#lotusponds

[karz09]

Tam Coc, Ninh Binh. #ninhbinh #tamcoc #lotus #lotuspond #hills #rainy #river #boatride #landscapephotography #landscape #nature #naturelovers #foggy #vietnam #vietnamtravel #vacation #travelphotography #travelgram #traveltheworld #shotoniphone #phonephotography #outdoorphotography #natgeotravel #natgeoyourshot #visitvietnam #photography #bbcearth #bbctravel #exploretheworld #explorer (at Tam Cốc Bích Động - Ninh Bình) https://www.instagram.com/p/CpFtnrgvUHg/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[writinrealslow]

Hello! I just finished watching your most recent YT video: "Lets talk about nonbinary character design" and would love to get some advice on one of my characaters!

This is Hazydawn

(Yes they are a warrior cat oc, which is a horribly written series and is kinda cringe but cringe is dead and I am free)

Hazydawn is a mender of their clan, which is basically a doctor. They take their work very seriously and have a hard time focusing on much else. They care A LOT for their clanmates, but have an incredibly hard time showing it. They are stoic and tend to be cold even to the cats they love the most. This ended up making their mate, Flashstep, be pushed away. Flashstep is very tenderhearted and didn't feel as loved as he needed to be happy in a relationship. They broke up after being together for a long time, and having a kitten named Lotuspond.

Sorry for the lore dump. I thought it was important to get the general idea of their story out before asking my questions.

I initially planned on Hazy's gender identity being a simple fact of life that is not focused on at all in the story, but after watching your video I'd like if there was more acknowledgment of their nonbinary experience in my story. The problem is I don't know where to take it exactly. Hazy's main focus in the story right now is still being in love with Flashstep but accepting that they're not compatible, so I'm not sure where their gender identity could fit into that kind of story. Hazy is very old for a cat (while these cats are heavily personified they do live typical cat life spans and they are 13.75 years old right now), and has identified as nonbinary for a long time. I could have them exploring their gender identity while they were young as part of their story, but it wouldn't be very relevant in the present day. Maybe they could have an arc about helping the younger nonbinary cats in the clan? (There are currently 3 other nonbinary cats in the clan that are all younger then Hazy: Beehive(He/She), Thrushnest (She/They), and Chirp (She/He/They))

Thanks for reading! Any advice on moving forward or critique on their current story is appreciated!

I know absolutely nothing about the Warrior Cats franchise, so I have no opinion on that front. And as you said, cringe is dead, so enjoy it to your heart's content.

If I were you, I'd avoid making Hazydawn's gender identity one of the reasons for the breakup, as it would retroactively paint flashstep as a transphobe, and it doesn't sound like you're trying to make him out to be a dick.

I think there's a lot of merit to your idea of having them act as a guide/mentor for the younger nonbinary cats. Trans elders are a topic that rarely come up in most media, largely because most media is aimed at a younger audience and I think it's generally considered more interesting to show someone in the midst of discovering who they are and struggling with all that entails, which is fair, but it kind of disregards the importance of elder trans people (I'm using the term "elder" very loosely here), as they serve as not only important success stories that can inspire hope, but possess valuable wisdom for people still going through their own transition. But I've literally never heard of an elder enby, which is mostly due to the fact that the term is relatively new and so a lot of people assume the identity itself is new, even though that's far from the case, but I digress.

Giving Hazy the role of mentor for the younger cats could serve as interesting character growth, because if you wanted to go down that route, then you could have it serve as a way for them to find a place to belong outside of their mate in a found family sort of way, and you could even use their role as mentor to more organically explore their own experience with gender. You can have them tell a story about their youth to help teach a lesson, or you could have one of the youths go to them for advice and further characterize them that way. People tend to grow more as they teach and nurture others, and there's a lot you can do with mentor characters if you don't intend to just kill them off early on for easy drama.

Also, as the younger cats get into their own relationships and inevitably end up needing advice, you could use that as a framing device for hazy to realize where they went wrong with flashstep, and see where that takes you.

I think you have the potential for a lot of really interesting storytelling with hazy, so I hope this helped!

[lindalung]

Meet the Lungs: TVB’s Very Own Roy Family

I’m not sure how many people watch both Succession and Come Home Love: Lo and Behold, but I wanted to write about the similarities between the Roy family and the Lung family on the respective shows. In fact, I’ve made 4 parody trailers featuring clips from Lo and Behold paired with the audio from Succession trailers, and they fit pretty damn well. (See below)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVCL2G43zbk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDacsg3rnGA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_brbg6kLDu4&ab_channel=lotuspond

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMFx2EFAccI&ab_channel=lotuspond

At first glance, it is pretty easy to spot the striking similarities between the two families. The Roys have Waystar Royco, the fictional American media conglomerate powerhouse, while the Lungs have Zip Lung, a company that started out as the Wai Lung Department Store, and now has ventures in practically every industry. Both companies are spearheaded by the paternal figure, Logan Roy (Brian Cox) and Lung Kam Wai (Law Lok Lam) respectively. Even their family names are meant to reflect power — Roy, deriving from “Roi” meaning “King”, and Lung, meaning Dragon, the symbol of imperial power in Chinese culture.

While the Roy children and the Lung children aren’t exact equivalents of each other in terms of birth order, the core three (if you don’t count the Connor Roy (Alan Ruck), who has a different mother than the other Roy kids)— Kendall (Jeremy Strong), Roman (Kieran Culkin), and Siobhan aka “Shiv”  (Sarah Snook) can be compared to Max (Hoffman Cheng), King Fung aka “Fung Siu” (Andrew Chan), and Linda (Mandy Lam). There is also the difference wherein the Lung siblings have different mothers, and therefore come from competing “Chambers”, but the comparison still stands nonetheless. They also have similar characteristics as the narcissistic and power-hungry son who desperately wants to inherit his father’s position at the company, but in reality, lacks the skill underneath. Roman may not actually be the youngest sibling, but he exudes the energy of the youngest child. He is the comedic relief with a lack of interest in taking over the company compared to the other siblings, and is actually suffering beneath the jokes and happy go lucky attitude, just like Fung Siu. Lastly, although Shiv isn’t the eldest daughter like Linda, being a woman with great leadership qualities yet the only daughter in the men’s business makes them both targets of misogyny. Both fathers also have a history of treating their wives (plural) and women in their lives poorly. Though Linda has a younger sister Vivian (Katherine Ho), she’s both written out of the show and was never interested in the family business. All three children in both shows crave their father’s approval and validation more than anything, due to the lack of love received from him growing up. In both cases, their father loved the company more than they loved them, which is why they want to become CEO so badly.

(Side note: I’ve written about Linda and her father’s relationship previously https://medium.com/@doneforme/daddy-issues-face-and-filial-piety-in-come-home-love-lo-and-behold-42014bbaeaf ).

Shiv and Logan’s relationship reminds me of Linda and her dad, though perhaps there is more genuine love between the latter due to the nature of the sitcom. Still, every time I watch a scene in Succession where Shiv feels powerless as she seeks attention from her dad, or gets ignored or belittled as the only woman in the room, I can’t help but be reminded of Linda. Both Shiv and Linda have to fight their way to the top, to prove that they are just as, if not more capable than their brothers. Linda and her husband Sung Shui Fai (Jack Hui) aren’t exactly the “fail marriage” trope like Shiv and Tom Wambsgans (Matthew Macfayden), but there are still some similarities especially early on in the relationship. Tom and Fai both come from lower status backgrounds, and marry into a powerful and rich family, where their wives have more success than them (at least in the beginning for Tom). Both men are frequently seen as accessories of their wives rather than their own person. Fai dips into his darker side briefly, but ultimately Fai and Linda’s genuine love is far less toxic than what Tom and Shiv have going on. Fai would do anything for approval from Linda’s father, but his goal is to be accepted into the family so he can marry Linda, not so he can gain the position of CEO. On the other hand, Shiv had a career in politics and initially didn’t want to get into the family business, whereas Linda was vying for a leading position at Zip Lung since birth. In the final season, Shiv also feels trapped in her unexpected role as a mother, something that she did not ask for. There, Shiv being reduced to a daughter, a wife, and now a mother, is the show’s way of showcasing the misogyny against her. The lighthearted sitcom is different, portraying Linda as a caring and willing stepmother to Fai’s young son Philip (Dylan Leung).

Succession asks the question of whether the cycle of generational trauma and toxicity can be broken. Even after Logan’s death, the siblings are still haunted by his looming presence, afraid that he’s still upset with them for every move they make. They’re so afraid of becoming their father, whether as a leader or as a parent. In the end of Succession, Tom becomes CEO of Waystar, and Shiv is merely the one next to him. Linda always assumes that her chances of being successor to Zip Lung are slim due to her gender, because her father has always favoured sons over daughters. While Lo and Behold hasn’t reached that point in the storyline (yet), there’s no telling what may happen to the future of Zip Lung. Fai may be the Head of the Restaurants department, but I could not see him leading Zip Lung. Of course, there is no telling what will happen and I guess we will have to wait and see…

[waterlily-hashira]

LotusPond is our simply plural if anyone wants to watch me fight for my life organizing 💀

[handmadebyhongjun]

🪷Lotus Pond Nightlight🪷

🪷🪷🪷🪷🪷🪷🪷🪷🪷🪷🪷🪷🪷🪷🪷🪷

i particularly like this↑ shot of the glowing lotus bud

these fishes are those transparent stickers made for embedding into epoxy

the whole lamp! It fits into one hand, It's one of my more ambitious personal projects and took me over a week to complete as I was also working on commissions, but the outcome was pretty satisfying

[inafuturewithyou]

REFLECTIONS

“She searched for reflections the universe riddled in front of her eyes. A lotus floating in a dirty pond, as if it had grown just for her to drench in admiration of it’s beauty. Unaware of the roots pertruding beneath, it was evident that something beautiful had flourished in a soiled environment. Suddenly the world around her melted into this one moment, a soft bittersweet bliss fervented her soul as her reflection in the pond encompassed the lotus, that which had effortlessly mirrored into her.”

© @inafuturewithyou copyright. Photo is also taken by Yasemin Corlu @inafuturewithyou

[sridu]

[charriesjourney]

Lotus Flower🍀 #Lotus #LotusFlower #LotusPond #Baguio #Photography https://www.instagram.com/p/CYImn14hw8Y/?utm_medium=tumblr

[immagine-perfetta14]

The Lotus flower is regarded in many different cultures, especially in eastern religions, as a symbol of purity, enlightenment, self-regeneration and rebirth. Its characteristics are a perfect analogy for the human condition: even when its roots are in the dirtiest waters, the Lotus produces the most beautiful flower. #lotus #lotusflower #flowerphotography #lotuspond #itsmemonochrome (at Meerut) https://www.instagram.com/p/CSi7NjNlF5IOSGMHC_2DS7OA8WbGFLZOYWeK4Q0/?utm_medium=tumblr

[damonkowarsky]

'Lotus Pond'. A handcoloured etching and aquatint from two copper plates. Made at @portlandbaypress in February this year. It was SO good to be back in the studio after a year away.⁠ This print is now available through @lauristonpress.⁠⁠ ⁠⁠ #printmaking #lotus #handcolour #art #etching #intaglio #aquatint #reflection #lotuspond #flower (at Raleigh Street Studios) https://www.instagram.com/p/CPUOApCDa05/?utm_medium=tumblr

[sarahfogg]

The last mermaid! It was already several days into June, so I spent a little more time on this one. I’m very pleased with her tail. This mermaid lives in a lotus pond, and may be more of a water spirit than a physical animal. Thanks for following my mermaids! I’ll be collecting them in a little zine, so watch out for that if you liked the series. :3

[zerryboterr]

Lotus Pond🌺 . . . . . . . . . #projectalma #projectalmakarlin #lotuspond #kaohsiung #taiwan #explore #amazingplaces #aroundtheworld #umdiewelt #reisebloggerin #weltreiseblog #weltbummlerin #aufdenaspurenvonalmakarlin #okolisveta #postopinjahalmekarlin #almakarlin (hier: Lotus Pond, Kaohsiung) https://www.instagram.com/p/B5zT5xAlGXF/?igshid=11fnj0s5wpp3s

[everythingcambodia-blog]

Fresh Hope.

[mistahfong]

Wuliting @ Lotus Pond #LotusPond #蓮池潭 #kaohsiung #taiwan LATERGRAM https://www.instagram.com/p/BxMDw56p2nJ/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=wuctstfekvp

[waltb31]

Dragon and Tiger Pagodas, Lotus Pond, Kaohsiung, Taiwan 🇹🇼 Who would you explore this unique attraction with? #LotusPond #Kaohsiung #Taiwan #BeautyOfNature #PagodaForTwo #BucketList 📷Beautiful photo capture by @samoetiker #Repost @nature ・・・ Dragon or tiger, which would you choose? 🏯 Incredible architecture at the Lotus Pond in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Photos by @samoetiker #nature https://www.instagram.com/p/Br3K73gFQS0/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=7l1o8pmo634a

[karz09]

Tam Coc, Ninh Binh. #ninhbinh #tamcoc #lotus #lotuspond #hills #rainy #river #boatride #landscapephotography #landscape #nature #naturelovers #foggy #vietnam #vietnamtravel #vacation #travelphotography #travelgram #traveltheworld #shotoniphone #phonephotography #outdoorphotography #natgeotravel #natgeoyourshot #visitvietnam #photography #bbcearth #bbctravel (at Tam Cốc Bích Động - Ninh Bình) https://www.instagram.com/p/Clq9XeivKzQ/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=