#ie working making money studying what have you

[hecksupremechips]

I love animal crossing and I’m about to become hyper fixated on it so teehee 💅

[38sr]

same anon that asked about shadows ! , i have another question , how does different budgets for different animes change the way it is drawn , animated etc , like how does it go from average to ultra quality like demon slayer for example ..

Ah so with anime it’s a very nuanced topic. Firstly, I want to preface that what I am about to say is strictly from my experience working in anime for three years now and even then I would highly implore to study the Animator Dormitory Project to learn from animators who are PHYSICALLY dealing with the imbalanced system that is the anime industry. ALSO, it is important to clarify more money does not equal better art visually. More money means more time and resources. How you use said resources and time is what determines the quality of art (as well as the quality of work environment for the people making said product). If we were to follow the logic that more money equals better art, that would mean the average Family Guy episode should look like an average Demon Slayer episode. That is simply not the truth because 1) every production is different therefore their needs and overall artistic vision will differ 2) you’d be surprised on how the money is actually spent versus what you think it should be spent on (ie American animated films choosing to do celebrity voice casting which eats up a shit ton of the budget when that could have gone to the production crew’s schedule and needs). So with that, please understand money does not play in the ways you think it does (ie if it makes the drawings better) but it cannot be denied it’s one of many factors. Alright?

Basically, anime is funded through production committees which are a group of investors (such as manga publishers, merchandise manufacturers, tv broadcast executives, etc). In America, we have a similar system known as the AMPTP however unlike America where an investor can invest in cross industry projects (ie. Mattel can invest in toys and film entertainment) in Japan they can only choose one industry. This leaves budgets for anime to not become incredibly inflated like we have here in America (ie most blockbuster movies nowadays). BUT because of this rule along with the rule of budget caps, the actual budgets of full seasons of animes have not changed much since maybe the 1960/70s. To bring it back to Family Guy, the average episode of that show from script to final broadcast has been reported to cost anywhere between $1-2 million PER EPISODE. If you multiply that with the full episode order (let’s say 13 just to match the average season of anime), you’re working with $13-26 million FOR A SEASON.

Anime, specifically TV anime, is not seeing that. Shinkai’s Your Name was reported to have $4.5mil for actual movie production (not including the advertising budget which would make it 7.5 or roughly 8mil). $4.5mil. For an anime film.

$4.5 million is a good (and rare) budget by American TV animation standards for PER EPISODE. Unless you’re like, Disney or something you can afford to do that but most average American TV animation is anywhere between $1-3 million per episode. And the average anime is seeing that $1-3mil PER SEASON due to budget caps. So if we do the math of dividing that $1-3mil across 13 episodes (and I’m gonna do this evenly because this is a hypothetical and in reality some episodes do have more money put into for more TIME and RESOURCES)…that would mean your average anime episode, from script to final broadcast, is only seeing a couple hundred thousand dollars unlike here in American where we have a couple million.

And so at this point you’re probably thinking, “Wait, this doesn’t make sense. How can Your Name look like the way it is if that’s what America could spend on a single animated episode? Why is there such a wide disparity between the actual budget versus the final product’s visuals?” And that, my dear Shadow (sorry if that came off weird) is where we have to talk about communication. You see, even though Demon Slayer might not be seeing the same episode budget like we do in America what Japanese studios have in spades that American studios spent over 2 DECADES eradicating is in house layout and animation teams.

The reason why anime looks the way it is on such smaller budgets is quite honestly because they are communicating with each other in real time. In America, we ship our storyboards to a studio overseas (usually Korea, Philippines, India, etc) where we are basically playing a gambling game of whether or not the overseas studios produce the desired work we want. And spoiler alert: it hardly ever truly happens because of language barriers and these overseas are often not given enough money (remember that means time and resources) to actually succeed. Hence, you go into retakes which cost money and spend it back to overseas which cost money, and then it comes back and retakes are still needed which cost money yet again and I think you’re beginning to see why this system in American studios is awful.

Because the amount of money you spent doing that back and forth with retakes and shipping with an overseas studio who was not set up for success could have been spent on having an in house layout and animation team like they do in Japanese studios.

As someone who has freelanced on animes as well worked at vendor overseas studios for American made productions, I cannot understate how having that instant communication (as well as cultural understanding) can drastically change how things get animated. Being able to talk to your director about their intent for a scene at an instant is much more productive than waiting 6-8 months for a Russian roulette bullet. So my point is, the direct communication Japanese studios have within is the true unsung hero as to why 1) visually beautiful shows like Dandadan or Demon Slayer exist 2) they are able to have such a wide variety of visual styles under the anime umbrella because Japanese studios do value auteurship just a tad bit more than American studios who as of late is homogenizing our media cause it’s “safe”.

Also, another component that can factor into why anime looks the way it does despite smaller budgets is because Japan as a society heavily values reputation. On one hand, it’s cool that artists are willing to come together to bring the vision of an artist they admire to fruition. But on the other, it is often used to exploit these artists into very shitty work situations (ie me when I worked on JJK). It’s such a hard thing to talk about because as artists we do tend to sacrifice our well being for the sake of art but I could understand why someone on the outside might feel confused (or frustrated) that we would choose to put ourselves in a poor situation. Sometimes, you’re just willing to take a lesser pay and tighter deadlines to work on a project that speaks to you creatively. And it really do just be that. But for the case of anime, it is often because these artist want to work with a person they admire so who I am to judge them when I’ve done the same haha. But my point being, because Japanese studios have that in house communication and are more open to artist auteurship there’s just more room to have visually distinctive episodes, animated sequences, designs and so on despite the budgets not being the greatest (if we’re going by American standard of living because it is objectively true that Japan is not as costly as places like NY and LA).

I could go on and on about this but I think this answer has become way too long haha. But in summary, Japan isn’t seeing as big as budgets as you think you are from an American perspective. Anime budgets virtually have not changed that much for decades despite it being mainstream and incredibly profitable. I will add that studios like Kyoani and Ufotable have the advantage of potentially self funding their projects, which allows more creative power to the studio itself rather than having to comply to the production committee’s whims. But those studios are like….rare gems ‘cause they chose to nurture talent and be selective with their art over time as opposed to Mappa who is spreading the talent and production crew super thin by adapting too many shows. What makes the art in anime look that way is more so a result of passion and respect for the craft (as well as they’re just open to a lot more versus American execs who are risk-adverse). It would be great if they were given more money so they weren’t producing episodes on such tight schedules (usually a handful of months before official broadcast) but it’s really a testament of how they effectively allocate the money where it’s needed as well. It’s truly an amazing balancing act in a system that’s equally imbalanced.

Phew, that was a long one but I hope I answered your question. And with that, always remember kids that money does not equal better art. Money means more time and resources and how you use it is what determines the overall artistic vision of a production.

[preemshots]

oc smash or pass

tagged by @theloverstemperance tagging ANYONE who wants to do this but hasn't yet. please tag me as the person who tagged you so i can read about your OC :D rules: pretty self explanatory. include physical descriptions or pics, and propaganda. the “other” label can be used for “sexuality misalignment” (ie: oc is femme and you’re gay, vice versa or you aren’t into smashing but a specific thing you wanna do with them like perhaps hug or study them under a microscope idc).

BASICS

Full Name: NV ("nut v". i never picked a real full name, but it's also not valerie or vincent lmao) Nickname: V Age: 27 in 2077 Height: 5'10" Eyes: Black Kiroshi "The Oracle" with red emissive pupil UI Gender: nonbinary Pronouns: they/she; masc>femme nouns Sexuality: yeah. (bi/pan/queer/poly all of the above)

PROS

obvious: NV is outwardly reserved and focused most of the time; brow furrowed, slight resting grump face. but they're also terrible at hiding what they're feeling and it's easy to break this focus. if they like you, they'll react strongly to you--usually with snark, bold suggestions, or by getting flustered.

dependable sucker: prefers to serve others before self, and once making a choice follows through with it (even if they know they'll regret it or have been deceived).

observant: pays attention to every detail of everything they can, will randomly give you the most thoughtful gift or something you mentioned needing/wanting but forgot about.

enduring: can tolerate a lot--physically, mentally, emotionally, even without certainty of reward at the end.

switch: their dynamic depends on the person, but generally are top-leaning. they are just as eager to struggle for dominance as they are to be put in their place.

work hard, play hard mentality: they overwork to justify seeking pleasure and good times, believing strongly in indulgent treats and blowing off steam--and most importantly, treating others.

1TB SDD memory: their sense of humanity is extremely dependent upon their connections with others above all else, whether close/personal, casual/transactional, or human/AI. they will not forget you.

cybernetically enhanced: stronger than average, but they're made of mostly doll parts, so you know. pleasure enhancements are included >:3

CONS

thrill seeker: they constantly want to test the limits of their cybernetic body in ridiculous ways--whether with new, dangerous drugs, by jumping off buildings in corpo plaza, or watching hacked BDs. their cybernetics aren't even particularly strong; they deliberately choose cheap/basic models and are more than willing to blow money on repairs/replacement parts.

rat: refuses to buy food unless it's for others. they'll openly steal food off tables as they pass by random people dining on the street to get the very limited caloric intake they need. if that fails, they'll even eat something off the ground if it doesn't look too gross.

deeply unwell: it's not just the creepy look of the kiroshis; years of cybernetic replacements have eroded NV's sense of humanity. while there's no risk of a full blown cyberpsychotic breakdown, a sort of gnawing omnipresent craving for violence lives inside them, something they consistently indulge in on a small scale via work when the opportunity presents itself. though it's not enough to motivate their decisions, they do enjoy the excuse.

the fool: their sense of identity is largely defined by choice and the guilt that follows. nudging them into misguided choices is not particularly difficult.

indifferent reaper: they are acutely aware of the nature of merc work, how often they're required to pass judgement on behalf of others whom they may not agree with, as well as how often they are given the unique opportunity to pass life-or-death judgement themselves. but even when executing something they feel is right, they don't really believe in greater moral justice, only luck and bad luck.

feral: the relic and johnny's influence prevent further decay of their humanity but also exacerbate a tendency to overindulge in all their vices. they WILL get themselves into trouble.

narrow viewpoint: particularly focused on individual survival, they don't often examine the larger picture (of corps, society, long-term manipulation, etc.)

EXTRAS

former nomad who loves cars and driving around. they are either the best driver (on the clock) or the scariest (off the clock the thrill seeking mentality kicks in, no thoughts head empty, my insurance will cover this, etc.)

utility netrunner: very skilled but only uses it for doing spooky shit, never direct attacks.

throwing knife user. likes to pounce on their prey and abuse finishers.

also a failed arasaka corpo who loves bullying other corpos but is absolutely embarassed about being a failed corpo. it is not hard to see why they were bad at it.

smoker.

eager to follow a leader but generally suspicious of organized groups that recruit. indiscriminately hazes every ganger in night city, will beat their asses for fun and then sell their guns back to them

more propaganda under the cut (warning for slight spice 🌶)

[justslowdown]

Now that the floodgates have opened I want to share about this perfect little microcosm of what was fucked up about the eco-cult situation.

They had 3 mini cows obtained for the purpose of doing rotational grazing. Instead, they were allowed to completely demolish and destroy trees because they were starving.

There was a green pasture across the road. Us non-family, farmhand type people asked repeatedly if we could do ANYthing to get the ball rolling to move the cows.

We asked if we could buy more hay from our own pockets to feed them more often, if we couldn't make a moving plan. Instead, the leader opted to spend wild amounts of money on a coconut and agave mixture to offer them, which was eaten by the goats instead. That went on for months.

The leader had not just complete veto power but had to be the one laying out a plan of action for anyone to be allowed to do anything. If I, someone with years more hands on experience, offered a slightly different viewpoint, that was taken as a threat and insult. Even saying that milking goats and sheep isn't functionally that different besides teat placement. Because I've done both. "Well the videos I watched--" ma'am.

There was a sick, sick, horrible, abusive idea on the farm that fasting is the solution to most health problems. Ill animals were fasted. Ie, deprived of necessary energy and killed by inaction. The farm had heavy losses. When I checked a goose's body condition, for example, they asked me how I even knew what I was feeling when i could tell their breast from their keel--how to explain that if you raise animals, you literally need to understand basic physiology in a way that isn't theoretical...? Feeding the flock more when they were underweight and dying was a radical suggestion and again, taken as some kind of threat to the leader's ideology.

NOTHING they did was hands on or intuition based. It all had to be taken from studies and theories they'd read and decided were Absolute Truth. If 5 studies said one thing and 1 small study said the opposite, but it aligned with their worldview, that was the only one that mattered.

So the cows kept starving til their cull date. The leader was off the property when I finally got the butcher to come out, which we weren't told beforehand. The meat was tough and had almost no fat. The household kept buying Whole Foods beef (not farmer's market or a neighbor of course! Never!) (The leader's husband works for Amazon--no one ever discussed it)

[queer-ragnelle]

the arthuriana essays you share on here are always so interesting and well-researched! are there specific places you go to look for them or do they just kind of find you over time?

Hi anon! This is a complex answer. Research is never simple lol obligatory disclaimer I'm just some random enthusiast and in no way an academic, this is just how I go about it.

I find essays in a variety of places. JSTOR is where most of the stand-alone essays came from (IE; not otherwise published in a book, sometimes in journals I cannot find). I’ve been very fortunate to have friends lend me their college bypass so I could download from there, as I would be unable to access them otherwise.

Sometimes, while reading books, like The Friend by Alan Bray, there will be a reference to an influential essay or article, such as Faithful Unto Death, which describes the joint tomb of Sir John Clanvowe and Sir William Neville. For that paper, a friend had to request it from their own institution, wait for it, and then give it to me. I'd been staring longingly at it for literally years but couldn't justify paying the $30+ asking price for a PDF. I was lucky, once again, to have help.

Another way to find these academic resources is by reading the footnotes or bibliography in the back of books and tracing the source of individual essays or articles back to a bigger collection contributed by a variety of authors contained in a single volume (like A Companion to Malory I shared a few days ago). I learned about Alan Bray specifically because other essayists kept referencing his work! From there, I sought him out. The same has happened as I delved into Zoroastrian studies. The literature there is limited (at least in the English language, as I cannot read Persian or Hindi). So I found myself researching in a circle, following the trail of names until I ran out of scholars and they just referenced each other's work back and forth. I had consumed the entire body of [English] literature on the subject, so I knew I had come to collect the same resources as these essayists and historians had! Once you start going, "Hey, it's my friend [scholar] again!" you know you're in deep haha!

Much the same has happened with Arthurian legend. Norris J Lacy, known for his work as head editor of the translation team that tackled the Vulgate, is everywhere. He's the editor of countless textbooks, translator of medieval poems and prose, and even wrote his own retelling, A Camelot Triptych. Once you find someone in a field of interest that pops up a lot, you can begin searching for relevant resources through their name, rather than relying on blindly sifting through thousands of papers tagged "King Arthur".

Essayists don't make any money on this stuff. Institutions even charge people to publish their work. It's perfectly acceptable to obtain that knowledge however necessary. If you don't have college access yourself nor a friend who can help, there are websites to pirate from. (Please use a VPN to protect yourself.) Some websites are specific to the field, like science, which isn't my expertise, so I can't offer guidance there. But I've had luck on annas-archive.

It can be easy to assume everyone has the same opportunities, that a screenshot or link to JSTOR is sufficient for someone to access the same information mentioned in a post. It's tough when tumblr doesn't let you upload a PDF! It makes sharing resources difficult. One could dedicate money and cloud space to it (like I do with Google and MEGA drive) or upload it to a discord server where it can't breach containment and reaches only a limited audience. It's not ideal! And it's no individual's responsibility to tackle the problems with academia and gatekeeping, of course, but my goal is to source as much of what I discuss as I possibly can, as well as share those resources with anyone who could benefit from them. A librarian basically lol so I'm glad the essays I've shared have been beneficial to you!

[marabarl-and-marlbara]

what do you think about people copying your art style?

hi anonymous, notes from church;

to your question: about the same answer as the pinterest but more apathetic depending on how general you mean -- there is something incompatible-seeming to me regarding any-one interested in art to deny the aspect of influence in how we motivate ourselves; ie: often i see artists, animes, books, sentences, games, that just make me go "wow [they] did something amazing, i want to try to do that in the way they did" & i:ll imitate it pretty flagrantly, whether it be attempting to write cormac-like without punctuation, or outright ripping language from KJV bible, or pulling up an artbook for gate keepers and studying how the artist draws hairs and eyes, or looking at some AI amalgamate artwork of religious art and wanting to make something similar -- everything is just there to be eaten (dungeon meshi quote roughly, i watched the first episode day before last) and eating is the right of the living;

but, that:s all absconding from the Personal aspect of seeing art that seems extremely close to mine, and the weak personal part of me often feels a little hurt/wounded to see that, barring any credit: cause (like any other) i like recognition and even if some-times i make things lame, tepid: i still have a prideful spark that says mine! ~but i also think this isn:t a good-part of me, but it:s my flawed person-part of me. so: mostly i don:t care, even if it sometimes hurts me on a pride level; i feel worse if someone gets attacked over being influenced by me; but i:d feel absolute worse if i learned that they received money to fund the Warhammer Night Lords 40k Kill Team Fund off of work i made and i received nothing -- there:s nothing worse; there:s no hell deeper; there:s also no heaven higher than receiving money to fund the Warhammer Night Lords 40k Kill Team Fund but it:d be pale without the possibility of hell on the other side, too, you know? that:s art;

happy sabbath, by the way, anonymous: it:s hand-held sabbath when the 8th and seventh-day calendars overlap: yay, verily; consider observing and (if left handed) adopt a simple vow of chirality to only write mirrored excluding legal documents and when sinister-direction would hamper purpose (like addressing envelopes, packages); (sitting in church today i realized i struggled immensely visualizing how to write 'forwards' in my head, after writing backwards for so many years it finally flipped completely in my head); take care

[fitzrove]

Lol the Finnish public sector and university system are getting destroyed rn and I was already feeling unwell mentally but I feel more unwell now ajjdkdkfl

Going into more depth for universities and in their case it's:

Making the previously pretty robust student welfare system shit (= people won't have enough money to live on because the living expenses support is cut so drastically, there will be more pressure to work during your studies. But it's already hard to find suitable student jobs and because the cost of living is crazy, a lot of students struggle with poverty as is. Not to mention the strain of work PLUS school especially for people who are mentally ill etc...)

Reforming the entrance examination system. The Finnish university system was already wrecked one time in 2015, combining random ass subjects into Multidisciplinary Degree Programmes (tm) so you're forced to study a lot of stuff you're not even interested in and specialising is difficult. Like, it's an actual issue for applying to master's degrees abroad, like if someone was studying ie. sociology, they wouldn't have enough BA sociology studies to qualify for a master's degree abroad, because in Finland they also had to do such a huge variety of random ass other subjects. ANYWAY: the new entrance exams are making it EVEN WORSE. Now, for every "historical-cultural" subject there is one single nationwide entrance exam; same goes for political science/law/etc. So if you apply to study polsci you have to take the same exam as every law student in the country, which 1) makes it a poor measure of motivation for the actual specific subject you're going to study 2) filters out dedicated applicants with specific interests and favours random people who are good at studying and just want Some Kind Of Degree (also I'm suspecting that polsci departments will get filled with people who only applied to that as a backup for law). Also, the exams will have a huge emphasis on multiple choice questions and machines will correct them, essay writing skills or critical thinking are not really evaluated. Like I feel like this is actually going to have an impact on Finnish science some years down the line, people won't have enough motivation to get a strong enough basis and skillset in their own subject to do good and relevant research later..........

Making it impossible to be enrolled in two degree programmes at the same time. In some ways it's fair (there are people who are using that system for ill) but in some ways is catastrophic - it will make it really hard and daunting for people to switch majors (in Finland you can't switch within the university in most cases, you have to reapply to the university as a whole with the entire incoming cohort - which in Finland is not just recent high school graduates, getting into some programmes is so hard there that many people try 2-5 times, building up a huge applicant pool). So there's more pressure to know at 19 what you want to do for the rest of your life (especially given the huge emphasis put on the first-timer quota)

://////

[rotationalsymmetry]

So, responding to the least bad "vote blue" post I've seen in a while:

None of those are my issues with this genre of post. My issues with this genre of post are that this is not how get out the vote works. Telling people they have to do a thing tends to irritate the shit out of them. Assuming some percentage of your audience wants to vote Democrat and focusing on those who want to but might have life get in the way WORKS. Do that. PLEASE.

And optionally throw in some information that will help address barriers. For instance, you don't have to vote for every position and issue on the ballot, you can just vote for the things you care about and leave the rest blank and your votes will be counted. (Confirmed by ballotpedia.) Rules around Vote By Mail vary by state but it's generally an option for at least some people IF you ask for it soon enough. Where I live and I believe generally in the US, you can check online at your state's department of elections website to make sure you're registered to vote (at your current address!) -- every time you move even if it's just next door, you need to register again, but if you applied for a new driver's license you probably registered to vote at the same time. You can also check your state's department of elections website to learn about voting registration deadlines, whether you'll need to bring ID to the polls, where your polling place is, and when you can expect to receive your vote by mail ballot if applicable.

(Side note, do look that up if you're voting by mail. I didn't get my vote by mail ballot when I was supposed to because there was some confusion around apartment number, but I was able to call and get a new one in time for the last local election.)

There are groups that offer rides to the polls for people who have trouble getting their on their own (if you're not sure where to ask, try your local Democratic Party -- ie "town/city name Democratic Party.") There are a considerable number of disability accommodations legally required to be provided at every polling place, from wheelchair access to voting machines that read the ballot out loud to you to it being OK to get someone else to fill out your ballot for you (as long as you state that you gave them permission). There is a federal law guaranteeing this, so it does not vary by state. But, speaking as a former poll worker, when something goes wrong during set-up the accessibility stuff is the first thing back burnered, so even though these are legal requirements there may be discrepancies in practice. So if you require accommodations to vote, allow a lot of time, consider bringing a friend for support, and be prepared to have to advocate for your rights. Sorry. I know that's messed up. (Or vote by mail if that works better for you.)

Voting basics for new or uncertain voters: The best way to research, like the best way to study for a test, is to learn a little bit at a time over time by reading news (including local news), talking to people you know, etc. But, often life gets in the way of that or it's not enough, so that's where cramming comes in, and fortunately there are cliffs notes. What your best cliffs notes are is going to vary by location and political bias, but there's theoretically unbiased* sites like Ballotpedia (good but tend to not be useful for very local issues like school board) sites with a political leaning like https://progressivevotersguide.com/, and endorsements from advocacy organizations (advocacy groups like the League of Women Voters (a feminist group) often endorse candidates who share their priorities) and, importantly, newspapers. Also, people running for office generally have a campaign website: obviously these are very biased so you need to have a sense of which issues you care about and look for spin and what's not being said. For instance, a candidate who take a lot about public safety means they want to give cops more money/power. A candidate who wants to make environmental regulations weaker might not say anything about the environment at all, or might say something about being pro business. It can take a while to get used to how politicians talk about their political stances if you're not used to analyzing political speech this way, which is one reason endorsements are so useful, but it's also very much worth developing that skill so if you're kind of confused hang in there, you'll get it eventually. And talk to people you know who have similar politics, so you can learn together.

Actual voting: as mentioned above, there's two main ways of voting, at a polling place and by mail. Voting by mail means your ballot has to be postmarked by the end of Election Day, or dropped off at a polling place or election drop box. I don't like keeping track of things like when mail gets picked up from my corner mail box, so I recommend either mailing it out before Election Day or using the polling place/drop box approach.

You are allowed to bring a cheat sheet in with you to vote, or check your phone. What you can't do is tell people who to vote for in the polling place or ask them who you should vote for (even with things like buttons or slogans on t-shirts) -- do all of that outside of/before getting to the polling place. If you make a mistake at a polling place, you can ask for a new ballot, it's not a big deal. If you asked for a vote by mail ballot but want to vote in person after all, the best approach is to bring your vote by mail ballot so they know you're not voting twice; I think failing that it is possible to vote provisionally, which means they won't count your ballot until after the regular ballots and only after they check to make sure you didn't also vote by mail. It is also possible to vote provisionally at a polling place that isn't the one you were assigned to, for instance if the one near your job is more convenient. Normally your assigned polling place will be the closest one to where you live.

And you legally cannot post a photo of your ballot on social media (or eg a personal blog -- play it safe and don't take a photo of your ballot at all.) There is a good reason for this, it's to prevent coercion, so that eg your boss, or an abusive partner or parent, can't go "you have to vote for this candidate OR ELSE." Or rather, it means if they do that even though it's super not legal, you can lie to them and they won't have a way to check.

On that note, one of the biggest reasons that attempting to use social pressure on social media to force people to vote blue is never going to work, is...you can't check. It's relatively easy for people to just say they will, but actually voting is hard and inconvenient and none of us have any way of checking whether a mutual is saying "vote blue, you gotta!" and then quietly not voting. I don't think it's good anyways, but fear of social rejection tends to increase people's tendency towards dishonesty and hypocracy, and on social media between people using fake names who do not know each other off line, it is completely impossible to actually enforce conformity. All that can be enforced is saying the right thing, not doing the right thing. And sometimes the saying is the doing, but... saying you're going to vote is not the same as actually filling out a ballot.

If you like the election guide stuff and want to share it but don't like part of what I'm saying, feel free to copy/paste and make your own post.

*bias tends to be a relative thing not an absolute thing, and people motivated to get more people to vote are almost never conservative (the conservatives generally benefit from voter suppression, which is why they're always going off about the realistically trivial amounts of voter fraud), but less biased is a very real thing.

[mi-rae07]

Jung Wooyoung : The Reason

Pairing : Jung Wooyoung (Ateez) and named character (Shin Iseul)

_________________________

Miyeon : so you have a boyfriend.

Iseul nodded, taking a sip of the coffee she had bought at the hospital café as she said

Iseul : yes, I do.

Miyeon : except he…works as a sales boy.

Iseul : he works in a Gucci store-

Miyeon : yes, that's what I said.

Iseul : he gets paid enough-

Miyeon : except you're a resident. You're going to be a neurosurgeon someday, and he's going to remain a sales boy.

Iseul sighed, leaning back against the chair with a sigh. She was at it again, trying to convince her friends that her boyfriend did deserve her, and that his job didn't really matter when he was a good person.

Iseul : yeon-ah, please.

Miyeon : seul-ie, I love you, okay? And I want you to get someone you truly deserve, not some sales boy.

Iseul : I've been dating him for two years now.

Miyeon : and you never told me.

Iseul : because I expected you to do exactly this!

Miyeon : well what else would anyone expect! A neurosurgeon and a sales boy? Please, you gotta be kidding me.

Iseul : he is a good man.

Miyeon : but does he provide you with financial security?

Iseul : I can provide myself that, I'm going to be a neurosurgeon, yeon.

Miyeon : fine, is he hot?

Iseul : he…what? Yes, yeah I suppose.

Miyeon : you're with him because of his body then, aren't you.

Iseul : Jung miyeon!

Miyeon : what!

Iseul : god this is so stupid.

Iseul would rather leave than hear her bestfriend shitting on her boyfriend like this. She was about to get up when miyeon held her arm and asked

Miyeon : do you love him?

Iseul : of course I do!

Miyeon : and does he love you?

Iseul : yes, yes he does.

Miyeon : does he take care of you well, forgetting all the money, does he truly take care of you? And does he make you happy?

Iseul : he does, he's an amazing person to me, yeon-ah.

Miyeon sighed, nodding as she motioned towards iseul's coffee before saying

Miyeon : then that's all I need.

_________________________

Iseul opened the door to hers and wooyoung's apartment, immediately coughing at the smoke that suddenly surrounded her. She looked around with squinted eyes, her eyes landing on wooyoung who turned around and smiled before saying

Wooyoung : you're home.

Iseul : what…why is there so much smoke?

Wooyoung lifted his vape before keeping it away, making iseul sigh in annoyance. She hated this.

Iseul : wooy-

Wooyoung : I'm sorry, I know. I just got carried away.

Iseul sighed, keeping her bag away as she said

Iseul : I've told you not to vape at all, woo.

Wooyoung : I'll try. Now come here.

Wooyoung spread his arms for iseul as she smiled, walking towards him before crashing into his arms with a loud exhale. Wooyoung tangled his hand in her hair, inhaling deeply against her shoulder as he whispered

Wooyoung : my isi.

Iseul smiled at the use of her favorite nickname, nuzzling her head into wooyoung's chest while ignoring the smell of vape and smoke on him as she whispered

Iseul : yes, yours. All yours.

Wooyoung kissed the top of iseul's head as he asked

Wooyoung : how was work, love?

Iseul : it was…tiring but fulfilling. This is what I've always wanted to do and now that I'm actually doing it, I feel proud.

Wooyoung : I'm proud of you too.

Iseul : and you? How was work for you?

Wooyoung : mm, it was fine.

Iseul frowned at the bland answer as she asked

Iseul : that's it?

Wooyoung : what's going to be so special about working as a sales boy, seul-ah.

Iseul looked up as she said

Iseul : woo, come on.

Wooyoung : all I've ever wanted my entire life was to be a fashion designer, isi. A good one, a rich one that could make revolutionary work. And I studied hard for it, graduated with top scores. But even after all that, people just don't seem to care. My works are just…bland to them.

Iseul : your works are not bland.

Wooyoung : well my works don't sell either.

Iseul : give it time, young-ah.

Wooyoung : I gave it 4 years, but now I'm done.

Iseul pulled back at that, her eyes widening in shock

Iseul : you're stopping your works? You're not going to design anymore?

Wooyoung nodded with a sad smile, making Iseul step back with a shaky breath. Wooyoung had dedicated his entire life to designing and now if he dropped it, that would mean his dreams to be shattered and ruined, never to be brought back again. And iseul wanted wooyoung to be happy.

Iseul : so you're going to be a sales boy forever.

Iseul saw wooyoung recoil at that, his eyes hurt. And only then did she realize how those words might sound like to him.

Iseul : oh no, no I didn't mean it that way, young-ah.

Wooyoung let out a scoff, shaking his head as he whispered

Wooyoung : so you're tired too.

Iseul : no, woo-

Wooyoung : I expected this to happen someday. Just not…now.

Iseul stepped closer to wooyoung, trying to hold him as she said

Iseul : no no, wooyoung-ah, please I'm not tired of you.

Wooyoung : l-let go of me.

Iseul shook her head, holding onto wooyoung's arm as she said

Iseul : no, wooyoung. I'm sorry, hmm? I didn't mean to say it that way, I meant that I didn't understand why you were throwing your dreams away like that-

Wooyoung : you meant you were disappointed you'd have to be with someone poor like me whose job pays so low, I can't even afford shit.

Iseul : what?

Wooyoung : if you're tired of me then just FUCKING LEAVE SHIN ISEUL!

Iseul : wooyoung, stop.

Wooyoung kept trying to push himself away from iseul's hold, his nails digging into her wrist.

Iseul : wooyoung you're hurting me, please.

Wooyoung : then let go!

Iseul finally banged wooyoung against a wall, holding him against it tightly. Wooyoung stared at iseul with teary eyes as she said

Iseul : why do you keep thinking I'll leave, wooyoung? Is that how shallow I seem to you, to leave you just because of something as trivial as this?

Wooyoung : it's how everyone is. It-

Iseul : not everyone, me! I'm talking about me, wooyoung!

Wooyoung looked away from iseul, making her sigh as she felt her heart drop

Iseul : you keep doubting me.

Wooyoung : I'm not doubting you.

Iseul : then what the fuck are you doing, woo!

Wooyoung : I…

Wooyoung cut himself off as his lips trembled, making iseul's eyes soften at the sight. She leaned forward and held his cheek, whispering

Iseul : young-ah?

Wooyoung : I just…I feel like a failure, seul-ah. I feel useless and…I can't even provide for you anymore.

Iseul : you don't have to, I can provide for us woo.

Wooyoung : but I don't wanna sit at home doing nothing while you're working hard out there, I wanna help too.

Iseul : wooyoung-ah, I love you. I love you and I'm not going to leave, or let anyone tell you that you don't deserve me, okay? I could do anything for you.

Wooyoung sniffled, looking away as tears streamed down his cheeks. Iseul wiped it away, kissing his cheek afterward.

Iseul : don't cry, you can't.

Wooyoung : I'm sorry.

Iseul : why must you be sorry, lovie.

Wooyoung : for being like this to you, you don't deserve to get hurt because of me.

Iseul : then shut up and kiss me.

Wooyoung let out a small smile, whispering under his breath

Wooyoung : aish, won't even let me apologize.

Iseul wrapped her arms around his neck and said

Iseul : because you have nothing to be sorry for. You can never do anything wrong in my eyes.

Wooyoung smiled and leaned forward, kissing iseul.

______________________________

Iseul : do we seriously have to go to the store he's working in?

Yumi : yes we do? I wanna meet him.

Iseul : you can meet him sometime else-

Miyeon : seul-ah, please. We talked about this before.

Iseul sighed as her two friends indirectly dragged her towards the Gucci store, not being able to stop them. Yumi opened the door to the Gucci store, iseul's eyes landing on wooyoung who was explaining an item to a customer, the customer clearly awestruck by his handsome face. Iseul smiled at that, feeling suddenly proud. She was never the jealous type anyway.

Wooyoung : isi?

Yumi : aww! He's given you a cute nickna-

Iseul : shush.

Iseul smiled as wooyoung walked towards them, bowing at both yumi and miyeon before saying

Wooyoung : hello, I'm jung wooyoung. Iseul's boyfriend.

Yumi : I'm kim yumi, and this is jung miyeon. We're both seul-ie's bestfriends.

Iseul chuckled and nodded, gesturing towards the customer behind them as she asked

Iseul : aren't you going to assist them, woo?

Wooyoung : oh, her? No, joon'll take care of her. You didn't have work today, guys? It's only 11am.

Miyeon : we finally got a day off today, it’s been forever since we've received a break so we decided to shop.

Wooyoung : ah, okay! Then go ahead, check through whatever you want.

Miyeon nodded, walking towards a nearby shelf. Yumi pulled out a credit card from her purse, smiling as she said

Yumi : guess what, my boyfriend gave me his card to buy whatever I want for myself, so I won't have to worry spending much this time!

Miyeon : lucky bitch, I spent all of mine a week ago.

Iseul looked up at wooyoung at their words, knowing how he would feel hearing the fact that other boyfriends sent their girlfriends an entire card to buy clothes with while he couldn't do any of that at this moment. Which, she didn't mind but she was sure he would.

And she was right, wooyoung's eyes were now lowered to the floor, his earlier smile disappearing.

Iseul : woo-

Wooyoung : mm no, it's okay.

Iseul : but-

Wooyoung : I'm fine, isi. You go with your friends, hmm?

Iseul could only stare at wooyoung as he gave her a small kiss before leaving to tend to the other customers. Iseul was still not satisfied, but she had no choice but to go back to her friends.

_________________________________

Iseul picked up the phone call she had just received, frowning at the contact being wooyoung's bestfriend, not wooyoung who hadn't come home despite it being 2am already.

Iseul : joon? What's wrong?

Joon : yeah, your boyfriend is hell drunk, seul. What do you want me to do with him, I know you hate it when people are drunk.

Iseul sighed, getting up as she kept her medical book and highlighter away before walking to her coat stand.

Iseul : send me your location.

Joon : you're going to come to this club?

Iseul : he doesn't leave me much of a choice now, does he?

Iseul opened the door to the club, trying to breathe through her mouth in order to avoid the smell from hitting her. She soon found wooyoung resting his head against a table, mumbling some gibberish.

Iseul : jung wooyoung.

Joon : oh? You're here.

Wooyoung lifted his head grumpily, smiling at the sight of iseul

Wooyoung : isi! I missed you!

Iseul : thank you for suffering with him, joon. I'll take him from here now.

Joon chuckled and nodded, making iseul sigh as she held wooyoung's arms and lifted him up from the chair. Wooyoung fell on her with a small breath, nuzzling his head against her neck as he whispered

Wooyoung : you smell so nice.

Iseul : wish I could say the same about you.

Wooyoung : seul-ie! Mean!

Iseul : shut up and come with me like a good boy.

Wooyoung chuckled against her neck, saying sheepishly

Wooyoung : I'm a good boy.

Iseul : no you're not, you're terrible these days.

Iseul dragged wooyoung along with her outside the club, squinting her eyes at the loud noise around her. Wooyoung placed his palm against iseul's ears, blocking the loud music from entering as she looked up at him.

Wooyoung : you don't like loud sounds, no?

He still remembered it. Iseul sighed, nodding as she guided wooyoung to her car that was parked a few meters away from them.

Wooyoung : i-isi?

Iseul : mm.

Wooyoung : am I…am I really terrible?

Iseul : what?

Wooyoung : am I really a terrible person.

Iseul laid wooyoung down on the seat, him looking up at her with wide hazy eyes. Iseul smiled and kissed wooyoung's flushed cheeks as she whispered against it

Iseul : you are, but I still love you.

__________________________________

Iseul : why did you drink last night?

Wooyoung looked up from his breakfast, staring at iseul who was still eating her pancakes.

Wooyoung : why would you think I had a reason?

Iseul : you don't drink unless something bothers you enough to do so. So tell me, what was that reason last night?

Wooyoung shook his head, going back to his breakfast as he said

Wooyoung : it's nothing.

Iseul : it's nothing or you just don't wanna tell me?

Wooyoung : I just…don't wanna tell you.

Iseul nodded, taking a bite of her pancake. She understood wooyoung had a life apart from her, as she had a life apart from him back at the hospital. And when wooyoung wanted to share his problems, he would. Until then she could wait.

Iseul : woo.

Wooyoung : yeah?

Iseul : how about we buy a new refrigerator?

Wooyoung looked up, frowning in confusion at the sudden request as he asked

Wooyoung : what's wrong with the one we have right now?

Iseul : well, it's old. And it doesn't function as well as the newly made ones do, I noticed while cooking breakfast today.

Wooyoung : isi-

Iseul : we can split the bill, no?

Wooyoung pressed his lips together as his hands clenched around the fork. He wished he was different than what he was right now. And saying he felt embarassed would be an understatement.

Wooyoung : iseul, I don't really think I have…the money for any of that right now.

Iseul froze, not having thought of that possibility.

Iseul : oh no, that…that's okay. Uh, I can just pay for it wholly then. Do you wanna come along with me to choose it, woo?

Wooyoung hated the way iseul's shiny eyes dimmed from his answer, and the way she had to adjust so much of her things in life because of his failures.

Wooyoung : and then watch you pay for it entirely while I just stand there empty handed?

Iseul : woo.

Wooyoung : I'll find the money and come with you. Just give me some time.

Iseul : no don't do that, it's not really that required-

Wooyoung : stop pushing away your desires for me, iseul. You don't deserve that.

Iseul : it's called adjustment, woo. And I told you, I could do anything for you. If you don't have the budget for a refrigerator right now, then we wait until you do. That's all.

Wooyoung : seul-

Iseul : nope, that's final. Forget I asked and have your breakfast.

Wooyoung sighed, eating his food with a disturbed mind. God, he wished he'd just studied to become a lawyer or an engineer like his parents had wanted him to instead of going after this cursed job.

______________________________

Joon : young, boss's calling you.

Wooyoung looked up from the boxes of clothes that he had been assigned to hang up, frowning.

Wooyoung : right now?

Joon : yeah.

Wooyoung : joon. Is something wrong?

Joon shook his head with a sigh, stepping aside for wooyoung to go through. Something was wrong. Wooyoung kept the box aside and stepped inside the manager's room, his eyes landing on the clock that struck 10pm. God, he had to go home now.

Wooyoung : you called for me, sir?

Boss : close the door behind you.

Wooyoung closed the door behind him, his heart beating hard against his chest knowing something was terribly wrong at the tone of his voice.

Wooyoung : yes?

Boss : you submitted your works to a fellow company?

Wooyoung looked up with surprised eyes, his heart dropping. That was a week ago, and they had already rejected him as well a few days ago. But for the manager to have known, that could only mean trouble.

Wooyoung : sir, I'm sorry.

Boss : you're SORRY? SERIOUSLY JUNG WOOYOUNG?

Wooyoung bit his lips, looking away as his boss stood up and walked towards him angrily

Boss : I took you in when NO ONE ELSE DID, do you understand that?

Wooyoung : yes sir-

Boss : you're charity work, wooyoung, I took you in out of pure pity. Your stupid designs had nothing to do with it.

Wooyoung felt tears threaten to fill his eyes at the harsh words, his hands clenching behind him.

Boss : and now you cheat me behind my back, sending your works to other people as if anyone in their right mind would take you in as a designer.

The manager scoffed, stepping back as he said

Boss : you're stupid to think you could ever be successful with what you have, wooyoung. Your entire life was destined to be a failure.

Wooyoung : sir-

Boss : that's probably why you're with that neurosurgeon lady, aren't you?

Wooyoung looked up at that, his eyes darkening.

Wooyoung : what?

Boss : so that you could suck up her money while pretending to love her since you have nothing of that sort?

Wooyoung : watch your words, sir. You may be my manager but you are no more than a mere human to everyone else. So do not step over your boundaries.

The manager held wooyoung by the collar, his eyes furious at his words.

Boss : what did you just say, you imbecile?

Wooyoung : you can call me a failure, you can say my works are all stupid and will never sell, you can say whatever you want about me, sir, but do not question my dignity or hers. I do not need to explain myself and my love for her to you, as you are not entitled to be hearing any of that.

Boss : you-

Wooyoung : yes, yes I'm an utter failure, I agree to that. I can't do better than others and I…I can't make enough money to live by. But I will never, ever use any one else to satisfy my own needs by pretending my feelings. Never.

The manager let go of wooyoung with a scoff as wooyoung took his tag off with trembling hands

Wooyoung : but I understand what you mean, I did cheat you and stab you behind the back by trying to sell my designs. But I needed money, I needed something, sir. And that was the only thing I could do.

Wooyoung placed his name tag on the desk as he bowed at his manager for one last time

Wooyoung : I resign, sir. From this day forth I will no longer be your employee, as you desire. You can get another charity case off your shoulders.

The manager could only stare as wooyoung turned around and left the cabin with tears in his eyes, his hopes and dreams completely shattered now.

__________________________

Iseul : woo? Is that you?

Wooyoung took his shoes off as he said lowly

Wooyoung : yeah, I'm home. Why are you still awake?

Wooyoung looked up as iseul walked towards him, her glasses resting against the bridge of her nose while small strands of hair slipped through her high bun.

Iseul : I had some work to do.

Wooyoung sighed, walking past iseul as he said

Wooyoung : I'm going to go sleep.

Iseul : no hugs or kisses, then?

Wooyoung : not right now.

Iseul : why?

Wooyoung : just let me be for now, please.

Iseul closed her book before following wooyoung up the stairs, still being persistent

Iseul : is this because of breakfast?

Wooyoung : what breakfast?

Iseul : the refrigerator?

Wooyoung let out a noise of annoyance, opening the door to their bedroom as he said

Wooyoung : please, stop bringing that up.

Iseul : because you said you couldn't afford it right n-

Wooyoung : shin iseul!

Iseul paused, looking up at wooyoung as he huffed, throwing a pillow away.

Wooyoung : please, give me a break for once!

Iseul : wooyoung, I'm just asking. I don't wanna fight.

Wooyoung : well you're causing it, iseul! I told you to leave me alone and you're still here following me like some lost puppy.

Iseul : so I'm the problem here? You're the one who's lacking communication skills, wooyoung.

Wooyoung : that is the last problem about me that I care about.

Iseul : then what do you care about? Huh?

Wooyoung : iseul please! I can’t do this today.

Iseul : I do not fucking care anymore, wooyoung. I need an answer. What, is, your, problem?

Wooyoung : I want you to leave.

Iseul flinched at his answer, her eyes widening

Iseul : w-what?

Wooyoung : I want you to leave, iseul, break up with me before I do it. Go, leave me alone.

Iseul : wooyoung, what are you saying.

Wooyoung : or do you want me to leave, since this is your house that you bought from your money?

Iseul : no, what! That's not what I'm-

Wooyoung : I'm going back to my old apartment, then. Let me go.

Iseul : seriously? That's what you want? After everything I did for you, that's what you want?

Wooyoung looked up at iseul with blank eyes, his eyes not having an ounce of emotion. Iseul scoffed, looking away as she said

Iseul : I never should have spent any of my energy on you, ever. I should have known you'd be like everyone else, abandoning me.

Wooyoung : yes, maybe I'm not so different after all.

Iseul pressed her lips together, rage and hurt filling her.

Iseul : I hate you, wooyoung. I hate you for doing this to us, to me. You're a coward, you can't fight for anything in life and just give up as soon as you sense the first sight of trouble. While I fought every single day for 4 years to be with you.

Wooyoung nodded, trying not to let out an ounce of emotion. He couldn't, not now. Iseul took wooyoung's bag from the shelf and threw it at him, making him step back from the force of it

Iseul : leave, get out. When I come back in the morning, I don't want any of your things to be seen in my apartment. Get yourself out of here and go wherever the fuck you want. Because what you do from now, is on you. I'm not going to do anything for you or for us anymore.

Wooyoung stared as iseul stepped away from him, whispering

Iseul : I don't ever want to see you again, so go and do the only one thing you're capable of doing, messing everything up.

Iseul walked out of that room, not knowing wooyoung was breaking down on the other end of the wall, crying his heart out.

____________________________

Joon : you…you asked her to leave?

Wooyoung nodded, inhaling the smoke once again before exhaling it as he rested his head against the back of his old dusty couch.

Joon : wooyoung, what the hell? You love her!

Wooyoung : but I can't do anything for her, especially now that I lost my other job too.

Joon : you can just look for another one.

Wooyoung : and get paid even lower? I can't afford her anymore, joon-ah. And I'd hate to watch her spend her entire life looking after a failure like me when she's so successful and smart. She deserves someone as rich and successful as her.

Joon : she loves you, wooyoung. I don't really think she cares about any of the finance.

Wooyoung : that's the point, she should start caring more about her finance and herself. Hence why I asked her to leave.

Wooyoung took another inhale of his vape, closing his eyes as he felt the smoke fill his lungs.

Joon : you're so stupid.

Wooyoung : I know.

Joon : you're making yourself go through pure torture in order to try and make her life better.

Wooyoung : I told you I loved her.

Joon : if you love her then fucking fight for her, wooyoung. Don't just run away like this, that's stupid and-

Wooyoung : cowardly, right?

Joon : yes!

Wooyoung sighed, standing up as he said

Wooyoung : maybe I am a coward then.

___________________________

2 weeks later :

Miyeon : seul-ah.

Iseul looked up from her patient, looking at miyeon who had just ran up to her in a hurry

Iseul : yes?

Miyeon : a new patient's been brought in right now.

Iseul : aren't there other doctors-

Miyeon : no you're…gonna wanna see to him instead.

Him, him. Iseul's eyes widened as she ran towards the room miyeon had told her about, opening the door harshly as her eyes landed on wooyoung who was lying on the hospital bed.

Iseul : wooyoung!

Wooyoung looked up at her with shocked eyes, iseul coming closer to him as she asked

Iseul : what's happened to you?

Wooyoung : I…I just fell while I was walking through the road and someone brought me here.

Iseul : did someone run your tests?

Wooyoung : I su-suppose?

Iseul rushed out of the room, wanting to find the results. Wooyoung leaned back against the bed, sighing. He knew he hadn't just fallen, he knew he had fainted from eating too less. He had just wanted to save enough in order to pay the rent and bills, but apparently he had overestimated his body.

Wooyoung stared as iseul entered the room, her eyes grave as she said

Iseul : have you been starving yourself, wooyoung?

Wooyoung looked away, his hands clenching around the bedsheet. Of course she found out.

Iseul : do you need food?

Wooyoung : I left you, you're not supposed to be doing anything for me.

Iseul : fine, then I'm saying this as your doctor. You need to eat your meals on time, jung wooyoung. And if you won't do that, I'm going to force-feed you.

Wooyoung stared at iseul as she took the IV trip off him and said

Iseul : get up I'm buying you food, just this fluid won't do. Because I won't see you like this another time.

__________________________

A month later :

Iseul hadn't seen wooyoung another time after that lunch she had had with him. And that lunch had been awkward enough, with wooyoung not uttering a word and iseul not saying much either. And since then, although iseul had tried contacting wooyoung, he hadn't picked up. She even tried sending mean texts to wooyoung and he still hadn't responded.

And now she was sitting in a café, waiting for joon who had called her up to talk about important matters. Iseul had abandoned her works as soon as she had heard that, knowing it was about wooyoung.

And for him she could drop anything.

Iseul looked up as she heard the door open, her eyes landing on joon who sighed and sat next to her quickly.

Iseul : joon-

Joon : yes it's about wooyoung.

Iseul : I know, but do you need something to drink?

Joon : not really, I'm fine.

Iseul nodded, motioning joon to talk.

Joon : wooyoung lost his job.

Iseul : w-what? When?

Joon : the day he broke up with you.

Iseul's eyes widened, her hands on the coffee cup loosening. Shit.

Iseul : then…that's why he-

Joon : yeah, that's why he left. Because he didn't wanna burden you. And ever since then he's been suffering.

Iseul sat back against her chair with a shaky breath, closing her eyes. Of course wooyoung had done that.

Iseul : after all that I had said to him about this.

Joon : he still believes you deserve better, seul. I don't know when he would understand that your love for him is much greater but I can't wait for that anymore. I can't see wooyoung being in pain like this. So I need you to try and talk to him, please.

Iseul : does he still live in his old apartment?

Joon : yeah, for which he's been struggling to pay rent for.

Iseul nodded as she said

Iseul : thank you, joon, for telling me all this.

Joon : it's nothing, I just want you both to be happy. And if your happiness is him and his happiness you, then I'm more than happy to put you back together.

Iseul smiled, nodding her head. She was going to bring wooyoung back, she had to.

Joon : however uh…you won't really mind giving me jung miyeon's phone number now, will you seul-ah?

________________________

Wooyoung walked back to his apartment while taking a puff of his vape, his eyes closing at the feeling of it surrounding his lungs. He knew he shouldn't be doing this, but hell to all that. What really was the point in living now.

Wooyoung typed in the passcode as the door to his apartment opened, frowning as he realised that the lights were on. As soon as he realised the reason, wooyoung stepped back in shock, his eyes widening as he asked

Wooyoung : what? How are you-

Iseul : do you enjoy destroying your lungs like this?

Wooyoung clutched the vape tighter in his hands, looking away

Wooyoung : why would you care. We're not together anymore.

Iseul : because you decided that I should leave you just because you lost your job at the store?

Wooyoung paused, his eyes widening. No, she couldn't know.

Wooyoung : you're not supposed to know.

Iseul : except I do now.

Wooyoung was about to say something when his vape beeped suddenly, indicating that someone had to turn it off if it wasn't in use. Iseul signed in annoyance, walking up to wooyoung before taking the vape and throwing it away harshly.

Wooyoung : Iseul!

Iseul : what! Does that stick matter more to you than me? Than us?

Wooyoung : stop, stop and let me be, iseul. We can't be together.

Iseul : WHY? Why, because you can't make enough money? I told you I would fucking take care of that, wooyoung!

Wooyoung : BUT I DON'T WANT YOU TO! I...I want to be able to provide too, so just...please, give me time.

Iseul : and then come back to you when you have the money? Do I look like a gold digger to you, wooyoung?

Wooyoung let out a breath, stepping away from her. But Iseul only stepped closer, shaking her head.

Iseul : wooyoung, I love you.

Wooyoung : you cannot love someone like me. You need to leave.

Iseul : and then what? You're going to smoke your life away?

Wooyoung : if I am? Then what?

Iseul glared at wooyoung and walked towards the vape she had thrown away, bending down and picking it up as she turned it on. Wooyoung's eyes widened as Iseul inhaled it, coughing as soon as the vape entered her body.

Wooyoung : no! No, no no Iseul, stop!

But she didn't, not even when wooyoung ran towards her and tried to take the vape away from her. Iseul continued inhaling it, coughing continuously.

Wooyoung shook his head, tears in his eyes.

Wooyoung : I'll stop, I swear I'll stop.

That still didn't seem to stop iseul. And so wooyoung finally snatched the vape away from her harshly, breaking it into half as a sharp piece of the plastic cut through his cheek, drawing blood. Iseul coughed hoarsely, making wooyoung hold onto her as he leaned closer to her and asked

Wooyoung : are you alright? Seul-ah, can you breathe?

Iseul shook her head, lifting her hand as she wiped the blood off Wooyoung's cheek and whispered

Iseul : you're bleeding.

Wooyoung : it doesn't matter! Iseul, are you okay.

Iseul : woo, I need you.

Wooyoung stared at Iseul as she sniffed and said

Iseul : I need you home, woo. I love you, and I don't care if you don't have a job or whatever, I still want you.

Wooyoung : iseul-

Iseul sobbed, placing the back of her hand against her eyes as she said

Iseul : please, please don't leave me. Please don't let go-

Wooyoung cut Iseul off as he hugged her, resting her head against his chest as she cried.

Wooyoung : I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.

Iseul : you're so...so cruel.

Wooyoung ran his hand along her hair, tears falling down his cheeks as he whispered

Wooyoung : I know, I won't ever do it again.

Iseul : you...promise?

Wooyoung would rather die than see Iseul cry and beg him like this. He'd rather just stay and fight for them as he was always supposed to. He didn't wanna be a coward any longer.

Wooyoung : I promise.

___________________________

6 years later :

Iseul : you know, you didn't have to rent an entire amusement park like this.

Wooyoung : you said you wanted us to go to a park?

Iseul : yes, not spend millions of dollars on renting it just for us?

Wooyoung smiled, resting his head on his wife's shoulder as he said

Wooyoung : all that I make is for you, isi. So you ask me for something, I give more than just that.

Iseul giggled, ruffling wooyoung's hair as they walked out of the amusement park

Iseul : I'm flattered, husband.

??? : Oh my god, aren't you the designer jung wooyoung?

Wooyoung looked up as he noticed two girls in front of him, an excited smile on both their faces.

Wooyoung : why yes I am.

??? : oh my, we're big fans of you! And we love your designs and have been dying to get our hands on them, but they always get sold out real quick.

Wooyoung smiled as he said

Wooyoung : I'll try to rectify that next time, surely.

??? : Thank you! Do you uh, mind if we get your autograph?

Wooyoung chuckled and shook his head as he took the pen from their hands, signing. Iseul looked at him with a proud smile, feeling her heart swell up with pride for her partner. He had worked his way up to the top, and he deserved all the recognition and money he recieved for his hard work. Plus he was doing the one thing he loved the most, with her by his side.

??? : Thank you, sir. It was an honor to meet you. And you too, doctor. You're really pretty, both of you are, of course.

Iseul smiled and said a thank you as the girls said their bye's and left, giggling to each other.

Iseul : fans everywhere, I'm getting real tired, young-ah.

Wooyoung smiled at her sarcasm, wrapping his arms around her waist as he said

Wooyoung : really.

Iseul wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned closer before whispering

Iseul : mhmm. But if you give me a kiss, I might just forget all about it.

Wooyoung chuckled at her and said

Wooyoung : always the same.

Wooyoung leaned forward and took Iseul's lips in his, giving her all that she had wanted and more.

After all, she was the reason for his success, just as he was the reason for her happiness.

__________________________

[kumraa]

Writing Prompt/Challenge

Two characters/things who are so deeply entangled with each other but are on the other sides of the world

What isn’t enough for you is everything for someone

For one life there is one death as a simple matter of consequence

Take all of them and make them the bases of the parts of the story you are going to write

For example lets make 1. The bases of the magic system

Lets go with two people rather than things. That would mean these two are important. So then with a little brainstorming, we can make it so that

1) the special people are generational and the magic gets transferred through bloodlines

2) these people are hunted/worshipped

3) since they are on other sides of the world, one side hunts the magic holders cause they are evil and different | the other side worships and rids the magic holder out of their humanity

4) Lets make them siblings (therefore their bloodlines connected) and make the decisions one does change the course of fate and affect the other

{We can play around with these and add time related abilities/other gods [specifically related to fate (like the sisters in Greek Mythology)]/canon events (like every magic holder lives through this experience maybe a dream)

Then lets make 2. the character dynamic between almost everybody with simple but big enough differences that they are not the same relationship plastered on to different mannequins

The biggest and the easiest way to make that difference would be to make the ‘everything’ and ‘what isnt enough’ for all the characters different (for one rship its money while for the other its freedom)

One of them is poor and needs money to live while the other is rich but isnt happy with their life (cliche yeah, but it works)

Or going a bit deeper we can make them have two different goals with the same path, so for one the path isnt enough while for the other its everything (for example studying for a hard exam and the path is to study but for one it dosent give them everything they need to advance in life while for the other studying leads them to the goal they want to achieve)

Well in simple principle this works with one commonality. The characters desire different things(a good step with making them unique) but they have the thing that leads to their ‘desire’ the same (ie money, studying etc.)

The other thing is to change their reactions, so as to say the poor character getting angry at the rich for not being happy with the money they have or the the one content with just studying struggling to understand why someone would push themselves more when there is an option to just study and live

This dynamic creates great conflict between characters, especially if their reactions to the other is negative

So now to include this dynamic to our story our main ‘desire’ could be freedom but it can also be humanity. Both of these magic holders dont live like humans but we can go even deeper make it more simple. Like ‘connection’ or even ‘empathy’ this does connect to the theme of humanity however rather than focusing on it as a whole we make it more specific and it allows the characters to explore it to its full extent

Lets go with connection and make the worshipped character arrogant and in full belief of their god-hood. But deep down there is this almost animalistic desire for connection that they dont understand. They have worshippers and their fellow right and left hands, their mentees but there isnt anything that satisfies them, and always this deep scratching feeling in their heart. (Lets call them kall)

The other is completely ostracized. They dont have anyone to have an actual connection with. All the magic users are in hiding and its dangerous for them to band together and get too comfortable with their(all magicians) identity. So they are all alone talking with animals, their magic and to themselves. (Lets call them ellen)

So from ellens perspective kall has everything they need and want so this creates this chemistry of envy and rage from ellens side towards kall, while kall pities and looks down on ellen for their poor situation and even poorer life

Truly the enemies to best-siblings trope

Now lets take the 3. Idea to make the beliefs of this world (we can use it to deepen or even add a secondary magic system) but beliefs dont match up with every single person and country therefore we can make it so that the meaning of this phrase is interpreted uniquely by everybody

Lets make it so there are two major cultures that run in these countries, one with worship and one with hatred towards magic. We can have it so that back in the past there were multiple cultures but two of them survived and affected the world now the most. So lets do it that in different countries the worship is done with slight changes.

For the worshipper culture maybe one country makes them wear make up, another country does their ritual in the form of three weeks of sexual activity and service (or the opposite), another does it with sacrifice and so on

For the hatred culture we have ostracization but we can have it form in various ways for one lets say its ignoring that person, for the other its spewing hatred and violent reactions, with one of them it can be execution, we can even have cannibalism involved as this culture dosent believe that magic holders are human and even have farms for them to be eaten, we can use slavery as well so the list goes on

But in the bases of these beliefs and cultures there is belief in consequence

For the negative one it makes the magic holders the perpetuators therefore the people who suffer the consequences while the worshippers see themselves as simple beings and as a consequence of their existence to their holy creator and forgiver for letting them live with their pathetic lives

Annnndddd with this example i really hope i could help or spark some ideas within ya u can use my example or make ur own

the best way to create this is to interpret the phrases literally and metaphorically and then digging deep sometimes even exploring the opposite of the meanings of them so its mostly exploring it comepletely and sincerely with all your might

GOOD LUCK WITH WRITINGGGGG!!!! HAVE FUN WITH THE PROMPTTTT

[lily-ohfally]

📍 Pinned

Meet Lily Oh'fally! A Rava, Viera living in Ul'dah and have lived there for 10 years. He takes care of 4 younger Viera whom he have come to call his family. Three younger sisters and a younger brother. He works hard for their sake, but sometimes he works a bit too hard...

⚠ BEFORE YOU FOLLOW -> My main blog is ieatsoapdotcom! -> R18 content, I tag stuff but if you're under 18 kindly leave👍 -> I'm not responsible for your browsing experience, if you don't like what I do just unfollow/block me♥ -> Potential triggers and spoilers will be tagged with the following: [Expansion] spoilers, ie. Heavensward spoilers [Potential trigger] warning, ie. violence warning Tag list found [Here]

Lily and his surrogate family hails from Golmore jungle, though they keep it somewhat vague when it comes to their past, whether it's because of trauma or lack of memories is anyones guess. After arriving in Thanalan, they lived outside the walls of Ul'dah for many moons. Lily did his best to create connections with the merchants, doing almost anything to earn them enough coin to live. Though, Ul'dah's hostility towards refugees made things more complicated, an Lalafellian merchant had taken a liking to Lily and helped him gain a respectable reputation. Their relationship grew into a familiar one, Lily still refer to him as Gramps.

Around his 18th summer, Lily met another viera, one who was much older than him and ended up becoming his mentor of sorts. A veena with the stage name Doll who worked at a "night venue" hidden away in one of Ul'dah's many alleyways. Lily ended up working at the same venue, though exclusively as a dancer. Doll threatened the owner that "if anyone lays a hand on him, I'll kill you", as he didn't want the young viera to be defiled. Lily had always been admiring the dancers on the streets, imitating their moves from the shadows as he too wanted to dance in front of a crowd, and so he ended up doing. Though the place was not quite what he had hoped for, he would still happily dance on stage, attracting large crowds and ended up earning almost 3 times what his day job provided. His love for dancing was obvious once he started moving on the stage, his movements fluid and flawless, his expression content and gentle, almost as if he had ended up in his own world.

Lily became very gil oriented after coming to Ul'dah. Thinking that enough gil would ease the burden on his siblings and make their lives easier. Though in trying to earn more and more, he would often work himself into exhaustion. Falling ill and passing out several times throughout his life, as he wanted his siblings to focus on studying and learning, rather than working and worrying. Though they know he means no harm, they also want to help him ease the burden.

Lily is uneducated and can barely read and write. His math skills are somewhat high in comparison, being able to save money is important after all. He's also feared as a customer on the streets of Ul'dah, as he is able to bargain well and is known for being a fearsome haggler. Though, loved he is too, as he often takes any job thrown his way by the merchants and traders.

His family is made up of Lily, Layla, Kanna, Rose and Violet. Lily: Male, 25-30*, 186cm, Rava. Layla: Female, 20-25*, 190cm, Rava. Kanna: Female, 17-22*, 173cm, Rava. Rose: Female, 15-20*, 169cm, Rava. Violet: Male, 14-18*, 167cm, Rava.

Additional information:

I ship Lily with Haurchefant!! Tag is HaurcheLily and I am very delusional about them ♥️

Lily's forest name was Raeja. He changed it to Lily because of Lily of the Valley's and his fondness of them.

He is generally modest, but when dancing or working he prefers wearing light/little clothes that doesn't get in the way or get dirty.

His main colors are Royal Purple and Metallic Red. Lily's favorite colors are purples with gold.

Compared to in-game, Lily has a lot of muscle!! Wide shoulders, big boobs and strong thighs!!

*Ages from ARR to EW. They MIGHT be changed around a bit in the future so nothing is totally set except for Lily being the oldest and Rose and Violet being the youngest.

[misscammiedawn]

if you were given a million dollars and told you had 24 hours to spend as much as you could, what would you buy? (no saving/buying stocks/investing, that's not allowed, but buying things that will take time to deliver is allowed)

Let's segment this to ensure the spirit of the question is honored.

The pragmatic list:

- Pay for safety and surgeries for those I can help in my sphere. Help friends in red states move.

- Expand Oikos to have a second location and/or make Prime accessible to increase quality of life for disabled members of the family.

- Pay for a Marathon Session electrolysis to finish us up for hair removal (unsure if we would do top surgery)

The spoil my partners list:

- Clear all debts for those in my polycule

- Go on vacations with my partners or better yet make-shift convention to get Everyone Together. Because oh what a lovely dream it would be for someone to use their resources to give Everyone an opportunity to see one another and vacation together. I would love a person who could do that more than I have words for.

- Buy prohibitively expensive and silly items for each partner that offer no utility other than to be a nice one off kind of thing. I do not have examples in mind but I am certain I could work them out.

The *personal* and *selfish* fun and games list that does not involve other people (ie: why you asked us this question)

- Tailored wardrobe

- Take time to study photography, taking acting classes (more voice lessons), make-up lessons etc. essentially remove the "we're under educated" excuse we lean on heavily.

- Better bed

- Do some construction to make my room a closed off area, add sound proofing, mount the TV to the wall and add studio lighting so I can use it as a recording space.

Oikos upgrade/expansion is the most "real" answer though.

We've never been good at the Spend Money thing.

[theartofadventure]

It’s my birthday today. I’m the oldest I’ve ever been—fifty-nineteen. I woke up to a beautiful card from my husband and an invitation from my son to go for a walk in the redwoods where the streams are rushing with the recent torrential rains.

Sometimes on our walks we see coyotes on the hills studying us as potential snpacks, calling to each other across the way.

“What do you think, Phil? Are they worth it?”

“Nah, that old limpy lady looks too tough.”

And I do limp. I have planters fasciitis that is much better but never completely gone, and bursitis in one hip. My doctor sent me to a physical therapy class last month called “Hip Care,” with four other much young limpy people. I was having an unusually sore day, and hobbled into the class like Walter Brennan. She began by explaining all the reasons hips might hurt—ie sports injuries, arthritis, repetitive stress—and then added thoughtfully, “old age.” But during the series of exercises she had us do on the padded tables, I injured my knee. I suppose I have to go to Knee Care class next, if I can risk it.

So a bum hip, sore knee and bad feet, but I go for a walk in Nature every day. Otherwise I become Mad Bummer Lady—the bread is a little stale, I don’t have even one more MAGA day left in me, and who the hell leaves wrappers and cans in our park?

Annie—stop! Pick up the litter. Send money to Planned Parenthood. Toast the bread. Put on the good pair of glasses, like the priest told Bill Wilson in the thirties—“Sometimes I think that heaven is just a new pair of glasses.”

But wait, where did I put them?

Which bring us to the mind. Sigh. My mother died of Alzheimer’s and my father of brain cancer so what I used to call ten years ago “my little senior moments” are not quite as charming as they might be. Now, at 50-19, they can be scary. My main exercise is trying to find things—the phone, the keys, the car in big parking lots. A friend finally scared himself to death with the increased space out-ed-ness, and got the complete two-day neurological work up. At the end, the neurologist “assured” (hah!) him he simply had age appropriate cognitive decline, and added something that has saved me—it’s not a problem if you can never find your keys or glasses, but it becomes one if, when you find them, you can’t remember what they are for. So far so good every time: no flies on the princess!

But still, I am as happy and grateful as I have ever been, because I practice gratitude, and because of the incredible people who love me. I even love and respect me, mostly, old mad bummer lady me, one of the great gifts of getting older. I still have tiny control issues, and offer too much advice and “help” to my poor family members, even though I’ve learned that help is the sunny side of control. But I’m way more gentle with me and amused by myself now, or perhaps I’m just foggy enough not to notice all the annoying things I do or say: it’s the grace of myopia.

My Texan friend Praise-the-Lord-Sarah told me nearly 37 years go when I got sober that God loved me exactly the way I was, and loved me way too much to let me stay like that. She also taught me about porch presents, which are gifts wrapped in newspaper that you secretly leave on a friend’s porch because you’re thinking of them. You’re grateful for their friendship or you know they are hurting, or for no reason at all. And my experience is that if we put on the better pair of glasses, we see porch presents everywhere, daffodils, leftovers in the fridge, sick friends healing, the sight of Neal out in the garden planting his tomatoes. So happy birthday to me, all of you. Will you give one another porch presents today to celebrate, help take care of the poor, talk to yourself like I would talk to you, gently and with good humor? That would make this the best birthday ever. Love you.—Anne Lamott

[anneangel]

A (lengthy, and probably therefore not read) note on Tolkien as a person, Tolkien's work, classics, societies, copyright, capitalism and the public domain.

Tolkien himself demonstrates that those who keep the work in the popular imagination are those who consume it, that is, the public. Who determined the existence of LotR was The Hobbit, whose attachment of readers required new content that addressed more about hobbits.

I amazed in a Tolkien letter claiming to have nothing more to write about them (hobbits) and that their inspiration for what would become LotR was limited. Still, by their own inspiration and to satisfy readers' desire to consume more "hobbits stories", Tolkien wrote LotR as a result of setting aside the "stories of ancient days" he wanted to write so much (which he never launch/publish in life, all being posthumous works).

And so, at the expense of leaving his interest in the first era aside, LotR was finished and became a success, determining the events of the third age of his fantasy world.

The public determined that the work "started from the end, so to speak", after all it is the public that consumes, so also has a word in what will be produced. So Tolkien's publisher slammed the gavel, in the final decision to fund "more hobbit stories" (money is needed to finance projects, and a publisher will pay for what seems most favorable in terms of profit).

Later, Tolkien himself ceded the rights to The Hobbit and LotR. Money still rules, even if Tolkien wanted to unite the useful with the pleasant (ie, write what you like and still earn money for it). so, there is the money that regulates what will be produced and the public that consumes it, authors have to balance themselves on that scale, Tolkien was no exception.

But what is a classic works? It's are loved, studied and re-read for the way it impacted the respective genre and the culture around it, especially as such work spoke and still talks with themes of its century and centuries to come. A classic is a classic because it addresses themes that don't become obsolete. However, the way in which it will be approached can be relative, as the centuries change, the vision about such themes too.

Allied to this, it is not surprising that, in a world where money is the ultimate language, that companies produce what will bring them the most profit.

Warner produced The Hobbit with the intention of making a profit, but produced something that current audiences could identify with and consume. We're talking about a generation that has its own trends, so the film followed trends of the time in relation to "action & adventure" films and put "a little bit of everything", action, romance, RPG (...) with the original work.

Obviously readers would argue that the adaptation should exist to satisfy fans of the original work, but that's in the "perfect world". By way of understanding, the rule has always been for the company to buy the rights and define for itself what it will do with the content, even if it does no go what the author intended (this not only with Tolkien, it is not exclusive to this Fandom). In theory, the adaptation should cater to the fans. But the rule of money is clear: what they think will generate the most profit will be produced.

In The Hobbit, this caused three films and the inclusion of themes/scenes that did not exist in the original, and the statistic is obvious in pointing out that the amount of audience that followed such a trilogy in the cinema decreased according to the releases. Still, Warner made a lot of money (as well as Tolkien Estate, or who do you think selling books with prints/jackets of the film, favors?). The Hobbit movies made the list of those that raised more than 1 billion at Warner. And the sale of products from both The Hobbit and LotR became more visible to the general public, making money for all investors and stakeholders.

And even if the films do not cater to literary fans, who are unhappy with the changes, they have been serving a lot of children and young people (and adults) who watch them, as they are in line with what they currently consume in other media and platforms for games and movies.

You see, the fan is both the important link, in his place as a consumer of the content, as well as the lowest link, for only consuming and not being part of the profits. Furthermore, the fan is plural, since there is not only the "book fan" but also the "adaptations fan". And as the rule of good coexistence dictates: everyone needs to be respected without anyone being ridiculed or poorly evaluated and segregated based on their personal tastes.

Now, in business terms, for Warner or for Amazon, who have spoken good or bad about their productions, it only serves as marketing, the important thing for them is that they consume what they produce. That's how it is for content producers, correct? The ideal would be to speak fine, but speaking badly is not so bad as long as there is profit. It is a capitalist world.

In fact: Classic works remain classic because of their relevance. Still, as the term Adaptation suggests that it can be reproduced outside its initial scope. The difference is that while the content of the classic remains due to its timeless theme (understandable regardless of the century in which it is read), the adaptations may become less relevant because they (possibly) meet more changing demands and agendas in the social fabric, which can no longer make sense and/or be of little relevance in the near future (but only time will tell, in all).

For the rest, I believe that fans "upset with the adaptation that did not come out as they wanted or did not meet their expectations" are entitled to complain. An adaptation that meets current guidelines and modifies the original content disappoints the reader who is more focused on "because that work is the classic that it is", but it is also fans nostalgic and lacks flexibility in accepting that societies change, as well as the vision it will make of that content, depending on the changing guidelines addressed in our century.

Honestly? Both the original work and the adaptation talk about different places in society. While one is registered in the timeless, the other in the elements and guidelines of a certain time. But BOTH can be studied as long as the society that generates and consumes them is analyzed.

You see, for someone who specializes in "Tolkien" such adaptations are "aberration". For a sociologist? Study material. Saying then that the adaptations are "bad", depends on the point of view of who speaks and/or studies, is relative.

Getting here we have: As well as the public will mediate what it will consume (without judgment of what is "good" or "bad", just meeting its own will to consume certain media/content) and money will mediate what is produced. It will not be produced if there is no public. Such books and adaptations were produced because there was someone to consume them, so there was someone to pay for them.

The maximum rule is not moral, it is "it doesn't matter who produces or what is produced, it matters more to whom the content is intended" (in general, especially if that recipient pays for it, after all it is a capitalist society).

Tolkien wrote "more about hobbits" because the recipient wanted it. And companies produce adaptations that deviate from the original because the recipient wants it. Companies printed and distributed Tolkien's books because there were buyers (but buyers interested in Hobbits), as well as Warner and Amazon producing adaptations with current agendas because it's a trend in the market.

No, dear Tolkien fans, it's not an issue with you, it's not with your sole and exclusive purpose, it's not meant to just annoy you, it's not an attempt to misrepresent "values". To think like this is to reduce the theme, it is almost narcissistic. Unfortunately, things don't revolve around your navel. To understand movements of change it is necessary to study such changes from century to century. Since the 19th century, at least. And not just in the fantasy world, but with social movements in general.

I don't see it as misrepresentation because changes between centuries are notable, and sometimes necessary, just as we are not the same society as in the XIV century, we are not the same as in the twentieth century (in which Tolkien lived). Society is changeable because the people in it are. Wanting her to stagnate is retrograde.

When studying societies, their malleability content is perceived, perhaps that is why the endless interest in ancient societies is so intrinsic to us, whether in academia or in popular culture (why study them if really was exactly as we are today? But It no is). So, I don't see the guidelines of this century as "distortion of values", only as a change of paradigms, common from century to century (and often necessary).

Returning to the subject, understand the recipient not as a fan, but as a general public attached to an idea (if such an idea will become timeless or just a product of its time, only centuries will tell).

Honestly, I find the social study of works and their diverse and plural impacts on the cultural milieu that surrounds them to be very interesting, and not necessarily about the work itself. Because to reduce the work in itself is to deny the existence of the public that consumes it and that it has a different understanding of the same material and how it should be used.

And that is who Tolkien himself said about Allegories and Applicability. This idea talks about the annulment of the author as a producer of allegorical images predetermined by him and inserted in the work, in favor of the public applying their own understanding and repertoire of allegories and ideas to the read content, based on their own experiences.

That's it. This is the author limiting himself and recognizing the recipient who consumes his content as one of the determining elements in the creation process, as well as the acceptance of such a reality in the popular imagination, which will always be plural given that no one is obliged to see the content with "the same eyes".

This is so real that it is why the Public Domain exists, which is nothing more when a work is no longer under the domain of who created it (or heirs of Copyright), but in the domain of who consumes it, the public.

Tolkien's work is under the control of whoever owns the Copyright, which currently is who has enough money to have bought it, and the other half is under the ownership of the heirs, who also need money, well, look, capitalist society, I already said.

This does not mean that the public does not have their own opinion about the work and adaptations, whether these opinions are positive or negative. But they are nothing more than that: plural and diverse opinions of the public that consumes, commonly known what really matters!

Returning to the subject of Allegory vs Applicability, one of the things I found most interesting when reading Tolkien and Lewis was precisely that while Lewis makes a fantastic allegorical parody based on themes of Christian origin, Tolkien (albeit extremely Catholic) refused to alienate the reader from your own world view. I've always understood that it's as if Tolkien said that, if there was religious inspiration in his work, he didn't do it that way with the intention of inducing the reader to such a perception. Therefore, the reader is free to understand the work in his own way and apply it to his own knowledge.

So that there are several religious and Christian/Catholic contents that link with his work are making use of APPLICABILITY. However, this does not mean that everyone has to see the work in the same way.

It is curious that many fans ignore Tolkien's entire speech about Allegory and Applicability. To say that Tolkien's work is summarily Christian/Catholic is to make a mere allegory. Since Tolkien himself says that his work is not allegorical, he may be religious, but he tried not to force his readers to see his work that way. When talking about it, he opted for the freedom of the reader to see the work as us wished.

Obviously, while alive, Tolkien was proud of his work (and rightly so) after all, he was very dedicated to it and its details, there was never a fantasy author like him. But fans need to separate the work from the author.

It is curious that Tolkien was able to do this, for although he proudly loved his Work, in the essay/thesis on "Allegory vs Applicability" he relinquished control. He, as few authors could, realized that he owns what he does/says/writes BUT he doesn't own how the other will understand, he doesn't own how the reader will look at and understand the work. And he realized that and STILL accepted it and was in favor of the reader's freedom to understand the work and apply it to whatever they want, based on their own personal experiences.

It's as if he turned around and said: look, I thought like this while I was writing, but if you want to look at it that other way then okay, you're free.

That is, you liked the book, great! Did you like the movie? Excellent. All are being produced for the enjoyment of the public, and for the profit of the investors involved.

You are the consumer, your individual opinion matters. Now, if you want to conform to the discourse of the "Team books" or the "Team adaptations" and repudiate everything that is said to the contrary, it's completely your choice.

Now, what's the point of becoming so extremist to the point of not being able to list "positive and negative" points about the same content? Where is the good sense? And the basic rules of good coexistence and respect for other people's ideas, even if this idea is different from ours???

I recommend the same good sense that Tolkien had in giving up control (of an "absolute rule meaning" about his work), giving freedom to those who consume (to idealize the meaning of what it seems to be). Recognizing the consumer with plurality of opinions.

Tolkien DONT tryed to master them all us with an idea. Lmao!

So, NO try too! Please abandon the idea of "One Ring(Idea) to rule them all, One Ring (Idea) to find them, One Ring(Idea) to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them"

Lmao!!

[tuliptiger]

I! Would also love to see this studied so we can use whatever the results are to help change the things we're able to. I have been sitting here trying to figure out how to word my thoughts though.

I disagree with the hypothesis that people are chronically understimulated or at least I disagree with that as a general statement. I think that we're plenty stimulated but more importantly people with all sorts of different interests find their own stimulation just fine.

I love nature and the natural world, merlin, ebird, Inaturalist and good old notebooks and field guides are my favorite activities to go outside and do. More than anything I love birding. I also have education in natural resources and plan to live out my life with that as a career.

That being said, this last field season I worked exclusively outside, four 10 hour days outside in an area I absolutely am in love with. I still stayed up, often into the following days, watching tiktok and "satisfying" videos. Looking back I think I was stressed from, well everything. Needing money to pay for everything, the world's entire situation and americas fucked up (sorry for the language but describing it would deserve it's own post) cultural and social shifts. (While I love my career natural resources notoriously doesn't pay well, at least not the FS)

Those videos never actually made me feel better and often ruined the following day, anything I learned was questionable at best and completely devastating at worst, and the ratio of actual content I'd care about vs the rest of it was completely drowned out by the sheer volume of the library of content.

I found bird feathers and animal bones (environmental story telling forest edition), looked at bugs, spotted every animal and bird I could lay my eyes on. My crew and I would eat local berries and take breaks under the bluest sky I've ever been under, experience the awe-some views and sounds of being so far away from civilization the only way to contact us was through our radios.

That did NOT change my consumption of "stim videos" and quick content. My knowledge, curiosity, and adoration of nature was not correlated with my media use. Maybe for some people those things can be related, we're people and we're variable and nebulous but I think the issue is deeper than people being understimulated both mentally and physically.

If I had to put in a guess I'd say the larger issue is honestly stress, work and value (capital, value, worth) culture ie if you aren't creating value you are worthless. I'd also wager in correlation with these constant feelings of needing to be active and creating value, people are uncomfortable with being bored more than anything else these days.

(Sarcasm) If you're bored you can and should be making money right? How else is anyone going to pay their bills, go on vacation, have a stable life, or retire? Don't be lazy and stop staring at bugs. (End of Sarcasm)

I do not think boredom is bad at this point in my life, I'd even go as far as to say it's necessary (this would deserve it's own post to explain what I mean by this but I hope the meaning is clear enough) But capitalism doesn't have any room or patience for boredom, inactivity and monetarily valueless exploration. That's only good for your long term health and wellbeing and unsatisfied, ill people spend more money.

Addition: I rambled way too much, I am not currently good at condensing information. I just wanted to add on another piece of the puzzle, because it's really not one big thing it's a thousand different things I think.

Anyway...I just wanted to add that our infrastructure is so unfriendly to people just existing let alone exploring in urban AND rural areas it makes me furious. Birding these last couple years has really exposed me to this too. I can almost never find safe locations to pull off of roads to set up my binos or spotting scope to look at birds. Cities rarely have TRUE "loiter" friendly areas, parks are ok but USUALLY not the best for the purpose of learning about ecosystems or native ecology (unless you have a really cool city planner/city council that built parks around the idea of the local ecosystems).

I have never felt safe or welcome in residential areas either and they aren't particularly interesting in terms of biodiversity. Down town areas are out of the question due to noise, population and overall lack of the natural world. Unless you're buying things from shopping areas people dont take too kindly to you checking out the bushes and grasses around either. Urban areas don't encourage a slower pace of life and curiosity for the natural to me.

Again, if I'm not spending or making money and I'm only interested in my pretty cheap and free hobby I'm not welcome. And the final thing, this is, of course, just from my experiences and the places I've traveled. This does not encompass the entire USA let alone the world nor does it cover everyone's lived or future experiences.

I would be interested in resources and studies of why this trend of stim videos and quick content is on the rise though. I don't think any of us will like the answers but it would be a step forward to shift our society hopefully. If nothing else it could give individuals the chance to learn something about their habits to make the change for themselves.

My random unsubstantiated hypothesis of the day: the popularity of "stim" videos, fidget toys, and other things like that is a warning sign that something's Deeply Wrong with our world.

Don't freak out. I am autistic. These things are not bad. However, can we just...take a second to notice how weird it is that there are entire social media accounts full of 10-second videos of things making crunching noises, people squishing slime in their hands, and objects clacking together, and that enjoying them is mainstream and normal?

It seems that nowadays, almost everyone exhibits sensory-seeking behavior, when just a decade ago, the idea of anyone having "sensory needs" was mostly obscure. It is a mainstream Thing to "crave" certain textures or repetitive sounds.

What's even weirder, is that it's not just that "stim" content is mainstream; the way everything on the internet is filmed seems to look more like "stim" content. TikToks frequently have a sensory-detail-oriented style that is highly unusual in older online content, honing in on the tactile, visual and auditory characteristics of whatever it's showing, whether that's an eye shadow palette or a cabin in a forest.

When an "influencer" markets their makeup brand, they film videos that almost...highlight that it's a physical substance that can be smudged and smeared around. Online models don't just wear clothes they're advertising, they run their hands over them and make the fabric swish and ripple.

I think this can be seen as a symptom of something wrong with the physical world we live in. I think that almost everyone is chronically understimulated.

Spending time alone in the forest has convinced me of this. The sensory world of a forest is not only much richer than any indoor environment, it is abundant with the sorts of sensations that people seem to "crave" chronically, and the more I've noticed and specifically focused on this, the more I've noticed that the "modern" human's surroundings are incredibly flat in what they offer to the senses.

First of all, forests are constantly permeated with a very soft wash of background noise that is now often absent in the indoor world. The sound of wind through trees has a physiological effect you can FEEL. It's always been a Thing that people are relaxed by white noise, which leads to us being put at ease by the ambient hum of air conditioning units, refrigerators and fans. But now, technology has become much more silent, and it's not at all out of place to hypothesize that environments without "ambient" white noise are detrimental to us.

Furthermore, a forest's ambience is full of rhythmic and melodic elements, whereas "indoor" sounds are often harsh, flat and irregular.

Secondly: the crunch. This is actually one of the most notably missing aspects of the indoor sensory world. Humans, when given access to crunchable things, will crunch them. And in a forest, crunchy things are everywhere. Bark, twigs and dry leaves have crisp and brittle qualities that only a few man-made objects have, and they are different with every type of plant and tree.

Most humans aren't in a lot of contact with things that are "destroyable" either, things you can toy with and tear to little bits in your hands. I think virtually everyone has restlessly torn up a scrap of paper or split a blade of grass with their thumbnail; it's a cliche. And since fidget toys in classrooms are becoming a subject of debate, I think it pays to remember that the vast majority of your ancestors learned everything they knew with a thousand "fidget toys" within arm's reach.

And there is of course mud, and clay, and dirt, and wet sand. I'm 100% serious, squishing mud and clay is vital to the human brain. Why do you think Play-Doh is such a staple elementary school toy. Why do you think mud is the universal cliche thing kids play in for fun. It's such a common "stim" category for a reason.

I could go on and on. It's insane how unstimulating most environments humans spend time in are. And this definitely contributes to ecological illiteracy, because people aren't prepared to comprehend how detailed the natural world is. There are dozens of species of fireflies in the United States, and thousands of species of moths. If you don't put herbicides on your lawn, there are likely at least 20 species of plant in a single square meter of it. I've counted at least 15 species of grass alone in my yard.

Would it be overreach to suggest that some vital perceptive abilities are just not fully developing in today's human? Like. I had to TEACH myself to be able, literally able, to perceive details of living things that were below a certain size, even though my eyes could detect those details, because I just wasn't accustomed to paying attention to things that small. I think something...happens when almost all the objects you interact with daily are human-made.

The people that think ADHD is caused by kids' brains being exposed to "too much stuff" by Electronic Devices...do not go outside, because spending a few minutes in a natural environment has more stimuli in it than a few hours of That Damn Phone.

A patch of tree bark the size of my phone's screen has more going on than my phone can display. When you start photographing lots of living organisms, you run into the strange and brain-shifting reality that your electronic device literally cannot create and store images big enough to show everything you, in real life, may notice about that organism.

[irarelypostanything]

"Mandatory Fun" vs. Play

I'll try to do a little more tl;dr this time. My last post was long-winded, even by my standards.

Some people say I'm soft-spoken. Maybe that's why I write. When I write, I get to feel like everyone is equally loud.

Here's the definition of play:

engage in activity for enjoyment and recreation rather than a serious or practical purpose.

"the children were playing outside"

20 pages into "Play: How it Shapes The Brain...", by someone who studied it academically for decades, and the definition is similar. It has to be voluntary. It has to be intrinsically motivated. It's kind of like play = flow + intrinsic motivation.

Why do I care? Well like I write last time, maybe this is it. Maybe "play" is the key to happiness and success. The problem I have right now, at least in the tiny bit of attention I have given the book thus far, is that I think the premise can be misattributed.

Let me try to think of an example. The book cites the example of how JPL tried to hire the most talented engineers with the best grades. They weren't great at problem-solving, it turned out...their knowledge was too academic and theoretical. They realized that the best metric was people who actually problem-solved for fun. So they started instead looking for people who did things like reverse-engineer in their free time.

The problem? That's basically the same thing software engineer managers have tried. It's not wrong - in fact, it may be a better metric than what we currently do - but it breeds an environment in which people get the notion that to succeed as software engineers, they need to spend every waking moment coding. Some companies look for this, but some individuals push back.

In the case of JPL, maybe some of those engineers didn't do things like reverse-engineer for fun because they had other hobbies. That isn't to say that it was wrong to hire based on that criteria - just that it starts to say something a little more obvious. People who enjoy things are going to be better at them. If you're hiring an animator, and you find someone so passionate about their craft that they continue to draw outside of work, then they're probably really good.

To reign it in, I heard two people in a software engineer podcast lament that they are putting a bias on young people. This is because young people typically don't have families yet. Their job can be their sole responsibility.

The next thing to address with "play" is that the definition can get murky. The author of this book, during an interview, said its best thought of as a state of mind...so if an Olympian truly enjoys running then that can be play. But a key criteria is intrinsic motivation. Is anything truly purely intrinsically motivated? I think the author himself would probably say no, and that's why the definition is meant to consist more of simple guidelines. Running can make you fit. Scrabble can improve your vocabulary. That doesn't mean running and Scrabble are never a form of play, ever. The author seems to be going more for a negative definition. Writing, for example, can be a form of play even if someone also does it for a living. But if they hate it and are absolutely just doing it for money, then even League of Legends isn't play if the person doesn't find it fun.

...for example, I don't. I plan to revisit it one day just to remember what it's like to be yelled at by four people.

Voluntary play seems to be very effective and even makes employees productive (ie the optional ping pong table). "Forced fun" does not get the author's stamp of approval.

I can't help but end with Facebook, which I recently added to get Facebook integration on the Fair Oaks Kiwanis site. I just don't get it. Everything seems like "mandatory fun." The stories that you can auto-create. The reels that you can't hide no matter how hard you try. Obviously it IS optional, and therefore obvious play. But I don't see why they made these changes.