MY HOT MOMS SHIRT THAT I LOST ;n; also the big grey hoodie i have & a pierce the veil shirt i borrowed from my gf that im never giving back :)

4. How often do you play sports? never

5. What fictional place would you most like to go to? The Digital World

6. What job would you be terrible at? probably anything involving extensive memorizing and maintaining information for long periods of time. so basically a lot of things…… or maybe like. working at starbucks cos i cant make coffee OR remember lots of drink recipes omg

7. If you could turn any activity into an Olympic sport, what would you have a good chance at winning a medal for? playing kingdom hearts 2 on easy mode. i would have a good chance at winning because all the people that are good at playing kingdom hearts are gaming elitists that think playing on easy is for losers and if you dont play on critical mode you arent a real gamer :)

8. What skill would you like to master? making an omelet OR knitting

10. What would be the most amazing adventure to go on? some out of town adventure with my girlfriend where money and time dont matter 

11. If you could change one thing about your life right now, what would you change and why? uh i’d like to be less haunted by my traumatic past maybe! or be a few inches taller that would be cool i feel like both of these are pretty self explanatory 

12. What’s your favorite drink? W A T E R or milk tea 

13. What do you consider to be your best find? my girlfriend 

14. Are you usually early or late? way too early. too mcuh time i dont know what to do with it

15. What pets did you have while growing up? hm lets see i had a couple turtles, some fish, i had a gerbil that i got from a friend, an african grey named solomon, boston terrier named Tiny, two white boxers named Floyd & Lloyd, a mix named Macy, 4 chihuhuas named Dude, Pooty, Flout & Chief, and now we have a cat named Schrödinger :~), oh and an amstaff/dalmation mix named EL

16. When people come to you for help, what do they usually want help with? anything and everything but never really asking for advice i guess? its more of them talking about a problem cos im easy to talk to and then me trying to help them come up to a solution if they need it

17. What takes up too much of your time? S L E E P I N G 

18. What do you wish you knew more about? cats!!!! also dogs cos i know a lot but i want to know more

19. What would be your first question after waking up from being cryogenically frozen for 100 years? why am i still alive?

21. Who’s your go-to band or artist when you can’t decide on something to listen to? seventeen or monsta x, exo’s LMR repackaged album

22. What shows are you into? the office, lost, honestly nothing thats still running on tv, i havent watched a show in forever, oh god wait does anime count cos i could write the longest list of anime i love: haikyuu, nge, digimon, noragami ,,,,,,

23. Who has impressed you most with what they’ve accomplished? Seventeen (Hangul: 세븐틴), also stylized as SEVENTEEN or SVT, is a South Korean boy group formed by Pledis Entertainment in 2015. The group consists of thirteen members divided into three sub-units, 

24. What age do you wish you could permanently be? a dog mom & i hope i can make that wish come true

25. What would be your ideal way to spend the weekend? napping on and off in bed with my girlfriend and then going to town for sushi & milk tea and then uhhhhhhhhhhh coming back home to nap some more and then go out for noodles for another date :} oh and a dog would be involved if possible because cuddling dogs is best

26. What’s something you like to do the old-fashioned way? physically writing and sending cards/letters in the mail i guess? i dont know if that really counts as doing something the old fashioned way but i definitely dont get as many cards or anything in the mail anymore. i also like to keep physical hand written to-do lists & schedules and stuff

27. What have you only recently formed an opinion on? how bad exo are at dancing  turtlenecks and scarves. they are good 

28. What’s the single best day on the calendar? october 10th my dogs birthday and also narutos birthday

29. What are you interested in that most people haven’t heard of? asmr??? 

30. What is the most annoying question that people ask you? “did u have a little lamb?” OR when my grandpa asks me anything about his iphone 

31. What could you give a 40-minute presentation on without absolutely no preparation? my dogs or seventeen. OR a half ass presentation about kingdom hearts, trying to explain it while getting around all the plot holes and not nailing down my arguments cos i dont really get it either and theres a lot i dont pay attention to but i could come up with 40 mins of info im sure

32. If you were a dictator of a small island nation, what crazy dictator stuff would you do? no waking until 10am. no crime or anything will be allowed ill figure out some way to make everything perfect so women can go out alone at night and not be afraid. no discrimination !! all the poc, lgbt, disabled, any minority  will be welcome and have safe spaces and any hate will be punished by law. also everyones allowed to have pets in their homes and no home goes without food or power. am i doing this right

33. What is something you think everyone should do at least once in their lives? travel out of your comfort zone. like physically travel somewhere and make the most of it but do it with someone cos the buddy system is important

34. What’s worth spending more on to get the best? jackets. i will pay up to 100$ for a good jacket and wear it forever cos itll be confirmed long-lasting and also most likely very comfortable!!!

35. What is something that a ton of people are obsessed with but you just don’t get the point of? i just want to point out that its not that i dont get the point of it because everyone has their likes and i have my own that other people dont i like that people are into whatever they want to be its just that i am Not into it. and that thing is yuri on ice

36. What are you most looking forward to in the next 10 years? being able to wake up every morning next to my girlfriend and out pets :~)

37. Where is the most interesting place you’ve been? corning museum of glass was super neat……. , dollywood, gatlinburg, chicago chinatown, idk i havent been to many interesting places 

38. What’s something you’ve been meaning to try but just haven’t gotten around to? i wana get a tattoo !!!!!!!!

39. What’s the best thing that happened to you last week? getting a job interview at barnes & noble because now i have a job there!!!

40. What piece of entertainment do you wish you could erase from your mind so that you could experience it for the first time again? diamond edge chicago

41. If all jobs had the same pay and hours, what job would you like to have? all i really want is that job where im paid to sleep 

42. How different was your life one year ago? tbh not that much different?? other than i was in school and now im not. i didnt have a job and now i do. i was a year further away from moving 

43. What’s the best way to start the day? talking to my girlfriend and also let me just say that first pee in the morning. perfect

44. What quirks do you have? what are quirks exactly i looked up examples to help me think of some but all im thinking of is…i cant have the volume on my tv or radio on an even number it has to be on an odd number??? i have to sleep with a fan on. idk dude

45. What would you rate 10/10? [MV] 몬스타엑스 (MONSTA X) _ 걸어 (ALL IN)

46. What kind of art do you enjoy most? abstract w lots of colors and shapes. geometric stuff 

47. What do you hope never changes? my ability to collect myself (unless it gets better which then i hope it does), my passion for art of any sort

48. What city would you most like to live in? anywhere except charleston and somewhere thats not extremely highly populated

49. What movie title best describes your life? Scooby Doo 2 - Monsters Unleashed

50. What’s the best way a person can spend their time? sleeping or hanging out with their pet

[niamhhannaho-blog]

Interviews

WILL F Tell me about yourself?

Having grown up in an ex-pat family, I had the opportunity to live in Asia and Europe. I have always been creative whether its art, music, film or fashion. After failing handsomely at school and barely making it into University I realised education wasn’t for me, after dropping out of University and having the opportunity to work in advertisement and film for some time I decided to co-found a creative agency. Since then I have had the opportunity to work with some the UK’s most influential people and brands, aiming to share my thoughts and knowledge with other millennial and the older demographic.

In your opinion what are the stereotypes of millennials?

I think my understanding of the millennial stereotype is that millennials have created a new culture and behaviour that has not been recognised before. I think we are categorised as a dysfunctional, unmotivated and unwilling generation that is incredibly selfish.

I do believe that is a statement that targets millennials collectively however I feel its only a certain categorisation off that generation who live up to the stereotype. I do feel with the move in the digital world millennial's are creating new and imaginative ways to work, In a lot of peoples eyes I think due to it being unconventional, its seen as wrong.  

What does it mean to be a millennial?

I think there are many answers to this question, although “millennial” is a term for the generation born in between the 80’s and early 2000’s. Its seen today as more of a categorisation of the “future”. Being the most connected generation, I feel we are the most progressive out of any other previous generation. Having more opportunities, more freedom and defiantly more of a creative mindset I think that Millennial’s have recently started to disrupt and question convention which in my mind is progress for the future to come. We’ve always been told to be unique however convention tells us not to, I feel we are the first generation that has done exactly that.

What inspires you?

People. A lot of people will generically say art, fashion, music or culture. Which is all great, but I believe that the source of those mediums are the most inspirational subjects. To me a persons story is the most valuable knowledge or inspiration you can obtain, because unless they write a book about their life you will never have the chance again to hear it.

If you could impact something significantly within society what would it be?

I believe the biggest fault in society today is people not listening to one another, especially between young and old generations. I would love to see more members of the younger generation being able to make decisions that can impact our societies.

If you had one piece of advice to give to other millennial what would it be?

A really important word to me is self-awareness, I think so many people lie to themselves about who they are. Until that person understands who they are as a person and acknowledges their identity and values, they won’t be happy with anything they do.

Do you think you fit the stereotype of millennial’s?

Absolutely!

Why?

I believe being unconventional and creative is exactly what it is to be a millennial, I like to think I do exactly that every day. LIZZIE

Give a bit of an intro about yourself (not part of the question but literally talk about anything uni school travelling your freelance illustration)

I’m Lizzie, I’m 23 and I’m currently living and working in Wellington, New Zealand. I had an idyllic upbringing and was always academically bright, but way more interested in art. My family were always super supportive but I felt a lot of pressure growing up to achieve and be perfect. I went to Uni to study graphic design, but got very disillusioned and ended up dropping out in my 3rd year. I moved to New Zealand and converted a van which I travelled and lived in for 6 months, it was pure freedom. I’ve recently got back into illustration and won a poster competition for the street art collective Vivid Wellington, I’ve met a bunch of local artists and it’s been so inspiring. I’ll be moving back to England in July to study as a tattoo apprentice.

What does it mean to you to be a millennial?

I think we’re in this weird transitional generation, we’re the first kids to grow up with technology dominating our lives, we’re at the forefront of unexplored territory and we’re just trying to figure it out. The truth is that the world is entirely run by the post-war generations, they’ve had an incredible impact on the world physically and economically, it was all about this ethic of working hard your whole life, contributing to society, everything has to be bigger, better, newer. As a generation I think we’re questioning this, we’re less motivated by money, more creative and forward thinking, and in a growth driven society this can be easily misinterpreted as being ‘lazy’. I think in general we’re tolerant, emotionally intelligent and amazingly bright. We’re opening up about sexuality, race, gender, mental health…we have all these great ideas we’re just struggling to find a platform for our ideas to be heard.

What inspires you?

Mostly people, I find people fascinating. I try not to rely on inspiration when I’m drawing, you can end up staring at a blank page for a long time if you do. Inspiration comes from practice, trying everything - new ideas come from that. It took me a long time to realise! I’m definitely inspired by self-makers, that DIY aesthetic and attitude. Counter-culture, punk, hip-hop, ravers, street art, drag queens, comics, nature…oh and smut - Lots of smut.

If you could impact something significantly within society what would it be?

That’s a tough one. I’d like to get people to question what’s going on around them, not just accept the way things are. That’s the first step to changing things. We’ve thought the same way for so long, we need a new perspective. I’d love to see women’s ideas come into consideration, I think we could really use a feminine approach.

If you had one piece of advice to give to other millennials what would it be?

Be yourself! It’s cheesy but I think it’s so important to do your own thing when everybody around you is trying to make you into something else. Lead by example. And love yourself, that’s very important.

Do you think you fit the stereotype of millennials and why yes or no

I’m going to be annoying and say yes and no, I’ve definitely been guilty of feeling entitled, I’ve only recently started to understand the value of hard work, and working hard for yourself too. I try and keep away from the trappings of social media…most people I know don’t seem to fit the stereotype. It’s going to be harder for us to coast through life with wages and housing prices being what they are. I could definitely work harder though.

SOPHIE RISCH

Give a bit of an intro about yourself?

My name is Sophie Rischmiller, I am 18 years old. I am a full time student at Bournemouth University, an Affiliate Marketer taking my foundation certificate in marketing at The Chartered Institute of Marketing and the owner of a startup marketing agency called Social Zest.

In your opinion what are the stereotypes of millennials?

Millennials are constantly stereotyped as not really experiencing life because they are always looking at social media or things online. We have been bought up in the digital era so everyone assumes we don’t really know how to communicate, which isn’t the case. Because we spend time online older people thing we are lazy, under motivated and introverted.

What inspires you?

I am inspired by young entreprenuers documenting their life online and giving valuable advice to younger people or people they same age as them - other millennials! They inspire me to be motivated and better myself in everything that I do.

What does it mean to you to be a millennial?

Being a millennial means being at the forefront of the digital era, we have the power to create communities and influence people like never before. If we use the tools we have been given, growing up in a smarter society, I think we can really make a positive difference.

If you could impact something significantly within society what would it be? In other words what is an issue that is close to your heart?

One thing I would choose to impact would be mental health in young people, there are so many amazing charities working hard to correct mistakes that previous generations made - for example making it difficult for people to talk about their sexuality or for men to talk about their feelings openly. I think that this new generation is far more advanced and accepting of everyone so we have the ability to encourage those with mental health issues to feel they have a voice and that they are not alone.

If you had one piece of advice for other millennials what would it be?

My advice for millennials would be to say yes to every opportunity you are given, we have all the resources to succeed given to us by this new digital age so it would be wrong of us not to utilise them.

MARIE

Tell me about yourself?

Okay, so my names Marie, Marie La - Anyane. I’m not French, even though my name sounds French. Im 100% Ghanaian. I am an abstract artist and I run a fashion blog. And thats pretty much it, I just paint during my free time, do some artwork. I edit a lot of photos and I have a little taste for photography. I don't take all of the photos for my blog myself, but I do edit them. I just quit my job of three or four years. Im hoping to get an internship within fashion. I don't want to settle for something which isn't related to what I want for my future which is get a career within the fashion industry.  So if its not something thats not dear to my heart I'm not going to settle and just do that to kill time.

What does it mean to you to be a millennial?

I mean we are the generation that made money out of youtube, theres people making thousands on instagram every single day and back in the day our parents probably thought we were crazy for just being on platforms like Facebook. And now people are getting paid just to post a photo and just to advertise. So I mean we should be proud of that, and we are making so many changes in the world. We have had some of the biggest protests and marches in history and thats just us!

What inspires you?

My culture and my play on colours. I think my background inspires me, being Ghanaian using colours in our everyday life and all celebrations use a lot of colour so thats really where I get my inspiration. I have never been able to draw certain things and so because of that I often take an abstract stance, because thats what works for me.

If you could impact something significantly within society what would it be? In other words what is an issue that is close to your heart?

I don’t think I can personally impact society as a whole, but I can work with people to make changes. Going to protests and letting the government hear what we have to say, because I cant do that on my own.

If you had one piece of advice for other millennials what would it be?

I think we shouldn't let the negative comments and negative views by previous generations affect us, because we have achieved a lot, we are going to achieve a lot. I know its the social media age but we have achieved so much just through that. Its crazy you don't even have to go and watch the news anymore you just have to go on twitter! I mean Donald Trump is tweeting and he's probably part of the generation that thinks that we are not doing anything with our lives and all we know is social media. So I think we should just look at it as a positive thing, we have done so much for ourselves and we should be proud!

DANIEL BOOTH

Tell me about yourself?

Okay so my names Daniel Booth, I run MPR Communications which is a PR and social media company. We handle, publicity and brand relations for celebrities, influences, professional athletes, high profile individuals. We also do PR for brands and we do social media for brands as well. I started it four years ago, and yeah its going well. We work with musicians, athletes, models, presenters, footballers, rugby players, golfers. So I have been working in the industry for probably about seven or eight years now. So I started out in fashion PR and beauty, peddling Chanel lipstick, Champneys and stuff like that. And then I did whats called agency hopping, so each six months to a year id move to a different agency, and slowly worked from beauty to fashion. Ive worked numerous London fashion weeks, which is stressful to say the least. And then from there I hopped into entertainment and sports. As I say yeah about four years ago I was made redundant from my last agency. I came into work one morning, by 9:15 I was in the boss’ office and he basically just said sorry we have no money this will be your last day. They couldn't even afford to pay me for the rest of that day. So the second I stepped out of the front door I was wondering round London on my phone sending emails, texts and phone calls to see if anyone had a job for me. And it was happening to everybody, because it was around the time the financial crash hit and businesses sort of panicked. So I moped around for about a week, I was super stressed out because I had never been out of work. I never went to university and I sort of lounged around the house for a week wondering what to do. And my problem was that I wasn't good at anything else, the reason I got into PR was because I'm good with people. I can talk to anybody. So my girlfriend said to me you just need to get up and go back out there, so I did. And for the last sort of two years of my agency career I saw how they didn’t really care about the clients. It was just the case of how much money you pay us defines how much time and attention we will give you. I didn’t like that because I mean we had clients for instance that were paying close to £10,000 per month and then you had a little designer that was absolutely phenomenal but all she could afford was £1,500 per month and she would get nothing. And like that is still money, that that person is paying out of their own pocket but just because its not big enough for the agency, they don't get anything. So I decided to make that my mantra, that we were going to work with everybody and anybody, if they were talented of course. And it didn’t matter what their budget was, we would make it work. So far its going alright.

In your opinion what are the stereotypes of millennials?

Well ever since you reached out to me I've had all these articles, about millennials and to be honest its all the same. They are self entitled, they don't want to work, they are narcissistic,all they care about is what their instagram looks like and all that sort of thing. But to a certain extent theres a minority that are exactly like that. But i think for the grand scale of millennials, its completely wrong. I mean I meet people everyday who are your age, my age and they are driven people. I mean the thing is millennials face so many issues that no other generation has had to face, I mean today you can at 21 years old you can be a millionaire. You can create an app and it can get picked up overnight and all of sudden your a millionaire and theres so many different opportunities and avenues that people can go down and its confusing for a lot of people. I mean my younger brother is 21 and he's in uni studying fine art and if you ask him what he wants to do he has got no idea. He just wants to do something in art because thats what he likes, and its not because he's lazy, its not because he cant be bothered, its because there are so many options and its one of those things i mean when i was at school like forever ago now, when it came to career day they said be electricians, be plumbers, be carpenters, be a fireman, a police officer because all those are in need at the minute. And the thing is, everybody went after those jobs and now they are over planned. Millennials have come to a realisation that you know what you don't have to break your back to earn a decent living. I mean me, if you ask any of my family what I do, they have no idea, they literally don't have a clue. Millennials i think are misunderstood massively, they get the raw end of the deal i think. I mean theres a lot of stuff they have to put up with and get through, I mean most people wont ever own their own house and all that sort of thing. I read an interesting article the other day where the title was the 20k somethings and it basically said that millennials are the generation that are happy to earn 25 - 27k for the rest of their life as long as they have experiences. So they get to go travelling, they get to swim with dolphins they get to go look for humpback whales and all that sort of thing. They would rather have these big experiences in life than have massive amounts of money. Now my question is why is that such a bad thing? Theres people that get by on less than 25 grand a year, i mean a lot of them do struggle but you can make it work! I mean I know somebody, who him and his other half, between them earn 45,000 a year, they are happy. They’ve got a house, they have a car, they go on eight holidays a year but the thing is they both work remotely and they both work remotely so they can have that life because they are able to do that. I don't see what the big deal is. I mean my mum when I was younger she was like don't get tied down too young, go travelling, go see the world. I mean my mum had me when she was 22 years old, she was married when she was like 21 so her whole thing for me and my brother and my sister was go see the world don't get stuck into your career or anything. I mean I slightly ignored her. Its the way it is.

What inspires you?

Potentially failing, I don't like to loose, ever. I am one of the most competitive people ever. I don't let it show too often but if i loose inside me its like argh, i hate it. So yeah I think failing, theres a constant drive there to prove that you can do it.

If you could impact something significantly within society what would it be? In other words what is an issue that is close to your heart?

For me, i mean I started working with women football players when i first started working for myself. Because it was an up and coming game. And I was lucky enough to get one client at chelsea football club and the ladies train at the same place as the mens football team and on my second visit, when I went down to the training ground. but i think one thing I'm passionate about is helping women sport. The thing is in all sports the women train as hard if not harder than the men because they have to. They are constantly fighting against society saying. Footballs a mans game, women shouldn't be playing rugby, women that play sports look like lesbians, i mean what does a lesbian look like? So I think it would definitely be womens sport, I think there needs to be more understanding about it, there needs to be more promotion for it. There needs to be more commercial drive behind it. I mean the thing is a bit of insight the top top england womens football players in salary a year, not a week, a year get paid £30,000 per year. Now I've got players that i work with that are 17 years old that get that a week, so i mean now its becoming that they can earn more from commercial deals and that sort of thing but even then, brands aren't willing to pay that kind of money. One of the girls I work with was on the same campaign as joe hart the goalkeeper, she got paid i think it was like 6% of what he got paid, it was minuscule. And it needs to be a lot fairer, it needs to be on the same level for men and women. Women sport is massive and its growing every year. I mean i like to think that I'm helping but I'm still not having the impact that i want to have, thats definitely where I would go.

If you had one piece of advice for other millennials what would it be?

Do the grunt work. The thing is, this is no joke, i get about 30 emails a day requesting jobs, internships from people my age and younger. And occasionally when I'm feeling generous, ill go and meet them see what they are about, see how they fit. I mean I've only ever met one person who has been happy to do the back breaking work, to go grab coffee and this sort of thing. And unfortunately she's moved back to the states and she worked with me for 6 months. She was studying law and came over here as part of her degree and she just wanted an insight into the sports world, she's passionate about sport she loves football. So i met with her and straight away you could tell, you know what this girl has got something special about her, she is willing to go the extra mile and honest to god when she left it felt like I had lost my left arm because she was there and she preempted anything that I ever could have needed. Im still in contact with her now, I consider her a friend. But I meet people every day that literally just want to walk into a job, they have come straight out of uni and they have gone right okay I want 30,000 a year I want my own office and I want 5 projects a year to work on.Its like, the world doesn't work like that, and this is where i feel millennials as a whole get a bad name because of some of the people that are like that. I mean for me I interned in fashion and beauty PR for almost a year. I wasn't paid, I was working 16 hour days, I was working for fashion week, when id finished work I was asking if I could go to the events with the PR managers and they would party till like 3 - 4 o clock in the morning. And id stay out with them, id meet people. But as i say as up till now after 4 years I've only ever met one person that was willing to do that. I mean one kid i actually met he came to me and was like, I want 45,000 a year, and i want to work from anywhere in the world. And I just looked at him and was like mate, really? Like thats the first thing your gonna say to me? And he was from a very privalliged background and he had it installed in him that that is the way it is. You walk in and demand what you want and somebody will give it to you. And its like i said to him, you have no position you've just come straight out of uni. I think he had studied something like talent management. Some obscure degree that in the grand scheme of things doesn't mean a lot. And I said to him right, name me five people right now that you could call and you could get one of my clients into this event, that event or on that tv show. And he said well I don't have any. So I said well then come back to me when you do. Because thats what it is in my job and in a lot of jobs its about the connections that you have with people. The relationships that you have. Its being able to call on those people at a moments notice you know you can pick up that phone and say I need help and them say okay what can i do. And thats what its about and you get that from doing the interning, the working for free, the making coffee and all that sort of thing. It sounds degrading, but you learn a lot from it. Its the one time in your life when you can actually just sit there and soak up everything. I learnt more in my first two weeks interning, than I did in my entire school life. The thing is I wasn't academic, i never have been, i didnt like the thought of having to study. Now I read more books than i ever did when i was in school. Im always reading I'm always learning I'm always trying to better my knowledge of PR, social media, the digital landscape, marketing, everything. But its because I'm studying something i love and its completely different. When you start reaserching things about something you really love it becomes addictive. If you work in something like design, or digital or something like that because it grows so rapidly that you cant keep up. I think thats the advice that i would give to anybody. Just do that work, be a sponge. If you can get 5 minutes with i don't know if you wanted to be a football agent for instance, if you can get even five minutes with a professional football agent that has been in the industry. Just sit and listen to them for five minutes. Just ask them one question and then just sit and listen because you will learn so so much. So that a the advice.

Do you think you fit the stereotype of a millennial?

Well my jacket and hightop converse would say yes. I would probably say yeah. I mean if you had said to me when i was 15/16 years old, you will be working for yourself, you'll be working with the England rugby team all these cool people. I mean i would have laughed in your face. You say am I a millennial stereotype i mean yeah because in the grand scheme of things millennials have this mind set that they can do absolutely anything and yeah thats me.

GENEVIEVE SWEENY

Tell me about yourself?

I have been knitting since i was 5 and I used to live in Europe with my parents, I sort of followed them around with work so I used to sit in the back of the car knitting all the time because my nan taught me to hand knit. So i did that, I hand knitted all the time sort of secretly for like 11 years, until i met a girl at Nottingham trent who was doing a degree in knitwear and i was like omg this is amazing. So that then  kind of really started my path. Because I was doing this thing that i loved doing but i didn’t really know how to apply it. Then I did a four year degree at Nottingham trent which was amazing we learnt about the machinery and actually how to make something which was really cool. And i did a year in industry in my third year, so i went to work with a really creative consultancy that did kind of swatches, which back then in the 90’s were really big. So companies like m&s would buy like 20 of them and it would cost like £600 for a swatch which was like crazy money. Then after the recession hit that kind of industry died a bit. So yeah I worked for them which was amazing like really creative and explorative and we did loads of exhibitions like in Shang Hai and florence and things which was amazing. And they also gave me sponsorship for my final collection, so i had like cashmere to knit with for my final collection, which was crazy! and i didnt even think about it too much then i was just like yeah ill have all the colours, now I'm like wow that was like the most luxurious collection in the world. After that I went to work for m&s and new look which was like just three months in each but it was amazing to see a real high street but fashion thats run from figures. To me being at uni and being in this creative world i was like what the hell, it was a real eye opener but a kind of good understanding of the connectivity. So yeah finished my degree, got a first which was cool. I specialised in menswear, so then i was selected to go to a trade show in Shang Hai to show my collection and also to do some work for wgsn to do some swatches and things. And there i met kind of randomly all the people id end up working for in the future which was really weird. I met a gentlemen who was an agent for rag and bone and he said they were looking for a menswear designer, so literally as soon as i got back i called them up and was like do you fancy interviewing me. Then a month later I was on a flight. So the march after graduating i went out and was the menswear assistant. The role kind of ended up changing and i was doing menswear and womenswear but it was amazing working for a really creative, contemporary brand. And it was before they had this recent investment, so there was kind of no budget, an endless amount of money and no restrictions. So yeah it was crazy you could find like three hundred pieces for spring, just for knitwear and I think only like eight went on the catwalk so it was a crazy amount of work. And then i got head hunted by Hugo Boss and i was offered a job in switzerland which was a lot more technical, kind of more the development, production side. But i always wanted to do my own thing, but i kind of never really, knew what wholesale price was, how would i actually manufacture something and do kind of quality control. So I took the job because i felt it was the next step to me building up my knowledge and working on something that i didnt really know anything about. So I lived in Italy and commuted to switzerland every day, and it was just an incredible job, I literally did everything from sketch to production. So I would work with a freelance designer who was based in london and she would give me all her concepts and i would go and work in this like knit lab, where they had all this machinery that they taught me to programme. So id kind of come up with ideas for her and then i would look after the product all the way through photo sampling production. I spent a lot of time in Turkey, in factories testing out lots on things. So i did a lot of travelling it was amazing, it was such a broad view of the industry. Since then different roles I've had are very split you would have like 8 people doing that one job. So that was the kind of main thing. But i looked after the Boss green, which was sports knitwear, so it was quite small only about 40 pieces per collection. So for my second job it was quite manageable. Then i got engaged and felt like I had to move back to England so i did a quick stint at burberry kids wear. That was mainly computer work so i didn’t really last long there. And then I went to Lyle and Scott to work on there scottish programme they wanted to bring the knitwear back to scotland, my role was to look after the knitwear team and build back the relationship with scotland. So as i moved back to England I decided i wanted to get my studio back and kind of wherever i went I had like a car full of yarn and i wanted the big machines. So i went on eBay and bought these really old machines that were up in scotland and drove up there and met this amazing old man who was in his 80s. I got chatting to him and found out that his nephew was a hand tartan knitter but lost his job in the 80s and actually all his family members used to work in the mills. So we went to th pub and i met a few other people and i met some people with more machines. That sort of really started the beginning of my brand, I just felt so awful that there were all these amazingly skilled people that were now like bus drivers. They were cutting lengths of this imported woollen fabric and then calling it scottish fabric. It just felt really awful. So i decided to do a couple of projects with them because there style was like really 80s so I said if you want to work with new brands you need a bit of an update. So yeah we were working on a design and we ended up having like 5 pieces by the end of it and i was like gosh this is the start of my collection, but that was all happening whilst i was working for lyle and scott which ended up using no scottish knitwear because they couldn't afford it and ended up doing a lot more stuff in Italy. And then Ian got made redundant and I got really jealous so i quit my job as well and took the plunge. So it kind of felt like everything had come into piece but it did take about 18 months to find the right supplier and just get an understanding of where i wanted my work to be in the market and if there was a market for it. But actually a lot of the manufacturers in the midlands wouldn't work with me because they wanted like 400 pieces. But like even at lyle and scott we wouldn't order 400 pieces for some like fashion pieces. So even in scotland I could find people to knit it but not to put it together. So i had to go through this like interview process with one of the manufacturers but i think he had been so screwed over by young designers in the past that he was just like over cautious. So i literally drove up there and met him and he was like okay we can work together and then i drove back again. Yeah so it took a while but it kind of worked out. So i launched in september 2015 and worked with a really amazing range of manufacturers, so id design everything here in house and then often hire a machine to test out ideas for patterns and things and then gove the production to them. They are such an amazing manufacturer they are all kind of like family run. I feel like they are more invested in what your doing and kind of look after you more, where as the factories and especially when i worked in factories abroad its just all about numbers and margins and your killing yourself over 10p. Where as I've got more of an understanding of how much they do and how much stuff costs so I'm quite like, I see the value in what they do and vice versa.

In your opinion what are the stereotypes of millennials?

I feel like it changes every five or ten years. Like a lot of the younger millennials don't drive at the moment which i find crazy. But i don't know if its because now things are a lot more accessible, like when i was 17 i learnt to drive because it was the only way i would be able to get out and do something. So i don't know maybe with the internet changing its more accessible now.

What inspires you?

Inspiration comes a lot from archetecture, so could be the structure or patterns in plaster. It seems to be a lot from archetecture or sometimes ariel views or kind of natural patterns. Its definitely always something that breaks and repeats, thats sort of always the theme.

If you could impact something significantly within society what would it be? In other words what is an issue that is close to your heart?

For me its the whole made in britian, sustainability and slow fashion. So i support made in Britain because it brings jobs to the area. We have got this amazing skill set thats really dying out. So the hand knitter i work with he's the youngest that we both know and he's 52 years old. So for me its really important to keep these skills going. And theres a lot of factories that have started employing people from China and stuff which is fine but also their way of linking and construction is different to the scottish way. So slight things, and like how you wash a jumper. Its really done by learning and its not just a program you put in its kind of like a sixth sense so those parts of the made in britain i really want to keep going and support. And then also on the other side the slow fashion is a really important issue. So not having fast fashion like in the last couple of months but having something that will last 10-15 years and will reduce the environmental impacts.

If you had one piece of advice for other millennials what would it be?

I think networking is really important, reaching out to other people weather its more mentors and people that you aspire to. Or even just like peers, people in the same situation or going through the same things, i find it so helpful to talk to other designers.

What does it mean to you to be a millennial?

I guess the opportunity that you've got from technology, I feel very lucky to have that. To be able to have a business that reaches america and hong kong, thats amazing. I cant imagine how i would really be able to do something without it just being local.

[trendingnewsb]

Jeremy Liew says to forget the critics and watch Planet of the Apps for its window onto pitch meetings

Reviewers have not been kind to Apples first TV offering, Planet of the Apps. Variety had a particularly entertaining, if biting, take, with writer Maureen Ryan likening the show to something that was developed at a cocktail party, and not given much more rigorous thought or attention after the pitcher of mojitos was drained.

Earlier today, we talked with one of the shows stars, Jeremy Liew of Lightspeed Venture Partners, about those reviews, along with how many startups he found through the filming and where hes shopping now. Liew said he doesnt mind the critics opinions but worries founders could miss a solid opportunity to learn from the pitch meetings aired in the latter half of each episode. I dont think there are many opportunities like this for people to understand how the process of pitching a VC works in real life.

The next episode airs tomorrow. More from our conversation, edited for length, follows.

TC: Lightspeed reportedly had to commit $10 million across various companies as part of this show. How many investments did you make?

JL: We made about a dozen investments altogether across the 10 episodes. We committed to making our best effort to fund interesting companies, but we were also clear that we werent going to drop our standards. Because of the nature of the show, we made more seed- and pre-seed stage investments than is typically the case for the firm [but in solid teams].

TC: How many pitches did you sit through for the filming of the show, and did you feel like they were vetted well enough?

JL: We probably sat through 35 to 40. They were very well vetted. Thousands of people applied originally; the founders who met with us had made it through a number of levels [including talking with show mentors Jessica Alba, Gwyneth Paltrow, Will.i.Am, and Gary Vaynerchuk, as well as participating in six-week incubator] before we talked with them.

Theres a pretty big investment that gets made tomorrow night. We made a few investments that would qualify as Series A size checks.

TC: You were holding one-hour long meetings with these companies while they made their pitches not listening to the escalator ride pitches that are a feature of the show. Do you believe in elevator or escalator, in this case pitches?

JL: Absolutely. Investors, journalists we get pitched a million times a day. If someone is inarticulate or unable to capture in 30 seconds why we should pay attention to them, they either dont have [an interesting story], they dont understand whats special about their business, or they dont have that charismatic, visionary feel that you often need to change the world. People do need a good elevator pitch. You have to give someone a good reason to spend an hour talking with you.

TC: When people participate in a show, theyre oftensurprised by the final product. Do you feel like the editors did you justice?

JL:I do think I come across the way I actually am and that the nature of the conversations we had with the entrepreneurs was very well-preserved. For people who want to understand how VCs make investments, its an excellent window onto how the process works in real life. Tosome extent, the [filmmakers] could have chosen all the clever things or dumb things or nice things we said, but I think they captured the essence of the conversations pretty accurately. Anyone wanting to know what a real pitch process is like could do a lot worse then watch them to see what works, what doesnt, the kinds of questions you get, how people can answer those questions well and answer them badly. I dont think theres another resource quite like it.

TC: Outside of the show, where are you shopping right now?

JL: E-commerce and m-commerce continue to be the gift that keeps on giving as more people buy things online. My most recent investment, for example, was Rothys, an e-commerce startup that makes fashionable womens flats. [Editors note: The Times wrote up in the company in its Style section last week. The shoes are made from recycled plastic water bottles.]

The special twist is the shoes are made through a3-D knitting machine that enables them to use different colors and styles and enjoy a great deal of flexibility. Theyre also known for being super comfortable to wear.

TC: Youve also been a bitcoin bull for several years. Are you still actively backing bitcoin and blockchain technology companies?

JL: We have four investment right now: Ripple [the real-time payment system], Blockchain [the bitcoin wallet company]; [the Chinese bitcoin exchange] BTTC, and LedgerX [a company thats right now awaiting final approval from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission for its bitcoin options trading service].

We may have more to report in that space in a little while. But as everybody is seeing, the industry has been heating up over the last 12 to 18 months after a bit of a slow start. Youre seeing much broader adoption taking place right now across industries, across geographies, and across use cases.

TC: What do you make of internet coin offerings, or ICOs, and should VCs be nervous about them as an alternative means for startups to raise money?

JL: I think its a super exciting space. Whenever you have people pushing the envelope, youll see some success and failure, and were paying a lot of attention.

TC: Have you taken part in an ICO, just to better understand firsthand how the process works?

JL: I havent. But the more important question is what happens to those tokens after the product launches and whether a liquid market develops beyond speculation. As those markets and tokens develop, well see what those opportunities look like.

TC: You led an investment for Lightspeed in Snap, which is now down 30 percent from its IPO price. Did you sell at the IPO? Are you concerned about its prospects?

JL:Snap asked some of the early holders to sell a little bit at the IPO to provide additional liquidity at the float, and we complied with that request, as did all the other early investors.

TC: Think the stock is misunderstood?

JL: Id never bet against Evan Spiegel and his product sense. He has a once-in-a-generation type mind for product. I think he has a lot of interesting stuff up his sleeve, too, that well start to see over the coming quarters.

TC: As we speak, youre in a car en route to the airport. Youve traveled a lot in recent years, saying Silicon Valley is an echo chamber and you can get a better feel for consumer trends elsewhere. Is that still the case?

JL: Im still traveling a lot, yes. I made 45 trips last year, and Im on track to do the same this year.

Part of why we participated in Planet of the Apps is because were seeing more entrepreneurs starting outside of the Bay Area and wanted a better mechanism to reach those people. Im on my way to Luxembourg right now. Ive been to Belgrade, Tennessee, Arkansas, the University of Chicago.

Infrastructure entrepreneurship is still largely concentrated in the Bay Area, but consumer entrepreneurship is so distributed; if you want to see great founders, you need to be willing to get on a plane.

Read more: http://ift.tt/2s3QY92

from Viral News HQ http://ift.tt/2s5DWb2 via Viral News HQ

[trendingnewsb]

Jeremy Liew says to forget the critics and watch Planet of the Apps for its window onto pitch meetings

Reviewers have not been kind to Apples first TV offering, Planet of the Apps. Variety had a particularly entertaining, if biting, take, with writer Maureen Ryan likening the show to something that was developed at a cocktail party, and not given much more rigorous thought or attention after the pitcher of mojitos was drained.

Earlier today, we talked with one of the shows stars, Jeremy Liew of Lightspeed Venture Partners, about those reviews, along with how many startups he found through the filming and where hes shopping now. Liew said he doesnt mind the critics opinions but worries founders could miss a solid opportunity to learn from the pitch meetings aired in the latter half of each episode. I dont think there are many opportunities like this for people to understand how the process of pitching a VC works in real life.

The next episode airs tomorrow. More from our conversation, edited for length, follows.

TC: Lightspeed reportedly had to commit $10 million across various companies as part of this show. How many investments did you make?

JL: We made about a dozen investments altogether across the 10 episodes. We committed to making our best effort to fund interesting companies, but we were also clear that we werent going to drop our standards. Because of the nature of the show, we made more seed- and pre-seed stage investments than is typically the case for the firm [but in solid teams].

TC: How many pitches did you sit through for the filming of the show, and did you feel like they were vetted well enough?

JL: We probably sat through 35 to 40. They were very well vetted. Thousands of people applied originally; the founders who met with us had made it through a number of levels [including talking with show mentors Jessica Alba, Gwyneth Paltrow, Will.i.Am, and Gary Vaynerchuk, as well as participating in six-week incubator] before we talked with them.

Theres a pretty big investment that gets made tomorrow night. We made a few investments that would qualify as Series A size checks.

TC: You were holding one-hour long meetings with these companies while they made their pitches not listening to the escalator ride pitches that are a feature of the show. Do you believe in elevator or escalator, in this case pitches?

JL: Absolutely. Investors, journalists we get pitched a million times a day. If someone is inarticulate or unable to capture in 30 seconds why we should pay attention to them, they either dont have [an interesting story], they dont understand whats special about their business, or they dont have that charismatic, visionary feel that you often need to change the world. People do need a good elevator pitch. You have to give someone a good reason to spend an hour talking with you.

TC: When people participate in a show, theyre oftensurprised by the final product. Do you feel like the editors did you justice?

JL:I do think I come across the way I actually am and that the nature of the conversations we had with the entrepreneurs was very well-preserved. For people who want to understand how VCs make investments, its an excellent window onto how the process works in real life. Tosome extent, the [filmmakers] could have chosen all the clever things or dumb things or nice things we said, but I think they captured the essence of the conversations pretty accurately. Anyone wanting to know what a real pitch process is like could do a lot worse then watch them to see what works, what doesnt, the kinds of questions you get, how people can answer those questions well and answer them badly. I dont think theres another resource quite like it.

TC: Outside of the show, where are you shopping right now?

JL: E-commerce and m-commerce continue to be the gift that keeps on giving as more people buy things online. My most recent investment, for example, was Rothys, an e-commerce startup that makes fashionable womens flats. [Editors note: The Times wrote up in the company in its Style section last week. The shoes are made from recycled plastic water bottles.]

The special twist is the shoes are made through a3-D knitting machine that enables them to use different colors and styles and enjoy a great deal of flexibility. Theyre also known for being super comfortable to wear.

TC: Youve also been a bitcoin bull for several years. Are you still actively backing bitcoin and blockchain technology companies?

JL: We have four investment right now: Ripple [the real-time payment system], Blockchain [the bitcoin wallet company]; [the Chinese bitcoin exchange] BTTC, and LedgerX [a company thats right now awaiting final approval from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission for its bitcoin options trading service].

We may have more to report in that space in a little while. But as everybody is seeing, the industry has been heating up over the last 12 to 18 months after a bit of a slow start. Youre seeing much broader adoption taking place right now across industries, across geographies, and across use cases.

TC: What do you make of internet coin offerings, or ICOs, and should VCs be nervous about them as an alternative means for startups to raise money?

JL: I think its a super exciting space. Whenever you have people pushing the envelope, youll see some success and failure, and were paying a lot of attention.

TC: Have you taken part in an ICO, just to better understand firsthand how the process works?

JL: I havent. But the more important question is what happens to those tokens after the product launches and whether a liquid market develops beyond speculation. As those markets and tokens develop, well see what those opportunities look like.

TC: You led an investment for Lightspeed in Snap, which is now down 30 percent from its IPO price. Did you sell at the IPO? Are you concerned about its prospects?

JL:Snap asked some of the early holders to sell a little bit at the IPO to provide additional liquidity at the float, and we complied with that request, as did all the other early investors.

TC: Think the stock is misunderstood?

JL: Id never bet against Evan Spiegel and his product sense. He has a once-in-a-generation type mind for product. I think he has a lot of interesting stuff up his sleeve, too, that well start to see over the coming quarters.

TC: As we speak, youre in a car en route to the airport. Youve traveled a lot in recent years, saying Silicon Valley is an echo chamber and you can get a better feel for consumer trends elsewhere. Is that still the case?

JL: Im still traveling a lot, yes. I made 45 trips last year, and Im on track to do the same this year.

Part of why we participated in Planet of the Apps is because were seeing more entrepreneurs starting outside of the Bay Area and wanted a better mechanism to reach those people. Im on my way to Luxembourg right now. Ive been to Belgrade, Tennessee, Arkansas, the University of Chicago.

Infrastructure entrepreneurship is still largely concentrated in the Bay Area, but consumer entrepreneurship is so distributed; if you want to see great founders, you need to be willing to get on a plane.

Read more: http://ift.tt/2s3QY92

from Viral News HQ http://ift.tt/2s5DWb2 via Viral News HQ